Hi TC123 - sorry for the delayed response. If you have a buried wire not connected to anything other than the ground spike that you mention, then there will be no "signal" on that wire for the CAT to detect. However, if this buried wire is connected to the house's ground system, it may be carrying some Power or Radio signal, then you could potentially locate it that way. Depth readings are only available when you use the signal generated by the Genny transmitter.

@@eastcom . Thank you for reply and advice. Hopefully I can find wire with the cat. I can always bury a new earth spike.

Yes. Either with a Genny or just in radio mode as this pick up anything metal

@@smiler8297 . I've never used one or seen one. I'm thinking of hiring it. I want to know if it would do my job before I would fork out the cost of hire

@@TC-lc3uf same here, what did you decide?

Hi "Livin in a Box", yes, you can locate lead pipe. Not as good as a copper line, but decent enough to get the job done.

7200

Hi Omer, Pipe and Cable locators (such as the CAT&Genny shown on this video) are able to locate underground METALLIC utilities such as a power line, a telephone cable, or a steel pipeline. A non-metallic line such as a plastic water line, or a concrete sewer, is not detectable unless you insert a sonde or a "snake" which is itself detectable. You can find out more about accessories in our website: eastcomassoc.com/products/specialized-locating-accessories/ Detection depth varies greatly and it depends on the detection environment. We have helped customers locate buried cables to 30 meters, but it is very unusual and it requires a lot of preparation. Detection depths are normally up to 3-5m in areas with little else underground. If you work in a big city, with a lot of underground lines, then detection depth will probably be limited to 3m.

The link for cable detection doesn't work

Locating depth depends on MANY factors, such as what is the line (Copper, Cast Iron, etc.), is it coated or exposed to the ground, are there other utilities above it, and most important is how good a signal you can get applied to the target line. I've helped our customers locate deep cables, deepest one I recall was 97 feet.

No unless the plastic pipe has a tracer wire added. The Cat picks up the metal in any cable or pipe so with plastic mains water pipe for example, a tracer wire is put directly above or next to the pipe and the Genny (generator) is attached to the tracer wire at ground level, the genny sends electrical current down the wire and the cat will then pick it up. If the contractor did not install a tracer, it’s a much more involved process to locate. Luckily they should run in straight lines so if you know entry and exit points, a perpendicular trench tentatively removed will locate the pipe run.

Thanks mate