Can a novice use this to detect potential arc issues in a very old home?
1491044
Hi Freddie , No if your home is very old , and using knob and tube wiring , I think it works best on homes with NM cabling where the hot, netural, and ground wires are in one cable. Trade people refer to it as Romex but its just called non metallic or NM or NMB which means it can be use in areas with higher ambient temperatures. Hope I Helped Ray
1491045
I feel this should be used by an experienced electrician, who can interpret the reading effectively.
1491046
Well if you have arc issue you should de energize the circuits and check connections. This device does not check for arcing. If it is an older home I'm guessing the outlets are two prong and not 3 prong which is a requirement for this device. This device checks to see of the circuit is good or bad by measure impedance and voltage drops. It will point out potential problem spots with in your circuits. This device will also test the gfci.
1029586
I would advise against it. This is only a CAT 2 rated meter. That means the internal safety features are not sufficient to handle the higher potential voltage and energy that could come about at a meter panel. http://www.ni.com/white-paper/5019/en You really want a CAT 3 meter if you want to measure any live breaker panels. If you are going to test for bad circuit breakers that are disconnected from the live wiring then you could use this meter to check for continuity and the like. Do not use this meter on anything more powerful than a wall outlet. CAT 3 meters are available for not much more money.
139898
With three failures in a row I would (from 30 years of being an industrial electrician) I would inspect your wall sockets. Sometimes these are just connected with the "push" in cheapo deal(It's common in cheaply built homes) instead of the much better wire wrapped and secured by the screw terminal type. I've dealt with situations, even though I would get 120 volts on the meter, things wouldn't run (in this case a forced air furnace). It was an old home and by installing new receptacles and securing the wires properly to the terminals I cured the problem. Good luck.
1080758
If it is old, probably. Measure the distance between the prongs, it states how far the prongs are on this cord.
567996
Yes. Im a retired Elec. Contractor and got this meter for my son who is getting into the appliance repair business and knew he would need that function for troubleshooting appliances. So I researched it well. See link: http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/fieldpiece/stick-meters/hs33.htm
487177
I have an old house and mine works fine. It does draw some amps, but if you can isolate the plug or circuit to the collector and one other thing you should be fine.
1130499
Not really. This is for basic testing of the physical wiring only. You especially don't want to plug this into an active PBX.
198692
Yes it works for testing GFCI outlets (simulates a 'trip') and also checks any other type of outlet for proper wiring (hot/neutral/ground in the proper wiring spot)
113735
I would not try to use this in a home. There are many 110v detectors that are "made" for home use. Go visit your local wallyworld. This unit is designed to be used in an RV.
2199959
Not really. It will tell you if the hot, neutral, and ground are connected to the correct terminals on the receptacle. It works well at this and also checks gfci's. You will need to correct the wiring so it is correct.
858064
If you are asking will this device check an AFCI breaker for proper operation in the event of an arc fault the answer is no. As regards identifying the circuit wired to an AFCI breaker this tester should perform this function properly. However, you may want to contact Ideal directly to confirm this.
114335
I need to tell you first that I am not an expert at this. According to the small manual that came with the Sperry Instruments ET64220 Lan Tracker Wire Tracer, you can use it for "TRACING WIRING", see the bottom of the front page. There is a statement that reads "WARNING Electric Shock Hazard. Trace only unenergized wiring" before the instructions describe how to perform "TRACING WIRING." I haven't used the tool for this yet. It appears to me to be similar to a continuity test that can done with a test meter but with the "Lan Tracker Wire Tracer" you don't have to have both ends of the wire in front of you.
1779178
You do have to be pretty close to the wire for the sensor to pick it up, so I don't think it would detect it at all underground. Besides that, even if it could, it's not designed to clarify where an abrupt end to a signal is, so if you lost the signal, it could mean the wire is broke or you are no longer following the wire. Bottom line, this tool is not the way to resolve your problem.
218560
I wouldn't recommend it. Most devices have a safety factor where you can exceed the supply voltage by some amount, say 10 percent, but digital electronics can be very sensitive to values outside of their ratings. Below 12 volts the sensor may not work well. Above 13 volts it may incur damage.
156283
Absolutely. We used it to monitor my Mom's hospital bed. Dad's was right next to hers and it only alarmed when she got up. My Mom is deceased do now we use it for exactly the application you asked about. We keep it on a bar by the front door. It alarms if Dad crosses it to the door, but not while the rest of us walk around the room. Just direct the beam to the area you need as though there is a string from the device to a point across the room. This thing is very much worth the money!
246577
Im not sure if this would be best for that, I was tracking cable lines through my house. The best way to use this is if the attach the base to one end and then use the pen to trace the wire. It doesn't really tell you how good the connection is.
229743
Yes, we have, but we live in a very old house. All of the outlets have a hard time handling certain things plugged in. It only happened once or twice in the many months we used it. Don't know about newer houses.