Really, in a shop demo kitchen?

[Jurassicspark]

And why would an electrician not use a mains tester screwdriver, I have always found them to be a useful part of the toolkits. I use them almost universally for ceiling rose errors.
The larger size (200mm long, 3.5-4mm slotted)without the pocket clip has always been a popular choice for maintenance in control panels for fault finding, these days a LED version is better as works on ELV too.

I always found them handy when testing at pre 1966 lighting circuits. Much better than bringing out a wander lead.

 

[Jurassicspark]

but although they were popular in the 60s and 70s around here they are very old hat these days and not very reliable, my mate got a shock off his, dropped it in water by accident one day, shook it dry, put it in his toolbox for a couple of days then got it out to "test" something OUCH! daft git. LOL.

His fault, not the screwdriver.

They can give false negatives too.

Yes, but if someone knows the drawbacks then I don't see anything wrong.

 

[robinbanks]

Maybe, but I'm not sure that (m)any 'touch screens' would work if one steered away from that, would they?

Not sure that offering yourself up as part of a capacitor in a sub 5v DC circuit is in the same ballpark as trusting a neon/resistor to be the only thing stopping 240vAC forming across your chest..

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

PS, some years ago now I got a Crabtree plugtop (plenty of room inside) and drilled two holes in the top for two neons and three current limiting resistors . It was a bit useful as a socket quick check (not as elegant as the socket testers of today) but yes I was known to use it sometimes as a quick ruf check. Neon A lit and Neon B unlit was a quick indication that a socket MIGHT be correct polarity and it cost peanuts too.
Good to save a shilling as they did in my era!

Pigmy lamps were a good, reasonably robust alternative, and drew a bit more current.

OK for party tricks but I would not really expect a pro to use one, except as a handy driver for say alarm system control panels where they can be a convenient fit (off course you remove that neon and resistor first).
I think we have moved on a bit since the days it was popular mate

Like most things - Nowt at all wrong with the volt-stick, or the neon, if you understand, and use them within their limitations.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Not sure that offering yourself up as part of a capacitor in a sub 5v DC circuit is in the same ballpark as trusting a neon/resistor to be the only thing stopping 240vAC forming across your chest..

It's the volts that jolts, but the amps that kills..

 

[JohnW2]

Not sure that offering yourself up as part of a capacitor in a sub 5v DC circuit is in the same ballpark as trusting a neon/resistor to be the only thing stopping 240vAC forming across your chest..

Totally agreed.

However, the person who asked "Who in their right mind would deliberately make themselves part of an electrical circuit?" included no qualification about voltage or the nature of 'the circuit', so the answer to his question would presumably be along the lines of "Any sensible person in their right mind would be happy to offer themselves up as a capacitor in a sub-5V DC circuit"

 

[SUNRAY]

They are banned, they are outlawed Sunray, there`s even been amnesties for you to hand them in at the police station
(yes OK I`m only joking mate)
but although they were popular in the 60s and 70s around here they are very old hat these days and not very reliable,

Perhaps if you were to bother to learn what they are capable of you may change your mind.

my mate got a shock off his, dropped it in water by accident one day, shook it dry, put it in his toolbox for a couple of days then got it out to "test" something OUCH! daft git. LOL. They can give false negatives too.

Perhaps if you were to bother to learn what they are capable of you may change your mind.

OK for party tricks but I would not really expect a pro to use one,

Perhaps if you were to bother to learn what they are capable of you may change your mind.

except as a handy driver for say alarm system control panels where they can be a convenient fit (off course you remove that neon and resistor first).

Why destroy a perfeclty standard bit of test kit and yes things have moved on a bit, there are now LED versions available which do more than the neon versions.

I think we have moved on a bit since the days it was popular mate

One supplier I used (very pertinant to the controls industry) reckoned to sell around 2000 of them per annum which worked out to about 2.5 per account holder.

PS - head of Electrical Engineering at my local college used to say to his classes on the subject of Mains Tester Neon Screwdrivers - "Who in their right mind would deliberately make themselves part of an electrical circuit?" I think he was right.

As John has pointed out we happily use our body in a circuit in a daily basic with a touch screen and of course we nearly all use a mobile phone on a daily basis and happily become part of the aerial system with radio frequency voltage/current flowing through our body (Let's not forget such a system contained in a Faraday cage is also used in the kitchen to heat food and that signal is only 40dB stronger) but like every other piece of test kit one has to learn how to use them, their safety and their limitations.

I'm happy to admit that faultfinding in a control panel my first port of call is a LED screwdriver and in many instances of such it is the only bit of test kit I require to get the system working, I'd love to know of anything easier.
I'm happy to admit that faultfinding in a ceiling rose my first port of call is a LED screwdriver and in many instances of such it is the only bit of test kit I require to get the system working, I'd love to know of anything easier.

There is nothing wrong with screwdriver testers, Professionals should have no difficulty learning how to use them, their safety and their limitations but sadly I know many who have failed to understand and disregard them, simply because they are not in the curriculum but give them a bit of high tech kit like a phone or MFT and they soon sort that. Let's be honest here; far too many electricians seem to fail miserably to understand how to fault find if the number of 'repeat visits' I'm asked to sort out is anything to go by.

There are lots of other things that have also gone out of fashion, such electric drills in favour of battery versions costing 4 times the price, but I'd happily collect £1 for every time another person on site has borrowed mine as their battery has gone flat or it's simply not man enough to do the job, I have no doubt that would easily pay for another drill or three. Or a hand cranked meggar which has been, and still is, perfectly adequate for the job. Let's be honest here, the screwdriver is also dropping out of fashion, one chippy we seemed to regularly meet never brings any to work in favour of a cordless drill but then regularly borrows to complete his work.

Would I work in an IT environment without a screwdriver (or some other non contact) tester? NFW... They have saved me from a belt far too many times.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

There is nothing wrong with screwdriver testers, Professionals should have no difficulty learning how to use them, their safety and their limitations but sadly I know many who have failed to understand and disregard them, simply because they are not in the curriculum but give them a bit of high tech kit like a phone or MFT and they soon sort that. Let's be honest here; far too many electricians seem to fail miserably to understand how to fault find if the number of 'repeat visits' I'm asked to sort out is anything to go by.

Absolutely, it's the basic, lack of understanding.

There are lots of other things that have also gone out of fashion, such electric drills in favour of battery versions costing 4 times the price, but I'd happily collect £1 for every time another person on site has borrowed mine as their battery has gone flat or it's simply not man enough to do the job, I have no doubt that would easily pay for another drill or three. Or a hand cranked meggar which has been, and still is, perfectly adequate for the job. Let's be honest here, the screwdriver is also dropping out of fashion, one chippy we seemed to regularly meet never brings any to work in favour of a cordless drill but then regularly borrows to complete his work.

My go to, is always a proper screwdriver, there is no setting up, no gnarled screw heads, or damage around the head. I only use a battery screwdriver, where there are lots of similar fixings involved. Battery drills a handy for the light duties, and very quick jobs, but anything heavier needs proper power.

 

[Alec_t]

I bet that tap doesn’t even have any water connected!

In a bathroom showroom I visited last year there was a prominent sign warning would-be customers not to use the non-plumbed-in toilets.

 

[mattylad]

Thing is, as a customer looking through the showroom, takin the quality of the display to also be the quality of their workmanship having something so blatantly wrong brings into question their competence.
What else are they likely to do that's so wrong? What else can we expect of them?

IMO It shows either ignorance and they don't know wtf they are doing or arrogance and someone (likely in sales) told the installer to put it there and he just did as he was told, so that's what he's gonna do on site and not raise an issue.
Either way, a red flag against using that company.
For anything electrical wise that is.

 

[morqthana]

The electric hob were devoid of knobs,

Can't stand those.

I've just bought a couple of these

and one of these:

so to allow the hob to stay dry, every hob was around 1/8" proud of the work top or more, meaning pans less stable, and any spillage would go onto the counter making anything on the counter wet.

How does it make them less stable? And surely spillages would go onto the worktop even if the hob was totally flush?

Take a look at the Howdens or DIY Kitchens corner larders..

 

[morqthana]

Was the corner cupboard the one with doors on the diagonal if so that is what we have as my other half fell in love with it when she saw it!

I quite like the look of the Kessebohmer Revo 90 for the right-angle corner cupboards

 

[ericmark]

My wife did buy me a replacement for the neon screwdriver, it had a line/neutral function to show which wire was line, but did not work as good as the simple neon screwdriver. I have a few non contact voltage testers, as well, they work OK, but it does depend what one is testing for, borrowed neutrals can be detected with a clamp-on meter, but not really what one expects to find, so a neon screwdriver is very good at alerting one of a borrowed neutral.

Some things shown in adverts are clearly wrong, using off-peak to do gardening for example, I find you really need day light for gardening, I joke about switching lights on/off by clapping hands once a smart meter is fitted, I would hope most realise it will not do that, neither would one drive a car off a roof and land on a plate hanging off a crane, but

Either way, a red flag against using that company.

Which was my thoughts.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

I quite like the look of the Kessebohmer Revo 90 for the right-angle corner cupboards

we bought our corner cupboards from DIY kitchens but got the 3/4 circle carousel units from ikea which I fitted inside. The ikea ones were less than half the price of the ones DIY sold and are just as strong

 

[Sureitsoff?]

In a bathroom showroom I visited last year there was a prominent sign warning would-be customers not to use the non-plumbed-in toilets.

lots of bathroom showrooms suffer from "accidents" usually due to kids not realising that the loo shouldn't be used..