I am going to buy a stud/wire/voltage finding tool today, but I was wondering if anyone has a good idea to help with my problem. During the summer I have been fixing up a small shack in my yard, turning it into a workshed. There I've installed fluorescent light fixtures and electrical outlets for all my various tools. I pulled a main power line from the shed into my house intending to connect it to the circuit labelled "outhouse" in my circuit breaker cabinet. However, the problem is that I can't find the lines coming from this particular circuit. There are 14 various circuits in my house, all with their own circuit breakers - and the one labelled "outhouse" is number 12. So, the previous owners upgraded the electrics and at the same time had a circuit for the outhouse installed, but never got further than that. I've been scratching my head, using my multimeter and flipping circuits one after the other trying to find the appropriate lines, but so far no luck. So my question is; are there any electricians on here, or anyone with experience in these matters, who can advice me on how to trace the lines going to the appropriate circuit?
Turn off all electrics at main switch. Prove dead with your tester. Flip off all circuit breakers. At the end of the circuit you wish to identify connect the earth to the line. At the consumer unit/fusebox/breakerboard test all the outgoing lines to earth. One will have negligible impedance.
Ahh, you misunderstand my question I think. If I were to connect it directly to the breaker in the junction box I'm certain I could do it without issue, however I am fairly certain that the line for circuit 12 runs down to the basement to a connection point somewhere. The problem is that I can't find it, so I suspect it remains hidden in the walls somewhere as the previous owners did not complete that project. So I figure the easiest way will be to trace the line for circuit 12 from the junction box, to the connection point. I bought my stud finding tool today, so I'll see if I have luck later. First though; dinner.
Wiring in old houses can be a pain to understand. I recently fitted a new light fitting (mundane, huh?) and found 6 wires coming out of the ceiling. They were grouped together and nicely colour coded, so it wasn't too hard to figure out which ones were the loop and the switch.
Yeah those lines are most likely terminated somewhere in a jbox up in the wall/ceiling if you say the project was left unfinished... Old places are fun like that, I had to retrofit a ground line on the outlets upstairs in my current place. If you have a general idea of the direction its going in you should be able to pinpoint it with the wirefinder as long as they're live.
careful.. shut the power off at the main- then you can remove the circuit breaker short the leads there and go find it with a multimeter if you disappear from the forums.. we'll assume the worst xD
Yeah I know. I've been shocked enough times during my life to know the hazards of working with mains electrics. However, I've also gained a fair bit of knowledge and experience in the matter. This though, is my first attempt at re-routing or expanding upon the existing system. I didn't get the time to have a go at it today, so I'll attack it tomorrow. Weekends are excellent for this kind of thing. And if I do disappear from the forums ... well
Great success! So today, after putting the kids to pet, I got my new wirefinder out, shut down all breakers apart from #12 and had at it. Tracing a live wire away from the junction box was easy, but hunting for it to reappear in the basement took a bit of searching. Eventually I found it and traced it to a point at a wall near the ceiling where it seemed to terminate. So I aimed for a bit of luck, told the missus not to bother if she heard loud swearing from downstairs, and made a hole in the wall. Voila. A hidden box with wago clamps ready to receive wire and an unused flex pipe. This was it, and I now have electricity in my workshed. Pics of workshed in progress to follow.
