Description
The Amprobe AT-7030 Wire Tracer Kit includes everything in the AT-7020 kit plus a signal clamp attachment (SC-7000) for inducing a signal in wires without access to exposed conductors. The AT-7030 kit includes the AT-7000-R Receiver and the AT-7000-T Transmitter. The Receiver‘s patented Smart Sensor feature instantly displays the location and orientation of energized wires in walls, floors, and ceilings. You can clearly see the wire’s direction on the large, bright TFT LCD full color display. In hard-to-reach areas, you can use the Receiver’s Tip Sensor to trace wires in corners, tight spaces and junction boxes. The Transmitter offers two, automatically-selected frequency modes for optimal tracing on energized and de-energized circuits, and three power modes (high, low, clamp) for a variety of environments. The breaker mode’s Scan and Locate feature identifies the one correct breaker or fuse with the highest recorded signal, thus eliminating the confusion of multiple false positives common with older technology tracing tools. This Amprobe circuit tracer kit has everything you need to get the job done fast.
hcl1 –
For the high tech electrician
I purchased this unit to see how well it actually works. There is a lot of marketing on this unit of how it is supposed to work. Some of it actually works in the real world and the other parts only work in certain situations. When tracing live lines I found it to be pretty difficult to get the hang of how to use the unit properly. It took a lot of practice in my personal home to be able to use this properly in the field. Even in my personal home I get a lot of wrong readings on where the wire is exactly. The interface is easy to use and the guide book is a good reference. A few things I would have liked to have seen is to turn on the backlight on the transmitter screen and maybe work on the heat issues. The unit will be very very hot to the touch after using it for a while. I felt like this was because the screen backlight is set to 100% of the time. The other major issue is charging the transmitter. I can never seem to charge the battery to 100% because it will only charge when plugged in and on and then will turn off. Bad design I think. Why even have the extra battery pack if you cannot even charge it that easily. The heat issue really scares me to leave this thing alone when charging.
The ground conductors cord so that it can properly transmit the signal without getting loopback issues I wish was a lot longer. Its current size only works in some places. Hopefully you are close to a kitchen in order to find a separate circuit to plug into. The price of the unit is a bit high but it has saved me some time tracing where a hidden junction box was on a closed fault circuit. It is feature rich and can track wires in multiple modes. I wish it even included some of the features of the INSP-3 so you could have one tool to do it all. All in all this is a great tool for a residential tech. You need to provide training with real world applications so that people will know how to use it properly in order to save time when tracing circuits. I would definitely recommend the 7030 version over the 7020 because the extra features and parts you get will be needed when using this device.
Pros-
Save times
Open and closed fault locator
Great for residential work
Wire directionality works great when you learn how to use it properly
Cons-
Expensive
Heat issues
It is big could be hard to hold if you have small hands.
Charging Issues
Cord Length
Does not perform well on MC, Knob and tub, or conduit
Better directions
Not for the beginner
✔ Yes, I recommend this product.
CurtisL –
Not what I was hoping for.
I purchased the 7030 a couple weeks ago. I do mainly service work, many of the residential services and sub panels are not clearly, or in many cases marked at all. I was hoping for spot on breaker locating and tracing of circuits. Out of @10 circuit breakers I have tried to locate two have been successful. I have had better luck with a cheap plug in circuit tracer than I have with this unit. Possibly the issue is the half size breakers I’m running into a lot, but that should not cause me to be so inaccurate. I have tried using separate ground as well as the receptacle leads, neither seems to help. It says it will trace wires in walls and floors up to 2.5 meters, not what I have found. I was looking for a 12-2 romex last week. The prior homeowner had changed out receptacles before selling this home and the new owners had a counter outlet not working, bingo, a chance to use my new tracer. I Connected the ground to a lighting circuit in the area, clipped the other lead onto the circuit that was not working. I was able to trace the wire 6 feet from the outlet, that’s it. Did not seem to mater what strength I had it set on, it would not follow the wire. I finally gave up and located the way I’ve been doing for over 30 years. The tracer cost me almost an hour and made me look like an amateur. Not what I spent over $1,400 for.
It’s well made and it makes you look cool when you pull the big red case out. I know I need more practice but sadly it is nothing I expected, at least not yet.
luppoldh –
looks good to have and own
I purchased this hoping that it would save me time. I also run into the problems with using it on half breakers and tandems. It just is not meant for these type of devices. The un powered tracing on the circuit does not seem to work far and I tend to not even use it anymore. Sometimes I can get the powered line tracing to work. It was not a smart purchase decision to buy this as an early adopter. I should have waited to see what other people had to say about this.
The in wall power tracer works well. I have used it a few times when locating hidden live wire behind cabinets and in walls.
✘ No, I do not recommend this product
rledford11 –
great features
This circuit breaker tracer works perfectly but you MUST follow the instructions. The unique auto-calibration system ensures that the correct breaker is identified every time without any false indications.
Most devices like this suffer from problems with “false positives”, meaning they beep at more than one circuit breaker and it’s difficult to tell which one is actually powering the circuit you are working on. These false positives occur because the transmitter signal can be induced into other wires if they run parallel to the circuit under test. This occurs frequently in homes and businesses because all the wires must eventually go back to the breaker panel and many follow the same path to get there.
This device uses a 2-step identification process to eliminate those false positives. When powered up, the device starts out at a high sensitivity level, meaning it will detect the transmitter signal even if it’s weak from a far-away transmitter or caused by an “induced” signal. After the transmitter is plugged into the powered outlet, you slowly scan ALL the circuit breakers with the device to set the calibration level, disregarding any beeps. Each time the device detects a signal and beeps, it resets it’s sensitivity threshold to match that signal. If it encounters another higher level signal it resets to that higher signal. In this way, by the time you are done scanning all the breakers the tester has set itself so that only the very highest signal in the circuit breaker box will activate it. This is what guarantees that when you make the second pass, only one circuit breaker, the one with the transmitter plugged in, is identified.
✔ Yes, I recommend this product.
waynelee44 –
Great Tracer but comes with a learning curve.
I purchased the Amprobe AT-7030 wire tracer kit about 1 week ago. If I would have read the few reviews that I have since found online, I probably would not have bought it. There was definitely a learning curve for me. After two days, I was ready to return the kit because I couldn’t get it to work. The clamp mode didn’t work at all, and the receptacle plug didn’t seem to work either. I read about the cancellation effect in the manual and was able to trace a circuit behind a wall by clamping on to a separate ground and was able to find the breaker. When I used the alligator clip directly on a bare wire, I was able to trace de-energized wires well over 100 ft. I experimented with the clamp and found that the cancellation effect was also present there. I then tried just plugging in one of the clamp leads and using a separate ground in place of the other one, as I had to do before (I usually use the ground plug attachment in an extension cord). Bingo!! The clamp mode worked great! In fact It worked so well that you don’t even need the clamp. I was able to simulate a clamp by wrapping a test lead around the wire you are tracing, and that worked also. I knew that a company with the reputation that Amprobe has, would not market an instrument that didn’t work, so It must be me. I still have a lot to learn about this kit but am very satisfied with my purchase and it will be a very useful tool for years to come.
✔ Yes, I recommend this product.
MasterMike –
This product is as advertised!
I used to use other brands, but no longer! This product is simply the best around. One cannot be an Electrician without this tool. It just feels better in your hands compared to other brands.
✔ Yes, I recommend this product.