Is There A Way To Trace A 110V Wire?

Depends on type of construction. Generally the wire will drop down to the first receptacle or switch in a circuit from the attic and then go horizontally through the studs to the next box, in a daisy chain on to the end of the circuit.

There are probably capacitive or some other types of sensors. I may look for one.

wire tracer

IT depends what tipe of wall u have i mean construction its wood or cocret !

Easy; all you need is a VOM and a long extension cord. Just check continuity between the breaker and the outlet. Don't forget to SHUT OFF THE POWER FIRST.

Visit Harbor Freight - pick up a Circuit Tracer

De-engergize the circuit, feed the circuit tracer source into it.

Using the circuit tracer indicator, follow the signal output.

I did some electrical work awhile back also installed my own service, here is the typical issues

1) Open circuit can be a splice that may have been soldered if its older than dirt back in 1984 I took electrical classes and discovered a company did not believe in wire nuts solder and tape.

2) Wire nuts can loosen retighten or replace in some cases may be wrong size connector, yellow and red are common.

3) This is the Award for electrical violation, someone either put the wire on the screw in and out on the other on outlets, Illegal as it is and very unsafe pratice.

4) el cheapo #2 just twisting wire with pliers and duck or electrical tape is unsafe and Illegal as #3.

I have a pet peeve of someone cobble job electrical installs. My employers remodel specified GFI's on every outlet, not sure if it was Company Specs or City Ordinance makes for a super safe install, and save a life.

Now buy a good meter if you paln on testing circuits, get one with fuses in the circuit noting is more entertaining to see a DMM or VOM start a heat light and smoke show and as Beavis and Butt head would say " Fire Kewl"! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC4bgd6wTCs&feature=related

Don't try this at home!

Firstly, why do you want to trace the already connected wire in the wall??

Usually, wire go from one end to other will either be a junction box or a switch box. You can trace it easily by pulling it.

Before you do it, pls turn off the main supply first...!!!

Welcome to my world.

I bought a fixer upper and the wiring throughout the house was a complete mess.

If none of the above methods work, you may want to learn how to patch sheetrock, or whatever your wall material is.

I you are actually trying to locate the path that the wire takes through the wall, without punching holes...then non-contact voltage indicators may work but it is not likely. Most of those need to be in close proximity to the voltage source to indicate power. Also, when bundled with other conductors (powered or not) there is some shielding which will make it even more difficult.

Before we start...is this a switched outlet? If so, you may have a short path to troubleshoot and have a variable that is most likely the culprit in this situation...the switch. With the info you have provided, though, this is a guessing game.

Caveat...if you are not familiar/comfortable/sure that you can do this DIY as an Anonymous poster to CR4...hire an electrician...this is what they do for a living and you can sue them if they crap it up...there is a great risk of death as well so make sure you have a second who knows CPR standing by if you crap it up. It's alway best to have a second person when performing any electrical work who can check your steps or kick you off of a live circuit and call the ambulance if you get zapped.

Anyway...

You can start by powering off your panel at the main. Since you say you have a bad connection I am assuming you know which outlets are affected, so that makes it a bit easier. At the same time, the bad connection may make this test impossible.

The outlet closest to the panel (think logically, though not all electricians are logical) will most likely be the first in the branch. It's okay to experiment as you move on. Get a quality circuit tracer as mentioned in several other posts on this thread.

Make sure the power is off!!! The Main!!! Flip off (!) all of the other breakers as well. Make a jumper plug...hot to neutral...and put it in a branch receptacle for your "bad connection". You can buy plugs from any store (not an advertisement).

Disconnect the high side (black wire...I hope) from the breaker that feeds the branch and attach your circuit tracer. Attach the second lead from the circuit tracer to the neutral block. This will complete the loop ("bad connection" aside) and greatly enhance the signal from the circuit tracer. Take the probe...start at the receptacle..and work what one would "normally" assume is towards the panel. The completed path for the circuit tracer will "boost" the signal and make it much easier to detect through the wall. If it is a long run you still may run into trouble...many variables including the quality, power output, frequency, etc. of the tracer come into play here.

If you have multiple receptacles on the same branch (most assuredly) try to use a receptacle that is not affected by your "bad connection".

You can also make more jumpers that go from ground to neutral, ground to hot, or all three. Make appropriate connections with the tracer signal generator at the panel for each jumper plug. Ground jumpers may work better if you are experiencing a "bad connection" which is likely either the hot or neutral wire to begin with.

When you are all done with your "testing" restore all equipment to readiness condition. Don't forget to remove your jumper plug!!!

Please...make sure you remove the jumper plug and disassemble this hazardous little guy before you restore power to your panel. I keep all of my little troubleshooting buddies under lock and key so nobody gets any funny ideas. Though it's best if they do not exist in the average homeowner's arsenal.

Experiment until you get satisfactory results. If you don't get satisfactory results...call an electrician...this is what they do for a living.

Now...all of the safety mavens can start with their remarks. Did I put enough caveats and "call the electrician" statements in there?

I If

sorry for the late response. the wires are not switched as far as i know. the electrition used the wall outlets as juntion boxes. i've tested the resistance from point to point and can't find a dead circuit by reading ohms. i think i burnt a connection when i accidently reversed the polarity. all outlets read 110v's , but only half the outlets supply enough power to run a lanp. my amp meter is rated at 10 amps, but i don't know how to use it. the breaker box threw sparks when i connected to the breaker panel.. i've checked everything accessable with a multi-meter. it's possibly it's a wire nut connection i can't find.

There is a poor connection somewhere. Try to determine what single item is common to all of the low amp outlets. Get some tape, and mark each breaker that will not support a 15 amp hair dryer. The sparking spot is probably the bad item, but a IR heat gun should show you the hot spot that is the bad connection. I have had the rivet inside of a meter box go bad, and only supply one leg of a split 110-220 volt system. All the 220 volt items were dead, and half of the 110 volt circuits were dead. If the breakers that will not run the 15 amp hair dryer all appear to be arranged in an alternating parrern with the good circuits, it is likely a connection at the breaker panel, or the feed to it. Good luck.

Well, that IS a can of worms. I would first check any recent work. Like, for instance, has there been an outlet replaced recently? Or a switch? Perhaps some recent drywall patching to cover a hidden (illegal) junction box?

I find that electrics don't generally go wonky all by themselves. They need help.

The vast majority of problems I have trouble shooted and found had to do with recent work. So much that it is always the first thing I ask the home owner...did you change out anything?

You should also remove any light bulbs if you are going to do any circuit continuity checks. An Ohmmeter thinks a light bulb is a dead short....grin!

The worst thing about electrical snags is the uncertainty....there is nothing like an electrical snag to make you stop and question yourself!

I know, it doesn't sound like much, but well over 95% of problems I have solved have been caused by a simple connection fault. A wire that fell off the screw or the failure to break the bridge between the top and bottom of a split plug on BOTH sides. (yup, I did that....nobody is immune to the simple error.) Or the crossing of black and white wires from outlet to outlet.

A common switch error often occurs in the "down stairs upstairs light switch". Colour codes (white is nice, black is hot) don't work on such switching systems.

Fox and Hound device.

You might be able to find one cheaper, or used on Craigslist.

http://www.amazon.com/Triplett-3399-Fox-Hound-Probe/dp/B001ULPREW

Not knowing how you traced it to where you can't find it in the wall. If it is chewed through and you have an outlet not working or a light not working, you will have to open some walls, you may have to open an entire wall to find the break. There is no easy way.

I do have a word of warning, anyone installing a 2 pole breaker, never ever purchase a 2 pole breaker with only 1 handle. Make sure your 2 Pole is actually 2 separate breakers rivited together. A friend of mine just got an arc flash from a 2 pole single handled internally shorted breaker. Got burned quite a bit with flashed metal and now has to replace his entire 200A service once he recovers.

Take your pick,

We use the "Amprobe Advanced" Tone tracer. It will follow the wire from receptacle to breaker.

http://www.nextag.com/wire-tracer/stores-html

Spend the money, save the time, and eliminate the safety risk by purchasing a circuit tracer. The "Fox & Hound" unit is a low cost but extremely reliable,safe, and effective unit. I use the Greenlee unit myself but it is somewhat pricey if you are not going to be using the tool regularly. Be sure to read the IOM instructions completely and carefully. If you do not understand all instructions thoroughly and you are not absolutely sure you can use the tester safely, hire a licensed electrician to assist you in doing the tracing and learn the correct, safe way.

Remember when using a circuit tracer that the generated tracer signal can and will be distributed throughout any/all circuits that are in parallel due to the sharing of the system neutral and/or ground through any device connected, plugged in, or switched on. This means that in order to eliminate false signal sensing, you must unplug, switch off any devices attached to the circuit you are testing. It is also a very good idea to de-energize the main panel, and disconnect/isolate the neutral and ground of the circuit from the panel during testing.

Are you sure your issue is in the wiring and not in your distribution panel? It is very common for circuit breakers to have a bad connection where they attach to the buss. Many times the breaker to buss connection suffers from past overloading an/or loose (sprung) connection resulting in heating damage. These connections can also suffer corrosion from moisture which also results in a high resistance connection that can mislead one into thinking the issue(s) is/are in the wiring.

These high resistance connections will allow a circuit voltage sample reading with a VOM to exhibit "normal" voltage level values until the circuit is attached to a load. (equipment plugged in, light switched on, etc.) As soon as the circuit current draw increases, the connection resistance will cause the circuit voltage to drop low enough to keep the equipment from operating and/or cause intermittent operation and eventually failure of the attached equipment.

Also; All molded case circuit breakers are designed to interrupt a fault once. Repeated tripping under overload conditions can cause the contacts inside the breaker to become heat damaged and corroded enough to become a high resistance connection. These connection points can also be affected by corrosion from moisture over an extended period of time.

If you have not already done so, my suggestion is to de-energize your panel(s) and perform a thorough inspection of the buss, and the circuit breaker buss contacts. Look for discoloration, corosion, and physically damaged contact surfaces.

THE RISK IS HIGH. Be careful and make absolutely sure there is not any voltage present before and whenever you access the interior of the panel. If you are not well experienced and knowledgable of the procedure/method required to perform this inspection, hire a licensed electrician to do the work.

GOOD LUCK AND BE SAFE! Jim

Hire an electrician.

Buy the circuit tracer. If your new house is as you say, you will get to use again. Turn off the power, connect the tone generator to the dead end of the circuit, and use the tracer to work your way away from the starting spot, the good ones will allow you to pick up the signal through the wall. If that does not, you can find the path the circuit takes by attaching the generator to the metal conduit, and following that. Being un shielded, it should be easier to find beneath the wall. Good luck.