Test Lamp

A test lamp is used to test a circuit to see if it has power. There are many different models, but the one pictured below is one of the most common used for testing DC circuits. They are relatively inexpensive, and can be found at most electronic, automotive, and hardware stores.

To use a test lamp simply connect the alligator clip to a source of ground such as a vehicle's frame, a ground wire, or the negative terminal of the battery. This particular test lamp has a pointed end that can pierce a wire's insulation to test the wire inside. If the lamp does not light then the wire does not have power on it.When the wire that you are testing has power on it the test light will light.

A test light, test lamp, voltage tester, or mains tester is a very simple piece of electronic test equipment used to determine the presence or absence of an electric voltage in a piece of equipment under test.

The test light is simply an electric lamp connected with one or two insulated wire leads. Often, it takes the form of a screwdriver with the lamp connected between the tip of the screwdriver and a single lead that projects out the back of the screwdriver. By connecting the flying lead to an earth (ground) reference and touching the screwdriver tip to various points in the circuit, the presence or absence of voltage at each point can be determined and simple faults detected and traced to their root cause.

For low voltage work (for example, in automobiles), the lamp used is usually a small, low-voltage incandescent light bulb. These lamps usually are designed to operate on approximately 12 V.

For line voltage (mains) work, the lamp is usually a small neon lamp connected in series with an appropriate ballast resistor. These lamps often can operate across a wide range of voltages from 90V up to several hundred volts. In some cases, several separate lamps are used with resistive voltage dividers arranged to allow additional lamps to strike as the applied voltage rises higher; with the lamps mounted in order from lowest voltage to highest, this minimal bar graph provides a crude indication of voltage.

Household 240V incandescents bulbs may also be used in some electronic equipment repair, and a trained technician can usually tell the approximate voltage by using the brightness as a crude indicator.