Learn how to NOT electrocute yourself while doing DIY electrical work. #diy #electrical #homeowner
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there's also the electroboom way: just short the plug and the correct breaker will open.
...will open, hopefully.
Old homes are “tricky “ what you end up opening sometimes is a Hidden Gfci that powers half the House and no breakers opened in the panel🤣now you to have a House with no power and a Random Gfci to Look for
One big trip/help is to label the outside of junction box covers; you can also label the inside of the covers or simply the non-visible portion of the outlets switches, as these then get covered with a cover. Covers also cover more than just the box, especially with todays larger covers and a simple label or fine tip marker putting circuit numbers on the wall under the covered area can be good. As an institutional electrician you get to expand this out to facilities with quite literally dozens if not a hundred plus panels, then add three phase and this gets quite fun. I’d also suggest running the breaker test again after you shut the first breaker off as you can actually get dual feeds, especially in DIY work or after a new service, especially if you’ve ever had knob and tube in the house.
Mom asked me to test dryer heating element; switched off the breaker but tested with multimeter (before non-contact testers were invented). I got an arc, found wires were crossed so one leg of the 50A stove breaker was connected to the dryer outlet, and one leg of the 30A dryer outlet was feeding the stove. Similar situation many years later in a US Army hospital in Germany in the feeder for an X-ray machine. The arc blew a 100A fuse at 380V.
I've only being doing diy electrical work since buying my first home a couple years ago, I literally did this exact same thing when wiring in new smart switches. I only did it once and bought this exact tool that evening, worth every penny for that extra bit of safety. 👍
Your tips certainly help with time. Time duration stated for every project is never accurate for me i.e. 45 min = 5 hours I always have something not quite like the example. Never fails, and this begins my learning cliff. I either spend time finding an irregular situation or make the mistake that creates the time consuming rework... so, your channel helps trim that off! Thanks!
Watch out for neutrals on mult-iwire branch circuits that aren’t on proper two pole breakers. Dish/disposal is common one but in some older houses they were used throughout. It’s two hots sharing a neutral and if in single pole breakers you can shut one off and it will not show as hot but it will be carrying voltage on the neutral because of the other closed breaker.
Shit...I think you just solved a workplace problem for me. Thx!
Yep, happened to me, I'm still alive, and smarter for it! Shock of my life!
Shared neutrals, Oooof!!😬 Hackers, garbage etc...
Thank You. Your videos are MOST HELPFUL. You may have saved some lives.
Moved into a house last year, with two main panels. The labels in the boxes were nothing more than "AC, AC, Heat, REC, LIGHTS". zero description of where, what or anything. I used this tool to remap every single circuit, outlet, light in the whole house and made a very detailed panel label printout for each box. This tool is awesome
I have this circuit breaker detector and it works great. I went through the house, identified the individual breakers and the circuits (e.g. receptacle west wall dining room, upstairs hall lights, etc.), put them on an Excel spreadsheet and taped them to the box. I also noted if there is a GFCI and its location on the circuit. I labelled the receptacles on the cover so I can easily see what breaker it's on.
Good video. I have 7 panels in our warehouse and could not LIVE without this tool. I also test with a meter just to be sure. THX
Whenever I've had to mess with I always took the nuclear approach and just turned off the main power to the whole house as I have no intention of getting shocked
Drastic, but effective.
Oh my goodness! This is just what I need. I go out to the breaker box and keep running in and out of the house to see if it's the right breaker to turn off. 70 yrs old and live alone.. Have to fix things myself. I'm getting pretty good at it. I haven't been shocked yet. Thank goodness. But this is a great tool. Gotta' get one of these.
Thank you. Your panel pics used to look like ours . Expensive to pay pros but keep me alive . Appreciate your video .
Doing some minor DIY work, turned off a breaker, light went off. Got a bad shock! History: This was an old (1912) house, original fuse box had one fuse for each side of each circuit. We had a licensed electrician replace fuse box with a breaker box. He ran a 50 A disconnect and feeder from main service, and rearranged a new 3-phase breaker panel so there was one breaker for each neutral, and one for each hot. Breakers were not ganged! I had turned off a neutral, leaving the circuit live!
There are some crazy setups out there, and the older it is the more likely it is to be a challenge. Glad it was only a shock - I've had my share!
@@LRN2DIY yes, that same house had a really strange 3-way switch setup. One wire from the fixture went to the center of the first switch that would switch it to line or neutral. Other wire from fixture went to the second switch that would switch it to line or neutral *on a different circuit* ! So socket could be live when off, and you had to turn off TWO circuits to be safe to work on it!
Dude, thanks for the video. Very helpful. Guys like you make the world a better place.
That's so kind - thank you!
That is a great tool. I have an Ideal SureTrace 957 that does the same thing, plus a few others and has come in handy many times. Even after I believe I have identified the correct breaker and used a non-contact device to see if the AC seems turned off, I then use my trusty DMM to triple check and confirm the circuit is off.
Sure trace is better! The Klein 310 even displayed red light when I ran it past the main breaker. I don't this is worth the money now that I bought it. And yes I followed the instructions and calibrated it.
Thank you! Just liked and subscribed! I have been wanting to smart upgrade the 3 way switches that control my hallway lights on the parlor and top floors of my townhouse but I can't find the breaker at all! Should be on my 1st floor panel or possibly on the main basement panel that feeds each floor but I've traced out most breakers and still can't find it with the run and check if the light turned off method. Gonna buy that tool with your affiliate link right now!
I use a shop vac for non-visual confirmation. Pretty loud and it will turn back on with the breaker to confirm 2x. Not all radios will come back on. IMPORTANT: ALWAYS check prior to any work with a tester and if you can’t see the panel from the work area lock the breaker out either with a proper lockout device or at least some tape
Yup. 100% Same thing happened to me, installing the same switches and finding the same issues.
Thanks so much. This really made this totally unknown world of electrical workings much more clear for me. Also…. I ADORE the little hand pointer!!!!😁
All this information is fantastic but that Vanna White hand is introducing the tools is freakin awesome!!
I have felt 120v but luckily to survive it!
this is the best tool I've purchased in years. I wanted to separate two bedrooms. Plugged on end in the bedroom socket, used the other to find the wire in the attic out of a sea of wires. Fantastic.
This is the best video I have watched, so far, of the circuit breaker finder. I am glad I subscribed to you 6 months ago. I have been looking at a lot of your videos. Man you are good. Very detailed and an expert at your craft.
very helpful video, thanks! I made a google sheet with the breaker assignments and printed a copy taped inside the box, and also made a QR code to the sheet. That way, I can scan the code and go right to the sheet on my phone
Testing for a light switch was so cool, hadn't thought about it myself. Great video.
Great video... and channel!! That tool is awesome!!! Just ordered one with the add-on kit, from watching this vid! Thanks!!!
Awesome! Thank you so much!
Every house Ive moved into, the panel was marked garbage, or not at all. Everyhouse I have left, is all labeled correctly, but the old school way. Turning the circuit off and some yelling, is it off yet?
In the UK, our lights upstairs and downstairs are generally on different circuit breakers. Hallway and landing twin switches generally have both circuits going into the same box similar to in your video. When working in a light switch box, I generally switch off all the lighting circuit breakers partly because I don’t want what happened to you to happen to me but also because I don’t want to keep going backwards and forwards to the panel trying to identify which circuit breaker powers the switch I’m working on… Work smarter not harder.
I have used the radio method in the past but in noisy environments, I will plug an extension cord into the outlet that needs attention and carry the female end to the breaker panel. I use a noncontact tester on the extension cord to find the breaker in question.
Excellent advice! Thank you, sir.
Excellent video and very instructive. Thanks a bunch.
I have the ET300, a lessor capable Klein circuit tracer. One thing I find however is it doesn't seem to work properly through GFCI receptacles. Works fine for all other circuits.
I had this exact same thing happen to me just a few weeks ago. I was changing out the old three way switches for smart switches for the foyer. One switch was by the front door and the other was at the top of our staircase by the bedroom door. This one had two switches sharing the same box . I shutoff the circuit breaker for the light I was working on verifying it when the light went off. I went back up the stairs to the satellite switch and as I was taking off the switch cover I looked at the other switch realizing that this switch controlled the lights in the upstairs hallway. I wondered if it was on another circuit and decided to flip the switch to see if the hallway lights came on. Sure enough they did. I am so glad I decided to do that. I'm certain it saved me from being shocked. Another reason for purchasing this tool after watching one of your other video's. Amazon delivered it today. Thank you very much for another informative video.
Thanks and bought one. I have other testers which I could never get to work well. Like your videos.
Thanks so much and I hope you love it! I feel way safer now that I'm using this.
You can run an extension cord from the outlets you are testing down or over to the panel so you can use a lamp.
At first I thought you had a really small hand, before I realized it was just a pointer. I just got one of these circuit finders last week its great. I also got a baldr power meter which is great for checking the load from any appliance or device.
I have this tool and love it.
Does the Klein Tools 80016 Circuit Breaker Finder Tool Kit with Accessories, 2-Piece Set work for 220 circuits? Great video. Thanks for showing these practical tools.
Great video content and editing! 👍
Thanks so much!
I ran into this but caught it with the non-contact tester before moving anything. I think the code changed around 2006 to require ganging of the breakers if more than one breaker went to a box. In my case, half the panel would have had to be ganged just due to poor layout (which I didn't fix). If there were plans, no licensed electrician reviewed them. Everything in that place was apprentice level or lower.
That doesn't really mean anything because I'm an apprentice and my work always looks better than the journeyman I'm working with. 9 year apprentice cause I make a dollar or 2 less than a journeyman and have none of the responsibility. Cant be stuck running a crew or be responsible for other peoples mistakes. Lol
@@charlesstidham2788 I hear you. Really it comes down to the person. If you care about your work, and it sounds like you do, Charles, that's the most important thing. My apologies to apprentices everywhere.
i've copped a 240V shock more than once
😂😂😂 I had to replay the first part of the video like 3 times 🤣🤣 Awesome video 👍
My right index finger and thumb both have a maximum voltage rating of 240 so I use them regularly when I can't reach my tick tracer.
Nice work man, congratulations!
Very good information. I continue to face a big mess with house wiring and outlets. In the case of one outlet, there is no circuit breaker that controls it! Dangerous and exasperating! Maybe it somehow connects to the large outdoor main panel? Also, in this old house we have Knob&Tube wiring, with some new additional romex wiring and outlets. I last paid my electrician thousands to do what he could, but his solution to our lack of ground wires is not very satisfying. He installed occasional GFCI's, but never mapped outlet by outlet to find just which outlets are downstream from each GFCI. Because the house is quite full of "stuff", one or two of these GFCI's is not so accessible. I spent the last 2 years unable to turn on overhead lights in a large office room, figuring that a GFCI somewhere had tripped. Years later I was repairing a wobbly receptacle in the kitchen and had to move hundreds of pounds of cabinetry and its contents, and found another GFCI. Seeing that it had tripped (which did not affect anything in the kitchen!), I finally noticed that the lights in the office room worked again! Most unexpected. I have had many discussions about doing a whole house upgrade to eliminate the K&T wiring, but the disruption and cost of doing so would probably equal the entire value of the house. I am not kidding. There is no drywall, only wood and plaster walls. Ripping those open and then repairing all the walls in the entire large 11-room old house would be an impossible nightmare, certainly impossible to afford. Plus, almost no contractor can satisfactorily do this kind of work. Yes, they will demolish your walls and put in new wiring, but will they fix the walls after that? I don't know any contractors doing plaster-on-lath work, and also none that can match 100+ year old wood beadboard walls. I try to learn as much as I can about making electrical fixes and changes, but sometimes we are kinda stuck with problems that cannot be solved.
Just turn the whole board off to be sure
Best electricians tool I ever owned next to a VOM meter.
lol when you were describing your throught process on decyphering the breaker box's label, first time I laughed in weeks because I can relate exactly lol. Subscribed!
Amazing 👏 so how does that tool help with the sparking scenario you presented? Using the alligator clips to test the switches before pulling them out somehow and hitting the adjacent switch? Or was your example added in there just for fun like one of my girlfriends stories?
Helpful! Thanks!
Hello, thanks for the nice demo. Could I ask you a question? My garage ceiling light bulb stopped working before I noticed that. I tested the bulb socket, it has no voltage. So I guess the light bulb might still be good. The wire in the attic seems fine, the light switch on the wall has no voltage signal either. At the same time, my garage door motor still has the power. Probably they use different wire pathway. I had tried to turn on and off the panel swith in my basement, but it did not solve my problem. My question is, what is you step by step strategy to fix it? Does the circuit break finder and GFCI tester have a role in this situation? Thanks in advance for your time. All the best, Jerry from Toronto, CA
I have an older house. We had two outlets in the kitchen, and one in the living room on one breaker. Then the fridge and another outlet together. Got fridge on its own now.
Great content. Love it. Hope you get a million views and subscribers.
This tool is great for labeling receptacles finding the right panal
Very good video. To the point and helpful.
How did you get your labels done that’s on the door like that ? Also does this finder also let you check see if power is actually off. Or do I need a volt meter for that ?
0:12 That's basically my electrical box in a nutshell xD
In the 70's that tool did not exist. I worked for a contactor who built one. It was a big piece of machinery. Every time we used it all the other tradesman would flock to it in amazement. You would have to open the panel and put a current meter around each wire until the meter dial stated to pulsate. He always wanted to market it. I always wondered if he did. Every time I see one I think of him.
THANK YOU!
Write the breaker number on the back of your outlet covers with a sharpie.
Those are great switches Home Kit Awesome!
I never got shocked except once when I was plugging a cell charger when I was a kid and touched the prongs. I was isolated from ground by a rubber mat, so it wasn't that bad. How to not get shocked in the terrible old wirings. Just shut down the master switch and put a lock on it.
I have breakers that I am not sure what they control. Are there any tips to find out what is tied to a specific breaker?
very good video thanks for the tip I've been shocked once never underestimate electricity I'm not a contractor just a DIY but I buy the best equipment that I can your life may depend on it.
If you could decipher a doctor's prescription you could probably be a good electrician
Thank's ! For the info great !
Is there a commercial version of this, or adapters for 20, 30 amp plugs?
Can you post the cheap floor planers link I find that very useful. Thx 🙏🏾
You bet! Here are a few that I found and tried (most require an email address): floorplancreator.net/ floorplanner.com/ www.smartdraw.com/floor-plan/floor-plan-designer.htm
So I have an LED ceiling light (diodes only, no bulb), and need to know which circuit it on to replace the switch. Suggestions?
that two circuits ran through one double light switch blew my mind.... scary. There is also my favorite for when in doubt flip the main or flip them all. It is better to go overkill in making sure everything has no power.
DIYers said it yourself 👏
Cool tool though
At low’s you can buy a fluke outlet tester with Audible beeping so you can find the breaker.
Great video just confused about the alligator clips. I've seen other videos where black clips were connected to black wire and red connected to white. Your video you did the opposite.
Great video!
I discovered the hard way that electricity flows in neutral wires too! I was on a ladder, outside, and i cut through a bundle of neutral wires. I'm not an electrician, but as a qualified aircraft maintenance technician I should know better!
I’ve learned to take NOTHING for granted! And when I don’t have someone available to be my “eyes” when I’m flipping Breakers off/on, I use one of my spare Wyze cams. 👍🏼
I personally prefer fluke non contact and meter testers.
I run an extension cord from the outlet to the panel, and plug in a trouble light to see if it goes off. Each of the breakers in my house have a printed label on it, and a plot plan of the house with each circuit labeled. What can I say? I'm thorough to a fault.
What you're describing about the circuit breaker is exactly what mine looks like. We bought our home brand new but some of the labels look like they're written in another language! Recently changed our doorbell to a camera doorbell and we had to try each lever before we knew which switch was right. Thank you so much for the tips you offered! I'm a single mom (after 17 years of marriage) & learning how to do a lot on my own. I very much enjoy it but it can be really intimidating! Trying my hand at replacing our kitchen faucet next! Both excited & super nervous! 😬 😀
be careful, some homes have "switched receptacles" and they'll be on a different circuit in the same box as lighting switches. if you're going to do this, remember that around 0.2 amps can stop your heart. let's say you have an incandescent lightbulb at 60watts, or a string of LED's equivalent. 120volts / 60watts = 2.0 amps .....you kids stay safe out there.
Yeah, but you had 2 circuits in one box (!!!) and I certainly would assume that the one light fixture I tested with the circuit breaker tester (which I do own and love) that I had covered it. Thinking to probe all switches in a box has not been on my mind, it will be now!
My father was an electrician/electrical engineer. He used to tell me. “Don’t stand behind me!” Of course I knew more than he did. . . . . Until I got a screwdriver bounced off my forehead when he got bit and threw it. Ouch!
Our TV repairman told me that when I was a kid. I understood why.
So with the first situation where the two light switches were on different breakers, how would using any of these tools had helped. It seems that even with these tools, you would only test one thinking that both switches are on the same breaker and you would till get the same result where a spark will happen. should you just test everything and not assume.
Thanks!
So kind of you! Thank you so much! Have an amazing weekend, my friend.
So you know. You can also use the Klein Digital Circuit Breaker Finder to find (Identify) other receptacles on the same circuit using the same testing procedure as used at the circuit breaker panel, but by scanning other outlets etc. It just speeds things up a little rather than testing every plug against the circuit panel. That said, you still need to verity that any circuit is open prior to working on it. :)
What am I missing? When I plug the transmitter into a receptacle and then use the tester on another receptacle in the same branch, I get nothing. Even if I pull the cover off and touch the hot wire. But it works at the wire in the panel. Actually, makes no electrical sense. I'd like to be able to plug into one receptacle and just touch other receptacles and switches to see what's on the same branch. I'm using the ET-310. But I just tried it again and it worked but on other receptacles it doesn't. I wonder if a small extension cord could give me closer access for the receiver to touch.
Funny is cause I decided to do this on a whim and found out that it works by detecting the hot wire on all the connected series of outlets.... It makes it easier to remove the covers and scan the hot wire sides. I did however find that the tester loses tracing capability so I turn off and on and go scan a known outlet and then try again. Found my issue with open ground. Did all this in 10 mins. If I had to trace by continuity, it would have taken forever.
How does the tool help you with the spark incident that occured
Hey wow. That tool is pretty freaking awesome ! I got one of those...old houses with...all that :(( Ugh. Handy dandy tool. Thanks 👍
Call me parnoid, but after testing with a wireless tester, after I pull the outlet out I test again with a DMM to again verify no voltage. I also test the wireless against a known live circuit before hand.
What about if the outlet does’t have power this tool can’t be detect the breaker?
I bought a house that's over 50 years old and the breaker box have NO labeling...none. Also the house was a fixer-upper so this tool was absolutely necessary.
This looks like a great tool but how does it solve the initial scenario that started it all off? The switch? Can you get the clips in there without first pulling the switch, an action that caused the initial problem?
I thought the same thing, this looks great but doesn’t seem to work for switches
The accessories. Use the light socket and ungrounded adapters in conjunction with the outlet tester. Failing that, use a multimeter to confirm no power. Never assume a double switch is powered by the same circuit.
Mr. LRN2DIY also waved his hand by open busbar while facing camera few times. Sparkey McSparkerton lives on the edge evidently
how can you test with circuit recessed lights are connected to when you don't have a bulb socket?
Remember! In an old house, the logic for how power is run may not be as logical as you believe. I live in a 90 year old house that has power run to the first floor hallway that also happens to run to one or two outlets on the second floor. In other words, back in the day, it was not uncommon for an electrician to grab the closet (or easiest) power he could find to wire up a receptacle.
People still do that now
400 deaths from high voltage in the US every year ? Where did that statistic come from and I’d bet very few of those happen from a DIY homeowner. And I’d say the 30,000 electrocutions barely scratches the surface and that the majority are unreported….heck I got zapped a good 20 times last week alone. In 25 years working in the industry I’ve never ever heard of an electrical death in a residential setting.
Same place as the numbers of deaths from..... Nah, nevermind. Don't question stats on deaths....
Sixty percent of the time, it works every time
you should always check all the electrical devices in the same box. just because the switch or outlet you want to work on is dead does not mean that one of the others are either. sometimes you could have multiple devices in the same box wired to separate breakers/fuses. older houses are a notorious for having faulty and mis wired stuff by todays standard. back in the day the electrical codes did not exist for certain things and so it is common to have wiring problems.
He just did it to make it happen like that for the viewers to make an example he didn't have to uploaded it right think about that
You show switch shooting out, but not how the tool would have prevented that?
I use the tester on all wiring in an electrical box, just in case.
You did not say why non contact voltage tester did not pick up live circuit
Click bait
It's not exactly click bait. The tester can help identify the circuit breaker in question when you don't know which one it is. It cannot save you from being ignorant about testing EVERYTHING in the box you're working on before you work on it.