Finally a guy explains in plain English and shows clearly zooming in which setting the multimeter is at... Nobody does this and the multimeter is already very confusing.... Thank you sir and may God Bless you!!! 😂
I understand and appreciate the comments that (for some situations) this can be done without the extra wire. But I like the way that he's shown - with the extra wire: it can be used for ANY situation, ANYWHERE, and does not depend on additional wires. So it's good for any home power wiring, speaker wiring, RCA wiring, coaxial wiring, Cat5 etc. wiring, and anything else you can think of, as long as it's unpowered and of reasonably finite length. And it can even be used for a single wire with no other wires anywhere near it, other than the extra wire he's using to test it. I like the comprehensive approach he's shown. I'm going with it!
1. turn off power at the breaker. 2.Isolate each cable coming into the box twisting the hot(black) and neutral(white)conductors together one cable at a time. 3. go to the other outlet or switch box and place your meter on OHMS to the loose hot and neutral of each cable. 4 The one that beeps is the cable you have twisted together at the other box. 5.ID that cable, untwist the conductors and proceed to the next pair of black and white conductors on the next cable. 6.Label each cable as you go. This works for locating shorts as well.
I was going to leave the same comment when this popped up in my feed that's how I trace all my wires. Who wants to run a wire through someone's who house to test continuity if you only need a wirenut
Great video.... thank you... I used an extension cord instead of the solid core wire. I also used alligator clip 12 inch "jumpers" instead of the Wago. With both boxes completely undone, you can use the hot and neutral in the same romex cable to test continuity. Breaker is always in the off position when working with home wiring. Thanks again. Great video.
Great idea. I have wago connectors but never thought of locking my meter probe in one end. I normally end up twisting the wire around it then waiting for it to fall off! Thank you.
You can do this without all the extra wire. Simply connect the wire you are attempting to locate to the common wire in the same box. Since ALL common wires are bonded in the main panel you can then go to the original box and use the common and test each other wire until you get tone. This would work using ground also.
@@Orlena2525 To clarify: He is saying tie the hot to the netural (aka common) on outlet #2 in this video. He did not disconnect the netural in outlet #1 nor outlet #2. Thus, once the hot/netural are bonded on outlet #2, you can walk back to outlet #1 and touch a probe to the neutral and it is the same thing as touching the hot all the way over at outlet #2. Then the other probe is used to touch the hots in outlet #1 and you've got the circuit made for the continuity test. You can be assured all neutrals are always connected and will result in a valid test. That is because all neutrals run back to the netural bus bar at the breaker box and they all touch the same plate. This should be safe, but it does sound dangerous? If you accidentally connected a live hot to a neutral then it should immediately trip the breaker as a short circuit...
@@lakecityransom so if I needed to locate a matching neutral in a service panel to a hot; I can just connect the hot and neutral of the circuit I'm trying to trace, and then use the probe to locate the hot neutral in the circuit panel?
@@MiamiHeat872 I'm not an electrician but all the neutrals are tied together back at the breaker box so it should be irrelevant unless there is multiple incoming service breakers. If you mean it as an academic question then sure you could touch the hot in the breaker box but then for the neutral you would have to take neutrals off of the neutral bar one at a time to test them since they are all connected together, but it could work.
You don’t need that length of wire just clip the far wire to ground then measure between ground and the 3 wires one at a time until you hear a beep !! Yeah !!!
What do your mean..? I’m trying to track my outlets all the way back to the breaker box so I can move a few things to open breakers but I can’t seem to figure out how to properly trace the wires, any help would be greatly appreciated
💯 I’ve used this technique a lot on aircraft. Whether it’s F16s or Boeings. Put it to ground, go across the aircraft and measure continuity from wire to ground on the other side.
That wouldn't work with the ground because the ground is tied to the box as well. You wanna tap the hot and neutral pair together at one end and then touch them at the other end
Hi Scott, I'm ahuge fan of your videos and they always are in depth. However, for this video, could you please explain in detail or a tutorial what you just memories between 00:10 to 00:30 seconds? That'd be really appreciated!!🙏🏻
I was also going to buy a tracer, but this video helped me get the right tool. Awesome idea to use those wago style connectors for this!!! I bought a 100’ extension cord (cut off ends) that I can use to do these longer tests in my house and outside too! Thanks again
You might use a wire tracer, which sends signal along the wire, you can then use the detector to trace where the wire goes. You don't need an extra wire, nor you don't need the probe to touch the wire core, even you can detect the signal outside the surface of drywall, which let you know which direction the wire goes. More, you can use it to tell where a wire is broken inside the wire sleeve. I bought one at about $30, very useful. Make sure there's no power on the wire before connect it to the signal emitter.
os for the Video clip! Excuse me for butting in, I am interested in your opinion. Have you heard about - Franaar Shining Shape Formula (Have a quick look on google can't remember the place now)? It is a good one off guide for revealing the secret to repair your electronic devices without the hard work. Ive heard some amazing things about it and my m8 finally got amazing success with it. #how to test house wiring with multimeter
Super helpful! I really appreciate the tip. i am a dyi'er and finished my basement over 20 years ago. I need to do some testing of 3 and 4 way Lutron dimmers for my can lights and I did not document which switch was in what position from the load panel. This will help me identify which wire is first in line from the AC Panel. (After removing from the circuit breaker first of course.) Thanks again.
Is there a video on the job you’re doing? I installed a ceiling light fixture in a living room that only had a light switch controlling one of the outlets in the living room. I got the light to work but I want to play it safe and do it correctly .. all I did was splice the wires from the light fixture to the light switch that controlled that outlet. So of course that outlet is still controlled along with the light fixture. I want continuous power to the outlet and the switch to only control the light fixture. Thanks
I didn’t read all the comments..maybe asked maybe not but I need to trace wires to outlets in different rooms. my case 2nd story to 1st story. How to without with meter without extra wire? Or flat out need it?
Funny that meters don't come with this long wire to save a bunch of steps. I was just thinking about how to do this and this is pretty much how I thought it would work. Thanks for the video!
I added a heated floor in our bathroom. Now I have a 'nuisance fault' tripping the arc fault in the wall sensor. (Schulter heated flooring). It is on a dedicated circuit. However, even when I disengage every single breaker in the panel box, except my floor, I still get the nuisance trip. How would I go about tracing that fault? Or do I need to do a complete rewire of my panel?
Okay I see you are new in this troubleshooting process. Let me suggest how you can easily find right wire. One incoming wire (yellow) connect to the ground wire and with continuity check find associates wire. Easy you don’t need extra jumper. Imagine you have to check plug in other room or floor above, you need long wire which is ridiculous.
Great video, I have speaker wires running in my home from the previous owner but they were not marked. Can I use this method to figure out which wires run where?
My problem is, with a ceiling fan point, where ceiling fans are getting burnt. Thrice, it has happened already. This point is operated through two way switches. Since, last 20 years, it was functioning well, untill recent problem. How do I find the fault, either with a multimeter or any other method?
For some reason, maybe cause our home was built in 1890, we only have black and white wires. Can you tell which is hot? and I guess the other if ground? or netural?
Hey Kevin, Sounds like your home is wired without a ground. This is not uncommon for older homes and I would expect black to be hot and white to be neutral but you always want to check for sure prior to doing any electrical work to ensure your safety. Best of luck!
Black= to braker. White = to netural. Green= ground. As by today's law.....but take no color (or anything else) as gospal.....But electricty to power kersosene lamps (really)?
He Scott...I’m I a situation where we moved into this house and we have a light switch in our bedroom that we have no clue what it’s for....we have already checked to see if it controls any outlets...it’s right beside that switch that controls the room light....is there a similar way we can n find out what it’s for.
Hey Troy, off the top of my head I would expect it is another wire running to the ceiling light / fan junction box so you can control the fan and light independently. Let me know what you find 👍
You can open the switch cover to see which way the wires go. up is probably a ceiling light removed in the past. Use a voltage line detector for line power with voltage sensor., some are sensitive enough you can follow the wire behind the wall. Buy the Walabot smart phone camera adapter, it detects things behind the wall!
I have conduit sticking out of an outside wall. The wires are taped and inactive. How would you find the source of the wires? Hopefully, to install a outlet!
EVERYDAY HOME REPAIRS, when using cable Trackers/tracers if the wires in the house are wiring all over the house, the cable tracker tracer doesn't tell you how long the cable length is and where the cables go up, down, left, right because the cable can start in the back of the house and run all over until it reaches the front room in the house. Anything to use that will find the cable length or if the cable has breaks in it?
The ohms\continuity will help you trace a wire and show if it's broken. He was just using the continuity and listening for the beep. To find the length, you can also use ohms. (Ex) 12 gauge wire has 1.6 ohms per 1000 ft and 14 gauge wire has 2.5 ohms per 1000 ft. If you had a spool of wire and you wanted to know how long it was you could calculate it out. 1.6ohms/1000 = .0016 ohms per foot. A wire 20 ft long should have an ohms reading of around .03 ohms. 500 foot wire would have an ohms reading of .8 ohms. It might not be laser accurate but you an get within a couple of feet.
@@bjen2005 I wonder where you get those numbers. 1.6 Ohms for 12 AWG and 2.5 Ohms for 14AWG? That doesn't seem right, because according to NEC Chapter 9 Table 9 for 12 AWG it's 2 Ohms per 1000 ft, and for 14 AWG it's 3.1 Ohms per 1000 ft
I understand the need/want to have a ceiling fixture option but I'd never have a new home without one half of each receptacle wired to switch in the bedrooms, living room, den, etc. There's NOTHING like the ambience of lamp lighting! (Ceiling fans need a ceiling mount of course. So I remodeled with two switches in these rooms.)
Can you do a video on adding smoke detectors to a hard wired system. I have a room that was left off the detector run and not sure how to add one in to the existing circuit
Can this work to find the location of an open neutral? Specifically trying to find continuity without knowing the order of outlets & lightswitches on the circuit
It could help but open neutrals can be a little tricky. I had one the other day where I was only getting 90 volts opposed to 120 volts between neutral and hot. I flipped the breaker and found all of the outlets on the circuit and then inspected each outlet to make sure a wire nut or possible screw terminal wasn't loose. All the outlets checked out and it ended up being a junction box in the attic where a wire nut was loose and one of the neutral wires was coming out. Best of luck with the troubleshooting and let me know if you find the issue.
Great video! Great explanation of what you were doing and how you were doing it. Those lever wire nuts look really helpful too. I have a question that is sort of related. Trying to install GFCI outlet for garbage disposal, but it won't energize. Determined wire between panel and light switch that powers disposal was pinched under roof rafter. Have 120v to switch (and non-GFCI outlet), but assuming the pinch is what is keeping GFCI from energizing. Will check continuity tomorrow with your jumper idea, but assume have continuity because do have power, just pinch created short to prevent GFCI from energizing. Sound plausible?
Maybe double check to ensure you didn't run the wires into the "Load" as opposed to the "Line." I have seen that cause GFCI outlets not to power in the past even though the circuit was energized when the switch was in the ON position.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Thanks for the quick response! Well it was connected at load, but I switched to line, and it still will not power (but the light come on woohoo!). The GFCI is hooked directly to the line from the panel for this test, no switch involved. I've also plugged black wire into the next breaker, and still no power from GFCI. Power to GFCI verified by multimeter, but no power to lamp plugged into outlet.
Just checked continuity. It was fine. Reading on both black and white wires with a jumper between the ends (read separately) was nearly identical to reading when touched the two leads on multimeter together. But that was kind of what I was expecting if the rafter sagging under snow load (N. Idaho) sagged just enough to pinch the romex and crack the insulation between the wires, but not enough to actually cut the wire. Do you think my suspision is correct? if not, any ideas?
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Thanks for your input and letting me bounce this off you. I replaced the old wire with a new one with plenty of clearance under the rafter in question and that fixed the problem. We now have a new wire from the breaker panel to the switch, and the GFCI works. Thanks again. Mike
Thanks for the video. Can I use this same technique to check continuity of the ground on my water meter to my ground on the electrical box? I have so much audio noise (EMF) while playing electric guitar through a guitar amp. It changes as I move my guitar's direction, but much worse by the water meter. Thanks in advance :)
How can I use this to avoid wiring hidden behind plaster and lath walls? I have a tv to mount and a whole room's worth full of drywall to put up over peeling lead paint. About to lose my mind over here.
Do you haver to have the wire stripped? Tracing a wire at the switch (wire is stripped). Back at the breaker panel can I just clip on a wire. Or do I have to detach the wire from the neutral bar? Breaker panel is off.
I pulled out an old electric outlet, to replace it with a GFCI. I accidentally touched some part of the old outlet while removing it on the metal box, and saw a small spark. (I thought the fuse was out, but maybe I had the wrong fuse out). Now, I am reading 14 volts from hot to neutral, and from hot to the metal box(ground). I've pulled every fuse in the panel, and still see 14 volts! Note, the outlet was working fine before my accident (although the hot/neutral were reversed). What did I do break when that old receptacle sparked? Did I burn/short a wire, or junction? How do I find the problem. I cannot use continuity tests since I have 14 volts present. Help!
1.6.22 Question: I found a pair of wires in my breaker box and not attached to any breakers. How would one trace where these wires go? Like you videos thanks for taking the time to make them.
Hey Kat, thanks for all your feedback and actually changing a vanity light is on the short list of future videos. I would think that video will be out in the next few months. Best of luck on your repairs and improvements 👍
Can you use this method to test outlet to outlet in a series ....For instance between your last working outlet and the next non working outlet in a series in which the breaker isn't tripped you have power at first 2 outlets closest to breaker but then 3,4,5 and 6th outlet have No Power? THANK U ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED
Turn the breaker to the 2 outlets that are working. Pull the outlets out and check for a loose connection either wires in the wire nuts or where they are connected to the outlet. If you find that the wire is just stabbed into the back of the outlet this problems is not real uncommon....
Wow this looks super complicated lol, i usually just bypass switch so outlet is hot all the time the just run switch leg from the light switch box, cuts down on the confusion. The only time i can think of using continuity is for water heater thermostat check
you didn't tell us how these outlets had anything to do with installing the light. i'm still confused and do not know how to trace the wire to a light.
If you have Romex in your home and you have found the hot wire then you usually can just match that to the neutral and ground coming from the same romex line into the box.
I needed to do something like this when installing a GFCI breaker. Power off, of course, I connected the hot and only neutral at the outlet with a Wago. Then, I disconnected the hot from the old breaker and disconnected the two neutrals I thought it could be from the bus. One of them had continuity so that was what I was looking for. You could also do something like that instead of running a wire across the room like was done in the video.
Fluke makes some tools for it. The ones with the electromagnetic jaw/ring. Put the hot and neutral wires through the ring and turn power on. Keep ground wire outside the ring. Fluke in AC mode will measure leakage, which is the difference between current going in on hot and coming back on neutral. The difference is the current leaking to ground.
Ugh, this electrical is a nightmare for me. I took a wall out with 2 outlet boxes in it, and now I'm dealing with the electrical. Can't believe I didn't even give a thought about that when I got started, lol. Now I'm hunting down what wires are coming from where and it is not fun. It's time to call an electrician, I think, which will take 3 months.
Julius Byes no I do not. Just 20 years of experience. All the top switches outlets originate at the switch along with the line power feeding the switch. Just makes sense to me to tie the switch leg to the hot and bypass the switch to feed the top half of outlets
Why not remove slaving switch. Bundle wires to outlets together so they are always on? Push bundle deep in box and add new switch and wiring for the ceiling fixture. You shouldn’t have to touch those outlets.
Finally a guy explains in plain English and shows clearly zooming in which setting the multimeter is at... Nobody does this and the multimeter is already very confusing.... Thank you sir and may God Bless you!!! 😂
I understand and appreciate the comments that (for some situations) this can be done without the extra wire. But I like the way that he's shown - with the extra wire: it can be used for ANY situation, ANYWHERE, and does not depend on additional wires. So it's good for any home power wiring, speaker wiring, RCA wiring, coaxial wiring, Cat5 etc. wiring, and anything else you can think of, as long as it's unpowered and of reasonably finite length. And it can even be used for a single wire with no other wires anywhere near it, other than the extra wire he's using to test it.
I like the comprehensive approach he's shown. I'm going with it!
Me too
1. turn off power at the breaker. 2.Isolate each cable coming into the box twisting the hot(black) and neutral(white)conductors together one cable at a time. 3. go to the other outlet or switch box and place your meter on OHMS to the loose hot and neutral of each cable. 4 The one that beeps is the cable you have twisted together at the other box. 5.ID that cable, untwist the conductors and proceed to the next pair of black and white conductors on the next cable. 6.Label each cable as you go. This works for locating shorts as well.
Thanks thats really helpful advice
Mind blown
Thanks it makes sense that way
I was going to leave the same comment when this popped up in my feed that's how I trace all my wires. Who wants to run a wire through someone's who house to test continuity if you only need a wirenut
great.....thank you......
Great video.... thank you... I used an extension cord instead of the solid core wire. I also used alligator clip 12 inch "jumpers" instead of the Wago. With both boxes completely undone, you can use the hot and neutral in the same romex cable to test continuity. Breaker is always in the off position when working with home wiring. Thanks again. Great video.
Great idea. I have wago connectors but never thought of locking my meter probe in one end. I normally end up twisting the wire around it then waiting for it to fall off! Thank you.
Thanks for posting this. It’s going to help me trace the last owners mess in my house.
You can do this without all the extra wire. Simply connect the wire you are attempting to locate to the common wire in the same box. Since ALL common wires are bonded in the main panel you can then go to the original box and use the common and test each other wire until you get tone. This would work using ground also.
Make a video? Leave a link here?
@@Orlena2525 To clarify: He is saying tie the hot to the netural (aka common) on outlet #2 in this video. He did not disconnect the netural in outlet #1 nor outlet #2. Thus, once the hot/netural are bonded on outlet #2, you can walk back to outlet #1 and touch a probe to the neutral and it is the same thing as touching the hot all the way over at outlet #2. Then the other probe is used to touch the hots in outlet #1 and you've got the circuit made for the continuity test. You can be assured all neutrals are always connected and will result in a valid test. That is because all neutrals run back to the netural bus bar at the breaker box and they all touch the same plate. This should be safe, but it does sound dangerous? If you accidentally connected a live hot to a neutral then it should immediately trip the breaker as a short circuit...
What would be the Common wire in the box the white wire that is with the Line / Power Right?
@@lakecityransom so if I needed to locate a matching neutral in a service panel to a hot; I can just connect the hot and neutral of the circuit I'm trying to trace, and then use the probe to locate the hot neutral in the circuit panel?
@@MiamiHeat872 I'm not an electrician but all the neutrals are tied together back at the breaker box so it should be irrelevant unless there is multiple incoming service breakers. If you mean it as an academic question then sure you could touch the hot in the breaker box but then for the neutral you would have to take neutrals off of the neutral bar one at a time to test them since they are all connected together, but it could work.
You don’t need that length of wire just clip the far wire to ground then measure between ground and the 3 wires one at a time until you hear a beep !! Yeah !!!
Smart. Thanks.
Thanks
What do your mean..? I’m trying to track my outlets all the way back to the breaker box so I can move a few things to open breakers but I can’t seem to figure out how to properly trace the wires, any help would be greatly appreciated
💯
I’ve used this technique a lot on aircraft. Whether it’s F16s or Boeings. Put it to ground, go across the aircraft and measure continuity from wire to ground on the other side.
That wouldn't work with the ground because the ground is tied to the box as well. You wanna tap the hot and neutral pair together at one end and then touch them at the other end
1 minute was enough to like your video. thank you
Hi Scott, I'm ahuge fan of your videos and they always are in depth. However, for this video, could you please explain in detail or a tutorial what you just memories between 00:10 to 00:30 seconds? That'd be really appreciated!!🙏🏻
Handy video! And here I was about to go out and buy a wire tracer! Thanks for saving me some money!
Thanks Jordan, best of luck on the project.
I was also going to buy a tracer, but this video helped me get the right tool. Awesome idea to use those wago style connectors for this!!! I bought a 100’ extension cord (cut off ends) that I can use to do these longer tests in my house and outside too! Thanks again
Very good.
Thank you.
Watching from Lapulapu City, The Philippines.
Great idea with the Wago and extension!
Thanks! 👍
You might use a wire tracer, which sends signal along the wire, you can then use the detector to trace where the wire goes. You don't need an extra wire, nor you don't need the probe to touch the wire core, even you can detect the signal outside the surface of drywall, which let you know which direction the wire goes. More, you can use it to tell where a wire is broken inside the wire sleeve. I bought one at about $30, very useful. Make sure there's no power on the wire before connect it to the signal emitter.
This is perfect! I'm buying one right now.
This is a good explanation, I have a question for you! Can I use the wire tracer to find a cable that has been bitten through between the ceilings?
What is the name of the tool you use to trace ? Or model number I’m interested in buying one
I just ordered a assortment box of them WAGO lever nuts. They will be so handy. Thank You!
Yeah, I don't use them for normal electrical work but the WAGO nuts are super handy for projects / troubleshooting like in the video 👍.
os for the Video clip! Excuse me for butting in, I am interested in your opinion. Have you heard about - Franaar Shining Shape Formula (Have a quick look on google can't remember the place now)? It is a good one off guide for revealing the secret to repair your electronic devices without the hard work. Ive heard some amazing things about it and my m8 finally got amazing success with it.
#how to test house wiring with multimeter
Really slick! I would have never thought of using a lever nut for this, being an old school aligator clip sort of guy - lol. Thanks!
Super helpful! I really appreciate the tip. i am a
dyi'er and finished my basement over 20 years ago. I need to do some testing of 3 and 4 way Lutron dimmers for my can lights and I did not document which switch was in what position from the load panel. This will help me identify which wire is first in line from the AC Panel. (After removing from the circuit breaker first of course.) Thanks again.
Best of luck on the project Tom 👍
Is there a video on the job you’re doing? I installed a ceiling light fixture in a living room that only had a light switch controlling one of the outlets in the living room. I got the light to work but I want to play it safe and do it correctly .. all I did was splice the wires from the light fixture to the light switch that controlled that outlet. So of course that outlet is still controlled along with the light fixture. I want continuous power to the outlet and the switch to only control the light fixture. Thanks
I watched all your helpful videos with 1000 % likes thank you so much and more.
Thank you. Always wondered how to do that with my old house.
AAAAAAHHHH!! I've been searching for a video like this and am SO happy to finally find this. THANK YOU!!!
Another nice function of Wago Lever Nuts.
Right on!
Can you use this method to find out what outlet is connected to a light switch ? I have a few switches that I have no idea what they are for.
I didn’t read all the comments..maybe asked maybe not but I need to trace wires to outlets in different rooms. my case 2nd story to 1st story. How to without with meter without extra wire? Or flat out need it?
Funny that meters don't come with this long wire to save a bunch of steps. I was just thinking about how to do this and this is pretty much how I thought it would work. Thanks for the video!
What's an easy way to energize the line with a low voltage to test without a jumper wire? (And not buying too much extra stuff)
Great tip Scott. Definitely needed this, spot "ON", just like that Fighting Illini shirt!
I added a heated floor in our bathroom. Now I have a 'nuisance fault' tripping the arc fault in the wall sensor. (Schulter heated flooring). It is on a dedicated circuit. However, even when I disengage every single breaker in the panel box, except my floor, I still get the nuisance trip. How would I go about tracing that fault? Or do I need to do a complete rewire of my panel?
Might be a dumb question but do I need to shut off power for this?
Okay I see you are new in this troubleshooting process. Let me suggest how you can easily find right wire. One incoming wire (yellow) connect to the ground wire and with continuity check find associates wire. Easy you don’t need extra jumper. Imagine you have to check plug in other room or floor above, you need long wire which is ridiculous.
@Theodore Myles You're right....no one cares
Great video, I have speaker wires running in my home from the previous owner but they were not marked. Can I use this method to figure out which wires run where?
Yes.
You’re my new favorite handyman on RUclips! I love how informative and simple your directions are.
Hey Lonnell, really appreciate the kind words.
My problem is, with a ceiling fan point, where ceiling fans are getting burnt. Thrice, it has happened already. This point is operated through two way switches. Since, last 20 years, it was functioning well, untill recent problem. How do I find the fault, either with a multimeter or any other method?
For some reason, maybe cause our home was built in 1890, we only have black and white wires. Can you tell which is hot? and I guess the other if ground? or netural?
Hey Kevin, Sounds like your home is wired without a ground. This is not uncommon for older homes and I would expect black to be hot and white to be neutral but you always want to check for sure prior to doing any electrical work to ensure your safety. Best of luck!
Black= to braker. White = to netural. Green= ground. As by today's law.....but take no color (or anything else) as gospal.....But electricty to power kersosene lamps (really)?
Was the wire used, taken from a 12/2 romex?
In this case, yep I just pulled it from a piece of Romex.
I don't see the line splitter on your amazon account. do you sell it?
So can you use this method to trace from an outlet to a light switch that might control it?
He Scott...I’m I a situation where we moved into this house and we have a light switch in our bedroom that we have no clue what it’s for....we have already checked to see if it controls any outlets...it’s right beside that switch that controls the room light....is there a similar way we can n find out what it’s for.
Hey Troy, off the top of my head I would expect it is another wire running to the ceiling light / fan junction box so you can control the fan and light independently. Let me know what you find 👍
@@EverydayHomeRepairs thank you. Will investigate along those lines
You can open the switch cover to see which way the wires go. up is probably a ceiling light removed in the past. Use a voltage line detector for line power with voltage sensor., some are sensitive enough you can follow the wire behind the wall. Buy the Walabot smart phone camera adapter, it detects things behind the wall!
@@danc2014 yeah both sets of wires Go up..thx for the suggestions!
Just subbed - quick question - does breaker need to be on when testing continuity, or will my MM beep as it did in video with breaker off? Thanks!
I have conduit sticking out of an outside wall. The wires are taped and inactive. How would you find the source of the wires? Hopefully, to install a outlet!
Thanks for putting this video into RUclips.
Keep up the good work.
What if in different room or floor? Isn’t there wireless version
EVERYDAY HOME REPAIRS, when using cable Trackers/tracers if the wires in the house are wiring all over the house, the cable tracker tracer doesn't tell you how long the cable length is and where the cables go up, down, left, right because the cable can start in the back of the house and run all over until it reaches the front room in the house. Anything to use that will find the cable length or if the cable has breaks in it?
The ohms\continuity will help you trace a wire and show if it's broken. He was just using the continuity and listening for the beep.
To find the length, you can also use ohms. (Ex) 12 gauge wire has 1.6 ohms per 1000 ft and 14 gauge wire has 2.5 ohms per 1000 ft. If you had a spool of wire and you wanted to know how long it was you could calculate it out. 1.6ohms/1000 = .0016 ohms per foot. A wire 20 ft long should have an ohms reading of around .03 ohms. 500 foot wire would have an ohms reading of .8 ohms. It might not be laser accurate but you an get within a couple of feet.
@@bjen2005 I wonder where you get those numbers. 1.6 Ohms for 12 AWG and 2.5 Ohms for 14AWG? That doesn't seem right, because according to NEC Chapter 9 Table 9 for 12 AWG it's 2 Ohms per 1000 ft, and for 14 AWG it's 3.1 Ohms per 1000 ft
How about if you have continuity on the common from plug to plug but not on the hot from the same plug to the same plug?
Not sure if I would do the same tracing a low voltage outlet?
How do you check which outlet is defective in a room with 4 outlets without power
I understand the need/want to have a ceiling fixture option but I'd never have a new home without one half of each receptacle wired to switch in the bedrooms, living room, den, etc. There's NOTHING like the ambience of lamp lighting! (Ceiling fans need a ceiling mount of course. So I remodeled with two switches in these rooms.)
Can you do a video on adding smoke detectors to a hard wired system. I have a room that was left off the detector run and not sure how to add one in to the existing circuit
Excellent. Thank you.
Do you happen to have a video of you patching up that drywall?
I want to be able to trace wires inside walls say from break bex to GFCI in Kitchen or outside
Very well explained for beginners. Kudos!!!
Can this work to find the location of an open neutral? Specifically trying to find continuity without knowing the order of outlets & lightswitches on the circuit
It could help but open neutrals can be a little tricky. I had one the other day where I was only getting 90 volts opposed to 120 volts between neutral and hot. I flipped the breaker and found all of the outlets on the circuit and then inspected each outlet to make sure a wire nut or possible screw terminal wasn't loose. All the outlets checked out and it ended up being a junction box in the attic where a wire nut was loose and one of the neutral wires was coming out. Best of luck with the troubleshooting and let me know if you find the issue.
Great video! Great explanation of what you were doing and how you were doing it. Those lever wire nuts look really helpful too. I have a question that is sort of related. Trying to install GFCI outlet for garbage disposal, but it won't energize. Determined wire between panel and light switch that powers disposal was pinched under roof rafter. Have 120v to switch (and non-GFCI outlet), but assuming the pinch is what is keeping GFCI from energizing. Will check continuity tomorrow with your jumper idea, but assume have continuity because do have power, just pinch created short to prevent GFCI from energizing. Sound plausible?
Maybe double check to ensure you didn't run the wires into the "Load" as opposed to the "Line." I have seen that cause GFCI outlets not to power in the past even though the circuit was energized when the switch was in the ON position.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Thanks for the quick response! Well it was connected at load, but I switched to line, and it still will not power (but the light come on woohoo!). The GFCI is hooked directly to the line from the panel for this test, no switch involved. I've also plugged black wire into the next breaker, and still no power from GFCI. Power to GFCI verified by multimeter, but no power to lamp plugged into outlet.
Just checked continuity. It was fine. Reading on both black and white wires with a jumper between the ends (read separately) was nearly identical to reading when touched the two leads on multimeter together. But that was kind of what I was expecting if the rafter sagging under snow load (N. Idaho) sagged just enough to pinch the romex and crack the insulation between the wires, but not enough to actually cut the wire. Do you think my suspision is correct? if not, any ideas?
@@EverydayHomeRepairs Thanks for your input and letting me bounce this off you. I replaced the old wire with a new one with plenty of clearance under the rafter in question and that fixed the problem. We now have a new wire from the breaker panel to the switch, and the GFCI works. Thanks again. Mike
Thanks for the video. Can I use this same technique to check continuity of the ground on my water meter to my ground on the electrical box? I have so much audio noise (EMF) while playing electric guitar through a guitar amp. It changes as I move my guitar's direction, but much worse by the water meter. Thanks in advance :)
How can I use this to avoid wiring hidden behind plaster and lath walls? I have a tv to mount and a whole room's worth full of drywall to put up over peeling lead paint. About to lose my mind over here.
Do you haver to have the wire stripped?
Tracing a wire at the switch (wire is stripped). Back at the breaker panel can I just clip on a wire.
Or
do I have to detach the wire from the neutral bar?
Breaker panel is off.
I would remove from the neutral bar to isolate which wire you are tracing.
Is the power turned off on these outlets?
Yep 👍
Does the circuit have to be turned off to test continuity? I would think so but want to verify
Yes. The tester itself it actually forcing a small amount of current through the cable and that is how its able to test continuity.
Do you know any wireless tool to trace wires ?
Dude! I love you! Haha you just saved my life😩
how you do this if its for internet and across the house?
Cool tutorials. I'm a new subscriber.
Thanks.
Not a single video that actually makes sense on how to test continuity with romex cable behind walls
I pulled out an old electric outlet, to replace it with a GFCI.
I accidentally touched some part of the old outlet while removing it on the metal box, and saw a small spark. (I thought the fuse was out, but maybe I had the wrong fuse out).
Now, I am reading 14 volts from hot to neutral, and from hot to the metal box(ground). I've pulled every fuse in the panel, and still see 14 volts!
Note, the outlet was working fine before my accident (although the hot/neutral were reversed).
What did I do break when that old receptacle sparked? Did I burn/short a wire, or junction? How do I find the problem. I cannot use continuity tests since I have 14 volts present. Help!
You may have burned out the breaker ...
Bro thanks for making this video!💯🙏🏾
No Problem! 👍
This helped me out quite a bit.
1.6.22 Question: I found a pair of wires in my breaker box and not attached to any breakers. How would one trace where these wires go? Like you videos thanks for taking the time to make them.
On my experience it may have been a jacuzzi or something outside of your home. I had that in my home
Any videos on changing out bathroom light fixtures and or porch lights?
Hey Kat, thanks for all your feedback and actually changing a vanity light is on the short list of future videos. I would think that video will be out in the next few months. Best of luck on your repairs and improvements 👍
How about if the wires you need to trace our in different rooms, to far away?
this guy doesn't reply ....
But the chance that switch controls other outlets in the house would usually mean a 2 way switch
Good video! I never saw that method but it does look like it will come in handy!
Glad it was helpful!
great explanation thx
Can you use this method to test outlet to outlet in a series ....For instance between your last working outlet and the next non working outlet in a series in which the breaker isn't tripped you have power at first 2 outlets closest to breaker but then 3,4,5 and 6th outlet have No Power? THANK U ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED
Turn the breaker to the 2 outlets that are working. Pull the outlets out and check for a loose connection either wires in the wire nuts or where they are connected to the outlet. If you find that the wire is just stabbed into the back of the outlet this problems is not real uncommon....
Pretty clever - thanks for sharing!
Thanks
Good Thinking, Great Idea! Thank You!
Thank you brother. That was amazing.
Wow this looks super complicated lol, i usually just bypass switch so outlet is hot all the time the just run switch leg from the light switch box, cuts down on the confusion. The only time i can think of using continuity is for water heater thermostat check
Very helpful, thank you
Thank you so much
Thanks guy
you didn't tell us how these outlets had anything to do with installing the light. i'm still confused and do not know how to trace the wire to a light.
So I see how you found the hot wire but how about the white that corresponds to it.
If you have Romex in your home and you have found the hot wire then you usually can just match that to the neutral and ground coming from the same romex line into the box.
@@EverydayHomeRepairs 10-4
I needed to do something like this when installing a GFCI breaker. Power off, of course, I connected the hot and only neutral at the outlet with a Wago. Then, I disconnected the hot from the old breaker and disconnected the two neutrals I thought it could be from the bus. One of them had continuity so that was what I was looking for.
You could also do something like that instead of running a wire across the room like was done in the video.
Have a thumbs up. Thanks.
It helped me alot 😌
Thank you so much
Great video thanks.
Awesome! Now I feel dumb… but I deserved it :-)
Thank you!
How do you measure "leakage" current from outlets and electrical wiring?
Fluke makes some tools for it. The ones with the electromagnetic jaw/ring. Put the hot and neutral wires through the ring and turn power on. Keep ground wire outside the ring. Fluke in AC mode will measure leakage, which is the difference between current going in on hot and coming back on neutral. The difference is the current leaking to ground.
Ugh, this electrical is a nightmare for me. I took a wall out with 2 outlet boxes in it, and now I'm dealing with the electrical. Can't believe I didn't even give a thought about that when I got started, lol. Now I'm hunting down what wires are coming from where and it is not fun. It's time to call an electrician, I think, which will take 3 months.
Thanks for the video =)
What if the breaker is off
Good video. Thanks. Thumbs up.
Don't forget to turn off the power from the breaker
💯
I purchased a banana plug and rubber booted clip with 10m of 10A tinned wire for my continuity test lead.🌏🇭🇲
Awesome thanks
So the wire is beeping is the hot wire
I was testing the hot wire in this video but the same process would work for neutral and ground.
Thanks again nice video
Why take all the outlets apart? Just use leg from the switch and wire it or wago it the the full time hot and you’ve accomplished the same thing.
Do you have a video showing this? Would like to see it done. Thanks
Julius Byes no I do not. Just 20 years of experience.
All the top switches outlets originate at the switch along with the line power feeding the switch. Just makes sense to me to tie the switch leg to the hot and bypass the switch to feed the top half of outlets
Why not remove slaving switch. Bundle wires to outlets together so they are always on? Push bundle deep in box and add new switch and wiring for the ceiling fixture. You shouldn’t have to touch those outlets.
Thanks!