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Finding open/shorts in car electrical system

To: shop-talk@autox.team.net
Subject: Finding open/shorts in car electrical system
From: "John T. Blair" <jblair1948@cox.net>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:03:35 -0500
Hey gang,

I just had an interesting go around a my Dad's house with a circuit breaker
that
kept blowing, but everything in the house worked. 

Anyway, that got me to thinking about some electrical short / open
detectors I've 
seen advertised for use on cars.  But for the live of me I can't find then
now.  
It seem to me they were fairly inexpensive so < $50.

Anyway, once you've pulled all the fuses, and found what circuit you have a
short in
how do you all find the short in the harness.

Same goes for an open.  You've got something that doesn't work, how do you
find where
the break in the wire is?

Any body have one?  What do you uses?  How does it work?

Now going back to my dad's house hold problem.  We (a buddy and I) found
the problem.
We pulled the wires from the circuit panel, and attached a telephone toner
to the 
circuit.  Then used the wand to walk around the house until we found he
signal.

When the idiot wire up dad's new dishwasher he didn't check the line.
Turns out it
was a 220V line going to the dishwasher.  The 115V dishwasher said to hook
the black 
wire to the black, the White wire to the white, and the green to the copper
wire.
Wait, I don't have a copper wire, I've got a Red wire.  But the wire is
copper.  So 
that should work. :)

Any the idiot, had connected the safety/chassis ground on the dishwasher to
a 115V leg
of the 220.  No wonder the circuit breaker kept blowing.  

But I'm off course again.  I'm really interested in how people find where
in the wire
a break or short is in a car's electrical system.

John

 
John T. Blair  WA4OHZ     email:  jblair1948@cox.net
Va. Beach, Va             (eBay id: zebra48-1)
Phone:  (757) 495-8229

          48 TR1800    48 #4 Midget    65 Morgan 4/4 Series V (B1106)
     75 Bricklin SV1 (#0887)    77 Spitfire    71 Saab Sonett III
                       65 Rambler Classic

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