While working with electricity especially high voltage AC electricity, it is very essential to employ high level of safety precautions. First step in that is to switch off the main circuit panel while working on any circuit. Next is to confirm that there is no power supply in the electrical box or appliance on which you have to work. To check this you need an electrical circuit tester.

Two most popular electrical circuit testers out of all those available in the market are High Voltage AC Circuit Tester and Digital Multimeter Circuit Tester.

High Voltage AC circuit tester is also called as Neon bulb tester. It is reasonably priced, requires no batteries and is very easy to store because it is small in size. Most of its model support an AC voltage up to 250V.

For checking the flow of current in any switch or outlet using a High Voltage circuit tester, you need to insert the terminals into the outlet. While testing, handle the tester with care and never touch the metal probe as you can get a big shock by that. Always hold the insulated handle of the tester.

After inserting the terminals if the tester bulb lights up then it show that power is there in the outlet and if it does not then it means power is not flowing through it. You can also check current flow status in a circuit using this tester.

Another electrical circuit tester is a Digital Multimeter. This type of tester can be used to measure high voltage AC at a circuit breaker, outlet or switch using the two probes that come with it.

If you want to use this tester for checking the power flow in a socket then put the black lead in the common socket, red lead in the voltage socket and set the dial at 125AC. After doing this put the leads in the outlet and check the reading on the display of multimeter, a reading between 110 to 120V will indicate that power is flowing in the outlet.

If you want to check the connection between two points in the circuit then also you need to do same connections as discussed in previous paragraph. The only difference lies in setting up the dial. Here you need to set it at Ohms for resistive load. After this touch the two probes with each other and see the display. If reading comes out to be zero then the points are connected. Your full attention is required during testing.

Scott Rodgers is a writer with great experience in electricians work all over the country. His exemplary guidance has created business opportunities for a lot many Portola Valley Electricians and Los Altos Electricians .