Fluke Pro3000 Analog Tone and Probe Kit Review

Fluke Pro3000 Analog Tone & Probe Kit Tones and Traces Wire

The Problem: Ceiling Fan Installation Not so Simple.

When you are not the original owner of a home, there is always a mystery to be solved, especially when it comes to wiring.  For instance, in one of the rooms of my house, there was a junction box in the center of the ceiling.  I decided to use that junction box as an opportunity for me to hang a ceiling fan.  The room had a switch on the wall that didn’t seem to control anything.  I checked out the switch and it was wired correctly.  It had a live lead coming in and the wire going out was only live when the switch was flipped.  Therefore, my assumption was that this switch controlled the ceiling box and I was set for the installation of a ceiling fan.

I bought a fan, brought it home and got ready to install it.  Uncharacteristically for me, I decided to check the junction box first and found that the wires inside it were not controlled by the switch; they were simply not live.  What good is the junction box without the wires being live?  I got frustrated that this project was not going to be as quick and simple as I’d thought, so I just returned the fan and put off the project for a few months.

A few months later, I decided I was NOT going to let this project get the best of me.  I knew I had to find a way to track the wire going to the junction box to find out why it wasn’t live.  The wire appeared to be headed toward the useless switch but I couldn’t be sure and certainly didn’t want to open up any drywall if it wasn’t necessary.  The walls are one thing, they’re smooth; the ceiling, however, is knockdown and matching the pattern would be an issue.

The Solution: Fluke Pro3000 Tone and Probe Kit

I did some research and found that tone and probe kits are designed to solve problems like mine.  Also called fox and hound, a tone generator is attached to one end of the wire and the probe is used to follow the wire by picking up the tone through the drywall.  I read reviews online, and determined the Fluke Pro3000 seemed to come out on top for the price point that I had in mind.  So, went to Home Depot and spent around $70 to buy one.

Shame on me (and let this be a lesson for you) for not reading the packaging before going home because I had to go back out and buy a couple 9 volt batteries; one for each piece.  I opened up the clamshell package, read the directions and was ready to put it to the test.  A lead is attached to one of the wires and the other is attached to the ground wire.  The tone generator is selectable to put out a solid or alternating tone, I used the alternating.  The probe is then moved in arcs until it picks up the tone.  You then simply follow the wire by listening to the tone.  It’s very simple.

The wire I needed to trace didn’t go anywhere near the direction I thought.  Instead, it went out of the junction box on one side, immediately curved around the box and went the other direction.  I was able to find it and follow it across the ceiling and down the wall until I hit another double-gang junction box containing switches.  I killed the power to those switches and opened up the box.  Stuck in the back of the box, I found my wire just cut off flush and attached to nothing.  From there, it was an easy task to attach the wire to the live side of the switch and make my ceiling box ready to go.  After connecting the wire, I turned the power back on and verified that the ceiling box was live.

I wanted the junction box to be constantly live because the fan I bought included a remote. I turned the power off again and, this time, easily installed the fan. Mission accomplished, finally!

Thoughts on the Fluke Pro3000 Tone and Probe Kit

The Fluke Pro 3000 worked like a charm; it saved me a ton of time and effort.  I have purchased and used a lot of tools that did not live up to their description but the Fluke Pro 3000 is not one of those.  I actually did read the directions (I know, I just lost my man-card) but this is one tool that you could virtually use without doing that.

Aside from the clips I used for my specific job, the Fluke Pro 3000 also has a phone plug built in to trace phone wires.  There are a lot of other supposed capabilities to identify specific pairs, etc. but I obviously didn’t have a need to take advantage of those at this time, but they may come in handy down the road.  Fluke boasts a range of up to 10 miles for this particular tool; I think that’s a little overkill for a homeowner like me, but for tracing phone lines, I can see how this would be invaluable.

Overall, I could not be happier with the performance of this tool.  For under $70.00, I easily solved my wiring problem.  I would recommend the Fluke Pro3000 Tone and Probe Kit to anyone who needs to track down a wiring problem.

Oh, I still don’t know what that wall switch does.  That’s the next project for the Fluke Pro3000 Tone and Probe Kit.

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