Which circuit tracer do you prefer?

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bgelectric

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Im in the market for a reasonably priced circuit tracer for live and dead circuits?
I am more interested in opinions of those who actually own a circuit tracer and would recommend it to others or vice versa those who
own one that they would not recommend.
 
bgelectric said:
Im in the market for a reasonably priced circuit tracer for live and dead circuits?
I am more interested in opinions of those who actually own a circuit tracer and would recommend it to others or vice versa those who
own one that they would not recommend.
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I have used the dead-circuit-only, el-cheapo GET 4220T / GET 4220R combination from GB Instruments. Got it at a hardware store.
It has done the job I got it for. It will trace communications or dead power wiring pretty well, and has easily adjustable sensitivity on the receiver. But it has limited range and will not work at all through conduit or shielding.
The receiver can also serve as a half-assed 60 Hz detector, but it is optimized for the tone frequency emitted by the transmitter. It uses is a modulated tone, which helps sort things out from the noise too.
 
Basic Units

Basic Units

For years I carried a unit made by an outfit called " HV Systems " called the " Breaker Finder. " This is a live line tester for up to 277V.
Although they are no longer made, its to date the most reliable I have found.
I found a second hand replacement on Ebay when the last one I had from the early 1990s died.

The Amprobe ECB50A is unimpressive and temperamental, also having no light on the transmitter module.

I tried a decent " looking " unit from Extech which seemed to be good at first glance and then I found it to give tone through feedback on shared neutral which makes it absolutely useless.

AS thus I would consider some of the others mentioned in this thread and avoid the 2 mentioned directly above.

If you can find an old HV systems Breaker Finder they are golden for light commercial duty.

Sincerely
 
This is a hot work required tracer, to find the circuit! You can plug it up cold but to find circuits you need to be hot!

Here which is Tasco, they supply Greenlee their like product. I've used it and it works. My second selection is a Fox and hound. A telephone product that works cold, only.

Neither products will seperate any mixed neutrals.
 
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