"z" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Feb 12, 7:48 pm, "John Grabowski" wrote:

Before we had these high tech devices to confuse us a common way to find
a
circuit was with a flasher button, pigtail socket, 100 watt light bulb,
and
an analog ammeter. Connect the pigtail socket with the flasher button
and
bulb inside to the wire or outlet you want to trace. Then go to the
inside
of the panel and clamp the amprobe onto each wire until you see the
needle
bounce up and down. You can find the neutral this way also

Now you tell me. What other good ideas are you hiding?


Shhhhh. I'm an old school electrician. I started going to work with my
father who was an electrical contractor when I was around ten. This was in
the 60's. My only tester was a pigtail socket and a light bulb back then and
though I have some fancy high tech meters and stuff in my truck now, I still
use the pigtail socket and light bulb the most. Knowing when a light bulb
should be bright or dim is the key. For instance; Connect one end of a
light bulb to a circuit breaker and the other end to the circuit feed wire.
If the bulb is bright when the circuit breaker is on, you may have a short,
if it is dim everything is normal. If it doesn't light up there is nothing
(No load) on the circuit or you have a broken connection.


John Grabowski
http://www.mrelectrician.tv