The Framers Forum

This is not framing related but I'm wanting to purchase a digital detector for finding copper pipes and electrical cables behind walls... any recommendations from forum members who may have used them?

I've discovered that banging my head against a wall does not help in finding water pipes and cables

try screwfix b and q etc they are cheap enough to buy you don't need
a fancy one,ive had mine 20 odd years they are very useful

Interpreting the results from these detectors can often be quite deceiptive. The problem is that exterior walls, or walls connecting to a non heated part of modern buildings, or buildings which have been retro fitted with cellulux insulation can produce a tone due to the aluminium foil of the cellulux.

This does not produce such an obvious result such as the nails in the studs and noggins in the wall, so there is a temptation to think that you have set the threshold control on the detector just a tad to sensitive and perhaps to back off the sensitivity and then everything seems to be working just fine, but is it?

How do you know if there is a pipe, or cable behind the aluminium foil? I don't know the answer to that one either! The trouble is that everyone thinks that these sort of devices are fool proof, but you do need to think about what you are doing, when using these devices. I've never done the wrong thing with one of these detectors, but I have been fooled once, or twice and had to think about what's going on.

I've got a Stanley IntelliSensor. I haven't used it for a while but I've been happy with it when I've used it in the past.

I got one of these:

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... ands+24902

I use it mostly for checking for metal fragments when cutting pre-used mouldings and wood. It's very sensitive and not too dear.


btw. Sorry to be predantic but this is one of my bugbears.....
NONE of these devices are 'digital'. Sorry, they just aren't.

There was a 'high definition' steam cleaner advertised on telly recently. And that p'ed me off big-time as well.


OK. Carry on.......

A useful tip is to set up the detector sensitivity using a pipe or cable where you know exactly where they are located and the route they take, so that as you sweep the detector it indicates the correct location. This tip is only good if where you are searching presents similar conditions to your test area. It has worked for me in a domestic house setting.

Good luck.

I don't know what make mine is, but I bought it probably from somewhere like B & Q many years ago. It has two different types of detector build into the same device, one at one end and one an the other, it was supposed to be the best you could get at the time (probably advertising hype), but I didn't think that the results were particularly consistent.

The threshold, or sensitivity control was never easy to get right, I suspected that this settling drifted over time and it also needed this control re-tweeking as you moved from one wall to another. I doubt if my detector is digital, but if the digital detectors avoid all this messing around to get the right threshold setting, then these digital detectors might be a good thing.

I'm always a bit sceptical about differences in specifications for anything, because it is difficult to tell the difference between genuinely better performance and sales hype. Therefore it is probably best to ask those for regularly use these detectors for recommendations.

BTW, does anyone know whether there is any benefit of digital over analogue when considering such detectors. It would be interesting to get the low down on this!

Thanks for replies. I've been tasked with some DIY work for mother-in-law in her new house, so was thinking of one of these gadgets but not sure how reliable they are so will just use common sense as I've always done...

I have one. I find it useful for confirming what I already know. Equally, it sometimes produces surprises - where electricians have not followed the rules about running cables in straight lines. I'd get one. Can't recommend any particular brand no idea what mine is, I imagine they're all the same.