Hey, guys. Ben here, Geelong Cable Locations.
Just out on a job, and I thought I might grab the camera and do a bit of a tip video, or a hack video.
And, yeah a ninja tip.
It's probably the right way of saying it.
To help those of you that are new to locating...
Those of you that don't have much experience...
Those of you that are new...
Those of you that don't really do that much locating.
I've just come across a job, and I reckon this might help some of you out. So...
Let me give you a bit of an overview of the site first.
So you know where I'm working, what's going on.
So...
They're going to be putting a new fence up along here,
and they've asked me to come out and tell them what's out on site.
They're also going to be putting another fence over here, so people don't go down into the creek.
And we come out to the site, and it looks like there's been a locator out here already, doing some locating.
We've seen... So you got a water meter out here.
So, there's a water meter here, this feeds the toilet block up there...
And the water from...
The water that feeds the water meter, comes from the street.
So the water main is in the street,
water pipe comes along to the water meter,
and then from the water meter, goes over to the toilet block.
Now, the locator that's been here in the past... We've got a feel...
Don't know if it's a locator or a plumber.
But,
Whoever's been here, have got...
Now, I should have really...
They've used blue, and I've used blue.
So, I should have really used a different colour, just so I can do this video for you guys.
I wasn't actually planning to do a video, when I was here for the client.
And we've gotta use blue, cause blue is the Australian standard.
Anyway, let's move on.
So, at the water meter...
They've bitten onto it...
Or whoever's located it.
They've located it down through here...
And then you see through here...
It looks like it's been dug up.
So, we've got a feeling...
Or I've got a feeling, that...
They've dug down to fix a leak.
It must have been a leak or something there, and that's why they've dug down there and fixed it, and patched the leak up.
So...
I've come...
As I said to you, they're digging over there.
So I've come and bitten onto the water meter.
I've located the copper water pipe, through here, through here, through here...
Then bang, stops.
Could not locate it any further along.
Why? Because they must have done a plastic joint.
They must have fixed it with a plastic joint.
So, what I've done instead is...
Disconnected my locator up there. So I did bite onto the water meter...
I've disconnected it.
I've grabbed my transmitter and I placed my transmitter the other side of it.
So what you do...
So imagine...
Yeah, the signal comes over and then you've got a plastic joint.
But you know it's only plastic there, because it's copper that part.
Sorry... You don't know, you assume that the rest of the pipe could be copper as well,
and it could only be one little plastic joint that they fixed it.
So, the tip is...
For any of you that are locating.
If you're locating a good signal... all good...
Then all of a sudden, it stops.
And you're like, 'Why does it stop there?'.
It could just be a plastic joint. It could...
A lot of times it's easier... When...
When you hit a pipe, when there's a damage in a pipe,
It's easier to put a plastic joint in it,
Than what it is to get...
Put a proper copper joint in.
Proper copper joint is the way it should be done,
B Press it or whatever... or solder it.
But, a lot of times, they'll just put a plastic joint.
So,
What you do, is you just simply get a transmitter and put it on the other side.
So I've placed my transmitter down,
walked over there,
and bang, I was able to locate it.
So now, like out at the back, I moved the transmitter from there, over to there.
And you see my blue dots, that is where the pipe still goes.
So, the pipe is still live, it's still there, it's not an old pipe.
It's still the current pipe.
The only difference is that they put a little plastic joint in there.
This is, as I was saying here earlier on, this is where he wants to put his fence.
He was worried that, because he saw that,
he was worried that the pipe might have come in through here, and it's going to be right close to where he was. So...
I've just made his day, because it is nowhere near him, he's going to be fine to put his fence in there.
So yeah, that is my little tip for you guys.
A little ninja hack.
Is that the way of saying it? I'm pretty sure that's how you say it.
Is when you come across a situation where you're locating something, all good...
And then the signal stops, you can't get any further.
Try just getting the transmitter and putting it on the other side.
The other reason I wanted to do this video was to show you this is because,
those of you that do locating for a while...
Have been locating for a while,
will say, 'Yeah, it's common sense, we all know that Ben. Why are you doing a video?'.
That's because, I saw this.
Have a look.
So, the locator that was here before...
I suppose, or whoever it was...
I keep saying locator, it could have been a plumber has wrote... This.
And what I think it is, U. T. T.
Unable To Trace.
So they've bitten onto it, and they can't trace it going up through there.
And again, why?
I've got a feeling that there might be a plastic joint in there, at the bottom or somewhere out here.
So what I did, is I've simply moved...
Because I had success there,
and because it's digging up here,
I said to him, 'Let's try again.'
So I just grabbed the transmitter and put it down here.
Put it down here, and bang, I was able to locate it the whole way to the toilet...
Actually, not the whole way. I then moved the transmitter from there to halfway...
Put the transmitter down there, I was then able to mark the rest of it going back this way.
Through here...
The signal is real weak, real poor.
So I said to him...
The poly joint might be over here somewhere.
It might be somewhere else, there's nothing else over here.
Nothing else here, at all.
So, even though I put my transmitter here,
and the pipe might be over here.
The signals I've used are high frequency...
When you're trying to find something that you're not too sure
where it is, or if you're getting it right, try and use a higher frequency than low.
The lower frequency will get you further.
While I used 83, it's higher frequency...
and it's gave... gives you...
And the signal would jump onto anything else in the area.
And it's okay out here, cause there's nothing else out here.
So I'm happy to have it use a higher frequency.
So yes, I used 83...
and that signal jumped onto the pipe, and I was able to trace the water pipe through there.
So yes, I hope that makes sense guys.
So. Basically if you're locating something...
You're locating it...
and you can't get the...
And you come to a dead stop, can't get any further...
And you know that, that should go further...
Or you know it goes somewhere else.
Like I mean, as we see in that situation...
I've walked away now... But...
The pipes aren't gonna stop there. It's gotta go to the water main...
So you know the pipes still goes further.
Just try grabbing the transmitter and putting at the...
Don't put it right where your signal stops, just put it just past where your signal stops.
Or, put it where your signal stops and just use a higher frequency and turn the power up...
Something like that. So...
Hope that all make sense, guys.
Any questions at all, leave them in the comments below.
You know the deal...
In the meantime though, do hope you all take care.
And, uhh... Yeah.
Catch you on the next video.
See you guys.