Tracing from breaker to unknown outlet

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dayradebaugh

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Location
El Dorado, KS
Occupation
Farmer
I've got a panel with a breaker in it which is unlabelled, and am trying to find out the outlet it serves. I've tried 2 approaches to identifying it:

1. shutting off breaker and seeing which outlet is dead. No luck; I went to every outlet I could find in the house, and they were all active.

2. opening panel and seeing where the hot wire from the breaker goes. No luck; the panel is too full to trace this wire from the breaker to the outside of the box.

Is there an instrument with a probe that I can put on the breaker that generates a tone that I can try to identify with a receiver? Or is there an easier way to do this?

Thanks
 
Did you measure for voltage on the load side of the breaker with it in the off position? It wouldn’t be the first time 2 circuits got inadvertently connected together somewhere.
 
Maybe turn off every breaker except that one and sniff around with a non-contact voltage tester.

Look in the attic and crawl spaces for newer cables, and around the house for added receptacles, etc.
 
If you can not find the receptacle, leave the breaker in the off position and call an electrician.

You could also have wire ran that is no longer landed on anything, just in wire nuts, in a box somewhere. Just leave the breaker off so that there is no risk of shock or fire. Let someone come out and trace it to find it for you. They can either remove it or show you where it goes.
 
...You could also have wire ran that is no longer landed on anything, just in wire nuts, in a box somewhere...

That's also a good thought. Now that I think of it, I do have a couple of circuits I capped off.

Thanks!
 
Oof, that's pricey. Any idea if shops might rent things like that, though? I have a similar situation as there's a 10/4 SJ-type in my walls that had been connected to my old FedPac panel, and since it couldn't be identified when I had the panel replaced, we didn't bother landing it on the new panel. Not a single thing in the house is without power, and when I had the siding and roof replaced two years back, I found nowhere where it might have gone. I had sort of expected to find an abandoned RV port during the siding tear-off, but nope. Way oversized for something like an attic exhaust fan, and the previous owner's hot tub had already been accounted for, soooo.....
 
PS - I have to believe this unidentified line is original to the house, as it's drilled and pulled through the sill and joists together with other original 12/4 and 14/4 runs known to supply the second floor. I just can't guess at what would need that much power in the late 70s/early 80s, even if it turned out to be a shared neutral like the others. But why stranded when everything else is solid, and why so big...
 
ModbusMan said:
Oof, that's pricey. Any idea if shops might rent things like that, though? I have a similar situation as there's a 10/4 SJ-type in my walls that had been connected to my old FedPac panel, and since it couldn't be identified when I had the panel replaced, we didn't bother landing it on the new panel. Not a single thing in the house is without power, and when I had the siding and roof replaced two years back, I found nowhere where it might have gone. I had sort of expected to find an abandoned RV port during the siding tear-off, but nope. Way oversized for something like an attic exhaust fan, and the previous owner's hot tub had already been accounted for, soooo.....
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Yes, Sunbelt and other equipment rental places usually have them.
 
I would just get a Fluke toner. They're less than $100. It will work best if you turn off all the breakers, or the main. Cuts down on interference. They will work either way but much better with no other circuits on.
 
hbiss said:
My way costs nothing and anybody can do it. Just turn the breaker off and wait for someone to say something doesn't work. :geek:

-Hal
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Then the sump pump is off and un-noticed until the basement floods! :)

I changed an old fuse panel to breakers a few years ago. I had a circuit that I couldn't find. I asked the home owner if they knew of anything that was not working. No, was their reply. I asked about outside but he said no, and also said floodlights and porch lights were on, no outside receptacles.
A few days later he says his small outdoor shed's light didn't work. I had asked him about that and he said no power out there. I guess a light doesn't use power!
 
hillbilly1 said:
This is about the cheapest locator you can get. It will only trace dead circuits, but should give you an idea of where it goes. It will trace through walls.
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not real usful for in the home but very good tracing underground. wire or pipe. My go to is a Fox and Hound for interior wiring. https://www.techtoolsupply.com/Prod...iP5HjfDDvedAdxPLbb6Zy_bPeO2CBUlsaAlUQEALw_wcB

hbiss said:
My way costs nothing and anybody can do it. Just turn the breaker off and wait for someone to say something doesn't work. :geek:

-Hal
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That is ok except if it goes somewhere or to something no one is using or only sporadically. Had one that was almost a year before it was finally noticed, only after the breaker was turned on and someone saw a light in the back of a barn come on after dark, a photo cell light.
 
Hire an electrician, this is not something to mess around with.

I'm surprised none of the moderators have shut this down yet, normally they won't allow us to provide advice to non-industry folk.
 
Joe.B said:
Hire an electrician, this is not something to mess around with.

I'm surprised none of the moderators have shut this down yet, normally they won't allow us to provide advice to non-industry folk.
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Tracing de-energized branch wire may not be considered DIY wiring.
 
Its probably either a old swamp cooler power (up high in a closet) or doorbell...
Or outside underground garage or shed power...
Oh..oops. yeah sorry bud we only help one admitted non electrician/engineer on this forum... sorry!
 
I appreciate your advice, and you've given me a lot of good ideas. I'm not a pro, but I know enough to be able to shut down all the other breakers and check with an inductive tester, which seems to me to be very straightforward.

Thanks for your help.
 
Joe.B said:
Hire an electrician, this is not something to mess around with.

I'm surprised none of the moderators have shut this down yet, normally they won't allow us to provide advice to non-industry folk.
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I'm going to guess it's because
ramsy said:
Tracing de-energized branch wire may not be considered DIY wiring.
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is the answer. Trying to figure out where dead stuff goes doesn't risk burning down houses (or barns, in OP's case) down.

rambojoe said:
Its probably either a old swamp cooler power (up high in a closet) or doorbell...
Or outside underground garage or shed power...
Oh..oops. yeah sorry bud we only help one admitted non electrician/engineer on this forum... sorry!
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Hmm... if you were referring to my situation... I dunno that swamp coolers have ever been particularly common here in the Land, but at 5.7kW I suppose it's within the realm of possibilities. Sure don't need that much for a whole-house fan (or a doorbell :D ) I haven't found anything to suggest that there had been an out-building on the property (it's really not big enough), but yeah, that also might be possible.

Jraef said:
For $17 I’d be tempted to try this little unit.

I’ve wasted more $$ on stupider tools…
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Probably not workable... we use tone generators like that at the office when chasing down old POTS/T1 lines and cross-connects, and more often than not you have to put the detector wand on the cable itself to get noise out of the thing. By the time you're more than an inch or two away, the induced RF field isn't strong enough for the wand to pick up on it.
 
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