Spent 4 hours tracing a ground fault in an old Chicago apartment building because the previous guy used 3 different wire colors for the same circuit.

Ever wonder why some jobs feel like they take forever?

3 comments

3 Comments

Man, that's the worst. Got a toner probe that saved my butt more than once with that exact mess. Tracing wires in old buildings is always a puzzle.

colep721mo ago

Toner probes are fine for simple jobs, but @charlie_ellis, that old building puzzle gets overblown. Honestly, most of the time you can just follow the conduit or look for the labels the last guy hopefully left. It's a pain, sure, but not some huge mystery that needs fancy gear. Half the time my probe just screams at every wire in the wall anyway. Tbh, a flashlight and some patience usually gets you to the same spot without the extra tool in your bag.

davis.gavin20d ago

Ugh, that sounds like a total nightmare. I get what @colep72 is saying about just following the pipe sometimes, but when the last guy used a rainbow of wires? All bets are off. My toner is basically useless in those old plaster walls too, just buzzes nonstop. That's when you're stuck doing it the slow way, wire by wire. Really feels like you're paying for someone else's lazy work.