[sdiy] ot: tracing power cables in a house

[CHoaglin at aol.com]

I've done a bit of this with phone wiring rather than power cables, when I 
was installing a phone switch for somebody, though it would work ok if the 
power was shut off at the main breaker

I took a standard pair of headphones and plugged them into a jack with 
alligator clips attached, then hooked up a portable CD player with a digital 
hardcore CD in it at the phone switch end and turned the volume up. One side 
of the headphones to ground and the other side to the wire the signal might 
be on.

-Chris

In a message dated 3/21/02 2:53:14 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
jlarryh at iquest.net writes:


> 
> I have been there, done that many times. I drew up a schematic of my house
> when I installed my emergency generator and transfer switch.  I have two
> inexpensive tools I use.  One is a circuit tracer that does just what you
> suggested.  It injects a signal on the wire.  One end plugs into an outlet
> of the circuit you are trying to trace.  If you are tracing a light fixture,
> you need to get a screw in adapter.  The receiver is hand held battery
> operated and had a sensitivity control.  You can wave it in front of the
> other outlets in the circuit and it will tell you if they are on that same
> 


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