TOOL REVIEW – AFFORDABLE UNDERGROUND WIRE FINDER

The TEMPO MODEL 508 S WIRE FINDER

Can you use an affordable wire finder? One that locates and tracks buried wires, tracks behind walls, located circuit breakers, hidden receptacles, etc., etc.?

           Try the TEMPO MODEL 508 S WIRE FINDER

We needed an underground wire finder on this pole light replacement job. The boss looked at the usual offerings and their prices – $700, $900, and up and fretted about another expensive tool sitting on the shelf. At those prices, it’s not a tool purchase, it’s an investment decision.

I was lamenting my sad plight at Walter’s Electric over coffee and popcorn. The counterman suggested the Tempo. At $263 it was do-able. Bought it.

          Hey, it works. Color me a Happy Camper. Works rather well.

It has the soap on a rope format – the antenna is on a long cord. Walk along, swinging it to and fro. Noise, null, noise. The buried wire is at the null. Thus far it has proved quite accurate. Every null we dug had a conduit down there. When tracing an empty metal conduit, the strong signal turned to mush. We dug there. Pipe to PVC. Cut it open and stuffed a fish tape down the plastic section. Clipped to that. Found the run easily.

For those with high frequency hearing loss – you can hear this thing. Problems? Crank up the gain on the transmitter and/or receiver. No flashing lights, just sound.