- Thread starter Martin870
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brightspark
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hope you have a fat wallet there not cheap. just hire a cat cable and pipe tracer .not a moggy neither
8ob
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The word services worries me, Live electricity can be detected with a CAT, other services will need a CAT and Genny, you will also need to know how to use one to get the most out of it and that`s not a five minute job to explain.
Bob
I hired a cat from HSS it did not cost a lot, I later bought from Ebay a CAT and Genny (old style), I used these to determine where the mains cable ran into my house and determine a buried cable in the back garden.
It also allowed me to confirm where the services were in the pavement area and to confirm what the local searches had said for the mains and street lighting.
What I could not use it for was the water or gas that is run in plastic pipes to the house. If you are dealing with a modern property have a search on line for where they should be installed.
I think it's a case of dig carefully, watch out for markers, such as gravel, Tape etc where not expected. You can always have lazy construction workers/installers that may decide to take a short cut through a garden/drive rather than around it.
Adrian
It also allowed me to confirm where the services were in the pavement area and to confirm what the local searches had said for the mains and street lighting.
What I could not use it for was the water or gas that is run in plastic pipes to the house. If you are dealing with a modern property have a search on line for where they should be installed.
I think it's a case of dig carefully, watch out for markers, such as gravel, Tape etc where not expected. You can always have lazy construction workers/installers that may decide to take a short cut through a garden/drive rather than around it.
Adrian
8ob
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You need to get a bit creative if you intend to locate services with a Cat and Genny. The main thing with the Genny is to make sure you are at least three meters away from the detector to avoid signal scatter. The Genny will signal through water so you can connect to a stop cock and signal off that for water mains locating , only problem with that is earth bonding in the property connected to the mains will signal through all the earths including the leccy mains, we always disconnect this when locating watermains . Buried BT cables can be signalled through any spares or the outer sheath if its armoured, Soakaways , drainage pipes and sewer pipes can be detected with the use of a bit of 1.5mm t/e cable strapped to the end of a fibreglass flexi reel and shoved down the pipe, just signal down the t/e, the fibreglass reel is a must have if your serious about service location.Its also worth noting a lot of MDPE services like gas and water have a tracers in the wall of the pipe or a signal wire or tape laid in along side the service, you still need to dig down and find the end to get on to it though.
Bob
The reel and twin & earth is a must have
Bob
The reel and twin & earth is a must have
brightspark
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do what I do sometimes .a pair of bent gas welding rods . it DOES work and for drains 
Pete.
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If you're gonna use a CAT you should get some training because the results can be very difficult to read sometimes. Recently I had a 'trained' guy scan some concrete that needed cutting and breaking out. He spent ages scanning and kept coming up with all sorts including a 'radio' signal in a place that it should not be possible. Finally I got exasperated and said 'point it at the sky'. He did - and still picked up the radio signal 
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brightspark
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aliensIf you're gonna use a CAT you should get some training because the results can be very difficult to read sometimes. Recently I had a 'trained' guy scan some concrete that needed cutting and breaking out. He spent ages scanning and kept coming up with all sorts including a 'radio' signal in a place that it should not be possible. Finally I got exasperated and said 'point it at the sky'. He did - and still picked up the radio signal
The "Genny" is a signal generator used to inject signals into a pipe or cable that you then detect. Mine has an encircling loop for exposed pipes and cables, a 13a plug to inject into mains wiring, and a direct connection. I seem to remember that it also can inject from a coil in its base by induction.
To fiber glass coil is for pushing tracers down pipes.
slim_boy_fat
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Might be OK if hand digging
, but get a bit enthusiastic with a machine and it'd be easy to hit something just waiting there......
angellonewolf
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im not doing digging that much but do some ive never used a detector
normaly i look for drains covers water taps in the road look at the house see where services are put in if the electric is in the front and the gas its rare for to to come in from the back of the house
but i dont used mechinery apart from breaker and drills
normaly i look for drains covers water taps in the road look at the house see where services are put in if the electric is in the front and the gas its rare for to to come in from the back of the house
but i dont used mechinery apart from breaker and drills
brightspark
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I use the 1000 to one rule
angellonewolf
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^^^^^^ ?
brightspark
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for every thousand holes I drill one might catch a cable or pipe
a customer said to me one day have you one of those things for finding pipe . yep its called a drill or a hammer and chiselIf you are digging with no more than a graft and shoveholers you won't damage utilities
If it's hard digging a wide headed digging bar can be used gently
Cat and gennie is when disk cutters jack hammers or machines are going to get involved even after using a cat and gennie correct practice is to hand dig trial holes to confirm
If it's hard digging a wide headed digging bar can be used gently
Cat and gennie is when disk cutters jack hammers or machines are going to get involved even after using a cat and gennie correct practice is to hand dig trial holes to confirm
eLuSiVeMiTe
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Know that feeling well.for every thousand holes I drill one might catch a cable or pipe
Got 2 water pipes. One diagonally across a concrete kitchen floor.
And one cable that some muppet fed behind a skirting board.
brightspark
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tell that to i.u.s utilitys they moled under the railway and burst the 6inch water main
it flooded part of my house and the garage costing them 24 grand to put it all right 