As a handyman I often find myself needing to know what circuit something is attached to - light, outlet, appliance, random wires, etc. A lot of the time it's easy to determine, especially if the person who did the wiring correctly labeled the breakers. However, often enough it's not that simple.
I know there are multiple ways to do it - get another person to help (using phones if need be), plugging in a device that makes noise or light, walking back & forth after flipping what you guess is the right breaker, etc. However, there are circumstances where these methods either don't work or are too time consuming. I work by myself and often times the homeowner isn't home, so there's no one else to recruit to help me. Also, some customers have computers or other equipment constantly running that cannot have power interrupted to it. This means the method of guessing at which mislabeled breaker is the right one isn't an option (nor is turning off all the power to the house).
I know there are circuit tracers, wire tracers, tone generators and probe kits that involve digital readouts, tones, lights, etc. I'm wondering if there is one tool/device that takes care of all of my needs. I see the circuit tracers look like they use a device that plugs into outlets (and can therefore be plugged into a light socket - with the right adapter), but what about a junction box in the ceiling that has hot wires in it that terminate there? I have this issue right now. It appears the intended purpose was for a light, but right now it's just hot wires ending in the J-box. I'd like to know which breaker this wire is connected to, but the J-box is nowhere near the breaker box, so I can't see a light or hear a noise from the breaker box and I'm working alone. Is there a tool that I could clip to the wires and trace which breaker the wires go to?
My understanding of a wire tracer is that it's used when there is no current in the wires (can't be hot) and seems to be for finding the route of a wire through the house. I realize I could try to hook up an outlet to the hot wires (not preferred) and then use a circuit tracer, but if I don't want to mess with connecting an outlet to hot wires and I'm not interested in intentionally shorting the circuit to pop the breaker what are my other options?
My questions in summary:
Is there a tool you can clip to hot wires to determine which circuit they're connected to? I.e. a device clipped to the end of the wires and then a device used at the breaker box?
If not, what options do I have for this situation (again, this assumes going through the breaker box and flipping each breaker one by one is not an option)?
Is there a single tool that covers both the functionality of a circuit tracer and a wire tracer (and perhaps a tone generator as well), or would I need 2-3 separate tools to cover all this functionality?
I know there are multiple ways to do it - get another person to help (using phones if need be), plugging in a device that makes noise or light, walking back & forth after flipping what you guess is the right breaker, etc. However, there are circumstances where these methods either don't work or are too time consuming. I work by myself and often times the homeowner isn't home, so there's no one else to recruit to help me. Also, some customers have computers or other equipment constantly running that cannot have power interrupted to it. This means the method of guessing at which mislabeled breaker is the right one isn't an option (nor is turning off all the power to the house).
I know there are circuit tracers, wire tracers, tone generators and probe kits that involve digital readouts, tones, lights, etc. I'm wondering if there is one tool/device that takes care of all of my needs. I see the circuit tracers look like they use a device that plugs into outlets (and can therefore be plugged into a light socket - with the right adapter), but what about a junction box in the ceiling that has hot wires in it that terminate there? I have this issue right now. It appears the intended purpose was for a light, but right now it's just hot wires ending in the J-box. I'd like to know which breaker this wire is connected to, but the J-box is nowhere near the breaker box, so I can't see a light or hear a noise from the breaker box and I'm working alone. Is there a tool that I could clip to the wires and trace which breaker the wires go to?
My understanding of a wire tracer is that it's used when there is no current in the wires (can't be hot) and seems to be for finding the route of a wire through the house. I realize I could try to hook up an outlet to the hot wires (not preferred) and then use a circuit tracer, but if I don't want to mess with connecting an outlet to hot wires and I'm not interested in intentionally shorting the circuit to pop the breaker what are my other options?
My questions in summary:
Is there a tool you can clip to hot wires to determine which circuit they're connected to? I.e. a device clipped to the end of the wires and then a device used at the breaker box?
If not, what options do I have for this situation (again, this assumes going through the breaker box and flipping each breaker one by one is not an option)?
Is there a single tool that covers both the functionality of a circuit tracer and a wire tracer (and perhaps a tone generator as well), or would I need 2-3 separate tools to cover all this functionality?
