Very Useful Tool: The Power Probe®

Every once in awhile, an ingenious product comes along which fills a real need, is easy to use, and is nearly indespensable. Such a product is the Power Probe,made by Power Probe, Inc. of Brea, Ca. USA.

When troubleshooting & repairing electrical problems on your vehicle, you’ll need to test affected circuits in order to determine whether an open or short circuit is present. You may also need to temporarily supply power to certain parts or components of a circuit in order to isolate the trouble. Normally, you would do these things by using conventional jumper leads with alligator clips on each end, along with a multimeter, and perhaps a test light as well.

You would then use the multimeter for voltage tests, the test light to check for power, and the jumper leads to bypass or supply power to parts of the circuit as needed. With the Power Probe, these test capabilities are all built into one convenient tool. Thats nice. But where this tool really shines is in its ability to supply power on demand to a circuit under test, at up to 30  amps – with full short & overload protection – built right into the probe. How cool is that?

Simple but very useful. And here’s why: Lets say that you are working on a vehicle which has a non-functioning power window, and you need to know whether or not the window motor is receiving power. You could quickly determine this with a test light, but with the Power Probe, you can not only test for power, but you can also quickly supply power directly to the window motor to test its functionality as well. In case the motor is shorted, no problem. The Power Probeincludes built-in short protection via a circuit breaker. You can also supply a ground connection if needed. So you can quickly and easily test nearly anything electrical – Motors, Lights, Relays, Solenoids, Fuel Pumps, Injectors, etc.

Using the Power Probe is simple and convenient – simply connect the instrument to the vehicle’s battery using the supplied clamps, just like connecting a battery charger. The unit is supplied with a 20 foot power cord so you can move from front to back and around the vehicle, and extensions are available if more length is needed.

When testing for power, an audio tone lets you know the readings without having to look at the instrument – high tone for positive power, low tone for negative or ground. A bi-color LED  gives a visual indication as well, with red for positive, and green for negative or ground. One model also has a built-in digital voltmeter.

To supply power to the device or circuit under test, a three-position momentary-contact switch is pressed – one direction supplies positive power to the probe tip at up to 30 amps, while a press in the other direction connects the probe tip to ground. Releasing the switch causes it to automatically return to the center or “off” position. As stated above, a built-in circuit breaker protects the instrument against shorts and overloads, and is easily reset by a press of the thumb. Another nice feature is a built-in LED flashlight which comes in very handy when using the instrument in hard-to-reach areas such as underneath a dashboard.

I bought my own Power Probe about 5 years ago, and it has proven to be invaluable when it comes to doing nearly any type of electrical work on a vehicle. I still use my multimeter and test light, but seem to always reach for the power probe first. Get yours today!