Only a big girls blouse uses a Fluke to measure 230VAC mains.

[Macbeth]

Why, even an 830B is no good in the dark. Better get one of these from ebay.
It can go up to 500VAC, so why not get a few of them to measure 3 phase?
Make sure your tongue is sticking out the corner of your mouth just right, for accuracy.

[Ian.M]

Even more fun - the harsh environment version of it underwater:

[free_electron]

Make sure your tongue is sticking out the corner of your mouth just right, for accuracy.

who needs a digital meter. just lick the outlet. works with 9 volt batteries. so should work fine with mains outlets too.

[LukeW]

It's rated for Schrödinger's Cat II.

[HighVoltage]

who needs a digital meter. just lick the outlet. works with 9 volt batteries. so should work fine with mains outlets too.

Be careful, someone might try it out.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/finger-in-electrical-outlet.htm

[AndyC_772]

"Two convenient holes wide apart can accept even large fingers"

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/vilkus/

[John Coloccia]

Why, even an 830B is no good in the dark. Better get one of these from ebay.
It can go up to 500VAC, so why not get a few of them to measure 3 phase?
Make sure your tongue is sticking out the corner of your mouth just right, for accuracy.

I didn't know Electroboom sold stuff on e-bay.

[PTR_1275]

Were their parents zapped so bad that this person ended up with 3 hands?

[G7PSK]

That's three people all with one hand behind their back. The meter is cheaper than a Fluke and so are the people.

[SeanB]

S'alright, the wire is that Chinese safety fusible wire, which evaporates at 2A of current. Insulated so it is dual purpose, a fusible link and connecting wire all in the same 30V insulation, available in either Export grade or China internal use only grade.

[tggzzz]

"Two convenient holes wide apart can accept even large fingers"
http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/vilkus/

Excellent. Bookmarked.

I can think of some people I'll be sending http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/lebedev.shtml to as Christmas presents!

[george graves]

I see automotive guys installing these cheap voltmetes in their cars all the time.  I wonder how robust they are.  I have so assume the failure mode is to let out smoke, and not catch on fire, but with cheap chineese stuff - I'm thinking fire in a car is a real possibility.  Am I wrong?

[HighVoltage]

I can think of some people I'll be sending
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/lebedev.shtml to as Christmas presents!

And some might even try them out!
Unreal!

[jpb]

Make sure your tongue is sticking out the corner of your mouth just right, for accuracy.

who needs a digital meter. just lick the outlet. works with 9 volt batteries. so should work fine with mains outlets too.

I had an electrician do some work on my house who almost did this - he seemed to lick his fingers and hold them close to cables if not touching them to check for live!

I was more shocked than he was!

[miguelvp]

I can think of some people I'll be sending
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/lebedev.shtml to as Christmas presents!

And some might even try them out!
Unreal!

Look on the lower left of the listing, it's not a real product

[briselec]

I had an electrician do some work on my house who almost did this - he seemed to lick his fingers and hold them close to cables if not touching them to check for live!

I was more shocked than he was!

Some people can do that and only feel a slight tingle. A guy I worked with years ago would use his finger to check for live mains.  If I tried that it would throw me across the room.

[McBryce]

Excellent. Not the product, the thread name. Haven't heard the phrase "big girls blouse" in years. Still laughing.

McBryce.

[mmagin]

Maximum input: AC500V ( if input voltage greater than 500VAC, the voltmeter would burn.)

 

[XOIIO]

I picked up a few of these to make power supplies, a couple variations, some like this that are powered by and read current from the same source and some that have a separate sense wire. They are pretty handy, but I sure as hell wouldn't use one for mains.

[Mark]

I bought a couple of the 4-wire ones.  I have a question though, when it says 0-500VAC and 0-500VDC like mine did, I was expecting to put that voltage across the input wires directly as there was no further information with them. 
They both started out reading the AC and DC voltages correctly up to 10 or 20V or so as verified by multimeters, so I cranked up my variac some more... the AC one flickered and stopped displaying anything, the DC one went bang - a cap exploded.  Before I write them off as complete rubbish, was I doing something wrong? 

[wagon]

I use those little meters in allsorts of stuff.  They are sort of accurate, and dirt cheap.  NEVER for mains stuff though.  Crazy.