Klein Tools ET450 Advanced Underground Circuit Breaker Finder and Wire Tracer Kit for Energized and Non-Energized Breakers, Fuses, and Wires

This tool works well. It helped me trace a few unknown wires.

The dust motes dancing in the afternoon sun always seemed to mock me, a visible representation of the frustration I'd been battling for months. I’m not one for writing glowing reviews—I usually keep my opinions to myself—but the sheer quality and engineering I’ve found in Klein tools have become impossible to ignore. They simply make things that are built to last, tools you can trust when the chips are down. ​And the chips were definitely down. ​The well on my property had been acting up for months, a source of endless headaches and low water pressure for my family of four. I’d brought in a parade of so-called "experts," well companies who offered plenty of expensive advice but no real solutions. Every single one was unwilling to put in the hours, to roll up their sleeves and truly troubleshoot the core problem. The consensus was grim: drill a new well. ​But I had a second, forgotten wellhead on the property. "Dry," they had all declared, or at the very least, "not enough to support a family." I couldn't shake the feeling they were wrong, but to prove it, I faced a daunting task: connecting the waterline and the electrical conduit—a challenging 71-foot run between that lonely wellhead and the main well house. I couldn't just tear up the driveway or risk severing other hidden power lines to the house. I needed to know exactly what lay beneath the soil. ​For a week, I was glued to my computer, diving deep into obscure well forums. It was there, amidst the threads of seasoned DIYers, that one name popped up: the Klein Tools ET450 Advanced Underground Circuit Breaker Finder and Wire Tracer Kit. The reviews were mixed, of course. Some users swore it was a toy, others claimed it only worked for short distances. But I was desperate and frankly, pragmatic. I'd been quoted $1,900 just for a specialist to identify the underground lines. I thought, for a mere $230, why not try this tool and educate myself? ​I pulled the trigger and waited. ​The day it arrived, I was ready to treat the frontyard like a construction zone. What I can say now, with absolute certainty, is that this tool is the REAL deal. It took patience, yes. I had to learn its language, finetune the sensitivity settings, and train myself to listen to its signals. But once I did, it performed a miracle. ​The ET450 didn't just help me locate one thing; it mapped out the entire subsurface puzzle. It identified the exact, safe path for the new waterline and, crucially, the existing electrical wiring, all buried three to four feet underground. Not only did it save me from a costly excavation disaster, it located wires twice—and these wires were hiding under concrete! ​The knowledge I gained and the confidence I built by doing the work myself were invaluable. But the true, stunning payoff? This little kit saved me from the grim fate the experts had predicted. I didn't have to drill a new well, nor pay for additional, unnecessary troubleshooting support. ​My total estimated savings: an astonishing $82,000. That's not just a review—that's a testament to good old-fashioned quality meeting modern engineering, proving that sometimes, the only expert you need is a determined person with the right tool.

Worked great - used it to trace a hot outlet back to the breaker panel, and had to turn the sensitivity down on the probe to narrow down the exact breaker, so it had more than enough signal on a short (maybe 75 foot) run in conduit. Tried it on unpowered data wires to label the other end of the correct cable. Worked great so far, but haven't tried using to trace any power wiring underground yet. Very nice to have one tool that works for both finding un-powered data/signal/phone pairs, as well as plugging it right into powered outlets to find a breaker before even starting. The non-contact voltage sensing in the probe seems to work about as sensitive as my much smaller Fluke Volt-Alert pens do, but I've only tested this Klein probe on 120 VAC, not any lower voltage DC cabling yet where the Fluke pens still work. Very nice case to keep it all together and un-damaged in the tool bag or box, and I really like that they provided specific holders to put the batteries into, so you don't have to store them in the device or leave them rolling around the box, so they won't run down and leak if this doesn't get put into use for some period of time. I didn't need a lot of time in the manual, just checking over features and basic usage, and the buttons and screen display are fairly intuitive. You won't need to refer to the manual much again, but it's nice that it has a place inside the box for other users. If you're tracing underground wires, you only need to pay attention to finding a neutral or ground wire that's on a different circuit somewhere else before starting. If not, the signal path going both directions on a pair that are right next to each other are equal and opposite, and tend to cancel the signal strength enough that you may not find it. No problem with simple breaker locations though, and you can use the provided adapter to just plug the transmitter right into a standard outlet. On the down side, I really dislike that they required a screwdriver to open the battery covers. That's just lazy design, and more prone to breakage, stripping, or screw loss than a decent spring clip just built right into the battery cover. And they made a VERY strange decision on the larger transmit unit, where all but two of the batteries snap into the removable battery holder that you screw back down onto the device - but then 2 more batteries need to be snapped into slots back inside the unit before you put the battery cover back on. Very uncommon, and easily missed by someone who will come back and tell you it doesn't work, and you need to remember to ask if they had 2 extra batteries left over after putting them all in. If so, reopen the transmitter, and look for the extra 2 battery slots NOT near any of the rest of the batteries. All in all, a decent unit for the price, and it does double duty on hot and unpowered wires. I've paid more for just single use units. Definitely something worth adding to your tool set, that you'll find many uses for.

So far product works fantastic, really like the sensitivity settings as finding branch circuit breakers has been a breeze. The receiver has a back lit screen which makes it easy to see in the dark. Super simple to use and is accurate every single time. I used this to replace my ideal one as the latter’s sensitivity was either too much or too little. Only thing I do miss from the ideal is the continuity tester and that it does 600V compared to the Klein. This unit is less expensive so I’m fine with those features not being included.

I bought this tracer to upgrade from the Greenlee that I've been using. This tracer takes a learning curve to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, the thing is fantastic to use. Here's what I love about it. First, it has a digital readout on the reciever that shows the intensity of the tracer signal that you're picking up, allowing you to really zero in on the breaker or wire that you're seeking. You can also increase or decrease the sensitivity of the reciever so that you can get into range of the signal and then close in on the precise location of the signal. Secondly, this thing can trace underground circuits! I've only tried a depth of 2' so far but it worked great. Another cool feature is the 20' accessory lead that can be used to connect to a separate grounding source for more accurate signal output. It's also durable and has a rugged carrying case. I highly recommend this product. This is the best tracer at this reasonable price!

Works well enough but the audio tone is low and not adjustable in volume level.

This tool is a game changer, works pretty well although you have to get a feel for reading the results because its not always on or off, more like a metal detector that tells ypu when you're close.

Finally, a PRO electrical wiring transmitter & receiver! First electrical tracing tool I've had absolute confidence in using. Yes, it's more expensive than typical, cheap kit. How much is your life worth? How much is your time & sanity worth? How much is absolute confidence worth?