signal generator

[Jim_Scoggins]

I have seen more than several posts about folks wondering where certain wires go or what they do. I bought a signal (tone) generator similar to the one that telephone folks use. The idea is that one removes all power from the system, attach the signal generator to the wire, then one can follow it anywhere it leads to the parent switch, relay, etc. One can trace either way in a circuit: switch to the light, motor, relay or from the light (for instance) back to the switch.

I know all the Gurus already have one but there are some others that may not know about them.

Mango Mike: No, I don't remember where I got it--either Cornwall tools or Snap On

[bill&jody]

home depot and lowes have them. thats where i got mine. approx 40 Lb, as i remember, tho it's been a while.
wmm

[Ray Davis]

Do you have to "poke" the target wire to test, or can you simply get close enough with the probe?

[dalej]

Ray, you just get close. Mine starts beeping about a foot away on a good open conductor. Trying to follow grounds is harder.

[MangoMike]

Ok JIm,

I'm going to post your recommendation on the Cool Bus Tools site.

Mike

[Omnitech]

A quick note on the tone generators: They are designed to work on wires
that are paired in a jacket, like twisted pair, speaker cable, romex, phone
cable, cat 5, etc. If the signal line is terminated into a load, it will not work either. And the problem with single wires is that the signal fades just a few feet from the signal generator. The trick is that the wires (or conductors) have to be close together, and have uniform spacing between them.

The equipment is also known as a "Tone and Probe" or "Fox and Hound".

Good luck, and happy hunting!

[Will Garner]

Just last weekend I had a friend trouble shoot my cable tv port and tv input panel. Someone had installed and then removed a satelite dish and the cable tv port wire had become crossed up. When the tone generator was first turned on there was noise all over the place. There was no way to distinguish where the cable ran. I had turned the inverter on instead of starting the generator for power. Turns out the inverter was the source of all the extraneous noise. Turned inverter off, found and fixed problem. Now I don't have to spend major Lew bucks on a new satelite dish!