Circuit Buddy is the ideal test light or wire piercing probe to use when working in difficult situations like under the dashboard of a vehicle. It is in these conditions where you can hook and pierce wires with a one handed operation and be certain that you make contact every time. In these situations it becomes extremely difficult to back probe and therefore to pierce the wire would be the best option. With back probing in these conditions the probe could also cause a short circuit against any nearby metal parts. By using Circuit Buddy as intended, the hole punctured in the insulation is so small that it would be difficult to locate after the test.

Automotive test lights / circuit testers have been around for quite some time and although effective to use it could cause damage. The standard test light has a sharp point to pierce into the wire and you normally end up poking your finger and that really hurts. In most cases the test lights operates with a globe that indicates a live circuit. 

Although there are a variety of test lights available they are not always practical and easy to use especially when piercing wires, and NOT always computer safe. Some test lights could cost you thousands in damages to automotive computers or even deploy airbags. If you take a small 3 Watt globe it will cause a current spike of up to 1000 mA that is way over the limit for sensitive electronic circuits. A proper circuit tester should not draw more than 20 mA to be computer save and any rating bellow 20 mA can only be safer to use on sensitive automotive computers.

Circuit buddy draw less than 20 mA @ 48 Volt and even less when using the test light @ 12 or 24 Volt. The approximate current drawn by circuit buddy are as follows: 1.85 mA @ 6 Volt, 3.7mA @ 12 Volt, 7.4 mA @ 24 Volt and 14.8 mA @ 48 Volt.