Isolating Lines and Nulling Out Adjacent Conductors
Below are a few of many techniques that can get you through some tough spots. If these techniques don't work for you, give us a call at 1-800-952-3710. We have a team here that can get you the right technique for your specific application.
With the Model 500 you can easily isolate and separate utilities.
One of the easiest ways is to use both transmitters at a site. Say for example you need to trace fiber-optic cable and need to use the High-frequency to do so. Well, it runs into an area where it is next to a gas line tracer wire and you start to get bleed over or confusion as to which is the fiber and which is the tracer. Simply hook the Low-frequency to the gas and use the Model 500 Receiver to decipher which is which by switching from one received frequency to the other. The Low-frequency will not jump onto the fiber. The High-frequency may pick up both lines but you'll know which one is the gas by switching the receiver to low frequency.
You can also use this to trace two lines at once!
Another way is to use a Signal Clamp with the Low-frequency transmitter or 800 series transmitter. For example, when there is a bundle of cables together but you only want to locate one of them, you can use the clamp around the one you want to locate and it will focus the signal on that line. Another example is when you can't hookup due to the wire being inside conduit, but you can wrap the Signal Clamp around the conduit, again focusing the signal on your target.
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Click here to learn more about the Signal Clamp
If using a High-frequency transmitter.
If you have a place to hook up to, connect a wire to the target conductor and lay it out perpendicular to the other conductors. Place the transmitter on the wire, a few feet from the end. The wire acts as part of the conductor and in that position the transmitter will put a much stronger signal on the target conductor vs. the adjacent conductors. Click here to see image
In a lot of cases you can simply move the transmitter slightly to the opposite side of an adjacent conductor. This puts a slightly weaker signal on the target conductor but also significantly weakens the signal put on the adjacent conductor.
If there are two lines causing confusion you can place the transmitter on its side in "null" position over the unwanted conductor. This will put a signal on the target conductor and make the unwanted adjacent conductor nearly disappear.
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Pipe and Cable Locator Tips
Ferromagnetic Locator Tips