Find/search special character help needed

[Emmy A.]

I have a FrameMaker question for you.
 
Our product names consist of two letters, a hyphen, and some numbers, e.g., AB-1234. I always use a non-breaking hyphen (inserted by typing the 3-letter sequence: Esc, -, h) because I don't want the name to split onto two lines if it's positioned at the end of line. However, when I try to do a global search for all instances of the product name, the "Esc - h" sequence doesn't work in the Find text box. Typing that key sequence becomes -h and the Esc is ignored, and Find looks for AB-h1234. Even when I copy an instance of the name from my text and paste it into the Find text box, it doesn't work. Find just treats the - as a regular -, not a non-breaking hyphen. Same problem with replace. Can't type text with an Esc sequence into the Change text box. The kludge I use is to search on just the numeric portion of the name, e.g., 1234, and deal with the AB- part manually. But this is time-consuming. Any ideas?
 
Emmy in Roseville