Spent three hours tracing a phantom voltage in a 1970s house

Got called out for a flickering light in an old place in Tacoma. Checked the switch, the fixture, everything looked fine. Finally found a loose neutral in a junction box behind the kitchen cabinets that someone had buried. It was only making contact sometimes, which is why my meter kept showing weird readings. Anyone have a good trick for finding these hidden boxes in plaster walls?

3 comments

3 Comments

fionafoster11d ago

Stud finder with a deep scan mode works.

the_alice10d ago

Yeah, because nothing says home improvement like needing military grade hardware to find a piece of wood. My stud finder just beeps at me when I walk by.

abby_morgan1811d ago

I mean, a thermal camera can sometimes spot hidden boxes from the heat of old wires.