circuit tracer

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

steveng

Senior Member
Location
Texas
anyone using one of those live circuit tracers for finding breakers in panels not marked.?

which is the best one to buy, to use on live circuits ?
 
I have an Ideal that was fairely inexpensive and works well for labeling panels. The signal generator plugs into the receptacle and includes a gfci tester button. I bought it because my better one was on a different truck and I needed one now, not later. I now prefer the Ideal. It is not for 480/277.
 
I am a huge fan of the Amprobe brand tracers. I find them to be reliable and if you set them to 'max' you can actually trace MC cables in walls. I even followed a PVC pipe through a slab to find out where it came out of the slab into a wall.

Now that said it's easy for me to be a fan as it is about a $1000 kit and I don't have to pay for it.
 
iwire said:
I am a huge fan of the Amprobe brand tracers.
Click to expand...
I second that motion. The Amprobe AT-2000 series seems to have quickly become a standard. I have nearly a dozen models and styles of tracers of various sorts, but the Amprobe AT-2005 kit I have seems to be the most popular because guys seem famaliar with it and can use it easily. There's value in owning tools that people already know how to use or tools which are inherently intuitive.
 
mdshunk said:
I have nearly a dozen models and styles of tracers of various sorts,
Click to expand...

Do you know where to get a good price?

The boss has been trying to buy 8 of the fully equipped Amprobe kits and has not been able to get much of a break.

but the Amprobe AT-2005 kit I have seems to be the most popular because guys seem familiar with it and can use it easily. There's value in owning tools that people already know how to use or tools which are inherently intuitive.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more, that tracing kit has a learning curve. Once you understand what it can do it is a very good tool.

For example if you have a bundle of MCs and need to find a particular circuit in that group this tracer will do it.
 
iwire said:
Do you know where to get a good price?
Click to expand...
Not really. Most of my other tracers I got at contractor bankruptcy sales or on eBay. The AT-2005 I got from the supply house. They had about the same price I could get it online for.
 
I'm a big fan of the Greenlee circuit tracer. I think I paid about 45.00 or so. I never have to question if it was "this" breaker or the one above it or below it like I have in the past with your sensitivity adjustable Ideal tracers. That's just My 2 cents anyhow.
 
iwire said:
For example if you have a bundle of MCs and need to find a particular circuit in that group this tracer will do it.
Click to expand...

Anyone know of a "cheapie" that will do this effectively? Tried with mine (Sperry) the other day and the signal from the generator seemed to be induced in much the same manner as an NCV returns a false positive.

Even though the sensitivity setting works reliably at the CB, midway along the run I wasn't able to discern what was what. Eventually just threw in the towel and grabbed another circuit nearby that could be readily traced visually.

Thoughts... without spending $1000? :-?
 
Anyone know of a tracer that can locate shorts, ground faults and opens in buried RMC. We have amprobe AT-2000 at work and I was learning how to use the kit, it says in the instructions that it can be used with RMC, however when I contacted Amprobe about the range and if I had to disconnect the steet lights from the circuit, thay said it wouldn't work. Anyone know if it will work or something that would?
 
tallguy said:
Found some info online about this from Hong Kong, but that was about it... Perhaps it's been discontinued?? :-?
Click to expand...

Look at this to see the product:

3M
search for it there, except for the repair US repair center most are foriegn web sites hosting this product, seems product came out in 98' ....

Maybe the .edu used it as a search point or a basis of class instruction.
 
I just purchased an Amprobe AT-2005 after asking around for opinions.
The deal was sealed when I contacted Amprobe and was informed that they are manufactured in the USA.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top