When you posted that daily deal video with this in it, I bought it immediately. I didn't even know something like this existed. I purchased last year a 1930's house and it's got two circuit boxes and none are marked. This is a dream tool I never knew existed.
I have an older version of this tool and it is still working great. Your review was dead on the money! I can not tell you how many times I have used this and it has saved me a LOT of time ( and some shocks I am sure.)
You knocked this one out of the park! I bought one of these not long after moving onto my new home to map circuits that the previous owners were too lazy to label correctly. This is a must have if you are any kind of a DIYer. Also get the accessories as you will probably need them. Great tool and great review.
Dang it, Red! Everytime I watch you it costs me money! In truth, however, during a much needed reflooring in my laundry room, I kicked a Romex run, and need to find that circuit so I can de-energize and repair. I have a hokey no-contact probe but it's just that. I have wanted a setup like this K-tool foreva...now that I know it to be available, I'll go git it. Likely local...if I can find it...Prime if not. Thanks for the info. You are certainly one of the best and brightest at what you do, and I salute you! Shine on, bro!
Nice, just added this to my wish list. Have an older, similar tool that didn't really work, so hopefully I can use this one to find the wire running to the outdoor light in the front yard. For other tools I'd recommend, it has to be the non-contact circuit tester, that tool that glows and/or beeps when put against the outside of a live wire. I won't do electrical work without one, as it probably saved my life one time, when the electrical wires on an appliance were connected between two different breakers.
I have it. We have used it at work to label outlets in cubicles in an office building so we make it easier to find the tripped breaker when an employee trips it with the space heater.. It is more useful with the accessories for screwing into a bulb socket and two prong adapter.
yep. that is a handy-dandy bit of kit - i like it! price is okay too. even if you just use it around the house.. $43 - you can take it round your cousin's if he is fixing his shed up, round grandma and grandpop if you installing some additional lights etc. for the price it is well worth having a reliable, well made circuit tester like that for use around the house.
Life long sparky and this appears to be another fine tool from Klein. If you are having trouble finding the exact breaker just go to one you think is producing most noise and turn it off. If you stop getting a signal on any breaker you have the correct breaker. In older homes & buildings where the used a shared neutral can be very hard to locate breaker. At the large hospital that I retired from we had a lot of shared neutral where they only used one white wire to feed 3 circuits in 120/208 volt panels that were feed by three hot wires. Only tester that worked was a over $500 amprobe tester. Had a 3 position switch where you could use on by touching front of circuit breakers or more sensitive position where you had to touch each hot wire inside of panel. Was fun on locations that had three 225 amp side by side panels all feed from the same 480 to 120/208 transformer.
I have this tool. Used it a couple of times replacing some GFCI outlets in my home. Love it. Time saver for sure and very easy to use. Well worth the money. Definitely invest in the $20 Klein Hard Case. I have a few of them and unlike the soft cases, these will protect delicate instruments and you can put them in a tool bag and this case will protect whatever you put into it.
That is definitely better then the way I do it now. I take a small radio turn it up real loud then start going through the breakers. When the music stops, I have found the breaker.
I too have an older model of this one as well. And you are dead on, when you need one of these they really really come in handy. Even though I’ve been in this house for six years I still use it.
Absolutely Bear. Those circuit identifiers have gotten much better. Many years ago I used an older version to label my 70's Zinsco breaker panel and has saved me countless hours of "...I wonder what this breaker feeds... click". Only to hear.... "HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING...turn the microwave back on if you want dinner"! 😬
I have the harbor freight one and it had some trouble complex circuits. I did my house and garage I labeled each receptacle and switch so I know what is hooked to what circuit breaker without going out to look at the tabulation in the breaker box.
I picked one up as well.. and now wish I could go back in time with my head in the sand LOL discovered that in our 1930's house, approx 40% of everything electric is wired to a single 15A breaker. about 30% to another... and then a series of outlets on a dedicated breaker for no good reason.. and then about 4 breakers I can't even figure out if they do anything at all. Basically I now live convinced the whole house will burn down at any moment. Thanks Klien Tools!
Don't have a use for this right now (all my breakers are labeled clearly) but good to know it exists if/when needed. I do use my Klein non-contact voltage tester, GFCI outlet tester, and electrician's pliers regularly though. Great tools at a fair price.
I like those tools, it always helps to double check to prevent further injury. I have the network toner and probe, I find it to be interesting that I can tell the electricity is on at the socket, base on the sound the probe make. I always triple check everything just to be safe..
I've had mine for a year. I find it finicky. I have used it several times in my home and my grandfathers mobile home. It get you close. But I find the right breaker is above or below the one that the sniffer is indicating. I took it to work for finding breaker in a industrial setting. Wasn't even close. I even try to verify a known breaker and didn't even find it in the panel according to sniffer. Good for home owner residential setting.
I have one. It's pretty good. I've used it on several remodeling jobs. It's nice that they plug into each other so the 2 don't get separated. My only issue is I got some false positives on which breaker it was plugged into. But definitely better than the old fashion way of turning every breaker off and on again
Hey TB, As an electrician for over 30 years I can't tell you enough how valuable these circuit tracers are. I'm using one made by Ideal Industries. It's been the best one I've used and has out performed models many times more expensive than it. Ideal also makes some great electrical tools, just like Klein and Greenlee. The unit you're using looks to have a few nice features that my tracer doesn't have so maybe it's time for an upgrade? The price looks decent and you can't go wrong with the tools Klein makes. Thanks for the review.
I agree with you on Ideal’s product quality. I work in IT own a VDV tester to trace, troubleshoot, and test cat 5/6 and coax cables and it seems to outperform all of my other sets as well as out last them in terms of service life.
I had something like this 10 + yrs ago but it bulky and hard to use with a lot of false positives at the panel Also I would always be losing the transmitter. I like that the two parts fit together and you have lights as indicators, the old one used tone which was the main issue. I think I will be adding this to my toolbox. Great product video.
yeah i have one of those. its freakin great. the outlet tester function is great alone, but tracing too? ultimate win. i've also got an inductance amplifier (progressive electronics 200EP, used for for tracing wiring in walls where non-contacts don't quite do the job due to distance) and a regular old chicken stick non contact ac detector. with this setup, if you get get within inches of the wiring, you can find out which is which, and where its run exactly.
Originally bought the Southwire version from Lowes and it was horrible. Repeatedly showed the wrong breaker. Switched to the Klein and am happy with it.
I own the greedy I think it's called and being a maintenance professional, this kind of tool is a must have. One thing to note though, is these can have a distance limit. Say your checking an outlet but the breaker is 500+ feet away, it might not be able to sense that outlet at the breaker. Most applications this is not an issue. Just something to note.
Bear, Klein makes very good tools without a doubt! I just keep having problems with the contactless circuit testers. It seems like no one can design one that doesn’t have a battery compartment that won’t break! The whole tool can seem well built and super handy to have, often with a built in flashlight. Then you drop it and the battery compartment cover/cap breaks in several pieces! Is this supposed to be a disposable tool? Real tools for construction should be drop proof within reason.
This would have come in handy while remodeling my pre1900 farmhouse. Old knob/tube wire runs everywhere from 1 location and then additions to the house in the 50s make it even more complicated! I had to rip out an entire wall in the living room just to fine 1 wire out of 12 that ran thru that wall and ended up cutting all 12 out since the wall was already gone. Now half the original part of the house don’t have electricity lmfao oh well. Future projects are always adding to the list!
Here's a tip for you, Zach: At the time your house was wired, it was legal to switch either the "neutral" or the "hot," so be careful. I would always bring with me a 25-30 foot length of wire (#16 stranded) to attach to a cold water pipe for a good ground. Knob and tube wiring is rarely color identified so, determining "hots" from "neutrals" is imperative.
@@imdeplorable2241 That’s a great tip! Thanks! However, It’s for my house that I’m remodeling, so I just killed main power at breaker and cut it all out to start replacing with new wire. The main issue was that half the house was on the same circuit breaker (all the original electric in the original part of the house) so I just removed all that old stuff and ran new wire from the breaker all the way to the new outlets and lights that I need right away and then will run other new lines to different breakers for different rooms as time goes along and we get to remodeling those rooms. I’ll be adding a 100 amp sub panel upstairs in the attic stairwell too so that will be easier to run 1 big wire to the main panel than 10 small ones from each circuit that I add as time passes.
@@imdeplorable2241 if you would happen to know which kind of wire to use to run from my main 200amp panel my 100amp sub panel that would be a great help tho! That project is going to be coming up as soon as I get the roof replaced when it warms up some. (I’m in PA and we got snow the other day lol)
Been there. The first house I bought was originally put up in 1881. Had several additions and remodels up until the 70s when it was divided into two seperate living units (up and down).
@@pkt1213 yea I’ll eventually be dividing this house as well since it’s a 5 bedroom 2 bath currently, and I’ll probably never bring kids into this screwed up world.
I have one of these but haven't used it. We moved into a new/old church and the panel isn't labeled at all. I've been running all the low voltage but want to get the breaker boxes mapped.
Looking for a tool to trace wires in the walls (for reasonable priсe). I don't need to find specific cirquit, just whether there is wire or no. I tried the stud finders but they are awfully inaccurate. Just want to know where the wires are so I can safely drill through walls.
I have this and used it to replace a panel. Some of my circuits would beep even when the transmitter was not plugged in. Worked for most of the circuits but wasted my time on a few of them.
The only problem i had with my Harbour Freight circuit tester was the on switch. It was so sensitive you could almost look at it and it would beep,not to mention in my tool bag until i made a shim to slide under the switch when not using it.
Plug in lamp. Have wife yell when light goes off as flip breakers. Then upgraded to Klein circuit checker. Plug in outlet plug and use tester at circuit box.
MANY years ago, my dad was taking a TV repair course - back in the day when you could repair TVs. The instructor insisted everyone buy Klein tools for the class. Anyway, I just ordered my tester kit and large case. I've been putting off a project that needs exactly this since the receptacle is 2 floors from the panel.
When you posted that daily deal video with this in it, I bought it immediately. I didn't even know something like this existed. I purchased last year a 1930's house and it's got two circuit boxes and none are marked. This is a dream tool I never knew existed.
Nice! Gonna pick one of these up. The previous homeowners didn't violate code when they redid the wiring, but they sure violated logic 🤪
I've got it Jim,, it's a time saver when working alone. I also had their older version for years, this one is better!!!
Just knowledgeable enough to be dangerous owned my house.
I have an older version of this tool and it is still working great. Your review was dead on the money! I can not tell you how many times I have used this and it has saved me a LOT of time ( and some shocks I am sure.)
Thanks for the video. A lot of times when a breaker trips,you can't tell by just looking at it thanks again
You knocked this one out of the park! I bought one of these not long after moving onto my new home to map circuits that the previous owners were too lazy to label correctly. This is a must have if you are any kind of a DIYer. Also get the accessories as you will probably need them. Great tool and great review.
Klein tools ( electrical testers ) have kept me safeon the job for a long time
Dang it, Red! Everytime I watch you it costs me money! In truth, however, during a much needed reflooring in my laundry room, I kicked a Romex run, and need to find that circuit so I can de-energize and repair. I have a hokey no-contact probe but it's just that. I have wanted a setup like this K-tool foreva...now that I know it to be available, I'll go git it. Likely local...if I can find it...Prime if not.
Thanks for the info. You are certainly one of the best and brightest at what you do, and I salute you! Shine on, bro!
Thanks Bear!! MY basement wiring is mess, and I didn't even know where to start.
Nice, just added this to my wish list. Have an older, similar tool that didn't really work, so hopefully I can use this one to find the wire running to the outdoor light in the front yard. For other tools I'd recommend, it has to be the non-contact circuit tester, that tool that glows and/or beeps when put against the outside of a live wire. I won't do electrical work without one, as it probably saved my life one time, when the electrical wires on an appliance were connected between two different breakers.
I have it. We have used it at work to label outlets in cubicles in an office building so we make it easier to find the tripped breaker when an employee trips it with the space heater.. It is more useful with the accessories for screwing into a bulb socket and two prong adapter.
yep. that is a handy-dandy bit of kit - i like it!
price is okay too. even if you just use it around the house.. $43 - you can take it round your cousin's if he is fixing his shed up, round grandma and grandpop if you installing some additional lights etc. for the price it is well worth having a reliable, well made circuit tester like that for use around the house.
Life long sparky and this appears to be another fine tool from Klein. If you are having trouble finding the exact breaker just go to one you think is producing most noise and turn it off. If you stop getting a signal on any breaker you have the correct breaker. In older homes & buildings where the used a shared neutral can be very hard to locate breaker. At the large hospital that I retired from we had a lot of shared neutral where they only used one white wire to feed 3 circuits in 120/208 volt panels that were feed by three hot wires. Only tester that worked was a over $500 amprobe tester. Had a 3 position switch where you could use on by touching front of circuit breakers or more sensitive position where you had to touch each hot wire inside of panel. Was fun on locations that had three 225 amp side by side panels all feed from the same 480 to 120/208 transformer.
I own this tool and I recommend this tool
I have this tool. Used it a couple of times replacing some GFCI outlets in my home. Love it. Time saver for sure and very easy to use. Well worth the money. Definitely invest in the $20 Klein Hard Case. I have a few of them and unlike the soft cases, these will protect delicate instruments and you can put them in a tool bag and this case will protect whatever you put into it.
Good job da bear. I have a similar been using it for years. Like the small case also keeps everything in one place. Shine on.
That is definitely better then the way I do it now. I take a small radio turn it up real loud then start going through the breakers. When the music stops, I have found the breaker.
I too have an older model of this one as well. And you are dead on, when you need one of these they really really come in handy. Even though I’ve been in this house for six years I still use it.
Looks like the newer version. I have had one for about 6-7 years. Your right they work great 👍👍
Been keeping my eye on this one, then u shared the sale of it on Deals of the Week. So I bought it same day, and got it with the adapters. Thx!
I've used Klein tools over my 42 years with the electric utility. Never had any problems with their equipment.
I’ve used one from H.F. a lot cheeper and never had a problem with it.
I got a good Klein kit at Home Depot for 49$ had a good multimeter a voltage director and a gfi tester with a lcd screen. Great combo deal.
I am ordering it with the socket adapter. I need to mark my breakers correctly in the house including the light sockets.
Absolutely Bear. Those circuit identifiers have gotten much better. Many years ago I used an older version to label my 70's Zinsco breaker panel and has saved me countless hours of "...I wonder what this breaker feeds... click". Only to hear.... "HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING...turn the microwave back on if you want dinner"! 😬
Great tool, I'm an electrician and was actually using mine today.
I have the harbor freight one and it had some trouble complex circuits. I did my house and garage I labeled each receptacle and switch so I know what is hooked to what circuit breaker without going out to look at the tabulation in the breaker box.
I picked one up as well.. and now wish I could go back in time with my head in the sand LOL discovered that in our 1930's house, approx 40% of everything electric is wired to a single 15A breaker. about 30% to another... and then a series of outlets on a dedicated breaker for no good reason.. and then about 4 breakers I can't even figure out if they do anything at all. Basically I now live convinced the whole house will burn down at any moment. Thanks Klien Tools!
Nice set, added it to my wish list.
Thanks bear. It's about time for me to take some guess work out of my projects. Hard to go wrong with Klein.
Don't have a use for this right now (all my breakers are labeled clearly) but good to know it exists if/when needed. I do use my Klein non-contact voltage tester, GFCI outlet tester, and electrician's pliers regularly though. Great tools at a fair price.
I like those tools, it always helps to double check to prevent further injury. I have the network toner and probe, I find it to be interesting that I can tell the electricity is on at the socket, base on the sound the probe make. I always triple check everything just to be safe..
I am going to buy two. One for me, and one for my stepson who is remodling.
I've had mine for a year. I find it finicky. I have used it several times in my home and my grandfathers mobile home. It get you close. But I find the right breaker is above or below the one that the sniffer is indicating. I took it to work for finding breaker in a industrial setting. Wasn't even close. I even try to verify a known breaker and didn't even find it in the panel according to sniffer. Good for home owner residential setting.
I have one. It's pretty good. I've used it on several remodeling jobs. It's nice that they plug into each other so the 2 don't get separated. My only issue is I got some false positives on which breaker it was plugged into. But definitely better than the old fashion way of turning every breaker off and on again
Hey TB,
As an electrician for over 30 years I can't tell you enough how valuable these circuit tracers are. I'm using one made by Ideal Industries. It's been the best one I've used and has out performed models many times more expensive than it. Ideal also makes some great electrical tools, just like Klein and Greenlee.
The unit you're using looks to have a few nice features that my tracer doesn't have so maybe it's time for an upgrade? The price looks decent and you can't go wrong with the tools Klein makes.
Thanks for the review.
I agree with you on Ideal’s product quality. I work in IT own a VDV tester to trace, troubleshoot, and test cat 5/6 and coax cables and it seems to outperform all of my other sets as well as out last them in terms of service life.
Great job big bear !!!!
I bought one of those circuit finders years ago. Was my favorite toy ever. I need to replace it
I own two of them !!! use it every day. Good stuff
It's a great tool. Definitely have to run it across every breaker once before I trust it indicating correctly.
I had something like this 10 + yrs ago but it bulky and hard to use with a lot of false positives at the panel
Also I would always be losing the transmitter. I like that the two parts fit together and you have lights as indicators, the old one used tone which was the main issue. I think I will be adding this to my toolbox. Great product video.
Wednesday Adams dance
yeah i have one of those. its freakin great. the outlet tester function is great alone, but tracing too? ultimate win. i've also got an inductance amplifier (progressive electronics 200EP, used for for tracing wiring in walls where non-contacts don't quite do the job due to distance) and a regular old chicken stick non contact ac detector. with this setup, if you get get within inches of the wiring, you can find out which is which, and where its run exactly.
Just bought and started using one of these. Love it. And yes get the accessory kit.
Originally bought the Southwire version from Lowes and it was horrible. Repeatedly showed the wrong breaker. Switched to the Klein and am happy with it.
I own the greedy I think it's called and being a maintenance professional, this kind of tool is a must have. One thing to note though, is these can have a distance limit. Say your checking an outlet but the breaker is 500+ feet away, it might not be able to sense that outlet at the breaker. Most applications this is not an issue. Just something to note.
Bear, Klein makes very good tools without a doubt! I just keep having problems with the contactless circuit testers. It seems like no one can design one that doesn’t have a battery compartment that won’t break! The whole tool can seem well built and super handy to have, often with a built in flashlight. Then you drop it and the battery compartment cover/cap breaks in several pieces! Is this supposed to be a disposable tool? Real tools for construction should be drop proof within reason.
God bless you brother. Great video, really like Klein tools!
hey Bear, any thoughts on the Denali tool line at Amazon? house brand?
As an electrician this device has saved me many of hours of time on the job.
Neat tool and a very nice review. Thank you!
This would have come in handy while remodeling my pre1900 farmhouse. Old knob/tube wire runs everywhere from 1 location and then additions to the house in the 50s make it even more complicated! I had to rip out an entire wall in the living room just to fine 1 wire out of 12 that ran thru that wall and ended up cutting all 12 out since the wall was already gone. Now half the original part of the house don’t have electricity lmfao oh well. Future projects are always adding to the list!
Here's a tip for you, Zach: At the time your house was wired, it was legal to switch either the "neutral" or the "hot," so be careful. I would always bring with me a 25-30 foot length of wire (#16 stranded) to attach to a cold water pipe for a good ground. Knob and tube wiring is rarely color identified so, determining "hots" from "neutrals" is imperative.
@@imdeplorable2241 That’s a great tip! Thanks! However, It’s for my house that I’m remodeling, so I just killed main power at breaker and cut it all out to start replacing with new wire. The main issue was that half the house was on the same circuit breaker (all the original electric in the original part of the house) so I just removed all that old stuff and ran new wire from the breaker all the way to the new outlets and lights that I need right away and then will run other new lines to different breakers for different rooms as time goes along and we get to remodeling those rooms. I’ll be adding a 100 amp sub panel upstairs in the attic stairwell too so that will be easier to run 1 big wire to the main panel than 10 small ones from each circuit that I add as time passes.
@@imdeplorable2241 if you would happen to know which kind of wire to use to run from my main 200amp panel my 100amp sub panel that would be a great help tho! That project is going to be coming up as soon as I get the roof replaced when it warms up some. (I’m in PA and we got snow the other day lol)
Been there. The first house I bought was originally put up in 1881. Had several additions and remodels up until the 70s when it was divided into two seperate living units (up and down).
@@pkt1213 yea I’ll eventually be dividing this house as well since it’s a 5 bedroom 2 bath currently, and I’ll probably never bring kids into this screwed up world.
ive been wanting to get one since i saw it. Ill add it on amazon and stalk it.
I have one of these but haven't used it. We moved into a new/old church and the panel isn't labeled at all. I've been running all the low voltage but want to get the breaker boxes mapped.
one of the best tools I ever bought!
I got one of the full kit for Christmas (recommended by myself 😂) it was on sale I recall it being $34.99 or 39.99 with everything.
Looking for a tool to trace wires in the walls (for reasonable priсe). I don't need to find specific cirquit, just whether there is wire or no. I tried the stud finders but they are awfully inaccurate. Just want to know where the wires are so I can safely drill through walls.
Best G.F.I. Cords everyone needs to use.
Harbor freight has one I wonder if it's any good
Dang bear, I was on the fence on getting this kit on the deals of the day episode. But now you gave me that final push to order this.
I have one, and it works great. I think I might’ve paid $29 at Home Depot a few years ago?
Excellent tip - thanks!
I bought the whole set.
Very good info Shine On God Bless
The Ideal version of this unit is 3 times the price, but is the professionals' choice, a lot more reliable and accurate
I have that same one
I have this and used it to replace a panel. Some of my circuits would beep even when the transmitter was not plugged in. Worked for most of the circuits but wasted my time on a few of them.
Get it with the attachment kit from Home Depot it’s worth every penny
This video probably saves me hell as i am soon to be living in an rv.
I've been using the $22.00 Harbor Freight Circuit Breaker Detective for years. It also works really well and I've had no problems with it.
The only problem i had with my Harbour Freight circuit tester was the on switch. It was so sensitive you could almost look at it and it would beep,not to mention in my tool bag until i made a shim to slide under the switch when not using it.
I wish they had one with alligator clips, where I could search for a light switch.
Obviously I didn't wait 4 seconds
Plug in lamp. Have wife yell when light goes off as flip breakers. Then upgraded to Klein circuit checker. Plug in outlet plug and use tester at circuit box.
Always wanted something like that, too old now. 😱
I must own
Nice!
I just picked one up and 49 isn’t a sale price. It’s msrp at home depot
I need that, my house's electrical system is a mess
Cool!
Nice
I think the ratcheting 6 in 1 screwdriver is essential for every home. And Klein makes a great one.
Edit: sometimes they’re 5 in 1 or 11 in 1.
Shockingly good tool! 😂 And hey, I'm first!!!
lol, nice one!
MANY years ago, my dad was taking a TV repair course - back in the day when you could repair TVs. The instructor insisted everyone buy Klein tools for the class. Anyway, I just ordered my tester kit and large case. I've been putting off a project that needs exactly this since the receptacle is 2 floors from the panel.
Oh. Hell. Yes...
You have HUMAN HANDS!!!
I'm an electrician and..... I haven't watched the video yet. Dw I'll give an opinion
I'll add it to my list of "to buy". Low voltage circuit tracer first
Already have one of a different brand
Always traced the old fashioned way. As I get older, this may reduce a few steps.