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Blog Easy Peasy Non-Contact Electricity Detector (Not a Metal Detector)
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  • Author Author: mahmood.hassan
  • Date Created: 14 Apr 2019 4:40 PM Date Created
  • Views 3380 views
  • Likes 12 likes
  • Comments 12 comments
  • tiny_circuits
  • diy
  • analog circuit design
  • electromagnetismch
  • iot
  • maker projects
  • arduino
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Easy Peasy Non-Contact Electricity Detector (Not a Metal Detector)

mahmood.hassan
mahmood.hassan
14 Apr 2019

Before building this device I have tried lots of different design but in every circuit there were some issues, either it was also a metal detector or detect human as AC voltage source. I even built a device using instrumentation amplifier, 2nd order band pass filter and ARM mcu to do all the math (FFT) So i can only detect AC voltage and no metal detection or human contact detection. After lot of trouble I was able to achieve this by using this very simple circuit.

    • Introduction:
    • Components required:
    • Schematics:
    • Prototype:
    • Prototype Testing:
      • No effect of Human Contact
      • Works Behind Obstacles
      • Tiny Probe Demo
      • Ultra Sensitive Module
      • Detect Broken Wire
      • Easy Switch Position Detection
    • Final Assembly:
    • Demo After Final Assembly:
      • AC voltage detection
      • Switch Position Detection
      • Electric Field Detection
      • Magnetic Field Detection
        • Limitations on non-contact voltage testers:

Introduction:

Before we start building our easy peasy electricity detector, let me explain the basic functionality of non contact AC voltage detector.

We all know whenever there is current flowing through a conductor there is always a magnetic field around it and if the current flowing through conductor is AC current then the magnetic field varies periodically according to AC frequency. If we bring another conductor near it, a very small voltage will be induced in it due to electromagnetic induction and our easy peasy non contact electricity detector will use it to detect AC voltage.

 

image

Components required:

Main components required to built this non contact AC voltage detector are;

  • AD620
  • LED with resistor, as an indicator
  • Multi-turn trim-pot for gain adjustment
  • ±3V supply or 6V&3V supplies

 

image

In this project ±3V is also a good option to provide power supply this module (only two 3V coin cells).

 

image

Schematics:

In this project AD620 is configured to work with single supply (figure 34. on page 14 of datasheet) instead of dual power supply.

image

Prototype:

Simply make the breadboard circuit as shown in above figure and our first prototype is ready. Here I have used 50k trim-pot and there is ~26kohm gain resistance value.

image

.

..

image

 

Prototype Testing:

After building our first prototype its time to test it.

 

{tabbedtable} Tab Label Tab Content

No effect of Human Contact

This easy peasy voltage detector doesn't bother about human contact which is one of the ultimate goal of this device.


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Works Behind Obstacles

Voltage detector module should work behind obstacles to trace hidden wiring and it does it very easily. During this demo very small testing probe is used. Its sensitivity can be increased by either using bigger testing probe or decreasing the trim-pot resistance value.


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Tiny Probe Demo

Voltage detector should only detect voltages not metal. This awesome module does exactly the same. It only detect voltages not metals.


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Ultra Sensitive Module

Let increase the sensitivity of this tiny module by increase the size of testing probe. And now it can detect voltage from distance of few inches.


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Detect Broken Wire

Another useful feature of this voltage detector is broken wire detection.


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Easy Switch Position Detection

If you are wonder about any unlabeled switch's current position then this module is perfect for you to find out its current position without disassembling anything.


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.

Final Assembly:

After testing and concept verification its time to build a final easy to use device with battery and case.

 

{gallery} Easy Peasy Electricity Detector

image

IMAGE TITLE: Easy Peasy Non-Contact Electricity Detector (Not a Metal Detector) - Top View Before Final Assembly

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IMAGE TITLE: Easy Peasy Non-Contact Electricity Detector (Not a Metal Detector) - Bottom View Before Final Assembly

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IMAGE TITLE: Easy Peasy Non-Contact Electricity Detector (Not a Metal Detector) - After Final Assembly

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IMAGE TITLE: Easy Peasy Non-Contact Electricity Detector (Not a Metal Detector) - After Final Assembly

 

Demo After Final Assembly:

Lets test our newly built enclosed easy peasy non contact electricity (Voltage) tester.

AC voltage detection

 

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Switch Position Detection

 

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/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Electric Field Detection

 

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Magnetic Field Detection

 

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Limitations on non-contact voltage testers:

Nothing in this world is perfect so these non contact voltage detector have also some limitations.

  •     It cannot work with DC voltages.
  •     It does not actually measure the amount of voltage present. Instead, it only indicate the AC voltage presence

 

AD620 datasheet: HERE

MT3608 Boost IC datasheet: HERE

MP2307 Buck IC datasheet: HERE

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Top Comments

  • three-phase
    three-phase over 6 years ago +3
    Nice project, I do like the demonstration of changing the sensitivity with different coils and the final build into the little spherical case. Kind regards.
  • jw0752
    jw0752 over 6 years ago +3
    Hi Mahmood, I like your detector. I have a question though. Do you think you are detecting the magnetic field of the mains outlets or the electric field. I would vote for the electric field since there…
  • mahmood.hassan
    mahmood.hassan over 6 years ago in reply to jw0752 +2
    It detect electric field only if its fairly close (high gain setting/bigger antenna) to a wire. (like in switch position detection video) In case of electric switch board it doesn't detect any thing unless…
  • Ryozaki
    Ryozaki 6 months ago

    hi, can u reply in my comment about ultra sensitive module. what is material u used? i want to build one bro

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  • jhonzambrano
    jhonzambrano over 1 year ago in reply to beacon_dave

    Hi , yes i did that correction

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  • beacon_dave
    beacon_dave over 1 year ago in reply to jhonzambrano

    I think there is an error in the top breadboard diagram.

    The LED should be wired to output pin 6 not the power rail pin 7

    image

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  • jhonzambrano
    jhonzambrano over 1 year ago

    Hi, I have assembly this circuit on breadboard but it does not work , the led is always On? could you please help me to debug to find the issue ?

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  • kiri-ll
    kiri-ll over 6 years ago

    Nice thing image I the device name and the writing style the most

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