Klein Tools VDV500-060 PROBEplus Tone Tracing Probe

The PROBEplus is built to pair with Klein's VDV test tools (VDV500-051, VDV526-054, VDV526-052, VDV501-053 and VDV501-809), but it also picks up tone from many other manufacturers' analog tone generators. So if you already own an analog toner from another brand, the probe side alone is a reasonable buy. What it will not do is generate tone itself, it is the receiving half of the pair.

No. The PROBEplus tone probe carries an explicit warning not to use it on energized circuits, and approved eye protection is called for when you work with it. It is for tracing and identifying wire paths in common wiring systems with the circuit dead and a tone generator on the pair, typically low voltage, data and comms runs. For live conductor work you need a non-contact voltage tester, not a tone probe.

Two things on the PROBEplus handle that. Volume is digitally adjustable through a loud built-in speaker, so you can drive it up over plant noise. And it gives you a visual read as well as audio: a tone detection LED lights when the probe finds the signal, so in a loud room or with hearing protection on you can work off the light instead of the sound.

No battery in the box. The PROBEplus runs on a 9V alkaline, and you supply it. Budget one per probe if you are kitting out a crew. Runtime is 25 hours active with roughly 4 years of standby, and there is a low battery indicator so you are not guessing why the tone went quiet mid-pull.

It tells you the amplifier is being driven too hard, which is the condition that produces a false positive. When you have the volume up and the probe close to a strong signal, several adjacent cables can all sound live and you punch down the wrong one. The overload indicator warns you against that misread so you can back the gain off and narrow in on the real pair.

Yes, the tip on the PROBEplus is replaceable and Klein sells it as VDV999-065. That matters on this tool because the tip is the part that takes the abuse, getting pushed into bundles, dropped down ladders and levered against panel edges. A snapped tip is a spare part order, not a new probe.

For sorting unlabeled runs at a panel, the tone probe is the right call: you put a tone on one end and walk the bundle with the PROBEplus until the speaker and tone detection LED pick it up. A cable tester tells you whether a known run is wired correctly end to end, it does not find the run for you in a bundle of forty. Klein's own testers such as VDV526-054 and VDV501-053 are made to work alongside this probe, so on a real job you usually carry both.

Not easily. The PROBEplus has auto power off, and its buttons are recessed specifically so a tool bag or a pocket cannot switch it on by accident. It also has a power-on LED so you can see at a glance it is live. Standby life is quoted at 4 years, 25 hours with the tool running.

It measures 9.906 x 2 x 1.141 inches (251.6 x 50.8 x 29 mm) and weighs 0.38 lb (0.17 kg). That is a one hand tool with a long enough body to reach into a bundle above a ceiling grid and light enough to hold overhead while you sweep a tray. It drops into a standard tool pouch rather than needing a case.

VDV500-060 is the Klein Tools part number for the PROBEplus tone tracing probe. Do not confuse it with VDV500-051, which is a Klein tone generator the probe pairs with, or VDV999-065, which is the replacement tip for the probe.