Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.

On 25 Apr 2020 17:49:20 GMT, KenK wrote:

Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.
TIA


Rip open the walls and follow the wires.
What's the problem with opening a breaker ?
The old-fashioned way to do it, by yourself,
is to plug in a loud radio and listen as you
trip the breakers
John T.

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 2:05:03 PM UTC-4, trader_4 wrote:
On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.

Another thing, IDK why in all my years I never just put a piece of paper
and a pencil by the panel. That way each time you track one down, you
could write it down. By now the list would be complete, instead I still
hunt and peck.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:04:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.



I have one, they work pretty well but you are only sure when you trip
the breaker.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:07:15 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 2:05:03 PM UTC-4, trader_4 wrote:
On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.

Another thing, IDK why in all my years I never just put a piece of paper
and a pencil by the panel. That way each time you track one down, you
could write it down. By now the list would be complete, instead I still
hunt and peck.

Legally the panel directory should have been filled out on the
original install and modified as things changed along the way but I
bet the majority of panel directories are missing, incomplete or just
wrong.
It is an inspection point and the inspector should have made sure it
doesn't just say "lights" or "receptacles" on a bunch of breakers.
(I have seen that). I have never seen an inspector actually check them
all to see if the directory is right.
Commercial is generally a whole lot better than residential tho.

In article ,
says...

Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.



If you do not mind opening the breaker panel, very easy.

PUt a clamp on amp meter on all the breakers and write down the current.
Then plug a hair dryer or some other device that draws a lot of current
and go down the breakers again and look for a large increase in current.
You may have to do this a few times as the refrigerator or other device
in the house could turm on. It may be even quicker to do it backwards
and just look for the circuit that is drawing the most current. Then cut
off the hair dryer.

Trader mentioned the fox and hound. They usually work well enough. I
have used one a few times in the past. They work very well for what you
want provided the breakers are not side by side.

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:52:42 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:04:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.



I have one, they work pretty well but you are only sure when you trip
the breaker.

You might not have to trace a receptacle back to the breaker. Perhaps
you can also detect the tone at the other outlet that Ken is thinking
of.

But you'd want to do some verifying, like checking other outlets
probably not on the same circuit, and yes, evenually tripping the
breaker to be 100% sure.

My breakers were all labeled by the original electrician. He doesn't go
into detail all the time, and the one circuit I added isn't marked. I
plan to write a long letter for the new owner about all the
not-so-noticeable things about the house.

In article ,
says...

Legally the panel directory should have been filled out on the
original install and modified as things changed along the way but I
bet the majority of panel directories are missing, incomplete or just
wrong.
It is an inspection point and the inspector should have made sure it
doesn't just say "lights" or "receptacles" on a bunch of breakers.
(I have seen that). I have never seen an inspector actually check them
all to see if the directory is right.
Commercial is generally a whole lot better than residential tho.



I have only worked at 2 comercial places. A hospital and a large
industrial plant. The hospital was built way before 1960 and almost
nothing was labled.
The comercial plant was buit around 1965 and not much labled, as new
parts were built,sometims whole new buildings, still not much labled.

The last one was built around 2005 and still not labled very well for
the 120/240 and the 277 lights.

Most of the 480 volt 3 phase circuits were labled fairly well. I kept a
marking pen with me and wrote on them what they went to as I worked on
the circuits.

On 25 Apr 2020 17:49:20 GMT, KenK wrote:

Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA
Get a "circuit tracer". One part plugs into the powered outlet. It
injrcts a signal onto the wire. The other part "sniffs" the signal at
the breaker panel. The good quality ones can differentiate between
adjacentbreakers.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:15:22 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:52:42 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:04:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.



I have one, they work pretty well but you are only sure when you trip
the breaker.

You might not have to trace a receptacle back to the breaker. Perhaps
you can also detect the tone at the other outlet that Ken is thinking
of.

But you'd want to do some verifying, like checking other outlets
probably not on the same circuit, and yes, evenually tripping the
breaker to be 100% sure.

My breakers were all labeled by the original electrician. He doesn't go
into detail all the time, and the one circuit I added isn't marked. I
plan to write a long letter for the new owner about all the
not-so-noticeable things about the house.

The breaker testers are not true fox and hound (tone) testers. They
set up a resonance in the overload winding of the breaker that the
detector can detect. You won't see anything at other outlets on the
circuit. A wall wart in the receptacle might create enough magnetic
field to tickle the detector but I never tried.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:33:24 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

Legally the panel directory should have been filled out on the
original install and modified as things changed along the way but I
bet the majority of panel directories are missing, incomplete or just
wrong.
It is an inspection point and the inspector should have made sure it
doesn't just say "lights" or "receptacles" on a bunch of breakers.
(I have seen that). I have never seen an inspector actually check them
all to see if the directory is right.
Commercial is generally a whole lot better than residential tho.



I have only worked at 2 comercial places. A hospital and a large
industrial plant. The hospital was built way before 1960 and almost
nothing was labled.
The comercial plant was buit around 1965 and not much labled, as new
parts were built,sometims whole new buildings, still not much labled.

The last one was built around 2005 and still not labled very well for
the 120/240 and the 277 lights.

Most of the 480 volt 3 phase circuits were labled fairly well. I kept a
marking pen with me and wrote on them what they went to as I worked on
the circuits.

Maybe I spent too much time in computer rooms where every outlet was
labeled with panel and breaker number but I also inspected lots of
commercial and the directories were very pretty. As I said I didn't
test each one tho.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 17:45:29 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:15:22 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:52:42 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:04:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.



I have one, they work pretty well but you are only sure when you trip
the breaker.

You might not have to trace a receptacle back to the breaker. Perhaps
you can also detect the tone at the other outlet that Ken is thinking
of.

But you'd want to do some verifying, like checking other outlets
probably not on the same circuit, and yes, evenually tripping the
breaker to be 100% sure.

My breakers were all labeled by the original electrician. He doesn't go
into detail all the time, and the one circuit I added isn't marked. I
plan to write a long letter for the new owner about all the
not-so-noticeable things about the house.

The breaker testers are not true fox and hound (tone) testers. They
set up a resonance in the overload winding of the breaker that the
detector can detect. You won't see anything at other outlets on the
circuit. A wall wart in the receptacle might create enough magnetic
field to tickle the detector but I never tried.
Mabee some - but mine will actually trace a circuit in a FUSE panel
- which would shoot that theory down.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 21:01:15 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 17:45:29 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:15:22 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:52:42 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:04:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.



I have one, they work pretty well but you are only sure when you trip
the breaker.

You might not have to trace a receptacle back to the breaker. Perhaps
you can also detect the tone at the other outlet that Ken is thinking
of.

But you'd want to do some verifying, like checking other outlets
probably not on the same circuit, and yes, evenually tripping the
breaker to be 100% sure.

My breakers were all labeled by the original electrician. He doesn't go
into detail all the time, and the one circuit I added isn't marked. I
plan to write a long letter for the new owner about all the
not-so-noticeable things about the house.

The breaker testers are not true fox and hound (tone) testers. They
set up a resonance in the overload winding of the breaker that the
detector can detect. You won't see anything at other outlets on the
circuit. A wall wart in the receptacle might create enough magnetic
field to tickle the detector but I never tried.
Mabee some - but mine will actually trace a circuit in a FUSE panel
- which would shoot that theory down.

Then it is a circuit tracer, not a breaker tester. I bet you can find
other outlets on the circuit with it too.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 22:42:06 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 21:01:15 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 17:45:29 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:15:22 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:52:42 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:04:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.



I have one, they work pretty well but you are only sure when you trip
the breaker.

You might not have to trace a receptacle back to the breaker. Perhaps
you can also detect the tone at the other outlet that Ken is thinking
of.

But you'd want to do some verifying, like checking other outlets
probably not on the same circuit, and yes, evenually tripping the
breaker to be 100% sure.

My breakers were all labeled by the original electrician. He doesn't go
into detail all the time, and the one circuit I added isn't marked. I
plan to write a long letter for the new owner about all the
not-so-noticeable things about the house.

The breaker testers are not true fox and hound (tone) testers. They
set up a resonance in the overload winding of the breaker that the
detector can detect. You won't see anything at other outlets on the
circuit. A wall wart in the receptacle might create enough magnetic
field to tickle the detector but I never tried.
Mabee some - but mine will actually trace a circuit in a FUSE panel
- which would shoot that theory down.

Then it is a circuit tracer, not a breaker tester. I bet you can find
other outlets on the circuit with it too.
Likely. I'd consider a "breaker tester" something to actually TEST
the breaker

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 22:57:22 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 22:42:06 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 21:01:15 -0400, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 17:45:29 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 15:15:22 -0400, micky
wrote:

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:52:42 -0400,
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:04:54 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 1:49:23 PM UTC-4, KenK wrote:
Just out of curiosity, is there a way to tell if two wall outlets are on
the same circuit breaker without tripping the breaker or turning breakers
on and off? I'm pretty sure it's not possible but maybe there's a way I
hadn't thought of.

TIA


--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

They have fox and hound style tracers, where you plug a small widget in
the receptacle, it generates a signal and then you use the sniffing wand part
at the panel to trace it down to the particular breaker. I've never used
one, IDK how well they work. Even if it narrows it down to one of say
two breakers, it would be a big help.



I have one, they work pretty well but you are only sure when you trip
the breaker.

You might not have to trace a receptacle back to the breaker. Perhaps
you can also detect the tone at the other outlet that Ken is thinking
of.

But you'd want to do some verifying, like checking other outlets
probably not on the same circuit, and yes, evenually tripping the
breaker to be 100% sure.

My breakers were all labeled by the original electrician. He doesn't go
into detail all the time, and the one circuit I added isn't marked. I
plan to write a long letter for the new owner about all the
not-so-noticeable things about the house.

The breaker testers are not true fox and hound (tone) testers. They
set up a resonance in the overload winding of the breaker that the
detector can detect. You won't see anything at other outlets on the
circuit. A wall wart in the receptacle might create enough magnetic
field to tickle the detector but I never tried.
Mabee some - but mine will actually trace a circuit in a FUSE panel
- which would shoot that theory down.

Then it is a circuit tracer, not a breaker tester. I bet you can find
other outlets on the circuit with it too.
Likely. I'd consider a "breaker tester" something to actually TEST
the breaker

Breaker Tracer?
I am not sure what they call it. The label came off mine years ago but
I do know all it really does is find a breaker. It can't see a fuse.