Professional tool reviews for professionals

After seeing the best circuit breaker finder and tracer, we also want to introduce the working principle of the circuit breaker finder. Some readers (maybe even some electricians) may not know what is going on behind these tools. For most of us, small plastic boxes are like magic. They can peer into walls and track thermal and open circuits. What is the difference between a circuit tracker and a circuit breaker detector? What makes these tools effective, and why are some tools much more expensive and feature-rich than others? Hope we can at least answer some of these questions and give you a better understanding of these tools.

For simpler circuit breaker finding equipment, "tracer" is not a good word. A tracer is usually a device used to trace the path of a circuit. Professionals use these more sophisticated devices to track electrical wires in order to transform the house without turning a blind eye to what is happening behind the walls that you may or may not demolish. You can also use these tools to find short circuits or trace wires located in conduits. You can perform this operation on the power-on (live) or power-off (open) circuit.

Circuit breaker detectors are usually only suitable for energized circuits. The transmitter plugs into the socket and draws peak current from the line-usually 6-10 amps. It will perform this operation in a short time, resulting in a very strong signal. Therefore, the transmitter part of the system is quite simple. Without a battery, it doesn't actually do much more, it just absorbs the current pulses that the receiver is designed to detect.

On the other side of the equation, the receiver sensitivity does not have to be so high to determine the appropriate circuit breaker. Not much gain is needed. After all, it only applies to the short distance between the current-carrying part and the tool in the circuit breaker-literally up to an inch or two.

Advanced products such as Greenlee CS-8000 allow you to track live circuits that may be as high as 3-5 feet. This is possible because the sensitivity of the circuit tracer is much higher, so it can adapt to weak and strong signals. These different tools can achieve their goals in many ways. One technique is to inject a signal burst at the transmit frequency and control the width of that frequency on the AC waveform. That is for live circuits. For a dead circuit, you will have a burst of pulses at regular intervals-so a pulse and some quiet time alternate back and forth. The receiver then looks for these signatures.

Of course, the choice of frequency and modulation technique is a bit like witchcraft. You are trying to define something that is not disturbed by too many things. There are many more noise sources than in the past (computer UPS systems, fluorescent lights, switching power supplies, etc.). Your real goal is something that does not happen naturally.

Another technique is to put your signal on the line for some complete cycles, and then take the signal away for some cycles. Then you stack again. This gives you some "mark space" that the receiver can distinguish from anything in the real world. Not everyone uses the same technology or the same frequency, but the principles are very similar.

A battery-powered tracer does not consume as much current, so the receiver must be more capable of amplifying the frequency of interest and distinguishing the signal. Compare this to the very hot signal on a circuit breaker finder that does not need to be approached; as many tricks as y. The circuit tracker can also handle both open and energized circuits, so it needs to be able to find two different signals.

When you have a complete circuit, you will have current flowing, so you will feel the magnetic field generated by the circuit on the wire. Open circuit allows you to find more electrostatic fields. Therefore, for circuit trackers, you actually need to have two types of pickups. For the magnetic field, you use an inductor (100mH or similar). For static electricity, you may have a copper plate or an area on the circuit board to detect it.

There are microprocessors in the transmitter and receiver. There is a simpler microprocessor in the transmitter. This half of the system determines whether the line is energized. It also needs to sense the AC waveform (when it crosses the "zero line"), so it knows where and when to insert the burst. In the receiver, the microprocessor still has a lot of work to do. There are digital filtering algorithms in progress. It also controls the programmable gain amplifier, so it can see the signal of interest correctly.

When the circuit tracer follows an overhead live circuit, the range of signals you see needs to be several orders of magnitude higher in sensitivity than at the circuit breaker. But the tool can accomplish both tasks, so the processor must be able to change the gain appropriately—and it must be done quickly. For products such as Greenlee CS-8000, the "waterfall bar" of the LCD screen is also controlled by the microprocessor. But regardless of the reading method, the microprocessor can handle it.

Anyone doing renovations is familiar with residential and commercial buildings that have incorrectly identified circuits. The new building may mark the circuit well, but the old structure is hardly that accurate or detailed. If you need to track ground short circuits or track circuit overhead, you need to understand how the circuit breaker finder works. If you need to open up the space between two rooms, these tools are great for tracing electrical wires and save a lot of time and effort.

Another use is to work in more sensitive areas, such as hospitals. Because of all the interference, you need a high-quality circuit tracer. In addition, if it is possible to avoid accidentally turning off grandma's respirator, it is even more important to be able to identify the appropriate circuit breaker!

Pro Tool Reviews thanks Richard Duke, Greenlee's electrical test and measurement product manager, for taking the time to answer our questions about circuit breaker finder and circuit tracer (and the technology behind these tools). If you are a product manager and have an interesting story to share how a particular tool or technology works, please feel free to send us a note on editor-AT-protoolreviews.com so that we can consider using it in future articles or with You contact for more information.

When he is not remodeling part of the house or playing with the latest power tools, Clint enjoys life as a husband, father, and avid reader. He has a degree in recording engineering and has been involved in multimedia and/or online publishing in one form or another for the past 21 years. In 2008, Clint founded Pro Tool Reviews, followed by OPE Reviews in 2017, which focuses on landscape and outdoor power equipment. Clint is also responsible for the Pro Tool Innovation Awards, an annual awards program designed to recognize innovative tools and accessories from all walks of life.

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This is a very informative article about these...I have always used simple fox and hound tracers, but never understood these functions and complexities to justify some of the more expensive units .

Under the photos of the 3 testers: "form" should be "from".

I tested a circuit with the circuit breaker finder. I plug the transmitter end into the socket (GFCI in the bathroom), and then plug the received into the circuit breaker box. The device consistently recognizes the circuit breaker next to the correct circuit breaker. I know the correct circuit breaker because I have turned it off to work on the circuit. So when it indicated the circuit breaker next to it, I was surprised. What can cause this situation? Could this indicate an interesting wiring problem?

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Professional tool reviews for professionals

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