Here are a couple of ways you can trace down existing electrical wiring circuits.
You could spend a lot of money on circuit tracers and there are low cost methods as well.It all depends on your location and needs.
One of my favorite’s is shown here in my YouTube video.
I like the ease of use and portability.It can be used in a light fixture that uses standard A-19 lamps,outlets and on exposed wires.
Also you can use this style tester by yourself saving trips back and forth between the breaker panel and the area your working on.
For more information visit the Sperry site. http://www.awsperry.com/catalog?item=cs-550a
Next up is a tool I use for tracing known “dead circuits”. PRO3000
Tone & Probe Kit
fluke-tracer1
This can be used on phone,cable tv,and computer cabling as well.I like this one because I can find buried wires in walls,cabinets as well as the dreaded attic and crawl spaces.You have to remember that this tool is designed for tracing low voltage application but you can use it if your 110v circuits are dead.If you hook it up to 110v you’ll blow up the transmitter.
Other methods require a helper.You can use the old yell back and forth to each other or you can use 2-way radios
These radios are great when working with 2 people that may be out of yelling range or in a quite setting like a doctors office where screaming out “is that it” is not practical.
One more method you could use in two ways depending on you environment is to use a music radio plugged into the outlet you are working on.
radio-and-ext-cord
You could plug the radio in and turn up the volume,if conditions are right, or you could run an extension cord to get the radio closer to your panel when searching for the right breaker.
Very rarely do I go on a service call and find a perfectly marked panel let alone enough information to shut off the correct circuit.Therefore we must use the proper method to find the breaker to work safely on the circuit.
Sparky
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m trying to trace a circuit back to the breaker box. The problem is, the circuit is dead at the outlet from an accident by a home owner with an electric hedge trimmer. He cut the cord, the circuit shorted and the outlet doesn’t work now of course. When I went to the box to re-set the breaker for him, all the breakers are showing on. I tried all the 110 breakers and still no power on the line. There is one GFCI recept in the line that I can find. There is no power at the front of that recept.
I check the hot wires in the breaker box and there is power going to each breaker. How can I find out which breaker serves that circuit?
I have a light switch in my kitchen that doesn’t appear to turn anything on or off. It is a switch near above the counter near the sink. There are two other switches in the same three gang box. one is for the garbage disposal and the other for doe lights in the header above the cabinets. The switch in question has the hot Wire jumpered from one of the other switches. The other wire on the switch comes off and goes upward along with the neutral and ground. Since it’s in the wall I can’t figure out where it goes. I’ve eliminated outside lights, attic fans, dishwasher, receptacles, etc. It doesn’t look like there are any draywall patches in the ceiling where something was removed. I’m at a loss as to what this switch might be for. Is there some device that I could use to trace the wire in the wall to see where the other end may be?
Thanks!