Doesn't it also matter how many breakers you have in your box too. I have 8 breakers total, 2 are double pull and obviously not for outlets, so that leaves six, not exactly difficult nor time consuming to kill 6 breakers and figure out which goes where. Using binary would be ludicrous in that situation.
It's an either/or situation. If you're not using the extension cord/radio/vacuum cleaner method and you have to run up and down the basement stairs, for example, then the search routine makes a lot of sense. I've used all of the mentioned methods over the years depending on the situation.
How well do tracers work if one of the two wires feeding the outlet is an open connection? Is the fact that two parts to the connection are only a millmeter away enough for it to work.
Also, is there an easy way to know when a GFI outlet or breaker trips, if it did so because of an overload or because of a ground fault?
(After reading everyone else's problems here with dead circuits, I thought I had one myself. By the bathroom sink. I reset the GFI breaker and it didnt' seem to help. I tried other outlets I thought were on the GFI and some worked and some didn't. I reset it again and it worked this time.)
Xeno Chauvin wrote: ...[snip other parts of story implying a poor job/design/electrician]...
Actually, that is overall, a_good_thing (TM) :) and undoubtedly intentional -- the point is that not all service in a particular area of the house be affected by the tripping of a single breaker.
If, for a simple example, the panel is in the basement and it's late at night and all lights in the basement and down the stairs are on the same circuit, how easy is it going to be to get down there and find it in total darkness if that one is the one and _none_ of the lights or receptacles are still on?
Don't jump to conclusions about the electrician's sobriety _too_ soon without considering all alternatives...
Of course, there _should_ be a note on each receptacle and a chart at the box or somewhere else that does the identification...
You don't have to check as often. Anyway, I recommend identifying everything at once, rather than individually.
Just start your checking with the correct breaker. It's the easiest way, and works every time! :-)
It could be the first one. It could be the second one in the first half. If could be the first one in the second half. It could be the last one in the second half. There's as many possibilities as breakers, ALL EQUALLY LIKELY. Before doing any testing, the average is the best thing you have.
and not getting thrown off by simple AND INAPPROPRIATE thinking is still good.
"ludicrous" makes it sound like using binary is much more work. That's incorrect.
The average is 3 for either method. If you consider maximum (as someone might), you get 3 (for binary) or 6 (for one at a time).
I'd still check everything and label the breakers properly.
Lets take the radio method.
If it happens to be the first breaker you switch one breaker. If it is slot 2 you turn 2 breakers. If 3=3 4=4 say you have 12 on the right and 12 on the left. The most switches you would make is 12.
Lets take the binary method.
You turn off all 12 breakers on your first try. If you guess right you turn 6 back on, but if you guess wrong you turn those 6 off and turn the other 6 on.
Yeah, you are using way too much brain power for this 10 cent project.
This doubles if it happens to be the second half. Try the math again.
I do that all the time. A short piece of 12 gauge bent where I can put both ends into the outlet. Snaps the breaker immediately with very little sparking. Since I have done this over a hundred times without any problems, I think it may be OK to continue to do it in the future.
I have all the tracers, locators, testers, etc., but that is the fastest and most efficient method of locating the breaker that controls whatever you are trying to work on. Works for lights, too. Just bend the wire where it will touch the center contact and the side of a light socket. Make sure that you turn on the switch.
Knew an old fart electrician who kept a piece of 14 gage wire for just this reason. Six inches or so, curved it like a horseshoe. Pounded the two exposed ends flat. He'd shove it into the outlet, adn go see which breaker tripped. It's not funny. And I don't have the courage to try this myself.
That would be FPE, Federal Pacific, Stab-Loc breakers.
Christmas candles are cheap, and allow you to test multiple outlets at once, in case they're not all the same.
Which works really well until the one time the 'F'ing thing welds itself to the plug and you can't get it out.
If you're using a light, or something else where you have to go CHECK the outlet in question, then doing a binary search makes sense. If you're using a noise-generator where you can tell immediately on flipping a breaker whether you killed the one you want, then it's nonsense.
Mark Lloyd wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
With all the replies, I was wondering if anyone was gonna post the obvious!
A note that may not be obvious too all is to make sure switch controlled outlets are on first and make sure to test both sides of the outlet.
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