I have a number of electrical ac runs that I need to reroute. Most of them appear out of a forest of other runs from the breaker panel then disappear up through the subfloor to unknown destinations.

Is there an amp/voltage sensing tool that can help me quickly identify which breaker belongs to which run? I'm sure I"ve seen devices that loops around a wire and tells you if the wire is live or not, I just don't know what they're called in order to search on them. Are they reliable?

Thanks!

There are such tools, and you can get them at home depot/lowes. However, they only work if there is current going through the circuit. For instance, if you hit a run for lights and all the lights are off, there will be no current going through the circuit, but the circuit will still be energized. This works if the circuit has outlets:

http://www.mcminone.com/product.asp?catalog_name=MCMProducts&product_id=22-9356

Thanks bob

You're welcome. I actually ordered one of those, although I've seen them at HD/Lowes. For me, it depends on how you want to do this, as to what you do. I personally would attempt to find where these runs go. Assume they go straight up. Where would they go? The way things should be designed (according to code) is that no runs can be in a box that is not accessible. Therefore, every box (housing light switches, outlets, etc.) should be accessible. You should be able to determine where these runs go. Unless you have a section of your basement where you don't care about putting up boxes and leaving them exposed for all eternity, I would find out where the runs go and replace the entire run as one long piece of cable. If you can put a box in the basement, then the process is much easier. I also typically use 10 gauge to replace 12 gauge, but that's me.

One way to do this would be to follow runs all the way to the breaker box, if that's possible. If you can find where they go to the breaker box but not where they end up in the house, then you could disconnect them from the breaker box, turn on everything in the house, and see what's off.

luckily when i tore out the old ceiling i cleaned up the electrical messes....there are a few useful tools i bought...a wire stripper with integrated sensor that will beep near a live circuit...and one other tool you can plug into an outlet and run a sensor at the breaker panel to see which breaker relates to the outlet used.