Lost $200 on a fancy toner that barely worked

Last month I bought one of those high-end multi-function toner tracers thinking it would save me time tracking down a short in a finished basement. Spent almost 3 hours following the signal and it kept jumping all over the place. Turned out my old analog toner I had in the truck for 10 years found the break in 10 minutes flat. Anyone else had bad luck with those digital tracers?

3 comments

3 Comments

tyler1764mo ago

That $200 price tag is what gets me - did yours come with multiple tracing clips and a generator case, or was it just the wand and transmitter? I noticed the cheap knockoffs on Amazon all use the same generic chipset that gets confused by any dimmer switch or LED driver in the wall. If you still have the manual, check if there's a noise filter setting you might have missed.

brookerobinson4mo ago

Right? $200 and it can't handle a dimmer switch within 50 feet... that's brutal. I swear, some of these digital toner sets are so sensitive they'll start beeping if you breathe on the wall wrong. The whole "noise filter setting" thing sounds like a fantasy, like a unicorn that's supposed to just magically sort out all the interference. I'd rather just chase the break with a cheap analog beeper and a six pack than fight with one of those fancy wands that thinks every LED driver is the enemy.

cole_davis474mo ago

Man that generic chipset thing you mentioned is EXACTLY what I ran into. I had the same problem with mine where it couldn't handle being anywhere near a dimmer switch. The signal just went crazy and I ended up chasing ghosts for hours. My old analog toner with the simple tone generator found the break in a junction box behind some paneling in less than 5 minutes. Those digital ones seem to pick up EVERY stray piece of interference from nearby wiring and it makes them practically useless in finished spaces. I finally just returned mine and went back to the old school method because at least that one actually works when you need it to.