Gardner Bender GCT-3304 Continuity Tester

I'm reviewing the GCT-3304 Continuity Tester: This tester is a gem. Multimeters and test lamps have their place. But sometimes you just need to know if point A has an electrical connection to point B. In that case, less is more. No bulk, no settings, no waiting for auto-range, no beeping. This tool simply and cheaply does the job it was designed for. As is, I give it 5 star minus.But it could be better. The test lead is very stiff vinyl 18 gauge wire. Wants to tangle and pull no matter how you treat it. And the alligator clip is covered by a stiff plastic boot that makes it tough to operate. Why? This device operates at 3 volts. It is not for probing high-voltage, so why shield the clip? Gardner Bender could spend literally less than 5 cents more for 2 feet of excellent, flexible silicon wire for the test lead. Would elevate it from good to great, something every person who works on electronics or electrical systems would have in their kit.To improve this tester: Get some ultra-flexible silicone-jacketed hookup wire (Amazon has lots of options) in 18-22 gauge. Remove the battery compartment cover and the batteries. Use pliers to remove the battery contact connected to the test lead wire from the body of the tester. Pull the plastic boot away from the alligator clip and use pliers to bend the clip so that the wire slides out (it is not soldered at this end -- but it will be). Use a soldering iron to remove the battery contact from the other end of the test lead. Get rid of the old test lead and plastic alligator clip cover. Cut a piece of silicon wire to an appropriate length. Strip one end and solder it to the battery contact just like the original test lead. Strip the other end and thread it into on of the attachments/holes in the alligator clip. Solder the wire to the alligator clip. Bend the end of the alligator clip around the insulated wire to take the strain off the soldered connection. Replace the battery contact into the tool and install new LR-44 batteries. If the batteries seem loose after this process, remove the contact and bend it so it puts more pressure on the batteries.Finally, the two batteries that come with this tool are likely to leak. Find some genuine name-brand LR-44 batteries if you want to keep this tool long-term. If you buy from Amazon, find batteries that are sold and shipped by Amazon, because there are a lot of fakes sold by third parties on Amazon (particularly Maxell brand).Then use this simple and effective tool for decades and hand it down to your grandkids.

This listing is for 7 different items, and you pick one of them to order. Regardless of which product you buy, your review is included with reviews by others who bought a different product. For example, I bought a automotive voltage tester, which does not use an internal battery. Other folks bought a continuity tester, which does use an internal battery. Thus the confusion in both questions and reviews about whether the device contains a battery. My voltage tester works just fine. A voltage tester does not have an internal battery. A continuity tester requires an internal battery to send electrons through a circuit to test it. The voltage tester I selected is much smaller than the typical garage unit. A smaller and easier to handle tester was exactly what I wanted.

These are really great little continuity testers and I have a couple of them. Small size, easy to see light and decent length lead. Would be nice if the lead wire was silicone, but still work well.

Very useful little tester. I work as a technician in thr entertainment industry and wanted a way to verify continuity in lamps, wires etc. without carrying around a multimeter all day. This tiny thing does that job. Bright red LED is super easy to see. My only issues so far have been:1. The battery has been somehow shaken loose of its contacts a couple times. It's held in place by a somewhat flimsy plastic tab and I've had one or two instances where I thought the battery had died, but it was actually that it had come loose. An easy fix however.2. The wire is a bit on the long side and can get tangled easily in a tool pouch or pocket (which this tester seems to be intended for, given the pocket clip).3. The alligator clip doesn't exactly make it easy to probe very small components. I'm not sure what applications this would normally be used for, but it didn't work for what I needed. Thankfully I had an old voltage tester lying around and repurposed one of the leads by crimping it onto this tester as a replacement for the clip.

Very compact. The red indicator light is nice and bright. Great price. I'm normally hooked on using a Fluke but this definitely has it's place for quick wire tracing.

I'm an electrician. I usually don't buy Gardner Bender because their quality is mediocre at best. But they seem to be the only ones making a simple test light like this that has a 360º lens. This is rarely important except when it is. Tip: Cut the pigtail lead and make it longer.

The description states, 'uses AAA batteries. The Contintunity tester uses 3 LR44 button batteries. Test lead (wire) appears to be CCA and is quite stiff. For my purposes (work bench tests) this little tester works great. I guess I best get use to stocking a few button batteries now. Good tool

This is a great addition to any electronics workbench. Very compact. Nice, bright light. Zero complaints. Would buy again.

(1) It uses 2x button cells due to size limit. I'd wish it were pen length and use AAA cells.(2) The light is at the tip. I'd wish the light was at the top, which would easier to see, because your hand often blocks the view.

Buen producto muy practico y resitente para trabajos de electricidad en casa o taller puede probar voltaje en lineas de caja exagonales en el techo o lineas en cajas de apagadores o contactos en paredTambien puedes revisar contactos de 120 y 220 volts CAY es mas util y practico para tableros de 120 y 220 v CA para revisar entre neutro y linea y fasesPuedes revisar pastillas electricas (interruptor termomagnetico de 120 y 220 volts CA individualmebteUn probador inalambrico puede sensar los cables pero puede sensar otro cable diferente que el que requiere chequiarY este probador es cable de 61 cm con punta para revisar individualmente cada pastilla fusible interruptor termomagnetico protectores de corto circuito y alto amperaje segun su rango.Es mas facil y rapido de usar para detectar voltage que un multimetro (dependiendo del trabajo a realizar)

Schnel

Just used for simple continuity testing.

Exelente calidad del producto muy complacido con mi compra.