Can anyone recommend a good circuit tracer

[georgeswe]

Hi and thank you to everyone in advance....

I'm looking to purchase a new circuit tracer, the (2) I have currently is a GreenLee and a 3M. I'm not overly impressed by the 3M but it is a older unit. The Greenlee is expensive but it works well. I'm currently looking at the Ideal line and was wondering if anyone had the Ideal circuit tracers and what they think about them. they have (3) different ones in the line with the cheapest being a 954 around $600 then they go up from there. They have a 956 which is the mid grade (around $800) and then the higher end that 958 ($1200) it has a inductive clamp included which may be nice. Not sure how well it works we have a underground locator with a clamp and I'm not overly impressed with the performance. Any thoughts would be great, I know that the technology has improved on these things over the years. The older 3M unit sometimes has an accuracy of knowing which phase the breaker is on sometimes. We do some surgical safe offs at sites that remain open and its kind of a pain in the rear not knowing exactly what circuit to isolate. Thanks for your help

 

[ZZDoug]

Over the years I've used most of the major models and come to the conclusion that the Amprobe models are the best. I have both the Amprobe 2005 and 4005 models, the difference being manual adjustment and automatic. Have been thinking about selling one, probably the manual one (2005). But sometimes it actually works better because of being more adjustable.

Also check out the Tasco circuit mapper before you buy, they are a little different in function but really cool for certain applications. It's high on my list for the next toy.

No matter what brand you get though, your results will vary depending a lot on how much you know how to use them. And none are perfect.

 

[Ponchik]

as mentioned by ZZDOUG the Tasco http://www.tasco-usa.com/CMT24S.htm is pretty good. I have seen that tracer in action and it is amazing.

 

[hpe1087]

Circuit Traser

Circuit Traser

I have recently, had to replace (2) wire/circuit trasers that came up missising unexpectedly at our shop. That's another story! :happysad:

In considering a replacement, we decided to purchase a similar unit to what we previously had since we were familiar with its operation...a Tempo 508S. We have used this model to locate underground cable runs fairly successfully.

We did own a Greenlee 2011, which was another story. We didn't have much success in mastering the signaling of the traser, even though a training video tape was included with the kit.

I decided to purchase an Amprobe AT-2005, which had very favorable reports as reported in other postings in this forum. It is due to arrive sometime this week and I will come to my own conclusion regarding its operational success.

What I have learned along the way is that one needs to identify their testing needs and purchase equipment best suited for that purpose.

A cable traser may work best if you have need for underground wire tracing. A circuit traser may be a better option for tracing branch circuits. You might look online at several brands & models of each type of traser/locater to determine what may work best for Circuit Traseryour specific needs.

The forum is a good place to begin, but you might check w/ other companies to see what they have used and how well the test instruments have performed.

 

[georgeswe]

Thanks for the Imput

Thanks for the Imput

Thanks to everyone for your input, I did a little more research online and we went with the Ideal 61-956. The price was around $750. We already own an underground circuit locator. We needed another that would be able to trace circuits back to a panel. After making the purchase I had (3) different guys use it and they all said it worked very well. I had a chance to use it as well, I had to find (4) circuits that I needed to turn off because some demo was being done in the area and I wanted everything safe prior to the start. I was surprised by the quality of the units and loved the OLED screen which was very easy to read. The one nice thing is that it gives signal strength from 0-100. and a scale bar. Also it has a nice kit with alligator clips and different configurations of device connections. I was on the roof and I connected the signal box to the live circuit and was able to trace thru the roof and pick up which way the conduit was running under the roof structure. I then went downstairs and held the sensor in front of me as I walked around and followed the highest signal strength. It led me to a room which I didnt know a panel was in the door was locked so I had security open it and there was a panel not listed on the plans I had. So it worked very well.