Posted by Trygve Lillefosse on November 14, 2007, 5:23 pm
Hi
I live in an old house where I moved in about a year ago.
In the hallway there is a dual switch, but only the wires from one of
them do any "action", and is connected to the hall light. I expect
that there are wires that are meant for a light in the stairs, but
have not been able to find out where the outlet may be.
Would it be possible to follow the wires with a current detector, when
there are no load in the end, or do I need some kind of metal
detector?
--
SEE YA !!!
Trygve Lillefosse
AKA - Malawi, The Fisher King
Posted by Martin Riddle on November 14, 2007, 6:15 pm
> Hi
> I live in an old house where I moved in about a year ago.
> In the hallway there is a dual switch, but only the wires from one of
> them do any "action", and is connected to the hall light. I expect
> that there are wires that are meant for a light in the stairs, but
> have not been able to find out where the outlet may be.
> Would it be possible to follow the wires with a current detector, when
> there are no load in the end, or do I need some kind of metal
> detector?
> --
> SEE YA !!!
> Trygve Lillefosse
> AKA - Malawi, The Fisher King
You didn't mention if they are still hot.
If they are not hot, then a tone probe may allow you to find them in the walls.
You may have to turn the gain to max on the probe to penetrate the walls
Most likely you have one end of a three-way switch .
Cheers
Posted by Trygve Lillefosse on November 14, 2007, 7:26 pm
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 23:15:52 GMT, "Martin Riddle"
>> In the hallway there is a dual switch, but only the wires from one of
>> them do any "action", and is connected to the hall light. I expect
>> that there are wires that are meant for a light in the stairs, but
>> have not been able to find out where the outlet may be.
>>
>> Would it be possible to follow the wires with a current detector, when
>> there are no load in the end, or do I need some kind of metal
>> detector?
>You didn't mention if they are still hot.
>If they are not hot, then a tone probe may allow you to find them in the walls.
They are still connected to the mains, but there are no load(lamp or
whatever) at the end.
>You may have to turn the gain to max on the probe to penetrate the walls
>Most likely you have one end of a three-way switch .
I do not quite understand how this gadget work. Do you have any link
that explains the workings?
--
SEE YA !!!
Trygve Lillefosse
AKA - Malawi, The Fisher King
Posted by Neon John on November 14, 2007, 8:12 pm
On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:26:58 +0100, Trygve Lillefosse
wrote:
>They are still connected to the mains, but there are no load(lamp or
>whatever) at the end.
>>You may have to turn the gain to max on the probe to penetrate the walls
>>Most likely you have one end of a three-way switch .
>I do not quite understand how this gadget work. Do you have any link
>that explains the workings?
The little black thing is a tone generator that connects to the wire. The probe
contains an inductive pickup that signals when it picks up the radiated field
from
the wire.
The one cited is designed for de-energized wiring. Telephone, network and other
similar wiring. One probably more suited for your application is this:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId 0087660
This unit is similar to the above one except that it works with live circuits.
The
tone generator connects to the live circuit and is powered from it.
None of these work very well when tracing Romex because the two parallel wires
act
like a transmission line and thus don't radiate much signal. If you're tracing a
single wire then either should work well.
You probably don't need either of these to find an energized power conductor.
All
you need is a capacitive probe feeding a reasonably high gain audio amplifier. I
have a Rat Shack amplified speaker with a fairly high impedance microphone input
that
I've used to find hidden wiring. A phono preamp is ideal. The probe can be as
simple as a length of wire or perhaps a plate of metal. It picks up the e-field
radiated by the wire. Simply move the probe over the area and home in on the
spot
that produces the most hum.
John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
Posted by Trygve Lillefosse on November 16, 2007, 9:37 am
>On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:26:58 +0100, Trygve Lillefosse
>wrote:
>>They are still connected to the mains, but there are no load(lamp or
>>whatever) at the end.
>>
>>>You may have to turn the gain to max on the probe to penetrate the walls
>>>Most likely you have one end of a three-way switch .
>>
>>I do not quite understand how this gadget work. Do you have any link
>>that explains the workings?
>The little black thing is a tone generator that connects to the wire. The probe
>contains an inductive pickup that signals when it picks up the radiated field
from
>the wire.
>The one cited is designed for de-energized wiring. Telephone, network and other
>similar wiring. One probably more suited for your application is this:
>http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId 0087660
>This unit is similar to the above one except that it works with live circuits.
The
>tone generator connects to the live circuit and is powered from it.
>None of these work very well when tracing Romex because the two parallel wires
act
>like a transmission line and thus don't radiate much signal. If you're tracing
a
>single wire then either should work well.
>You probably don't need either of these to find an energized power conductor.
All
>you need is a capacitive probe feeding a reasonably high gain audio amplifier.
I
>have a Rat Shack amplified speaker with a fairly high impedance microphone
input that
>I've used to find hidden wiring. A phono preamp is ideal. The probe can be as
>simple as a length of wire or perhaps a plate of metal. It picks up the e-field
>radiated by the wire. Simply move the probe over the area and home in on the
spot
>that produces the most hum.
Think I will try this method. Even though it may mean that I have to
move around my stereo.
Thinking about it - i think I have an old casette/radio stowed away in
the basement.
Now I only need a cheap pair of airline earplugs I can modify, luckily
I'm going away this weekend - I may get a pair. If not, I will have to
search one of my "mystery drawers".
--
SEE YA !!!
Trygve Lillefosse
AKA - Malawi, The Fisher King
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> I live in an old house where I moved in about a year ago.
> In the hallway there is a dual switch, but only the wires from one of
> them do any "action", and is connected to the hall light. I expect
> that there are wires that are meant for a light in the stairs, but
> have not been able to find out where the outlet may be.
> Would it be possible to follow the wires with a current detector, when
> there are no load in the end, or do I need some kind of metal
> detector?
> --
> SEE YA !!!
> Trygve Lillefosse
> AKA - Malawi, The Fisher King