Voltage detector circuit

Thread Starter

mentaaal

Joined Oct 17, 2005
451
Hey guys, could anyone please explain to me how a voltage detector screwdriver works? i mean say you touch a conductor with the screw driver and there is current flowing through it and the led or whatever it is inside the screwdriver lights up... how does this occur as you arent completing a circuit as such are you?
 

recca02

Joined Apr 2, 2007
1,212
i have had the same question,
once i tried touching the cap of tester at different angle so as to not put pressure on it (i though may be we complete an internal circuit by small pressure) but it still lit up,
i tried a liitle few more tricks (dont remember exactly) and came to an inference which might be wrong, but i think we do comlpete the circuit by becoming a part of it that is a small current passing thru us may be the cause dont know for sure.
 

n9352527

Joined Oct 14, 2005
1,198
It works through the capacitance of your body to surrounding/ground. The neon lamp only needs small amount of current to lit up.
 

bloguetronica

Joined Apr 27, 2007
1,541
Hey guys, could anyone please explain to me how a voltage detector screwdriver works? i mean say you touch a conductor with the screw driver and there is current flowing through it and the led or whatever it is inside the screwdriver lights up... how does this occur as you arent completing a circuit as such are you?
The bulb in your screwdriver is actually a neon bulb.

The voltage in the house outlets are relative to ground, since neutral is virtually grounded (I'm not confusing neutral with ground (the ground is different since it is pulled close to the houses), but tri-phase systems don't need a neutral return wire going all the way back, the earth is used to balance instead, and only three wires are used to transport current). Since neutral is grounded, when you touch the hot pole of your outlet with the screwdriver, the current flows through the screwdriver making the neon bulb lit, and also through your body, to the earth (and subsequently to the ground). Of course you are protected by the neon bulb and a series resistor.

I insist on this, because in a floating electrical system, where none of the "voltage source" terminals are grounded, you need to touch both terminals to "conduct", independently even if it is a 110VAC system (this is why isolating transformers are used).
 

Thread Starter

mentaaal

Joined Oct 17, 2005
451
thanks very much for all the replies guys... makes a lot more sence now.. not sure about the whole virtual ground thing but thats just becuase i have never really been bothered about looking into house wiring...

incedently enough i was looking at my immersion heater switch the other day as i thought it had a problem.. i was using my trusty multimeter to measure the resistance between the live and neutral input terminals (with the mains power turned off of course) and with the switch on the off position the resistance was in the megaohms but when i turned the switch on the resistance fell to only a few ohms???? is this possible or am i on drugs or something??
 

bloguetronica

Joined Apr 27, 2007
1,541
thanks very much for all the replies guys... makes a lot more sence now.. not sure about the whole virtual ground thing but thats just becuase i have never really been bothered about looking into house wiring...

incedently enough i was looking at my immersion heater switch the other day as i thought it had a problem.. i was using my trusty multimeter to measure the resistance between the live and neutral input terminals (with the mains power turned off of course) and with the switch on the off position the resistance was in the megaohms but when i turned the switch on the resistance fell to only a few ohms???? is this possible or am i on drugs or something??
That naturally happened, because you forced more current into the multimeter. You shouldn't measure the resistance of anything live. You may trash permanently the multimeter (or the ohmmeter).
Remember that an ohmmeter (or multimeter reading ohms) reads resistance by establishing a constant voltage between the leads. The current passing through the component being measured is then evaluated and the resistance is calculated according to R = V/I. When measuring something live, you are forcing more current going through the leads and ohmmeter, thus evaluating a much bigger current and leading to a much smaller resistance being red. This situation will cause erroneous reading and may cause permanent damage to the ohmmeter.
 

Thread Starter

mentaaal

Joined Oct 17, 2005
451
no no as i had said in my previous message, i had turned the mains power off so the circuit being measured had no power flowing though it whatsoever.. i wouldn't trust myself just yet to measure a circuit handling full220vac and potentially kill myself in the process. so the question still stands, how can the switch reduce the resistance to a mere few ohms between the live and neutral in terminals?
 

bloguetronica

Joined Apr 27, 2007
1,541
no no as i had said in my previous message, i had turned the mains power off so the circuit being measured had no power flowing though it whatsoever.. i wouldn't trust myself just yet to measure a circuit handling full220vac and potentially kill myself in the process. so the question still stands, how can the switch reduce the resistance to a mere few ohms between the live and neutral in terminals?
Ok, I didn't noticed. I don't know about heater resistances in the US, but in Europe, they might be in the order of 52.9Ohm per kilowatt. I measured myself but you can confirm using calculations.
 

Thread Starter

mentaaal

Joined Oct 17, 2005
451
oh... well thank you very much i just immediately didnt believe the resistance and thought i was doing something wrong. wow that would explain the high power consumption. thank you!! so now i dont have to think about it constantly! excellent!

ps i am in europe, ireland actually so sounds very much in accordance with the measurement i got.
 
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