Wire tracers, tone generators. Any good?

[graffian]

I have a few wires in my land rover that disappear though the bulkhead and reappear back thought the bulkhead not many inches away. There is no continuity between the ends of what is just a bit of wire! I am using the stab with a dental probe and use the probe as my test point method of testing. I am not happy till I have found the high resistance floppy bit of wire. I was wondering what other people do about wrapping the stabbed wire and I found reference to tone generator wire tracers. look magic to me, are they any good?

 

[dieselsamurai]

Used to use them at work to find telephone/network cables wires in customers premises and they worked really well , the set I had was old when I got it 35years ago binned it as the tone turned out to cause tinnitus but luckily not got it yet ! I have modern version that just flashes when your close , shorting the wire proves you have the right one

 

[qwakers]

they dont work in car wiring looms. been tried, not enough electrical separation between wires.

 

[sako243]

Fluke do a set of multimeter probes for SMD work that have a very sharp needle point on them that I may or may not have used to stab through the insulation. They're so sharp and automotive wiring is generally thin wall insulation that I've not had any issues when I have done it.

Just be sitting down when you see the price... I think last time I checked they were over £70 for a pair. I can't see them being any cheaper. They are nice though.

 

[awemawson]

I have a Tempo one - actually ex BT but still a Tempo. It works extremely well. I've used it on my internal telephone wiring arround the farm, on my mains wiring in the house (especially when a dolt of an electrician made a few errors on the fire alarm wiring then let the builder plaster board over then!!) and far from not working on vehicle wiring it was an absolute godsend in finding broken cable ways in the loom of my JCB 3CX excavator last year. Definitely an excellent tool.

https://cpc.farnell.com/tempo/701k-...5152&s_kwcid=AL!5616!3!490691434484!!!network}!370268938003!&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=945672631&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9JLHBhC-ARIsAK4Phcpd_L8uLw_YMHy7FiQaLk6n_gPwNopHpqkEumx_ucvNUiv0hPCr7lsaApH9EALw_wcB

 

[dieselsamurai]

I used my old BT one on my Landrover years back and did the job back then

cheap enough to give a try

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Automotive-Electrical-Generator-Diagnostic-Analyzer/dp/B0D3VKVCJF/ref=asc_df_B0D3VKVCJF?

 

[awemawson]

The advantage of the Tempo is that the probe has adjustable sensitivity. Set it high to follow a loom then reduce sensitivity when finding individual cores at the connectors. On my JCB I was looking for breaks mid way along looms which it did with no problem then I was following individual cores for the re-wiring.

 

[graffian]

The advantage of the Tempo is that the probe has adjustable sensitivity. Set it high to follow a loom then reduce sensitivity when finding individual cores at the connectors. On my JCB I was looking for breaks mid way along looms which it did with no problem then I was following individual cores for the re-wiring.

Sounds ideal.

 

[barracuda816]

Fluke do a set of multimeter probes for SMD work that have a very sharp needle point on them that I may or may not have used to stab through the insulation. They're so sharp and automotive wiring is generally thin wall insulation that I've not had any issues when I have done it.

Just be sitting down when you see the price... I think last time I checked they were over £70 for a pair. I can't see them being any cheaper. They are nice though.

Please dont do this. It is terrible practice and often leads to corrosion or arcing, creating problems in the long run. Often you can probe at the nearest plug or junction.

 

[fizzy]

Fluke do a set of multimeter probes for SMD work that have a very sharp needle point on them that I may or may not have used to stab through the insulation. They're so sharp and automotive wiring is generally thin wall insulation that I've not had any issues when I have done it.

Just be sitting down when you see the price... I think last time I checked they were over £70 for a pair. I can't see them being any cheaper. They are nice though.

I made some myself with sewing needles attached to the multimeter prongs. It did work but I stabbed myself countless times

 

[MoreWellie]

I was wondering what other people do about wrapping the stabbed wire

I presume you mean tracing the wire, unmolested land rovers all the wires are colour coded so you can work out which is which and shouldn't need to trace it. The most likely point for a break is outside the loom as it takes flexing/vibrations to actually break the core and in the body of the loom all wires are well supported

A simple and crude test for single wires is a gentle pull. broken wires are stretchy or floppy and good wires are not. This worked especially well on old rubber coated mains cables

The main problem with tracing loom wires using a high impedance wire tracer is that there are often multiple wires spliced together in the loom with crimped and soldered splices. The same colour code is usually used for all the wires that are joined like this though it just means that it would appear to the tester that something like an instrument lighting wire went virtually everywhere in the loom. High impedance testers are much more useful in tracing point to point wiring even when loomed together

If a wire has broken you either need to cut a section out and I usually try and use the same colour code by stripping wire out of old looms and then solder it inline and use heat shrink to cover the joints. the solder part does mean you have an inflexible part so it should ideally be somewhere you can support it to prevent future vibration fractures

The trouble with old land rover looms is that the copper cores are often corroded black and almost impossible to solder. I prefer to cut wires back to a clean section or replace the wire completely. I have heard dipping the blackened copper in battery acid will clean it up but never seem to have an old battery to hand when I encounter the old black cores

 

[MoreWellie]

The other possibility is that there is a switch or relay inline somewhere so have a think about this as well before condemning the wire