TIL a simple toner saved me 4 hours on a service call in Tampa

Last Friday I had a job where none of the wall plates were labeled and the customer was pissed about downtime. I spent 2 hours guessing cables and pulling the wrong ones before I grabbed a toner from my van. Traced every live line in 45 minutes flat. Anyone else still see techs skip basic test gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

harris.aaron14d ago

Last job I subbed for a guy who pulled out a cheap cable tester from Harbor Freight and spent 20 minutes staring at the lights before giving up. Do you think it's just laziness or do people genuinely not know how to use toners anymore?

cora_jenkins13d ago

Oh man, I used to think it was just people being lazy too. But then I saw a younger tech try to use a toner and he literally had NO clue what the tones meant, he thought it was just a live wire detector. That totally changed my mind, it's honestly scary how little some folks know about the basics now.