Amprobe AT-2000-A Operating Manual

AT-2004-A
AT-2005-A

Advanced Wire Tracer

Users Manual

AT-2004-A
AT-2005-A

Advanced Wire Tracer

Users Manual

P/N 2757407 Rev 002
11/2013, 6001566 A
© 2013 Amprobe Test Tools. All rights reserved.

English

Limited Warranty and Limitation of Liability

Your Amprob e produ ct will b e free fro m defec ts in ma terial an d workma nship fo r one year f rom the
date of purchase u nless local law s requir e other wise. T his warra nty do es not cove r fuse s, disp osabl e
batte ries or da mage from accident, ne glect , misuse, alte ration, contamination, o r abnor mal
conditi ons of op eration o r handlin g. Rese llers a re not authorized to e xten d any othe r warrant y
on the be half of Amp robe. To obt ain ser vice du ring the wa rrant y period , return t he prod uct with
proof of p urchas e to an authorized Am probe S ervi ce Cente r or to an Amp robe de aler or di stribu tor.
See Rep air Sec tion for d etails . THIS WA RRANTY IS YOUR ONLY REMEDY. ALL OT HER WARR ANTI ES

- WHET HER EXP RESS, I MPLIE D OR STATUTORY - I NCLUDI NG IMPLIED WARR ANTIES OF FIT NESS
FOR A PARTICUL AR PURP OSE OR MERCHAN TABILIT Y, ARE HEREBY D ISCL AIME D. MANUFAC TURER
SHALL N OT BE LIA BLE FOR A NY SPECIAL, INDIREC T, INCIDE NTAL OR CON SEQUEN TIAL DAM AGES
OR LOSSES, ARIS ING FRO M ANY CAU SE OR THE ORY. Since som e state s or count ries do no t allow
the exclu sion or limitatio n of an implied warra nty or of i nciden tal or con seque ntial damages , this
limitat ion of liab ility may not appl y to you.

Repair

All Ampr obe retu rned fo r warrant y or non -warra nty rep air or for c alibrati on shoul d be accom panied
by the foll owing: yo ur name, company ’s name, a ddres s, tele phone number, and p roof of pu rchase .
Additio nally, ple ase incl ude a brie f descr iption of t he problem or the s ervi ce reque sted a nd include
the tes t leads wi th the me ter. Non- warrant y repai r or repla cement c harges should b e remit ted in the
form of a check, a mo ney orde r, credit card with ex piratio n date, or a p urchase order m ade paya ble
to Amprobe.

In-warranty Repairs and Replacement – All Countries

Please r ead the warranty s tatem ent and c heck you r batte ry bef ore requ estin g repair. Dur ing
the warra nty period, any d efec tive tes t tool ca n be retur ned to you r Amprobe distributor f or an
exchange for the s ame or like p roduc t. Plea se chec k the “Wh ere to Buy ” sect ion on www.A mprobe.
com for a lis t of distributo rs near yo u. Addit ionally, in t he Unite d States a nd Cana da, in- warranty
repair an d replacement u nits ca n also be s ent to an Am probe S ervi ce Cente r (see ad dress b elow).

Non-warranty Repairs and Replacement – United States and Canada

Non- warrant y repairs in the United States and C anada sh ould be sent to an Am probe S ervic e Center. Ca ll
Amprobe or inqu ire at your p oint of pu rchase f or curre nt repair and replacemen t rates .

USA: Canada:
Amprobe Amprobe
Everet t, WA 98203 Mississaug a, ON L4Z 1X9
Tel: 877-AMPROBE (26 7-7623) Tel: [phone]

Non-warranty Repairs and Replacement – Europe

Europea n non- warrant y unit s can be re placed by your Amprobe di stributor for a n ominal charge.
Please c heck th e “Where to Buy” s ectio n on ww w.Am probe.eu for a lis t of distributo rs near y ou.

Amprobe Europe*
Beha-Amprobe
In den Eng emat ten 14
79286 Glo tter tal, G ermany
Tel.: [phone] - 0

www.Amprobe.eu

*(Corresp ondenc e only – no rep air or replacemen t available from this a ddress . European custo mers pl ease

contact your distributor.)

AT-2000-A Series

Advanced Wire Tracer

CONTENTS

PRECAUTIONS ............................................................................................... 4

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4

AT-2000-A PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ............................................................. 5

COMPONENT DESCRIPTION ......................................................................... 5

R2000 Receiver ......................................................................................... 9

S2600-A Load Signal Generat ors (LSG’s) ................................................ 8

T2200 Transmitter .................................................................................. 10

APPLICATION NOTES .................................................................................. 13

Finding Opens ........................................................................................ 13

Finding Ground Faults (See Fig.7) ......................................................... 14

Tracing Wires in Conduit (See Fig.8) ..................................................... 15

Tracing Energized Wires ........................................................................ 16

Tracing Non-energized Lines and Finding Shorts (See Fig.9) .............. 16

Locating Individual Wires in a Bundle .................................................. 17

Locating Outlets from the Breaker Panel (See Fig.10) ......................... 18

Locating Buried Conduit or Metal Pipe (See Fig.11) ............................ 18

SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................... 19

3

PRECAUTIONS

FOR PERSONAL AND INSTRUMENT PROTECTION

IMPORTANT:

1. Before using any electrical instrument, it should be checked to
make certain it is operating properly.

2. In many instances, you will be working with dangerous levels of
voltages and/or current, therefore, it is important that you avoid
direct contact with any uninsulated, current carrying surfaces.
Appropriate insulated gloves, safety glasses and protective clothing
should be worn.

3. Before attaching anything to the conductor, make sure the voltage
present is not beyond the range of the instrument.

4. When not in use, keep the instrument in its carrying case.

5. When the R2000 or the T2200 will not be used for a period of time,
remove the battery.

INTRODUCTION

AMPROBE is dedicated to designing, manufacturing and marketing
high quality, reliable instruments for the skilled professional. The
AMPROBE Advanced Wire Tracer has a history of providing safe,
reliable operation in tracing energized wires, locating circuit breakers,
and locating shorted wires, and tracing non-energized wires, locating
open breakers and locating open wires.

The AT-2000-A Advanced Tracing System combines both Current
Tracing and Open Tracing into one versatile tool providing the ability
to solve virtually all your tracing problems.

Having confidence in an instrument is an important part of using
the instrument. All applications are different and special. An
understanding of the system’s operation could be the difference
between several minutes or several hours on the job.

4

Invest time learning the operation of the Advanced Tracer to build
confidence in the unit. Please read this manual carefully. Take the time
to learn how the instrument operates. Test it in a variety of

situations. You will soon have the confidence to use it on a daily basis
to solve problems which were previously unsolvable.

AT-2000-A SERIES PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The AT-2000-A System consists of different, yet fully compatible
components that are combined into five interchangeable systems:

AT-2004-A Industrial Multipurpose Tracer — includes R2000,
S2600 -A, T2200, and A2201 Clamp-On Accessory.

AT-2005-A Industrial Multipurpose Tracer — includes R2000,
S2600 -A, T2200, A2201, B2024, B2025.

All components are described on the following pages. Each system
contains all necessary cords and accessories.

COMPONENT DESCRIPTION

R2000 Receiver

Has two built in sensors that are tuned to pick up the 32.768khz signals
generated by any of the transmitters in the AT-2000 family: S2600-A,
T2200. The R2000 is designed to indicate the signal’s strength in audio
and visual ways to enable precise location of the conductor carrying
the signal.

Changing Batteries

The battery compartment on the back of the R2000 and the T2200 is a
new design that allows you to drop the battery in and out quickly and
easily. Two holes on the bottom of the compar tment accept the round
terminals of a 9 volt battery. Make sure to position batter y properly,
otherwise the compartment will not close.

5

1. Mode Adjustment Switch
‘open’ mode is used for

5

6

1

2

7

3

84

open conductors. ‘SHORT’
mode is used on conductors
that make up a complete
circuit.

2. Range Switch Coarse
sensitivity adjustment

3. Battery light Will illuminate
when unit is turned ‘on’
provided the battery is in
place and charged

4. Lanyard Attachment Hole
Attach a wrist strap to
prevent accidental dropping

5. Electromagnetic and
Electrostatic sensors located
in the tip

6. Signal Strength Indicator
10 LED’s positioned behind
a red filter lens to allow
readability in direct sunlight

7. Sensitivity Adjustment/ON­OFF thumbwheel On - Off
switch combined with fine
adjustment of sensitivity

8. Battery Compartment
Drop-In-And-Close design
automatically connects
battery with the contacts.
Batter y must be oriented
properly to allow it to close.

6

Using the R2000 Receiver

1. Turn the R2000 ‘ON’ by rotating the thumbwheel and leave it
around position ‘5’.

2. Move the range switch to x 1 (this is the least sensitive setting).

3. Place the mode switch into the appropriate position and aim the
R2000 properly (see illustration below).

4. If there is no indication on the display. increase the sensitivity by
moving the range switch to x10 or x100. The thumbwheel is used
as a fine adjustment to maintain a midrange indication (3-9 LED’s).

IMPORTANT: Always try to keep the sensitivity low enough to a
maximum of 9 LEDs on the indicator. Otherwise, you could waste
a lot of time determining the proper signal source -- a weak signal
may register 10 LEDs in the x 100 range, but so will a strong signal
(typically the one you want to follow).

5. When tracing, move the R2000 back and forth over the path of the
wire and adjust the sensitivity so that you can see the rise and fall
of the signal level. The strongest signal confirms the path of the
wire.
NOTE: The R2000 will experience electromagnetic saturation when
held up against wires carrying more than 500Amps. If this occurs,
the signal strength indicator will go black. To remedy this, simply
move the R2000 a few inches away from the wire. (See Fig.2) After
the transmitter is connected and operating, but before beginning
to trace wires or circuit breakers, take the receiver and hold it
near the transmitters non-grounded lead, and get familiar with
the double beep pattern that the transmitter emits. When tracing
wires or circuit breakers, that is the pattern to look for. Ignore any
other light and tone patterns that you might see.

7