Locating Circuit Breakers and Fuses
Applications include identifying the breaker that protects the circuit under test, finding the correct breaker to de-energize the circuit, and labeling a breaker panel.
1) Connect the transmitter to the circuit that needs to be identified and power it on. The procedure is the same whether the circuit is energized or de-energized. But, a much stronger signal is produced using an energized (closed) circuit.
2) Turn on the receiver and go to the panel.
a) If more than one panel exists, set the receiver to Search Low (SL/2) mode and touch the nose to each panel cover until the panel with the strongest signal is identified.
b) If the receiver is detecting more than one panel with a strong signal, reduce the sensitivity range to Trace mode (TR/3), and repeat the step above.
3) Open the panel cover, set the receiver to Breaker (BR/4) mode. The receiver should be positioned on its side to orientate the antenna properly.
4) Slide the nose of the receiver down each breaker in the panel. The breaker with the highest numeric reading is the correct breaker. If two or more breakers have the same numeric values, tip the nose of the receiver up and then down at 45º angles and note the numeric values on each of the questionable breakers. Only the correct breaker will show a strong signal in all positions. Or, pull the panel cover, and place the nose on each of the individual hot wires for a more certain determination.
5) When the correct breaker is tripped (opened), the signal will drop significantly. And, the will disappear from the receiver’s display (RC-958 feature only). The LED on the transmitter will also turn off.