sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Voltage Tester

Hello I am a new member to this site although I have been trolling around for a while! Can a CTC C9970 voltage testor be used to check if a downed wire is live?
Thanks
Mike

Welcome to the board Mike.

For safety reasons NEVER GO NEAR A DOWNED LINE!

I must agree. Even a "no-contact" voltage tester is only rated for a reasonable voltage (most are rated at 600 volts or less). Getting within 6" to higher voltages might result in your body becoming the path of least resistance to ground.

Even if a downed wire is just telephone or CATV, the support strand or sheath may have crossed paths with high voltage, rendering an otherwise low-voltage cable dangerous.

I'd stay as far away from something like that if I were you.

I don't know what a CTC C9970 is and I don't care. You have been given excellent advice. Unless you work for a utility company steer clear of any downed wires. Don't be stupid!

Even emergency personnel like fire departments as well as cable and telco techs are trained to assume any downed wire is live and to steer clear until the all clear is given by the power company.

This also goes for trees that have fallen or otherwise have come in contact with power lines. I have seen downed trees become energized.

Even standing near an energized line or vegitation can get you killed because of the voltage gradient through the soil.

-Hal

Triple ditto. Hal is right, as a firefighter I'm trained to avoid all downed wires and make sure no curious civilian gets too close... for all of the above reasons.

All wires are hot, all guns are loaded until proven otherwise. You don't want to be part of the proof.

Quadruple ditto. Always assume everything you see, downed or not, is hot and something to steer well clear of (including the area around it). Unless you're a trained professional stay absolutely clear of it.

Thanks for the advise. I am trying to learn mor about this tool. It is called a stray voltage detector.
Mike

have you looked at the user guide /handbook ?

it gives you a Idea of the capabilities, applications and offers safety tips

Since Skip posted a link I now know what you have. Those are use by phone company techs to test for stay voltage such as. Before climbing a pole test the ground for voltage, testing a street light bracket on joint use poles before climbing past, trailer skins or metal home siding. They were never intended for testing downed power lines. Even after a storm with downed phone lines, we waited for the power company to tell us the area was safe.

Ditto what Bill said, I see what it is too. We used them to check for hot poles, street lights etc before climbing or touching.

-Hal