Hi,

I am looking to buy a reasonably priced ( £50) pipe and cable
detector. My main interest is in finding pipes/ live cables beneath a
chipboard floor. If it can work through carpet as well that would be
even better. For the future it would be great if it would work with
pipes / cables in plastered / stud walls.

Any recommendations? My last experience with them was about 4 years
ago with a cheap Screwfix model that was totally unreliable.

Thanks,
BraileTrail

Bosch DMF 10, a little over your budget - but good (I think near-
foolproof) at shallow pipes and cables.

Claims to also be a timber stud detector, but not so good at that.

Pipe and cable is click, wave and scan, idiot-proof.

Stud detection is a bit more fiddly and can give false readings.

In article
,
BraileTrail wrote:
I am looking to buy a reasonably priced ( £50) pipe and cable
detector. My main interest is in finding pipes/ live cables beneath a
chipboard floor. If it can work through carpet as well that would be
even better. For the future it would be great if it would work with
pipes / cables in plastered / stud walls.

Any recommendations? My last experience with them was about 4 years
ago with a cheap Screwfix model that was totally unreliable.

I'd agree - never tried one that was reliable on live cables. Stud and
pipe finding ok.

--
*Cover me. I'm changing lanes.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

BraileTrail wrote:
Hi,

I am looking to buy a reasonably priced ( £50) pipe and cable
detector. My main interest is in finding pipes/ live cables beneath a
chipboard floor. If it can work through carpet as well that would be
even better. For the future it would be great if it would work with
pipes / cables in plastered / stud walls.

Any recommendations? My last experience with them was about 4 years
ago with a cheap Screwfix model that was totally unreliable.

My experience with about 4 different makes convinced me they are all totally
unreliable.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

John Rumm wrote:
BraileTrail wrote:
I am looking to buy a reasonably priced ( £50) pipe and cable
detector. My main interest is in finding pipes/ live cables beneath a
chipboard floor. If it can work through carpet as well that would be
even better. For the future it would be great if it would work with
pipes / cables in plastered / stud walls.

Any recommendations? My last experience with them was about 4 years
ago with a cheap Screwfix model that was totally unreliable.

My Zircon triscanner pro seems to do the job in most cases (although it
can't find studs under foil backed plasterboard alas). Metal detection
is quite good. It won't find plastic pipes though!

Another vote here for that model (as recommended to me here by one A
Hall): the third such item I've owned and the only one that's been half
decent.

David

On 6 Oct, 22:24, John Rumm wrote:
My Zircon triscanner pro seems to do the job in most cases (although it
can't find studs under foil backed plasterboard alas). Metal detection
is quite good. It won't find plastic pipes though!

Unfortunately that model is now discontinued, but they do a
Multiscanner Pro which seems to be a similar device. Both the
recommendations, the Bosch & Zircon are above my price point, but not
by much.

Thanks,
BraileTrail

The Medway Handyman wrote:
BraileTrail wrote:
Hi,

I am looking to buy a reasonably priced ( £50) pipe and cable
detector. My main interest is in finding pipes/ live cables beneath a
chipboard floor. If it can work through carpet as well that would be
even better. For the future it would be great if it would work with
pipes / cables in plastered / stud walls.

Any recommendations? My last experience with them was about 4 years
ago with a cheap Screwfix model that was totally unreliable.

My experience with about 4 different makes convinced me they are all totally
unreliable.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the angle grinder. One of those would
be good at detecting pipes and cables. The former would get you wet and
the latter will announce itself with a loud bang :-)

Dave

In message , Dave
writes
I'm surprised you didn't mention the angle grinder. One of those would
be good at detecting pipes and cables. The former would get you wet and
the latter will announce itself with a loud bang :-)

A good cheap option too as I already have an angle grinder!

BraileTrail

--

I tried a few, the Bosch DMF10 does work reasonably if...

1 - Hold it one hand & place other hand on wall.
This seems to reduce false readings re loop.

2 - Use it for data-point and build them up.
Mark them on a removeable masking tape and build up a picture in case
of false readings (see 3 & 4).

3 - Wall does not use wire mesh.
Some houses use wood from floor joist to ceiling, then block infill,
then wire mesh over to prevent plaster cracking, this obviously gives
hilarious results when scanned with a tool.

4 - Bricks are not high in magnetite or "whatever it is".
A few of my bricks drove the Bosch DMF tool mad near sockets/lights,
indicating others wires running where they certainly did not (I could
examine the wall with plaster removed later on both sides). No
potential measureable to ground from the area (out of curiosity).

If your house predates 1987 then wiring accessory / ceiling / wall-
corner zones did not exist. You may find cables are diagonal according
to "the shortest path possible" due to cost. That can still apply as
far as 2009, since new built are not necessarily inspected by anyone.

I suspect the only that really works is by Fluke.
Transmitter on the cable, Receiver in your hand, walk around the
house. They are about £209-229 but you could try a hire store (online
or local) or buy/resell on Ebay essentially paying the spread between
the two (check the Completed prices to know whether that is viable,
often it is cheaper than hiring if the market is *liquid*).