Hi-Tech HTP-6 Digital Circuit Breaker Identifier

Very God Device

Hi-Tech HTP-6 Circuit Detective Breaker Finder (seems same as the Reliance) 10/20/1016 Ive had this now for five years. Not a lot of use, but glad I have it. Some notes: - gotta follow the directions. - you must do the pre-scan. - you MUST have the power button on top (I almost gave up until I followed the instructions exactly) - the power button is easy to bump in storage. I wrapped a twist-tie around it to stop it from accidentally turning on (plastic covered is better than paper). A commenter inspired this by suggesting using an o-ring. - its helpful to have a light socket adapter to plug the sending unit into to test light sockets, and an alligator clip adapter for testing light switches. They are available in several brands as a kit in the test equipment section at Lowes and Home Depot for about $10 and and also here on Amazon- see Klein Tools 69411 Circuit Breaker Finder Accessory Kit or search circuit breaker finder. Or you can buy just the light socket adapter by itself in any hardware store.

Very good

WORKED JUST FINE

A little hard to use at first. But it does it’s job!

I havent used it extensively, but so far the Hi-Tech HTP-6 Circuit Detective Circuit Breaker Finder seems to work pretty well. It has two components, a signal transmitter and a receiver. The two pronged transmitter is designed to be plugged into a standard 120 outlet. The receiver is designed to scan the circuit breakers in an electrical panel or loadcenter, and indicate by an shrill audible signal and flashing green light, which circuit breaker is feeding the load. Following the correct procedures, the system seems to produce fairly accurate though not flawless results. For these types of tracers, electronic interference can make reading the signal difficult. Certain types of power strips, adapters, and other add-on electrical attachments, can also mess up the transmission of the imparted signal. So for various reason, the Hi-Tech tracer occasionally has some problems nailing down which circuit is the source. I first used a similar tracing device by Pasar, perhaps twenty years ago, and the reliability issues that existed then, still seem to exist today. The main thing that bothers me about this device is the power switch on receiver. It is located on the side of the unit, and it just takes is a slight touch to turn the receiver on, and begin running the 9 volt battery down. To turn the unit off, you hold down the switch for a few seconds, but a little tap and the receiver turns back on again. Not too smart, as just sticking it in your pocket can easily turn it back on again. A more thoughtful design would have made it more difficult to accidentally switch the device on, like providing a power switch that is out of the way, and locks in the on or off position. Its very inconvenient, but I remove the battery when Im not using this device, so that I will have a live battery when I need it. Although the performance is acceptable, because of this basic design flaw, this product just rates 3 stars. For me, the size (1.8 x 6) and shape of the receiver is such that it is easy for me to drop, so I added a small nylon strap so that I can hang it around my neck, which also helps with accidentally turning on issue. Hi-Tech has an address in Illinois, by there is a Made in China sticker on the receiver. It appears that several companies are selling this same unit, and are just changing the color and slapping their company label on it. For example, the

It worked fine for me with no trouble. The receiver beeps when it picks up a signal as strong or stronger than any its seen. So you make a pass over the breakers and ignore the beeps; then do it again and of course only the strongest one beeps. That amounts to it telling you which breaker is carrying the strongest signal, and thats the one you want. I suppose you could do it in one pass if you note the last beep, but of course you dont know at the time that its going to be the last beep. Its easier make a second pass.

Very handy.

This device works fine as long as the instructions are followed carefully. It did get confused once or twice indicating that a circuit could be powered by one of two adjacent circuit breakers. But when I removed the panel cover I noticed the wire from the correct breaker had been routed down near the breaker below before angling away. This is a fault of the eletrician that originally wired the panel and not the HTP-6 and appears to be a common problem. I would have given this 5-stars instead of 4 but for the overly sensitive on/off switch.

this is pretty basic device. Works only on receptacles that actually have a working path back to the circuit box. If you are trying to trace back a non working receptacle, this is not the answer. it will help you find (and turn off ) the breaker for the circuit you are working on. ... so it is good for that. Works only for plug in receptacles and light sockets that you can screw a socket to receptacle adapter into. (sold separately. ) I am assuming you could pigtail alligator test leads to an receptacle. plug this into the receptacle and attach the alligator clips to bare wiring, but they sell fox and hound circuit testers which do exactly that, so why go through the trouble.. Nice to have tool... but not exactly essential, unless you just need a low level tool. Not for electrical troubleshooting.