Volt stick lighting up on earth

[seasickstevie]

Got something of an issue with the fact that it's been pointed out to me that your typical Volt Stick has been glowing on extraneous conductive parts (water, gas pipes, CH radiators etc.)

Carried out thorough testing on all circuits. Gas & water (main cold, hot, storage tank pipework) all well earth bonded, with tests to verify good continuity to the Main earth.

However the issue persists!

These cheap volt sticks (of various manufacturer) are certainly not an exact science, but try explaining that to the customer! I'm open to suggestions.

 

[plugwash]

Questions that immediately spring to mind.

1. Is the person touching any class 2 electronic equipment (for example a phone connected to it's charger) at the same time they are using the volt stick.
2. Is there any voltage between the earthing system and real earth.

 

[seasickstevie]

1. No, just standing on a carpet (not a cheap nylon type, although I believe even quality 'wool' carpets have a percentage of manmade fibres).

2. In some instances, about 0.1 - 0.3v where there is some distance between test points.

 

[flameport]

Carried out thorough testing on all circuits.

Did that include properly testing any ring final circuits to ensure they were really complete rings and there were no broken conductors?