Lost $150 on a cheap toner probe that died after 2 jobs

Bought one of those $30 toner and probe kits off Amazon to save money. Worked okay for the first two days, then the probe just stopped picking up any signal at all. Ended up borrowing a Fluke from a buddy and it worked perfect. Anyone else get burned by those bargain toners?

3 comments

3 Comments

pat_harris7d ago

Yeah I used to be the guy saying "they all do the same thing don't waste money on a name brand." Then I grabbed a cheap Klein set and the tone was so weak I couldn't hear it through drywall. Never again, I learned the hard way that saving $100 just means buying twice.

ray_burns7d ago

Did you check if the cheap set uses passive tone instead of active? Most of those budget toners just put a weak signal on the wire and rely on the probe being super sensitive, so any little bit of interference or distance kills it. The Fluke is probably injecting a way stronger active tone that actually cuts through walls and noise.

logan2717d ago

I used to be one of those "it's all the same tech" guys too, but man, reading this and Pat's reply really changed my mind. There's a huge difference between a tone that's actually pushing signal down the line versus one that's just hoping the probe is sensitive enough. You mentioned the cheap set using passive tone, and that clicked for me because I tried a no-name kit once and could barely hear the tone through a single wall, let alone a bundle of cables. I guess I never realized how much of the cost is going into that active injection circuit, not just the brand name. Makes total sense now why the Fluke can punch through noise while the cheap ones just give up.