Megger Wire Tracers / Circuit Breaker Tracers

Wire tracers and Circuit Breaker Tracers come in many varieties. The most basic wire tracers cost less than $40; the “toner” tool injects a traceable signal into a wire, which is picked up by the “tracer” tool. These basic tracers can also perform continuity tests.

Wire Tracers

Basic Wire Tracers

Basic wire tracers are simple, relatively inexpensive tools. They are designed to trace a wire using an injected traceable signal. The drawback to basic tracers is that they require that at least one terminal end of a cable be exposed for the wire to be traced. This is because the traceable tone can only be injected via direct contact. More advanced wire tracers do not need any exposed terminations to trace wires because many can inject a traceable signal via induction.

More advanced wire tracers can trace

• Energized, de-energized and open (broken) wires behind walls
• Locate and trace wires underground
• Locate breakers

Many advanced tracers also feature

• Adjustable sensitivity modes
• Clamp-on attachments that can inject a traceable signal without contact via induction

Underground Wire Tracers

Underground wire tracers are the most advanced and generally most expensive types of wire tracers; they are designed to pinpoint the exact location of a buried cable up to a certain depth. These units can have multiple tracing frequencies, multiple testing modes, depth measurement function, gain control, and sensitivity control. Underground wire tracers also feature the ability to inject a traceable signal via induction or conduction.