I had a problem in the house. One of the plugs were blown out, but couldn't tell which one. I didn't know the path of the wire to the circuit box and the wire went through several other plugs, though, I didn't know which ones.
I bought this...
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sperry-Lan-WireTracker-Tone-and-Probe-Wire-Tracer-ET64220/202520187from Home Depot, and it worked. From the plug that did NOT work, I traced the wire by waving the wand a couple inches from the wall. I followed that wire to one plug, no power at that one. Traced the wire to the next plug, which was working. Took the face plate off and removed the plug. It was bad. It was working, but the contacts were melted for where the wire feeds out to the next plug. Cheap plastic manufactured home plugs.
I am in the process of replacing all the plugs in the house. This was the second plug I've found that had melted. Lucky house did not catch on fire.
That tool, was worth the $40.
Basically, You plug the base (using the leads) into the plug, and wave the wand along the wall. The base sends a signal down the wire, and the wand picks it up. There are better, more expensive models that do this, but this one worked for me.
Hope that helps ya.