Been using my toner probe to find a break for like 20 minutes, turns out I had it set to 'ring' the whole time.

3 comments

3 Comments

bailey.terry19d agoMost Upvoted

Check the manual for your model, but on most of those units, the ring setting is actually for finding the break. It sends a signal that gets interrupted at the fault, so the tone stops. The continuity setting is for when you're just trying to trace a wire through a wall.

skylerbell8d ago

Exactly, and @bailey.terry is right about the signal. The ring setting puts out a pulsing tone that's much easier to hear stop when the break cuts it off. The steady tone from continuity can get lost, especially over a long wire or near other noise. You might miss the exact spot where the sound just fades a little instead of cutting clean.

janab8219d ago

Okay but is that really how it works? I mean, I've used a probe set to continuity for breaks before and it seemed fine. Maybe the ring thing is more exact for some models, but calling it wrong feels like a stretch. It's not like the tool stops working on the other setting. Just seems like people get way too into the tiny details sometimes.