Power Probe ECT3000 Manuel utilisateur

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Contents

Congratulations ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Parts ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

The SMART Transmitter ....................................................................................................................... 6

Characteristics of the Short/Grounded Circuit Signal ............................................................................... 8

Characteristics of the Open Circuit Signal ....................................................................................... 9&10

The SMART Receiver ........................................................................................................................... 11

Battery Installation .................................................................................................................................. 12

Testing the SMART Receiver ................................................................................................................. 12

Pulse Mode .............................................................................................................................................. 12

Locking /Setting the Sensitivity of Short/Grounded Circuit Signal ....................................................... 14

Locking /Setting the Sensitivity of Open Circuits ................................................................................. 14

Direction to Short .................................................................................................................................... 15

How to Use the ECT3000 in Diagnosing Circuits .............................................................................. 16

Contents

How to Trace Out a Short Circuit to Chassis Ground ............................................................................. 17

Isolate your Circuit .................................................................................................................................. 18

Verify the Short Circuit to Ground .......................................................................................................... 18

Short Circuit inside a Wire Harness ........................................................................................................ 19

Reception Distance and What that Means .............................................................................................. 20

Tracing Circuits that are Shielded ........................................................................................................... 21

Open Circuit Signal vs. Grounded Circuit Signal ................................................................................... 22

How to Trace an Open Circuit ................................................................................................................ 23

Verify an Open Circuit............................................................................................................................. 23

Bench Tracing a Wire Harness ................................................................................................................ 24

Tracing Out a Battery Drain or Current Draw ........................................................................................ 25

Circuit Wiggle and Flex Test ................................................................................................................... 26

Index ........................................................................................................................................................ 27

Congratulations

Thank you for choosing the Power Probe “ECT3000” (Electronic Circuit Tracer- 3000)

The ECT3000 helps quickly locate wiring shorts and opens. The ECT3000 operates just like the trusted Power Probe ECT3000 now with many

improvements in functions and features to increase circuit testing accuracy and speed. This instruction booklet will give you some valuable

diagnosing tips gathered from the ﬁeld and from our testing lab. This instruction booklet has convenient references that will take you to appro-

priate pages that provide more information and clariﬁcation. Taking the time to read this instruction booklet carefully will give you valuable

insight to these detailed techniques in tracing automotive circuits.

We designed the ECT3000 as a quick solution to your automotive circuit problems. The ECT3000 consists of 2 main components. An Intelli-

gent transmitter and a Intelligent receiver along with a set of connection adapters that will help you:

• Locate short circuits without unnecessarily removing plastic panels, molding, and carpet.

• Trace wires to see where they lead

• Find open circuits, switches or breaks in wires

• Trace and locate the cause of a severe battery drain

• Test and ﬁnd intermittent conditions

• Check continuity with the assistance of the Power Probe III, IV, or Hook

These features are extremely handy for the professional technician. An appropriate schematic or wiring diagram is always useful and many

times necessary when tracing circuits. The better you understand your circuit, the better the ECT3000 can assist you.

PPTK0003

PPTK0006

PPTK0005

PPTK0007

PPTK0008

The Transmitter

The transmitter is designed to generate Grounded Circuit signals and Open Circuit signals. The grounded and the open circuit signals are very

dierent from each other, so it is very important to understand the dierences in each signal type. (see “Characteristics of the Short/Grounded

Circuit Signal” pg. 8 and Characteristics of the Open Circuit Signal” pg. 9)

Power Lead

The 20 ft. power lead of the Intelligent transmitter supplies power by connecting directly to

the vehicles battery and the long length provides easy access to circuits throughout the vehi-

cle. The RED clip connects to the positive side of the battery and the BLACK clip connects

to the negative. It can be connected to a power source from 12 to 24 volts.

Signal Lead

The signal lead with the green banana jack, plugs into the assortment of adapters, probes,

and clips that are provided for you in the ECT3000 kit. These accessories simplify connect-

ing to your circuit.

Moveable Hanger / Stand

Provides multiple convenient mounting options when testing.

Circuit Status LED indicators

Indicates current circuit staus - Short / Open.Tone On/O - Toggle Tone

“Tone On/O” button toggles the tone of the transmitter’s speaker on or o.

The toggle tone feature of the Intelligent transmitter gives you the ability to detect changes

in the circuit to detect intermittent problems. (See “Circuit Wiggle and Flex Test” pg. 26)

Speaker

Provides Audible circuit status indication.

After connecting the transmitter’s 20 ft. power lead to the vehicle’s battery, a signal is generated through the green signal wire and banana plug.

This is connected to the circuit you want to trace. The signal will radiate along the circuit, which you can detect by using the receiver. There are

two types of circuit signals that the transmitter generates. They are the Grounded Circuit SIGNAL and the OPEN CIRCUIT SIGNAL.

It is very important to familiarize yourself with both of these signals and how they work in your circuit. The “Grounded Circuit signal” and the

“open circuit signal” are dierent from each other, which you should understand. (See: “Characteristics of the Short/Grounded Circuit Signal”

pg.. 8 and “Characteristics of the Open Circuit Signal” pg. 9&10)

The 2 main features of the ECT3000 is that it transmits a signal into a circuit with the transmitter and then you trace it with the receiver . The

easiest way to insure that you are following the problem circuit is to isolate it from other parallel circuits.

Complete Circuit Signal

Open Circuit Signal

Characteristics of the Short/Grounded Circuit Signal:

1. Strongest when ﬂowing exclusively through one wire

When the signal is conducting through only one wire, the signal

strength is at its maximum because 100% of the signal is travel-

ing through that wire exclusively to return back to the negative

side of the battery. If the signal branches out to parallel circuits,

its strength divides and of course is weaker in each branch of

the divided circuit. But when the signal recollects through the

single negative cable to return to the battery, the signal strength

is at its maximum again because 100% of the signal is concen-

trated through the single negative battery cable. (see “Isolate the

Circuit You are Tracing” pg. 18)

2. Travels the path of least resistance

In case of a short circuit that blows its fuse reliably, you can

sometimes get away with not having to isolate the circuit. The

majority of the signal will follow the path of least resistance

through the short and then back to the battery. In ﬁg.1, you can

see the majority of the signal travels right to the short circuit.

You can also see only a small portion of the signal running

through parallel wires.

3. A 4 KHz Polarized Signal

The fact that the Grounded Circuit signal is a 4 KHz polarized signal provides directional information for the receiver to pick up. This capabili-

ty to indicate the direction to the short or ground takes the guesswork out of tracing grounded circuits. (See “Direction to the Short” pg. 15)

4. Carries a current of only 100 mA.

When generating a Short/Grounded Circuit signal, a maximum of 100 milliamp ﬂows from the signal lead. This keeps you safe from damaging

sensitive computer circuits.

Path of Least Resistance

Major portion of signal goes

into short (ground)

Very small traces of signal

branch into parallel circuits

Lights have resistance

and limit signal ﬂow

Characteristics of the Open Circuit Signal are:

1. Transmits through NON Conductive Materials

The signal that the ECT transmits when tracing open circuits, radiates

what is called an E-ﬁeld. We will refer to an E-ﬁeld in this manual as an

“Open Circuit Signal”.

The open circuit signal radiates from wires and passes through non con-

ductive material such as dry carpet, plastic panels or plastic molding. The

receiver is used to detect these signals so you can trace and locate the

open or break in the circuit.

(See “Locking the Sensitivity” pg. 14)

2. Easily Shielded by Conductive Materials

The open circuit signal is however easily shielded by conductive mate-

rials such as metal, wet carpet, neighboring wires in a harness and even

your hand. This means that if conductive materials are between the trans-

mitting wire and the receiver, the open circuit signal will not penetrate

through and therefore not be detected by the receiver. So it is necessary

to be aware of possible shielding issues and try to avoid them as much as

possible.

A great alternative to the receiver in detecting open circuit signals is to

use the Power Probe III, IV, or Hook by direct contact.

(see “Verify an Open Circuit” pg. 23)

Dry Carpet / Plastic Panels & Molding

Holding the receiver by this corner,

prevents your hand from sheilding

the

open circuitsignal.

Wet Carpet / Metal/ Shielding Wire Harness

Holding the receiver by this corner

prevents your hand from shielding

the open circuit signal.

Wet Carpet/ Metal/ Shielding Wire Harness

Dry Carpet / Plastic Panels and Mouldings

Open signal passes

through dry non

-conductive material

3. Signal Capacitive Coupling to Parallel Floating Circuits

Another characteristic of the open circuit signal is that it will capacitive couple to parallel ﬂoating circuits.

(See: “Bench Tracing a Wire Harness” pg. 24)

4. Travels to ALL Open Ends

In Fig. 1 we are injecting an open circuit signal into a

parallel circuit that has three wires. Two of those wires lead to

open switches and the other leads to the open/break. As you

can see the open circuit signal travels to all open ends. This

makes it necessary to isolate the problem circuit away from the

others.

5. Can only be present in a circuit when there is a resis-

tance greater than 100 ohms

(See: Open Circuit Signal vs Grounded Circuit Signal” pg. 22)

6. Has NO Polarity

The open circuit signal does not have a polarity therefore the

ECT receiver gives no direction indication as to a break in

the wire. You will need to logically reason the direction of the

break in the circuit and then continue to trace it.

7. 8 Volt amplitude and 4 kilo-Hertz signal

The 4 Kilo-Hertz signal of the open circuit signal can be de-

tected by the receiver. (See: “Locking the Sensitivity for Open

Circuits” pg. 14) You can also use the Power Probe III, or Power probe IV for open circuit signal detection by direct contact.

(See: “Verify an Open Circuit” pg. 23)

Problem circuit not

isolated

Signals are all

over the

place, because

the problem

circuit has not

been

isolated

Fig. 1

Signals are all

over the place,

because the

problem circuit

has not been

isolated

Problem circuit not isolated

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