Spent $200 on a 'smart' wire tracer that failed on a simple job

I was working on a retrofit in an old building and the tracer gave me a false positive behind a plaster wall. Ended up cutting a hole for nothing and had to patch it, which wasted half a day. What's a reliable wire tracer you guys actually trust?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey3931mo ago

Tried a bunch of tracers and kept getting ghost readings in old walls. Finally grabbed a basic Amprobe model on a buddy's advice. Its tone is super clear and it hasn't lied to me yet, even around old knob and tube. What kind of wiring were you dealing with?

xenawhite1mo ago

Yeah, old plaster walls with metal lath were a nightmare until I switched to a similar model. The steady tone makes all the difference with sketchy wiring.

noah_chen171mo ago

Wait, it actually works around knob and tube? That's wild, I thought those things were basically ghosts to tracers.