So, what am I looking for in a wire tracer? I want to be able to start at one end, generate a signal, and confirm the other end, and or follow that wire, maybe even underground over fairly long distances (100-200’)? Do they put enough juice in a line to be dangerous if wires are f@cked up all over? Both in house wiring, and outside underground cables. Are the ones I see for $30-40 sufficient, or is there something better?
Both. I’m working a big hurricane damaged property. I’d like to be able to follow outside underground service cables and circuits, and follow circuits in damaged buildings. Something like this? https://www.amazon.com/F02-Underground-Locator-Tracker-Earphone/dp/B01GDZLZOU
This unit will allow you to locate cables for miles at a time. https://www.ebay.com/itm/DYNATEL-22...658619?hash=item549053b83b:g:hD0AAOSwaPFfwdCn
Depth of cable will be the biggest draw back on that unit. Donkey dic is what we call that one at work. It's good for direct buried cable that is less than 12" deep.
Yea, but I don’t need miles, and it looks wrong for tracing circuits indoors. And most of my buried stuff probably is 12” or less. Will the donkey dick work on inside wiring if I just hold the dick near the wires in question?
This is what I posted the dynatel for. If you want to send audible tone then you'll need a tone generator and probe for the interior wiring.
I use a low voltage tone generator for interior wiring. For exterior stuff I call the locator company, I ain’t got time to do that and there’s some definite voodoo to getting those things to give you good results.
I work for an electric utility, we use a locator to find our buried primary and secondary lines. The ones we use are north of $3k, and you wouldn't use them in a house. They work really well if there's a lot of load on the circuit, and if there isn't or the circuit is dead, they also have a clamp that you put around the wire that will send a signal.
I still remember you telling the story when you were your helping your neighbor with some electrical issue. You were in their breaker box and had that metal brace on your arm and fused yourself to the breaker box I dunno maybe you should stay away from electrical issues. Lol. Ride safe, AAron
If you are tracing dead lines, you can use a standard fox/hound such as https://www.amazon.com/s?k=fox+and+hound&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 This will work for lines in the length range you are looking at, but only will test ends (connect generator to one end, tap suspected other end until you find one with the signal on it). If you are looking to find the path of buried cable, you need something that can inject a signal on the line that can be detected from a distance. https://www.amazon.com/TEMPO-Commun...057507080901&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_2 If you are tracing live lines, then you need something that will withstand the voltage.
I've had good luck finding buried wire using the wire from a flag as a "water witch". No joke. I found a lot of wire that way when i worked at BIR. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
