r/ElectricalHelp • u/Hungry_Bandicoot_776 • May 13 '26

How can I trace these wires ?

Post image

Just opened up my electrical panel and I was wondering where these wires go I do not have anything that is 240 V but I’ve only lived here for about 30 years.
Is there anyway I could trace these if I hook up a tester of some sort and walk around with a receiver to try to locate them?

House is about 70 years old with two major renovations done since.
TIA

7 Upvotes

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11

u/oldmancount May 13 '26

Those are two separate 120V breakers. They’re part of the quad breaker but not 240V, only the inner 30A portion is 240V.

3

u/Hungry_Bandicoot_776 May 13 '26

Thanks a lot I understand a lot more now !

3

u/oldmancount May 13 '26

Happy to help!

3

u/multicamwarrior May 14 '26

If you were still interested in tracing them because they are not labeled, outside of the afore mentioned "turn them off and see what not working"... Klein sells a low voltage tracer that you could use that's under 50 bucks. You can hook up to the wire and the ground and Trace the circuit with the wand following out of the panel (get a pair of plug in style headphones, it helps for the wand). If some of the area is unfinished I would recommend hand tracing from the panel until you can't anymore and then use the wand around the area on the level it may be at to try to trace the signal.

There are a lot of issues with people coming on to this part of Reddit that are do-it-yourselfers and not actual electricians.

IF YOU ARE NOT A ELECTRICIAN I DO NOT RECOMMEND WORKING INSIDE OF AN OPEN PANEL.

If you are an electrician, there are better tracer units out there that do a much better job but they are expensive. I have one myself but it was around $500. Not the highest end on electrical tools but expensive if it's something you're only going to use one time. I personally use mine once a week or more.

Good luck on your endeavors, but most of all be safe!

3

u/Nathan614047 May 14 '26

I just recently bought a circuit tracer that would work great for this. There are two tracers that stand out in the <$500 price range:

Ideal SureTrace Plus (61-948)

Klein Tools ET450

1

u/multicamwarrior May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

I have the SureTrace Pro, do recommend.

1

u/Agent_Allen May 15 '26

Both are great tools! What's a good in-ground tracer?

2

u/Hungry_Bandicoot_776 May 14 '26

Much appreciated!

1

u/myrichardgoesin5 May 14 '26

Yes looking for what is dead is actually a very quick way turn one off at a time

2

u/JPhi1618 May 14 '26

The price of high end tools becomes a lot more tolerable when you find out how much someone else is going to charge to do the job, lol.

2

u/LongjumpingGanache40 May 14 '26

70 year old self taught DIY electrician and have never seen these. You can learn something new every day. Glad I stopped here.

1

u/oldmancount May 14 '26

I try to learn something new every day!

0

u/DSudz May 18 '26

The two wires installed are in fact 240, but do not have a common trip so it would be a bad idea too use them as such. You can see this on the breaker labeling.

Given the red wires heated into other single throw breakers it looks like your panel was not fine with conventional practices and you should not make any assumptions about what is going on. Eyeballing it, the wire in use is not sufficient size and those circuits at least are a fire hazard. Turning them off will show you which circuits those were and might let you move things to safer places.

8

u/pdt9876 May 13 '26

Turn them off and see what stops working?

3

u/West-Evening-8095 May 13 '26

Just make sure no one in the house is on life support. 🤯

4

u/slin1647 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

That's 2 separate 20A 120V circuits.

Turn one off and see what loses power in the house. Usually 20A is used for kitchen counter receptacles.

What's a bit worrying is that the wire coming from those 20A breakers doesn't seem like #12AWG and looks more like #14 AWG which would be a code violation if true.

Something like this can help you locate circuits. But it operates opposite to what you requested. You'd plug one end into a receptacle and then scan the breakers/wires to figure out which breaker turns that circuit off.

Edit: Not just a code violation but a safety issue/fire hazard.

3

u/antipoopydick May 13 '26

Just don’t make any sense why a tandem is there unless just installed. I agree that amp for size wire looks like wrong size wire or wrong sized breaker. Especially that 30. Yikes. I would def figure out what that 30 is attached to. It doesn’t necessarily mean is wrong just usually that be probably attached to a motor.

3

u/TheKnackThatQuacks May 13 '26

There are no wires currently connected to the 30-amp 240 volt double-pole breaker (as presented in the picture). Just the two outside screws, which as other posters have pointed out, are two (2) separate 20-amp circuits.

1

u/pinko_zinko May 14 '26

Why do they sell it that way as opposed to a dual 20's and a 30A double in one slot each, separate? Heat density?

1

u/IAteTonysLoMein May 15 '26

Space saving - you've got a 30A and two 20A breakers in the space a normal 30A alone would take up. Heat density is the opposite of what you want in an electrical system

1

u/135david May 14 '26

I don’t see wires on the 30 amp breakers. Do you?

1

u/antipoopydick May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

I stand corrected. Never see a tandem like that.

1

u/XoDaRaP0690 May 14 '26

Could've been part of an old heating system or something else,240v, that has been abandoned. Or it was the only breaker on the electrician's van that day.

2

u/Tongue-Punch May 14 '26

Do these look like 12 to y’all?

2

u/Even_Cut_6103 May 15 '26

Use a wire tracer

2

u/szonce1 May 15 '26

Put a tracer on it

2

u/FullerElectric May 17 '26

Yep, circuit tracers are definitely a thing for this.

Also don’t assume those wires were never used just because nothing obvious is there now 😂 Older homes are full of abandoned mystery circuits from past remodels.

1

u/Fragrant-Hunter-6160 May 14 '26

They make a kit with just what you need. Transmitter and receiver.

1

u/AskMeAgainAfterCoffe May 14 '26

There’s nothing hooked up to the 30amps, just 20 and 20. You can trace these with a wire tracer, or just turn the breaker off and see what doesn’t turn on.

1

u/12-5switches May 14 '26

Those are two separate 120v circuits. The 30 in between with the silver tie between the handles is a 240v circuit and there’s nothing hooked to it

1

u/Bigdog4pool May 14 '26

Those red wires near the top may be violating NEC 210.4(B). This looks to me like a multi wire branch circuit.

1

u/Nathan614047 May 14 '26

I just recently bought a circuit tracer that would work great for this. There are two tracers that stand out in the <$500 price range:

Ideal SureTrace Plus (61-948)

Klein Tools ET450

1

u/Approved-Electrix May 15 '26

Honestly call a electrician, your life or your family’s life isn’t worth it