Spent $120 on a Klein voltage tester that saved my bacon on an old house

I rolled up to a rewire job in a 1920s bungalow last Tuesday and something felt off about the knob and tube. Pulled out my Klein NCVT-3P and it was screaming hot on a line that was supposed to be dead from the panel. Turns out some handyman had tied a new circuit into old cloth wiring that was still live behind the plaster. That $120 tool probably kept me from getting lit up or worse. I had the whole crew use their own testers before touching anything after that. What's the weirdest hidden live wire you guys have found on a job?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_drew14d ago

Did I buy that tester just to feel like a pro with a fancy beepy stick?

owens.anthony14d ago

I had that exact feeling with my first multimeter from Home Depot (a little green and black one, nothing fancy). But then I was testing a switch in my garage and the beepy stick caught a voltage leak in a wire that was melted from an old rodent nest. That one find saved me from probably rewiring the whole garage or worse, a fire. So yeah, I bought it to feel like a pro at first, but now it's the first thing I grab when I open a wall or mess with anything electric. Your fancy beepy stick is basically insurance you can hold in your hand. It's crazy how fast that feeling of pretending turns into real peace of mind.

park.miles14d ago

Man, I totally get that feeling. It's like having the right gear makes you feel a little more legit even if you're just checking a lamp. @the_drew, you're definitely not alone in that impulse buy club.

jessica70714d ago

Lol my Klein saved me from a "surprise" too. I was poking around a 1950s remodel and found a live wire stuffed behind a wall in the kitchen that was just sitting there waiting for someone like me to grab it. My wife calls it my "expensive anxiety stick" because I walk around the house testing outlets for no reason, but jokes on her - it paid for itself when I found that hidden death trap. I swear some old houses are just full of secrets from angry ghosts or drunk electricians, lol.