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Topic: Goddamned electrical wiring!
Karnaj
Road Warrior Queef
posted 11-13-2008 07:01:22 PM
So I got this house now, right? This house is pretty old, so it's not exactly wired up all that well. And the breaker box is only about half-labeled, so there is significant guesswork as what what actually gets shut off. I don't want to go shutting shit off all willy-nilly, lest I accidentally shut off my furnace or hot-water heater. As an IT guy, I've used toners on patch cable to double-check that wall jacks in the office match the labels back on the patch panel, so that I don't disconnect the wrong thing. I image some similar sort of toner exists for an electric wall-jack, and that's what I'm interested in. Does anyone know of or recommend a tool for this purpose?
That's the American Dream: to make your life into something you can sell. - Chuck Palahniuk, Haunted

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith



Beer.

Mr. Parcelan
posted 11-13-2008 07:17:25 PM
quote:
Karnaj said this about your mom:
Does anyone know of or recommend a tool for this purpose?

Suicide.

Maradon!
posted 11-13-2008 07:36:08 PM
If such a device exists for electrical wiring, it isn't commonly used. I don't even know if it would work, since electrical connections are not 1:1 like ethernet network connections are. You'd probably get a tone on half the lines in the house.

I'm no pro, but my dad's an electrician and I've been around a lot of this stuff. I'm pretty sure that the only real way to figure it out is trial and error. If you shut off the furnace or water heater, good, you know which breaker controls the furnace or water heater now.

Razor
posted 11-13-2008 07:53:32 PM
There is, but as Maradon mentioned, it's not one breaker, one room.

Circuit Testers

Another Method is to turn on one light on in each room/outlet. and progressively throw each one noting what rooms went out.

Astronomy is a passion...
Engineering is a love...
My job isn't a job, it's my career, and I love every minute of it: Observatory Superintendent
Greenlit
posted 11-13-2008 08:56:10 PM
Yeah, don't worry about the water heater or furnace, just start flipping switches until you can deduce what's what.
Greenlit
posted 11-13-2008 08:57:02 PM
It's real fun doing that in a movie theater and accidentally killing power to the whole projection booth.
Nina
posted 11-13-2008 09:03:28 PM
Just take the time to test all the breakers one by one and figure out which is which. Make some spreadsheet or schematic corresponding to each breaker's number/position, and stick it next to the breaker box. I did that for my parents and they loved it.
OrangeBrand
By a Truck
posted 11-13-2008 09:28:17 PM
Just go to a Home depot or some form of High end Electronics store and they have what you are looking for.

Most houses as mentioned are not one breaker one room. The old rule of thumb was 10-15 items per breaker.

There are devices that you apply one end to the breaker and then the other to the outlet or light and when it lights up you know it is a connection.

Gets to be a pain in the ass with some old house having switch loops and what not.. But if you are used to doing it for computers you should be okay doing it on a house.

SPELLCHECK is a four letter word.
Azakias
Never wore the pants, thus still wields the power of unused (_|_)
posted 11-13-2008 10:41:26 PM
My normal answer to this sort of question would be to get a multimeter and jumper connections, then measure out the resistance readings. If there is no open, you've got a connection.

However, I am an aircraft electrician, not a residential electrician, and its a whole different ballgame, even if the theory is the same. I have no idea how to isolate a circuit in the wiring in a house.

But yeah, the best way to check this without buying crap you wont use but once is to start flipping switches. Anything that you have that is susceptable to ESD should be turned off prior to doing this, and all that would be is stuff like game systems, computers, and even TVs, to some extent.

"Age by age have men stood up and said to the world, 'From what has come before me, I was forged, but I am new and greater than my forebears.' And so each man walks the world in ruin, abandoned and untried. Less than the whole of his being"
Azakias
Never wore the pants, thus still wields the power of unused (_|_)
posted 11-13-2008 10:44:13 PM
quote:
OrangeBrand had this to say about Duck Tales:

There are devices that you apply one end to the breaker and then the other to the outlet or light and when it lights up you know it is a connection.


This, if you want to get technical. A multimeter is best, since it allows you to read voltage or resistance, plus a few other handy things, but an ohmmeter or a voltmeter could feasably work just as well.

They can be pricey though.

"Age by age have men stood up and said to the world, 'From what has come before me, I was forged, but I am new and greater than my forebears.' And so each man walks the world in ruin, abandoned and untried. Less than the whole of his being"
OrangeBrand
By a Truck
posted 11-14-2008 12:47:00 AM
Yeah like I said, this device thingy.. : )
SPELLCHECK is a four letter word.
Kermitov 2
Pancake
posted 11-16-2008 12:02:39 PM
I have a tool that beeps when you touch it to a live outlet. I'm assuming that this is what you mean by a "toner." So they do exist. I think I got it from the electrical supply store near here.
Naimah
In a Fire
posted 11-17-2008 12:06:01 AM
quote:
Azakias had this to say about Knight Rider:
This, if you want to get technical. A multimeter is best, since it allows you to read voltage or resistance, plus a few other handy things, but an ohmmeter or a voltmeter could feasably work just as well.

They can be pricey though.


You can get a digital multimeter for ~$50. Not a big deal at all. But a multimeter would be the wrong way for this problem. Turn shit on, flip breakers figure out what turned off. As an EE that's how I'd do it.

Kermitov 2
Pancake
posted 11-17-2008 03:30:22 AM
quote:
This insanity brought to you by Kermitov 2:
I have a tool that beeps when you touch it to a live outlet. I'm assuming that this is what you mean by a "toner." So they do exist. I think I got it from the electrical supply store near here.


Saw one as I was walking through Sears today, it was about 20$.

yeah I quoted myself.

Bitch, what?

Greenlit
posted 11-17-2008 04:11:52 AM
quote:
Kermitov 2's fortune cookie read:
I have a tool that beeps when you touch it to a live outlet. I'm assuming that this is what you mean by a "toner." So they do exist. I think I got it from the electrical supply store near here.

so do I

It's called any fucking electrical appliance ever made

you might find one in your kitchen

Kermitov 2
Pancake
posted 11-18-2008 01:33:03 AM
quote:
A sleep deprived Greenlit stammered:
so do I

It's called any fucking electrical appliance ever made

you might find one in your kitchen


Which is definitely useful when you're trying to find the live wire in a group of wires.


just plug your fridge into it, I guess.

Alidane
Urinary Tract Infection
posted 11-18-2008 01:46:46 AM
what

Alidane fucked around with this message on 11-18-2008 at 01:47 AM.

Liam
Swims in Erotic Circles
posted 11-19-2008 11:22:41 PM
trial and error it. ain't no thing son!
Blindy.
Suicide (Also: Gay.)
posted 11-20-2008 11:40:19 AM
Only EC would argue about something this stupid.

"Hey this specialized tool makes this easier"

HAR I DO ET THE HARD WAY AND THAT NEVAR FAIL ME.

nem-x
posted 11-20-2008 11:46:51 AM
Arttemis
Not Squire... but a guitar!
posted 11-20-2008 12:53:11 PM
quote:
Blindy.'s account was hax0red to write:
Only EC would argue about something this stupid.

"Hey this specialized tool makes this easier"

HAR I DO ET THE HARD WAY AND THAT NEVAR FAIL ME.


there is no specialized tool... that's the point

anything that you plugged into an outlet would require power... in other words, the breaker would need to be on... so the only way that it would tell you what breaker an outlet is hooked to would be to turn off the other breakers

a multimeter would work, but you'd have to pull the breakers to get a probe or clip onto the hot terminal of the breaker, then run a long ass probe into the sockets in the next room. impractical at best.

DOUBLE EDIT: Nevermind, it works on RF. That circuit breaker finder would be fine.

Arttemis fucked around with this message on 11-20-2008 at 12:56 PM.

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