locating buried boxes/wires

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B4T

B4T

Senior Member
Location
Long Island, N.Y.
Best way to find buried boxes is put a 24 inch level or piece of molding across the wall center of box height. I have a 1/16 X 6 in. drill bit I use to probe if I find a bump in the wall. I tap in in using my pliers.. first straight.. then left and right through same hole
 
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220/221

Senior Member
Location
AZ
how4.GIF
 
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Rich R

Senior Member
electricalperson said:
anybody have any tips for locating buried boxes? a homeowner decided to move a switch i roughed in a few months ago and i have no idea where he put it since it was buried by sheetrockers. my bag of tricks includes feeling the wall for bumps with my hand, using a 2x4 to see uneven spots, using a circuit tracer, and last but not least using a screwdriver to make holes when all else fails.

next time im going to use spraypaint on the floor under my switch and receptacle boxes and put an R for receptacle and S for switch. maybe ill buy a digital camera...
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Well if you were thinking about buying a see snake camera, this might be the time to do it

Make a small hole at bottom of each stud bay and use camera to look up

Never mind, i see you already have one
 
mdshunk

mdshunk

Senior Member
Location
Right here.
Rich R said:
Make a small hole at bottom of each stud bay and use camera to look up
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Since this is a garage, these are more than likely insulated stud bays. That would pretty much mean exploring the cavity pretty thoroughly with the scope. No peeking up or down the whole bay, in this case.

To the OP... You didn't happen to check the opposite side of the wall, did you?
 
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ohm

Senior Member
Location
Birmingham, AL
I first measure for voltage where the wire should be comming from. If live, kill it then hook up a toner, Then try tracking your wire along the sheetrock. I've been able to follow wire to burried boxes many feet away with my Harris Toner.
 
76nemo

76nemo

Senior Member
Location
Ogdensburg, NY
ohm said:
I first measure for voltage where the wire should be comming from. If live, kill it then hook up a toner, Then try tracking your wire along the sheetrock. I've been able to follow wire to burried boxes many feet away with my Harris Toner.
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Harris is one of the finest companies in Telcom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
LarryFine

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
sparky723 said:
If he does'nt find them for you, Take the largest EMT bender you can freely swing and start wailing on the wall where you 'think' the boxes SHOULD be.

Guess what? we found them.
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That sounds like Sheriff Pusser 'searching' a car in Walking Tall.
 
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ohm

Senior Member
Location
Birmingham, AL
alfiesauce said:
Even if you find the box, what are you going to do about the splice?
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If the box was moved by an amateur it probably wasn't stapled. I would try attaching a pull string and pull the wire out for inspection.

By now the owner should be very willing to say exactly what he did and where he did it , since you're charging him T & M to fix his mess.

If all else fails get out the hammer, EMT bender etc. It will cost a lot less to replace the sheetrock than have an electrician go postal.
 
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alfiesauce

Senior Member
ohm said:
If the box was moved by an amateur it probably wasn't stapled. I would try attaching a pull string and pull the wire out for inspection.
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I'd be wary of pulling the splice apart.
I've found that there are a lot of amateurs staple the heck out of wires.
Maybe he could cut in a receptacle box below the switch for a proper splice.
 
celtic

celtic

Senior Member
Location
NJ
alfiesauce said:
It is legal, but I sure wouldn't trust some homeowner to do it up properly. Especially if he can't even mount a box...
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That's for the OP - not the HO.
 
celtic

celtic

Senior Member
Location
NJ
alfiesauce said:
...
Maybe he could cut in a receptacle box below the switch for a proper splice.
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First he has to find the existing box/flying splice...
I'm still with post #2.
 
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