In this paper, we develope a diagnosis device for ZnO arrester by detecting the leakage current in service. To diagnose the deterioration of ZnO arrester, the device detects the total leakage current which flows between an arrester and ground, and analyzes the resistive current(third harmonic current) which is an indicator of deterioration of ZnO arrester. We use the optical cable which can transfer a detected data without a noise, also use a microprocessor for a data storage, processing, and trend analysis. Experiment are executed to verify its performance in laboratory and the results show that the diagnosis device exactly detects the total leakage current and the resistive current, so it can diagnose the deterioration of ZnO arrester. Also the leakage current of ZnO arrester is detected using the developed diagnostic device in field, these results are presented.