My son & wife are at my inlaws trying to fix a ceiling fan in a trailer home (oops, I mean, “manufactured home”.) I have Fox & Hound signal tracer, but 12 hours driving away (and mine is broken).
Neither Radio Shack nor any big box hardware stores carry a simple signal tracer. Seems to me it should be possible to cobble one together from found or cheap objects. If I understand it correctly, the receiver is just an AM receiver, and the transmitter transmits an AM tone and uses the traced wire as the antenna.
Admittedly, AM receivers aren’t as ubiquitous as they used to be, but I’m sure they can get hold of one. Any nifty ideas on how to quickly cobble together a transmitter, for less than the cost of hiring an electrician?
The problem happened after a bad rainstorm, and my son (who’s competent to do simple home wiring, and knows how not to kill himself or others) is confident that the issue would be in a junction box. There is no wall switch for the overhead box. He may not have been able to verify the breaker since he probably can’t figure out which one to check. Otherwise I’m sure he’d think of that. His momma didn’t raise no dummies.
if yours is broken then it doesn’t matter how far away you are.
a voltage tester, noncontact ones are great and available at big box home improvement stores, will tell if the circuit is live (a needed test before working on the wires).
a continuity tester or a multimeter, available at big box home improvement stores, will show the condition of wires in a unpowered circuit.
i would question the ability of a person to do electrical work with quality and safety if doing this seems a hard thing to figure out.
I have never used a signal tracer when troubleshooting home wiring problems, nor have I ever felt the need for one. I just use a standard DVM, and apply logic in an effort to pinpoint the problem. Not to toot my horn, but this method only works if you have a good understanding of the theory & principles behind electrical power distribution.
If you feel you can’t troubleshoot the problem with a standard voltmeter, then (IMO) it’s an indication you are not familiar enough with the technical and safety aspects of home electrical power distribution to fix the problem, and you should call a pro.
The problem is finding where the wires go in the walls to find the right junction box.
He has my non-contact voltage detector, which is how he knows the circuit is dead at the ceiling. The problem is tracing it back towards the breaker. The issue is if the failure is in a junction box that’s inside a wall. You can’t use a VOM or non-contact voltage detector to find those, no matter how brilliant and well-trained you are.
it is stupid and against the electrical code (USA) to have a junction box hidden in a wall. there should be a cover that you can open to access the wires without removing building material.
signal tracers may not find wires behind paneling or walls. it depends on the signal tracer device and its intended use and quality.
there are some stud finder devices that can detect live wires in walls in certain conditions.
Yes, it’s stupid and against code but I’ve bumped into it. However, since this is a manufactured home, chances are small we’d see that. That only leaves finding the right junction box.
I’ve found a signal tracer to be a handy way to find where that wall switch that seems to do nothing goes, etc.
