Features:

  • Function:Helpful-Locating & tracking buried and hidden wires.
  • How to Use:Easily Locate Pet Fence Wires, Metal Wires, Metal Pipes, Electrical Wires, ect ( only for single-strand wire, or double-strand wire in parallel, not for multistrand wire!!!)
  • Where You Can Locate:Locate-Determining Which Receptacles are on specific circuits,track-Pinpointing Drill Sites before drilling.
  • Range of Parameters:Wire tracer range-Up to 3 feet deep and 1000 feet in length.
  • Tips:Do not use on live circuits to avoid damaging the Tester!This device is mainly to locate non-energized Cable, or low-voltage situation less than 24V .Only for Wires & Cables,Not for Sprinkler Valves!!
Worked fine for buried 14/2 Romex

Bought this last week, and successfully used it to locate buried 14/2G Romex wire for our 110V Malibu lights. I was able to trace the wire AND establish that there was no break in the line--a huge plus, since I would otherwise have to dig a 20-foot trench through rocks and tree roots to search for a break that was actually further upstream in the circuit. This device saved me DAYS of back-breaking labor. But there are some caveats and, as an earlier reviewer alluded to, I suspect that this is the cause of some negative reviews. (1) You have to know roughly where the wire is. (2) In a case like mine, you clip the red lead to an exposed (non-powered) wire the hot or the neutral, and clip the black lead to a nail you stick in the ground. (3) Go a few feet away from the transmitter and SLOWLY swing (or traverse) the detector bob back and forth across the suspected path of the wire. When you're away from the wire, you get a loud tone; when you're directly over the wire, you get a slightly softer or lower-pitched tone, or you get silence (which is ideal). (4) mark your path as you go with some line-marking chalk powder; it's surprisingly easy to forget exactly where you detected the wire! (5) rinse and repeat on steps 3 and 4. You may have to fiddle a bit with the strength adjust wheel on the transmitter and the volume wheel on the receiver. Practice on a known section of buried cable if you can. The drop in the tone that signals that you're directly over the wire is VERY short. For my wire-- buried about 8 inches underground--there was silence (or lower pitch) for only about 3 inches across the path of the wire, so you MUST TAKE YOUR TIME. For line-marking chalk, IRWIN Tools STRAIT-LINE 64907 High-Visibility Marking Chalk, 8-ounce, Green, works well and is available at amazon. Build quality is acceptable on the unit, certainly for forty smackers. Bear in mind, my rating is based on a single use on buried wire, for which it was a 5-star.

Found and fixed a broken buried electrical line!

Based upon the other reviews, I was not sure if this would work to find a break in the outdoor electrical (Romex) line to my lamppost. I found the break within 10 minutes! Here is what I did... 1.) I found a video that was somewhat helpful (video id is: 8-gZBwDp6pc) 2:) Connected the red clip of the transmitter to the black (hot) wire at the lamppost and the black clip of the transmitter to the neutral wire at the lamppost. (I don't think it really matters which wire that you connect it to. I knew that I had a break in the line and I completely disconnected the wire to the lamppost. So it was basically a wire in the ground that was not connected to anything.) 3.) I turned the transmitter to cable scan. 4.) I turned the locator receiver to on and the volume up. 5.) I let the tracer hang a few inches off of the ground. I was able to follow the path by listening to the sound. (when there is no sound, you are too far from the wire) 6.) When I got to the break, there was a lot of static and then no sound (when I got too far from the break). 7.) I dug a hole where the static began and immediately found the break. I had an electrician quote me over $1000 to replace the line (he would not fix the break). I paid $40 for this device and $26 at a home improvement store for wires, waterproof connectors, tape, etc. My lamppost is working again!

Worked out great.

When I found out that the electronic underground fence was broken, I called a couple of the installers to get a price on repair. Because of all the snow that we accumulated and the zero degree temps, the price for repair was going to be about $160 to $170 if they can find the break within 30 minutes. I decided to purchase the Kolsol F02 Wire Locator. After receiving the unit, I followed the directions and found the break in an area where it's not traveled (way back in the woods). I dug up the two ends of the broken wire, repaired it and saved over $120, and I still have the unit. Worked out great.

Best purchase ever under $50

I purchased this to find an existing invisible fence at a home we recently purchased. We knew a fence was installed over 10 years ago but had no idea where the boundaries were. I did NOT have high expectations but figured it was less than $50 so it was worth a try. Having moved less than 2 months ago, I still haven't unpacked a lot of my garage boxes. I'm happy to say it took me longer to find the tools I needed than it did to locate the fence AND find the first break. I knew where the wires ran into the house to connect to the transmitter but had no idea where the fence went from there. I was able to locate the fence within 2 mins. As I started following the path, I located the first break within the next 2-3 minutes. I dug down, found both ends, made the repair and moved on. I was able to track the entire fence, around a 2.5 acre lot, dig up the broken wires, AND make the repairs in about 3.5 hours. This included the wooded area in the back that was overgrown and very thick in some areas. I am extremely impressed by this tool. It saved me hundreds of dollars (if I hired the fence company to do this) and/or an entire weekend or two burying new wire. Follow the instructions and this tool will do exactly what it is supposed to do. Update: I should add that I was able to accurately find the breaks within 2 inches. I used a straight claw hammer to dig and usually only had to dig a hole about 4-6 inches long and the width of the hammer claws. Move over about 4 inches and do the same thing to find the other end. Splice the two and move on to the next.

Pin point speaker wire break flawlessly

I had a direct burial speaker line that stopped working. I connected the power to one end and flagged the spot where I lost the signal. I did the same from the other end and came within a foot of my 1st flagged point. Made 1 hole in my yard and fixed the issues. This was a crazy helpful timesaver and yardsaver. PS thanks sprinker guy for keeping an eye out for the wiring I told you about 1000x

Very useful for locating sprinkler system wiring and valve boxes.

Used this product to locate sprinkler system wiring and valve boxes on my property which were buried under the grass. Almost rented one at my local tool rental store, but this item was priced lower than I could rent a similar tool for a day. There is a slight learning curve to using this tool. There are a lot of negative reviews about the tool not working for people, but most of those reviews are most certainly user error issues. I successfully used this to located 4 separate sprinkler boxes (over about 1000ft of cable) then subsequently used it to trace some buried galvanized piping. Tracing buried metal pipe is a bit more work, as it is essentially a buried metal conductor in contact with the soil. Depending on the soil dampness, and soil chemistry, the electrical bridging between the pipe and the soil can cause the signal to diminish over a relatively short distance of pipe length. When the signal starts to diminish to a point where it can no longer be reliably located, the pipe can be unburied, and the signal generator can then be attached at this newly uncovered location, the meter can then begin to read further down the line again. This meter is a great value for the price!

Excellent Device for Detecting a Break in Dogs Invisible Fence!

We had a split somewhere in our dogs invisible fence. We have a huge yard and there have been a few splices over the years. Finding the exact spot that has the issue was nearly impossible. This device worked perfectly! Within 30 minutes we were able to locate the issue and fix the fence. We taped the sensor to a broom handle to make it easier on our back while walking around the fence perimeter.

Helped me trace an underground drain pipe.

I had a problem with tree roots intruding into a 4" landscape drainage pipe. I checked with a local company to see what was involved in locating my pipe and they advised they would charge a minimum of $480 to come out. I then looked for tools to use in locating drain pipes and they were all priced even higher that my local pipe locating service. So I though why not buy this tool and use it with Romex wire that I could push down the drain pipe until it hit the roots. I took some 12/2WG wire and spread out the tip to catch any roots and the other end of the wire I hooked up the neutral to the neutral on the tool and grounded it by using a long screwdriver stuck into the ground. I then hooked the hot wire to the hot side of the tool turned on the wire locator and followed the wire by tone all the way to the end of the wire where it was hitting the roots. As it turned out, the drain pipe went in a completely different direction than I ever expected. Turned out that it was hooked up to another distant pipe through a t-connector. This tool saved me from having to dig up my lawn and creating a mess before ever finding the damaged portion of my drain pipe. Hours and money saved.

Great for Locating Buried Wire

Bought this to locate our "invisible fence" wire as the flags were long gone. It requires removing the wires from the box on the wall (a simple process) and connecting the alligator clips from the tone generator to the wires. From there, it is a very simple process to find the buried wire by walking with the finder device, which hangs down over the ground from the finder, and listening for tones with the included headphones. A screeching noise or tone is heard when near the wire, and directly over the wire all sound disappears. I was able to reflag my entire 5 acres in a short amount of time. I did have a general idea of where the wire was, but this made pinpointing the exact location a peace of cake!

Worked great finding and marking a buried power cable.

My challenge was a power cable (direct burial power) that went from my garage to the shed, about 100ft away. Getting a fence put in and needed to find that cable so they didn't accidentally cut it with a fence post. Turned off power, disconnected one end at a box (then attached RED clip to both Black and White, and Black wire to a long screwdriver stuck in the ground. The way this works is simple, when the probe is directly above the wire it goes quiet. swing left or right of the cable and you hear the tone. Go slow and you can easily dial right in on the cable location. Exactly what I needed it for, and I had the route marked with spray paint in just a few minutes. The plastic isn't great, so treat it with care, but it does come with a good carry case so thats nice. You can use it to find all sorts of other setups, see the manual, its just a few pages and easy to figure out. If you are looking for a buried cable, and can detach it from its source (you must disconnect it from POWER or you'll explode dummy) this is a great tool.

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