What use is a little button ( use to make lights blink , I for get the name ) . I put a light socket what I make up that plug into different receptacles around the dwelling . I take my amp probe and in panel go down each breaker. The probe will bounce up and down when on the right circuit .
How do you trace concealed circuits without shutting the power off?
- Thread starter Tainted
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drcampbell
Senior Member
- Location
- The Motor City, Michigan USA
- Occupation
- Registered Professional Engineer
True, but nothing assures that the grounded prong will make contact first.
Which probably doesn't matter, there's going to be ~60 volts to ground when this thing's conducting.
- Location
- Bremerton, Washington
Yes I have used that for 40 years, super simple. But back then the ckt tracers were not that good.
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
Pulled the trigger on the 959.
Used it today to trace out the issue with some dead receptacles in a store room.
Work fabulously.
Very happy with it.
It ain’t cheap, so I’ll be adding a charge for breaking it out. Or upping my hourly. Or something.
Used it today to trace out the issue with some dead receptacles in a store room.
Work fabulously.
Very happy with it.It ain’t cheap, so I’ll be adding a charge for breaking it out. Or upping my hourly. Or something.
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
It’s a good tracer, but we were getting them a lot cheaper, we were paying around $600 for it. But then when you buy 100 at a time, they tend to give you a better deal! LOL!Pulled the trigger on the 959.
Used it today to trace out the issue with some dead receptacles in a store room.
Work fabulously.
It ain’t cheap, so I’ll be adding a charge for breaking it out. Or upping my hourly. Or something.
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
I know they have three versions of it as well. 955, 957, and 959.
959 has the clamp.
Paid $1800 for mine.
959 has the clamp.
Paid $1800 for mine.
Ravenvalor
Senior Member
- Location
- Piedmont region of NC
Would you please recommend a voltage and wattage size?
Thanks
drcampbell
Senior Member
- Location
- The Motor City, Michigan USA
- Occupation
- Registered Professional Engineer
I²t, P=EI
Ravenvalor
Senior Member
- Location
- Piedmont region of NC
I think that I will plug three 1500 watt space heaters into the circuit.
Thanks for the great advice.
drcampbell
Senior Member
- Location
- The Motor City, Michigan USA
- Occupation
- Registered Professional Engineer
If it's a 20-amp OCPD, that's 37.5 amps, (nominal) less than 200% of breaker rating, and will take about 2-6 minutes to open. Might be a little slow to be practical.
full disclosure: Shootin' from th' hip; did not refer to manufacturer's I²t data.
full disclosure: Shootin' from th' hip; did not refer to manufacturer's I²t data.
Ravenvalor
Senior Member
- Location
- Piedmont region of NC
electrical wannabe
Member
- Location
- wisconsin
- Occupation
- journeyman
more so looking for help from everyone but. i am a service electrician that is tired of playing ring around the rosy locating circuits. in operating buildings pretty much everyday. sometimes my environments are high risk of turning the wrong circuit off.
hillbilly, ive seen you mention in an older thread the amprobes are better due to the transmitters draw short bursts of high frequency current from the line power. which you had mentioned this feature is more accurate than the other devices like the greenlee or suretrace.
honestly, this is coming out of my pocket so. the amprobe at-6010 for $500 looks kind of attractive. hopefully i am not missing out on too many features compared to the at-6020 or at-6030. anything more than $500 is pretty expensive imo. ive also researched the at-6000 series and see no mention of the drawing off of line power.
i trust you guys with the experience. what you all think? hunt down an older model like hillbillys? might be even cheaper than $500 at that point. most of my high risk circuits are energized usually. but i am sure there will be projects where i need to locate de energized circuits.
looking to buy the right tool once, and be done with it. i need something better on my truck than these cheap $50 120v circuit tracers. thanks for your time and insight guys.
electrical wannabe
Member
- Location
- wisconsin
- Occupation
- journeyman
upon further reading, i would have to go with the at-6020 because of it having more modes. some of the modes are specifically for locating breakers with cleaner frequencies leading to less false readings when locating breakers. this bumps me up to $850. the suretrace for $1100 at this point is in the same ballpark. man o man its hard to pull the trigger on something that expensive.
FionaZuppa
Senior Member
- Location
- AZ
- Occupation
- Part Time Electrician (semi retired, old) - EE retired.
I think there's a fusible link in the ring. lol.
It might be more fun to off all the ocpd's, insert ring, then go back and flip on the ocpd's, just to make sure the one ckt ocpd is functional, and you don't have to get energized.
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
If all, or most of, what you’re doing is tracing down the proper breaker, and you have a place to connect, this one works great.
It must be used on a live circuit.
It works up to 277V
It must be used on a live circuit.
It works up to 277V
Ravenvalor
Senior Member
- Location
- Piedmont region of NC
If there was a type of ampmeter that you can hold up against the breaker without removing the panel cover you'd have a great product.
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