Bought a cheap toner from Amazon for $18 and it fried my tester

Picked up a no-name toner kit on Amazon for $18 bucks last month. First job I used it on, it sent voltage back through my probe and killed my $60 toner tracer instantly. Stick with Fluke or Klein even if they cost double. Anyone else get burned by cheap test gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.karen2mo ago

Whoa, that really stinks. But here's something I don't see anyone mentioning: maybe the issue isn't just the cheap toner being crappy, but that the tracer itself was never protected. Idk, a lot of those cheaper Klein and Fluke models don't have any built-in surge protection either. Maybe it's just me, but I think sometimes we blame the cheap gear when the real problem is we're not using a line tester or a multimeter before hooking stuff up. A $10 voltage tester could have saved your $60 tracer.

iris5741mo ago

Oh man, I actually read somewhere that a lot of those budget toners are basically just cheaply made with no real protection circuitry inside... like they just throw them together in a factory. It kinda makes sense though, you pay $18 for a tool and it's basically just a fancy beeper with no safeguards. I've heard electricians say you should always check for voltage first with a simple meter, even on lines you think are dead.

willow4072mo ago

Oh man, that's a rough way to learn a $18 lesson (well, $78 if you count the fried tracer). I guess the universe's way of saying "you get what you pay for" is just blasting your wallet with a voltage spike. You saved the rest of us from that particular mistake, so thanks for taking one for the team.