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Any good circuit tracers - goaliedad - 11-03-2019

Trying to make sense of the wiring at the lake house. What is a good circuit tracer / tone generator?

I had need of one a while ago and wasted $25 at HF. Yea, it works but not very far down the wire 

Looking at brand name stuff on Amazon I see lots of choices and lots of price variety. I know good stuff costs, and I am willing to spend decent money on thus, but not stupid money. Can I get a decent one for $100?


RE: Any good circuit tracers - JosephP - 11-03-2019

How long ago did you get the one at HF?  I bought one last winter for some stuff I was helping with for a family member and thought it worked great...


RE: Any good circuit tracers - R Clark - 11-04-2019

I bought a Klein Tools device for testing/identifying coax cables in the house.  I'm happy with the way it performed.

I see a Klein circuit tracer on Amazon for $33.  The description says it will send a tone 1000 feet down a wire.

The electricians I know all seem to carry Fluke equipment, but that gets into crazy $$$ for those of us who don't make a living with the equipment we buy.


RE: Any good circuit tracers - pprobus - 11-04-2019

(11-03-2019, 03:16 PM)goaliedad Wrote: Trying to make sense of the wiring at the lake house. What is a good circuit tracer / tone generator?

I had need of one a while ago and wasted $25 at HF. Yea, it works but not very far down the wire 

Looking at brand name stuff on Amazon I see lots of choices and lots of price variety. I know good stuff costs, and I am willing to spend decent money on thus, but not stupid money. Can I get a decent one for $100?

Taking a small length of cord and wago'ing (I don't use wire nuts anymore, but you could wire nut) the hot and neutral together will tell you which circuit breaker an outlet is on.  For lights, unscrew the bulb and add one of those outlets that screw into a standard bulb socket and do the same.  Old school and cheap.
Laugh


RE: Any good circuit tracers - Roly - 11-04-2019

(11-03-2019, 03:16 PM)goaliedad Wrote: Trying to make sense of the wiring at the lake house. What is a good circuit tracer / tone generator?

I had need of one a while ago and wasted $25 at HF. Yea, it works but not very far down the wire 

Looking at brand name stuff on Amazon I see lots of choices and lots of price variety. I know good stuff costs, and I am willing to spend decent money on thus, but not stupid money. Can I get a decent one for $100?

 Are you just looking for a circuit breaker finder or a wire path tracer ?  For the $25 HF one, that is a circuit breaker finder which will also work somewhat as a path finder but only for short distances and wire near the receiver but it was not made for that.   I use a Klien digital circuit breaker finder that works well IF you follow the directions.  Roly


RE: Any good circuit tracers - goaliedad - 11-04-2019

Ideally I would like to trace wires, not just ID breakers. 

It is easy enough to plug a radio into an outlet and trip breakers until you fine the right one


RE: Any good circuit tracers - goaliedad - 11-04-2019

(11-04-2019, 07:07 AM)WxMan Wrote: I bought a Klein Tools device for testing/identifying coax cables in the house.  I'm happy with the way it performed.

I see a Klein circuit tracer on Amazon for $33.  The description says it will send a tone 1000 feet down a wire.

The electricians I know all seem to carry Fluke equipment, but that gets into crazy $$$ for those of us who don't make a living with the equipment we buy.
 My search skills are off today- what model are you looking at?  Thanks


RE: Any good circuit tracers - brianwelch - 11-04-2019

(11-04-2019, 02:02 PM)goaliedad Wrote: Ideally I would like to trace wires, not just ID breakers. 

It is easy enough to plug a radio into an outlet and trip breakers until you fine the right one

Definitely works...also have used an old school baby monitor and a radio for longer distance (other floors). If the monitor goes to static, the outlet it was plugged into was tripped. if the monitor goes silent, the radio's ct was tripped...
I'm sure there are numerous ways to otherwise de-fur the feline


RE: Any good circuit tracers - R Clark - 11-04-2019

(11-04-2019, 02:15 PM)goaliedad Wrote:  My search skills are off today- what model are you looking at?  Thanks

Klein Circuit breaker finder

It may not be all you're looking for, based on the subsequent posts.


RE: Any good circuit tracers - goaliedad - 11-04-2019

(11-04-2019, 05:41 PM)WxMan Wrote: Klein Circuit breaker finder

It may not be all you're looking for, based on the subsequent posts.

Thanks!