Circuit tracer giving false locations.

S

steve61

licensed Electrical Contractor
Location
Nebraska
Occupation
Electrician
I am in the process of labeling all of the circuits in the electrical cabinets where I work. I have been using a circuit tracer(EXTECH INSTRUMENTS CIRCUIT BREAKER FINDER CB10) I have been getting a fair amount of false leads, getting indications that a particular circuit is from one panel when I know that is not fed from that panel. Any tips for eliminating the false locations ? Thanks,Steve Wiese.
 
Do not use between hot and neutral, use hot to ground. Do not test the signal before you start tracing. It looks for the strongest signal, and if you start off with a strong signal, you will never find it. Go over the panel twice, as it is looking for a stronger signal each time, which will minimize false readings. They are a decent tracer for the money if you follow the instructions exactly. I can usually get to within one breaker space of being the exact circuit. My Amprobe, which is much more expensive will hit dead on.
 
Hillbilly1, are you talking about the Amprobe PASAR??? I have one of those, and it really is fairly accurate. Also have an older 3M one which is equally good, but the Amprobe kit has the transformer for 480 stuff, and also the 50 volt sender too, so it is the more used of the 2.


Howard
 
Have you used one before? Adjusting the sensitivity knob while working to pinpoint the correct breaker does take some practice.
 
I don’t have that model, but I have the Zircon breaker tracer kit, used it for probably 15 years, and I’ve never had a single false reading with it. You must follow the directions exactly however. You run over the panel once with out stopping, then run over it again, and it will indicate the correct one.

I also have the Ideal 959, much more advanced and much more expensive, and again, never had a “false” with it, but it isn’t a yes/no instrument. It takes some experience to interpret what you are reading. But it’s what I use when the situation is more complicated.
 
g-and-h_electric said:
Hillbilly1, are you talking about the Amprobe PASAR??? I have one of those, and it really is fairly accurate. Also have an older 3M one which is equally good, but the Amprobe kit has the transformer for 480 stuff, and also the 50 volt sender too, so it is the more used of the 2.


Howard
Click to expand...
Yes, take good care of it, they don’t make them anymore. I believe Fluke bought them out, and discontinued it.
 
The large older 12 floor hospital that I retired from had a lot of shared neutrals ( 3 hots & 1 neutral ) circuits from 120 / 208 panels. The believe it was over $500 ( price from 12 years ago ) for the great Amprobe tracers each sparky had. Cheap union electrical contractors only ever had $100 blue light special inferior tracers that would not work on these 40 year old circuits. Worked on up to 277 volts so could be used to trace 480 volt circuits because all of the 480 circuits originated from a four wire 480 / 277 Y transformers. The now require all 120 volt circuits to have thier own neutrals in new buildings & new installs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top