Cable/Pipe detector

Relentless81 · 6 Jun 2015 at 08:20

Hi,

Can anyone recommend to me one of these gadgets please?

I have read numerous reviews but they all seem to either give 5 or 1 stars with people saying they either work perfectly or not at all!

Thanks

bledd · 6 Jun 2015 at 08:53

Registering interest

Hamish · 6 Jun 2015 at 09:59

I bought one of these the other week and I have to say it is absolutely useless. seems to go off completely randomly with no correlation to wires or studs. I've gone back to knocking on the wall to find them.

HardwareGeek · 6 Jun 2015 at 10:36

I've got a bosch one, seems pretty accurate, you can also use it to find live cable and has a screen/display rather than just a noise so you can look and see how strong the reading is and guess if its is a nail or pipe or stud etc.

Sui · 6 Jun 2015 at 10:44

Don't buy the Maplin one, it's terrible, seemed to think my door had cables in it.

Went and bought a Bosch one from Homebase and seemed pretty accurate where we knew there were cables.

Relentless81 · 6 Jun 2015 at 14:32

Two shouts for Bosch then, thanks. Is it a particular model/price? I think they do more than one

NickK · 6 Jun 2015 at 15:36

Hamish said:
I bought one of these the other week and I have to say it is absolutely useless. seems to go off completely randomly with no correlation to wires or studs. I've gone back to knocking on the wall to find them.

nails or screws in the walls will also do it. However 19mm isn't that deep to sense pipes.. if you use a rep-blade on a plasterboard wall you want something that senses deeper than the blade depth!

I was using a mate's B&Q one - that worked really well. It was simple but effective for both pipes, wires and stud. Now I've returned it I'll have to get one so interested in this thread too

Sui · 6 Jun 2015 at 15:40

http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/diy/meters-and-detectors/bosch-pmd-7-digital-detector-289932 is the one I got, they had a 20% off weekend (they often do as well if you can wait for one)

Bobmunkhouse · 6 Jun 2015 at 19:49

My mate who fits fire alarms gave me a - Fluke Volt Light LVD1

Its great! Can really trace wires!

HardwareGeek · 6 Jun 2015 at 20:14

Relentless81 said:
Two shouts for Bosch then, thanks. Is it a particular model/price? I think they do more than one

http://www.bosch-professional.com/gb/en/gms-120-23317-ocs-p/

Closest to the one i have but a newer model

finga · 7 Jun 2015 at 11:20

Bosch! hasnt let me down yet, got it off the bay as was considerably cheaper 2nd hand

I have the PDO 6

Terminal_Boy · 7 Jun 2015 at 11:26

I have the cheapo B&Q one which hasn't let me down yet.

Caveats: I live in a 1950s house with no pipe work in the wall, so I use the detector to double check wiring drops.

Relentless81 · 8 Jun 2015 at 12:25

I picked up the Bosch on from Homebase for £38, or the Mrs did as I have man flu at the moment so wont be using it right away but I'll post back when I do with my experience of it

SMN · 9 Jun 2015 at 12:40

Hamish said:
I bought one of these the other week and I have to say it is absolutely useless. seems to go off completely randomly with no correlation to wires or studs. I've gone back to knocking on the wall to find them.

I have the exact same one. It is a POS.

Mynight · 9 Jun 2015 at 13:11

I have yet to find one that detects the plastic piping plumbers are so fond of these days.

Waste on money on the whole.

NickK · 19 Jun 2015 at 20:29

Mynight said:
I have yet to find one that detects the plastic piping plumbers are so fond of these days.

Waste on money on the whole.

You could apply weak electrical current through running water.. that way it could be a way of picking up the pipes.

Resurected the thread as I've just bought myself a Bosch PMD7 today.

Initial use impressions - no sensitivity adjustment but can be recalibrated. Does a good job of picking up metal, nails, screws, pipes and live wires. Easy to use - but you will need to have both visual and audio to get the feel how deep/far away the offending item is (the tone) so if you have ear protectors on then you'll need to take them off to listen.

Depths:
- ferrous (i.e. iron): 70mm
- non-ferrous (ie copper/alu/brass): 60mm
- copper conductors that are live: 50mm

The one I borrowed was more basic - simply sensing metal (wire/pipe/nails etc) but also studs wall supports.

Would have liked a visual range too and it appears the blue professional version has that - however the number of times it gets used the £30-odd vs £100 really dictated the decision.