leak test, dead ground test, continuity test, all the same, however a break test is somewhat different, I wire can have a partial break in it, or a full break, a full break would equate to a continuity test, then you have a break in a wire that's grounding out on metal, maybe a partial break, partial ground out, then some behave intermittent
I have a toaster that has one side of the lead broken, dead break, but I pull the toaster along the wall sothe lead is a 90 right off the plug, the break is right at the plug like someone got as close to the plug as possible and hit it with a razor clean through, however the wire protrudes just a smidge o n both ends, cuz I am lazy I just move the wire so its lined up then put tension on it so contact is made, long as I dont move toaster it works day in day out..
it didn't start out a clean break, started out where it didn't work at all and no visible break, but I had noticed at a certain angle it would work, then one day it sparked bad and cut clean, I just moved it around till it made contact and then pulled onthelead till it stayed in place and been using it that way since.. too lazy to get a simple 2 prong plug at home depot for $2.89 and fix it I guess? for the life of me I have no idea how it happened, did I nick it with a knife? was it defective?
so wires can have a complete break in them and the insulation can be in tact, toaster did this, something made it arc and the heat burned through the insulation and made a clean cut.. they can also chaff insulation creating a ground out, leak, then obviously they canbreak clean through insulation and all, sometimes the raw end grounds out or even touched something else and activates it, rarer but known to happen..
so you have to test these leads for the various situations, first do a continuity test, see if its carrying any juice or has a clean break in it.. then on to the others..
a video runs through continuity in a simple manner
