Spent three hours hunting a short in a 1970s split level house...

I was working on a service call last Tuesday in an old split level built in 72. The owner said half the lights in the living room kept flickering and then dying. I tested every switch and outlet in that circuit for almost three hours before I found a loose neutral tied into a junction box behind a built in bookshelf. How do you guys track down random intermittent shorts in older homes without tearing everything apart?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_morgan6d ago

You ever try just checking the panel first instead of chasing it through the house? I mean, three hours sounds like a long time to hunt down a loose neutral. If you start by isolating the circuit at the breaker and then doing a quick voltage drop test at the first box in line, it narrows things down way faster than poking around every switch. I usually find that intermittent shorts in old houses like that are almost always at a junction box that got buried during a renovation or remodel. A good tone tracer can save you a ton of time too, it's worth the money if you do this work often.

mitchell.avery6d ago

That tone tracer tip is a game changer, makes a huge difference when you're dealing with an old house that's been rewired a dozen times... @shane_morgan I've found the same thing with buried junction boxes, people just drywall right over them and forget they exist.