For example, I went to a building and it had a switchboard with service switches. I wanted to know what service switch was dedicated for the PLP panel. The switchboard and the PLP panel is in the same room. All the conduits coming out of the service switches were encased in concrete so I wasn't able to trace anything. What techniques do you guys use?
How do you trace concealed circuits without shutting the power off?
- Thread starter Tainted
- Start date
- Status
Just looked it up, holy cow, this will make my life a trillion times easier... which one do you recommend?
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
If you are just trying to find the breaker, the Zircon is really good. Used it for 15 years or so and it’s great
The Ideal 959 is my next purchase.
The Ideal 959 is my next purchase.
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
I use Amprobe. It draws a pulse off the circuit, you can pull a single wire out of a bundle of 100 with 99.9 percent accuracy. But it costs a lot more than the other tracers such as Ideal or Greenlee. The other tracers inject a signal, which can bleed onto other wires, diminishing accuracy, but has a stronger signal strength for tracing thru concrete and dirt.
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
Zircon’s work great for a cheaper tracer if used correctly, but a lot of guys do not read the instructions, and claim it doesn’t work when it’s user error, not the tracer.If you are just trying to find the breaker, the Zircon is really good. Used it for 15 years or so and it’s great
The Ideal 959 is my next purchase.
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
This is the model I have used for 30+ years. I don’t think they make it anymore, as this one must be used at that price.
drcampbell
Senior Member
- Location
- The Motor City, Michigan USA
- Occupation
- Registered Professional Engineer
If you have a general idea which it might be, or not too many conductors to check, you can use an old-school method:
Plug in a large-ish (150 watt) incandescent lightbulb, with an old-timey Xmas-light flasher. Check the suspected conductors with a clamp-on ammeter, looking for the one that's twitching* at the same rate your test lamp is flashing.
* Works best when the COA has an analog scale and needle. Rather difficult to discern with a digital COA.
Plug in a large-ish (150 watt) incandescent lightbulb, with an old-timey Xmas-light flasher. Check the suspected conductors with a clamp-on ammeter, looking for the one that's twitching* at the same rate your test lamp is flashing.
* Works best when the COA has an analog scale and needle. Rather difficult to discern with a digital COA.
macmikeman
Senior Member
- Location
- Planet macmikeman
In that case,,,,,,,,, Fox and Hound
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
If I’m not mistaken, fox and hound cannot be used on live circuits, Edit; never mind I hit the link, and that fox and hound can be. The fox and hound I’m familiar with cannot be used on live circuits.
That contraption looks unpleasant, don't want it being mistaken for anything ya know..
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
Though it does have a 250 volt limitation, would not work on tracing 277 or 480 volt circuits. The Amprobe, Greenlee and Ideal will.
Seven-Delta-FortyOne
Goin’ Down In Flames........
- Location
- Humboldt
- Occupation
- EC and GC
If money’s not a problem, have them buy you this:
IDEAL SureTrace Circuit Tracer Open/Closed with Clamp/OLED Display 61-959 - The Home Depot
IDEAL circuit tracers can be used to quickly identify breakers and fuses, trace wires behind walls and pinpoint opens and shorts with unparalleled accuracy. Four defined ranges of the new Circuit Tracers
www.homedepot.com
That is the types we had, they were very good.If money’s not a problem, have them buy you this:
IDEAL SureTrace Circuit Tracer Open/Closed with Clamp/OLED Display 61-959 - The Home Depot
IDEAL circuit tracers can be used to quickly identify breakers and fuses, trace wires behind walls and pinpoint opens and shorts with unparalleled accuracy. Four defined ranges of the new Circuit Tracerswww.homedepot.com
Roger
At a large hospital that I retired from had to use a amprobe tracer especially where three 120 volt circuits were feed from a single neutral ( originating from a 120/208 volt three phase panel ) Contractor always purchased cheaper brands and would end up borrowing our tracers. They were rated for 120 to 277 volts . I used this to trace 480 volt circuits that were on a 277/480 volt system. Would tie one wire from tester to the neutral block and other to one of the 480 volt legs.
ggunn
PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
Or you could do what the guy who installed an outdoor outlet on an existing circuit for me did. He shorted line to neutral in an existing outlet on that circuit and went to the panel to look for the tripped breaker. 
drcampbell
Senior Member
- Location
- The Motor City, Michigan USA
- Occupation
- Registered Professional Engineer
Might want to use a one-ohm resistor to limit the damage.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
At least it's polarized.Or you could do what the guy who installed an outdoor outlet on an existing circuit for me did. He shorted line to neutral in an existing outlet on that circuit and went to the panel to look for the tripped breaker.
- Status