# Best tracer for finding buried broken wires/splices



## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

Probably the Fluke toner and tester wand. Turn off the power to the building first and make sure the batteries in both the wand and the tone generator are new and charged up . It is. hit and miss. Good luck. If you can feed higher voltage thru the wiring , a tic tracer will pick it up better also. Meg the wiring first to make sure no probable faults and then use a boost transformer to take it up closer to the 600 volt limit of the conductors. Then volt tic trace.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

Been using one of these for several years now:

https://www.idealind.com/ideal-elec...-tracers/suretrace-circuit-tracer-61-957.aspx


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## sparkyob (Feb 27, 2009)

The Greenlee CS8000 is my go to circuit tracer. It's a bit pricey but well worth the money IMHO. I have used several circuit tracers over the years and this is by far the most accurate I have found. It can be used with energized or de-energized circuits.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

nrp3 said:


> Been using one of these for several years now:
> 
> https://www.idealind.com/ideal-elec...-tracers/suretrace-circuit-tracer-61-957.aspx


Looks like it's around $1000.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

These higher end ones aren't cheap but pretty versatile that way. I use the toner probe thing for phone and the ideal for line voltage. There is a few brands to choose from and I don't know that one is that better than the other, as I don't have any experience with the others. Doing a lot of repairs on my own makes going solo much easier.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

Ebay is your friend. I buy most of the high end tools used.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

nrp3 said:


> Ebay is your friend. I buy most of the high end tools used.


Ebay is always the first place I check for tools.


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## sparkyob (Feb 27, 2009)

Exactly, I bought the Greenlee CS8000 on Ebay for about $200 less than retail. You just have to look around a bit. I was given the opportunity to test this out from one of my supply house reps before I made the purchase. Now everyone that has a rig in our company carries this particular tester.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

Best deal I can find:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ideal-Sure...751334?hash=item466e26dca6:g:5bQAAOSwjqVZE1cP


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

Kill all power in the zone.

Remove all wall warts and other loads that will kill your signal.

Use a CHEAPO toner and wand. You don't need to pay up for above ground circuits.

( Underground is a whole 'nuther ball of wax. )

Inject a signal from BOTH sides of the break. This is usually easily done -- especially in Residential and Commercial circuits.

The signal will give out -- coming both ways -- at the same spot.

Then: BINGO.

I've beat this to death, now, so many times that I tire of it.

The exotic gear is OVER PRICED and unnecessary -- IMHO.

It can't suppress 60Hz hum -- no matter what the blurb says.

Yes, harmonics will screw everything up.


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## nrp3 (Jan 24, 2009)

I'll have to try that out sometime, have a few extra transmitters floating around for the probe.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

nrp3 said:


> I'll have to try that out sometime, have a few extra transmitters floating around for the probe.


 @telsa, were you saying to inject the tone on one end then the other, or inject both at the same time?


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

Buried boxes; If you have an idea which wall it's on, take a straight edge about four foot long like a piece of baseboard. Hold it against the wall and find the high spot in the drywall/plaster. Rock the straight edge back and forth to find the highest point. You found the box.


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## MTW (Aug 28, 2013)

3DDesign said:


> Buried boxes; If you have an idea which wall it's on, take a straight edge about four foot long like a piece of baseboard. Hold it against the wall and find the high spot in the drywall/plaster. Rock the straight edge back and forth to find the highest point. You found the box.


I'm well aware of that trick already, been using it since I was an apprentice a long time ago. :thumbsup:


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

I have used my underground locator inside with pretty good luck. Progressive 501. But it only locates wire and maybe would find an open.


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