Tone vs. continuity testing: which is actually more useful on a rough-in?

I keep seeing guys at my shop in Nashville grabbing the tone generator for every single cable pull, even when we're just checking for a basic short or open. Meanwhile, I still use my old Fluke continuity tester for 90% of residential rough-ins because it's faster and tells me what I need without the extra setup. But then we had a job last month where a neighbor's buried cable was causing noise, and tone tracing found it in 15 minutes where continuity was useless. So which do you rely on more day to day, and why?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan13020h ago

Tone tracing found it in 15 minutes where continuity was useless" - that's basically the whole answer right there. I keep both on the truck but the tone wins out for anything that ain't a straight A to B wire. For rough-ins I grab continuity first because I can buzz through 20 cables in the time it takes to clip the toner on one. But if I get a weird ground fault or start seeing random ohms that don't make sense, the tone is what saves me. The trick is knowing when to switch - don't waste setup time on simple shorts but don't chase ghosts with continuity either.

grace_gonzalez463h ago

Most folks overthink this whole thing to be honest. Picking tone over continuity like it's some big life decision when really it's just about what you're doing right then. For a basic rough-in where I'm just making sure wires aren't broke or touching, continuity wins every time because it's click and done. But I see guys grabbing the tone for every single cable and that's just extra steps for no reason. The whole buried cable thing is a good point but how often does that really come up? Maybe once a year if that. Most days you're just checking if the hot wire is actually a hot wire and continuity handles that fine. Seems like people want to look fancy with their gadgets instead of just using the simple tool that works.

ward.jamie2h ago

You ever have one of those days where you grab the wrong tool out of habit and it costs you an extra hour? I spent a whole morning chasing a phantom short with the continuity tester once, turned out it was just a bad crimp the tone never wouldve missed. Made me rethink my whole setup routine after that.