Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
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Karnaj said this about your mom:
Does anyone know of or recommend a tool for this purpose?
Suicide.
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.
Another Method is to turn on one light on in each room/outlet. and progressively throw each one noting what rooms went out.
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.
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.
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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.
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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 ~$50. Not a big deal at all. But a multimeter would be the wrong way for this problem. Turn shit on, flip breakers figure out what turned off. As an EE that's how I'd do it.
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This insanity brought to you by Kermitov 2:
I have a tool that beeps when you touch it to a live outlet. I'm assuming that this is what you mean by a "toner." So they do exist. I think I got it from the electrical supply store near here.
Saw one as I was walking through Sears today, it was about 20$.
yeah I quoted myself.
Bitch, what?
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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
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A sleep deprived Greenlit stammered:
so do IIt'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 fucked around with this message on 11-18-2008 at 01:47 AM.
"Hey this specialized tool makes this easier"
HAR I DO ET THE HARD WAY AND THAT NEVAR FAIL ME.
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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.