My $15 outlet tester saved me from a $500 electrician call last week

I spent three hours tracing a dead outlet in my laundry room before realizing the breaker was half-tripped and my new tester caught it right away. Has anyone else found a cheap tool that actually solved a bigger problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby_henderson4d ago

A buddy's multimeter caught a bad ground before he shocked himself.

caseys303d ago

Yeah but here's the thing nobody talks about - most of those budget multimeters people grab off Amazon won't catch a bad ground if it's intermittent. I've seen it happen twice now where a guy checks once, gets a good reading, thinks he's safe. Then that ground wire wiggles loose later while he's working. The real trick is to toggle the connection a bit while you're testing, see if the reading jumps or stays steady. Your buddy got lucky his meter caught it when it did but honestly, if he had one of those cheap no-name brands he'd probably be dead right now. Spend the extra twenty bucks on a Fluke or even a Klein, your life is worth more than a six pack of beer.