Remember when we had to actually trace wires in a wall?

I was rewiring a 1960s house in Tacoma last week and found the old cloth-covered knob and tube. The owner wanted it all replaced, so I pulled out my toner and probe. Ten years ago, I would have been cutting a bunch of small holes to follow the path. Now I just hook up the toner and follow the beep through the plaster. It took me about half the time it would have back then. What's the biggest time-saver you've seen come into the trade?

3 comments

3 Comments

river1823mo ago

That toner and probe setup is a game changer for old plaster walls. I remember my boss showing me how to use a simple AM radio to trace wires before we got a proper toner. It sort of worked, but you had to turn off all the breakers and it picked up every other signal in the house. What was the weirdest method you saw before the good tools came out?

sagey692mo agoMost Upvoted

Nah, the wildest was some dude using a wet finger and a multimeter like it was 1850.

spencer_johnson223mo ago

Nah river182, that old radio trick was actually pretty clever!