Episode 3 Column
As we previously mentioned, withstanding voltage testers have a limited range of applications. There are probably very few readers who have ever operated this device, or seen one being used. I myself was once one of those people. Nowadays, our in-house training offers comprehensive, hands-on experience. In the past, however, it was purely classroom-based. New salespeople who had gone through that kind of training were expected to learn from the catalog and sell devices they had never operated or seen in real life. Looking back now, I’m amazed we managed to get any work done at all. One possible reason is that, at the time, the customers knew more about the measuring instruments than we did. Despite my shortcomings as a salesperson and my inadequate product explanations, our customers were gracious enough to patiently compensate for my mistakes. Sometimes they even invited me to their sites and let me use the devices during business talks. I remember silently thinking, “It’s the first time I am seeing how this device works.” For me, those customers were more than just clients. They were like teachers or senior colleagues.
Section Chief Kamiji is a character who combines the “mentor” and “senior colleague” types of customers from my memories. He is like the formidable quality assurance manager I mentioned in the description of the second episode. As a stubborn old-timer born in the Shōwa era, he occasionally comes across as rather old-fashioned. However, I portrayed him as a still-active electrical safety testing expert. Even as technology and digitalization of electrical products advance, the dangers of electricity remain, and the knowledge and experience needed for safety never lose value. Ignorance of safety-related circuit technology can directly endanger lives. Mr. Utsugi’s experience in hardware design made him acutely aware of this, which is why he asked Section Chief Uechi to mentor Minami.
In Episode 3, I tried to present the technical topics in a concise and easy-to-understand manner, though they may still seem a bit complicated. It was especially difficult to find suitable replacements for the specialized vocabulary. If I had focused only on explaining the concepts, like how the tester works or the underlying theory, the manga would have ended up rather superficial. So instead, I tried to center the story around real-life-like situations, allowing readers to see tests (and hopefully remember them better). Although the test scenes depict specific procedures, I left out explanations of some steps, so it’s not possible to perform tests just by following what’s shown in the manga. Unlike most measuring instruments, withstanding voltage testers (hipot tester) aren’t something you can simply “figure out” by trial and error, without reading a manual. If someone were to imitate what they saw in manga and start tinkering with it, they could accidentally trigger the output, causing a serious injury. We often receive inquiries about withstanding voltage testers, such as: “I just bought the device, but it doesn’t work. Could it be defective?” However, in many cases, people simply have not read the instruction manual, which clearly states that safety mechanisms must be released before using the device. Another question we frequently receive concerns the “upper current limit setting,” which determines the pass/fail judgment in testing. This topic, explained in our manga, often results from a lack of understanding of the fundamental test purpose. Users who understand how the test works know that these types of questions simply cannot be answered by testing equipment manufacturers.
I’d like to share one more story before we wrap up. When we were filming the testing scene for this manga’s reference material, we didn’t use a safety fence. During the shoot, however, I absentmindedly tried to reach for a piece of equipment placed near the withstanding voltage tester while it was outputting high voltage and got a very stern warning. I used to think that safety fences were a bit of overkill, but this incident reminded me that even when we think we “know better,” people sometimes simply act without thinking. That’s exactly why the safety fence is there. Along with insulating mats and gloves, it plays an important role in keeping us safe.
