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#1
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
Has anyone here ever used a an Electronic Circuit Breaker finder? More
specifically a GB instruments CB locator. This is a gizmo where you plug a small signal generator into a live plug and with a receiver probe you can find the associated Circuit Breaker at the panel. Here is the question. How is it possible to get 2 different Circuit breakers reacting with the same audio and visual ( LED) intensity? Does this mean I have spaghetti wiring? Or is this common in or around the same wiring areas? Or an induction effect? Perhaps a related problem here is that I have wireless house intercoms, they use the house wiring to send signals around. I can call the first floor from the basement or the first floor to the second but I can never get a signal from the basement to the second floor? I guess that we don't need fancy electronic circuits to get mysterious effects! Claude Charbonneau Montreal Canada |
#2
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
In article , "claude" wrote:
Has anyone here ever used a an Electronic Circuit Breaker finder? More specifically a GB instruments CB locator. This is a gizmo where you plug a small signal generator into a live plug and with a receiver probe you can find the associated Circuit Breaker at the panel. Yep, got one. Here is the question. How is it possible to get 2 different Circuit breakers reacting with the same audio and visual ( LED) intensity? Does this mean I have spaghetti wiring? Or is this common in or around the same wiring areas? It means the device isn't perfect, that's all. I've found that if I remove the cover of the panel, and run the wand over the wires, instead of the breakers, that the difference in the audible signal when it's over the right one is unmistakeable. -- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com) It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again. |
#3
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
On Feb 12, 11:37 am, "claude" wrote:
Has anyone here ever used a an Electronic Circuit Breaker finder? More specifically a GB instruments CB locator. This is a gizmo where you plug a small signal generator into a live plug and with a receiver probe you can find the associated Circuit Breaker at the panel. Here is the question. How is it possible to get 2 different Circuit breakers reacting with the same audio and visual ( LED) intensity? Does this mean I have spaghetti wiring? Or is this common in or around the same wiring areas? Or an induction effect? Perhaps a related problem here is that I have wireless house intercoms, they use the house wiring to send signals around. I can call the first floor from the basement or the first floor to the second but I can never get a signal from the basement to the second floor? I guess that we don't need fancy electronic circuits to get mysterious effects! Claude Charbonneau Montreal Canada Yeah, I got one but have never been able to get a clear indication as to which breaker the transmitter is plugged in to. Of course, i can't get those through-the-wall stud finders to work either, and I have two different brands of those, so maybe it's just me. |
#4
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
Got one too. Mine is more like a divining rod than an instrument. I've gotta
try Doug's trick. "claude" wrote in message ... Has anyone here ever used a an Electronic Circuit Breaker finder? More specifically a GB instruments CB locator. This is a gizmo where you plug a small signal generator into a live plug and with a receiver probe you can find the associated Circuit Breaker at the panel. Here is the question. How is it possible to get 2 different Circuit breakers reacting with the same audio and visual ( LED) intensity? Does this mean I have spaghetti wiring? Or is this common in or around the same wiring areas? Or an induction effect? Perhaps a related problem here is that I have wireless house intercoms, they use the house wiring to send signals around. I can call the first floor from the basement or the first floor to the second but I can never get a signal from the basement to the second floor? I guess that we don't need fancy electronic circuits to get mysterious effects! Claude Charbonneau Montreal Canada |
#5
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
"claude" wrote in message ... Has anyone here ever used a an Electronic Circuit Breaker finder? More specifically a GB instruments CB locator. This is a gizmo where you plug a small signal generator into a live plug and with a receiver probe you can find the associated Circuit Breaker at the panel. Here is the question. How is it possible to get 2 different Circuit breakers reacting with the same audio and visual ( LED) intensity? Does this mean I have spaghetti wiring? Or is this common in or around the same wiring areas? Or an induction effect? Perhaps a related problem here is that I have wireless house intercoms, they use the house wiring to send signals around. I can call the first floor from the basement or the first floor to the second but I can never get a signal from the basement to the second floor? I guess that we don't need fancy electronic circuits to get mysterious effects! Claude Charbonneau Montreal Canada I've used the cheap ones and the expensive ones and you still get that crossover to multiple breakers occasionally. Like Doug said you can better results putting the receiver against the wires in the panel. 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. |
#6
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
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? |
#7
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
On Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:37:56 -0500, "claude" wrote:
Has anyone here ever used a an Electronic Circuit Breaker finder? More specifically a GB instruments CB locator. This is a gizmo where you plug a small signal generator into a live plug and with a receiver probe you can find the associated Circuit Breaker at the panel. Here is the question. How is it possible to get 2 different Circuit breakers reacting with the same audio and visual ( LED) intensity? Does this mean I have spaghetti wiring? Or is this common in or around the same wiring areas? Or an induction effect? Perhaps a related problem here is that I have wireless house intercoms, they use the house wiring to send signals around. I can call the first floor from the basement or the first floor to the second but I can never get a signal from the basement to the second floor? I guess that we don't need fancy electronic circuits to get mysterious effects! Claude Charbonneau Montreal Canada Had a Commercial electric version of the GB. I thought it was ok, but wasn't exact. I was hunting all over for a breaker supplying a circuit, and found that many subpanels set off the device. I'm looking for a better tool myself. tom @ www.MedJobSite.com |
#8
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GB instrument, circuit breaker finder question
"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 |
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