Mastech MS6818 Portable Instruments Wire Cable Tracker Metal Pipe Locator Detector Tester Meter AC/DC 12~400V

Usually disappointed with the tracers that I've used in the past. This meter was a pleasant surprise. I gave this item a five star rating because it worked as described. I used it to trace an un-energized 12 gauge wire approximately 70 feet from the start at the main panel to the end which was a receptacle at the other end of my home. I was able to follow the proper cable by pinpointing the cable at various points along its path using the manual power receiving settings and medium power transmit at the panel. I have not used the meter enough at this point in time to properly evaluate all its functions but I also have no reason to think that it won't perform as described if used properly. Very easy to use and very accurate if the settings are manipulated correctly. Good manual. Also, as this meter is new to me I haven't put it through the rough conditions that I sometimes encounter on a job site. Seems to be well built, but I won't know how long it will last until I've put it through a few tough jobs.

Great product

We had two circuits that stopped working due to shorts after we had carpentry work done in our house. We did not want to open up walls to try to figure out where exactly the short occurred. We bought this and in less than 20 minutes found the exact screw that pierced the wire. Note that this was done wirelessly, the screw was behind sheetrock, device pointed out the location within 2inches, we used a magnet to locate screw. It was incredible and saved us many hours and much work replacing all the wiring. In fact, we had two such issues, one was a wire running up 3 stories, found this one too. It was actually due to staple that the carpenter put which pierced right through the wire. Again, device pinpointed the area, we opened up the wall and saw the staple right in front of us. Thank you Mastech!

Sorry...I was really hoping this would work out. I even read the reviews and watched the video of the guy using it. Pretty neat! I am doing a house renovation right now and bought this to trace out a couple mystery romex lines. First, I got the pieces out and installed some batteries of various brands that I had into both pieces. Excitedly, I tried out the transmitter and receiver, and for some reason, once the romex went behind drywall, the receiver stopped picking it up. I noticed the battery indicator was flashing, so I changed the batteries out - the others tested just fine, but I replaced them with ones of the same brand. Fortunately, that worked (no clue why, as the others were just fine). I then tried it out again. Sure enough, it traced my mystery romex up the wall and into the attic. I chased it along and sure enough, it went into a bundle where I couldn't figure out which piece of romex it was (there's quite a bit of incident signal that goes into other lines, so you really have to be careful to ensure you find the right line). Since I had located the other end of the line, I needed to test the line with the continuity tester to identify which piece of romex it was. I disconnected the tracker and used the continuity tester. Following that, I then wanted to try out the tracker again, as I had some unanswered questions. I hooked it back up again and...it didn't work. I could get signal on the receiver down by the lead clips, but where the romex went behind drywall, all signal totally dropped off. I tried the batteries (though no indication was apparent on either the transmitter or receiver) and still...nothing. I tried everything else I could think of...changing the leads around, powering them on and off, changing sensitivity...and still, nothing. Sadly, this has been a complete waste of money for me. Don't buy it!

Not much out there on how to use it. Made a short Vid showing wire on top the ground. Tried to locate an underground 12/2 wire out from my front yard, 200ft. Low signal strength, for buried wire. Had to sit ojn the gropudn, and lay the receiver, unmoving to get it to work....75ft out. I didn't pay enough attention when I ordered, and ended up with a vendor in CHINA. The package was all torn up, but the meter appeared to work anyway. The instructions were in Chinese, a lot of good that did me. Downloaded the english ones, but still not very helpful. Tried looking for videos but not much success. I'm pretty handy, and will figure it out, but much better instructions could save me time and energy. I've got underground sprinkler wires and electric wires I need to locate, shorts. Guess will have to see if it actually works? SO: I'm visually impaired, and would wish the Amazon put some kind of 'flag" or notice on overseas vendors, so we could avoid them we choose. I've had this problem before..3 weeks...damaged, might work, might not...

Needed to find old buried PVC drain. Bought this device after digging unsuccessfully in various locations where I thought pipe was located. Ran steel drain snake up plastic pipe from outlet, hooked up MS6818 red wire to snake and black wire to well-grounded steel groundspike provided. First found pipe about 25 feet from outlet that was about 18" down. Used auto mode on receiver to find general area. Then, as shown in video, switched to manual level to find smallest circle that would register a signal which enabled me to pinpoint the line of the pipe. Bingo! Reinserted snake here and continued tracing up pipe using auto level, and in area where ping was strongest about 30 feet farther up I was able to locate path of same pipe that was now 3 feet deep. Retested after digging down a few feet at this location and was able to pinpoint exact line of pipe. I was so amazed I took a picture to show how far down it was and how small a hole I needed to dig to uncover it. Good connection to solid steel snake and VERY good ground in damp clay probably contributed to strength of signal.

Wanted to trace underground PVC conduits with trace wire. Only place I could get a reading was above ground. I lost signal as soon as they went underground. Kept them too long and tried to use them too long to return. I guess I need to shell out +$1000 to get a good one.

When our neighborhood water lines were installed 40 years ago, they used PVC with no tracer wire. Finding 4-6 inch mains is easy, but the 3/4 inch homeowner taps were impossible to find without potentially trenching all the way from the meter pit to the main, including across our roads. I was able to feed a fish tape through from the meter out to the main, hook this sensor on, and find the tip within a 2 foot radius, a smaller footprint than any hole we dig can be. The location given from the sensor matched the distance of the fish tape almost exactly. I was even able to trace the line walking normally, so a penetration of 5ft of air + 6ft of dirt. We were able to zero in by putting the transmitter on auto power level 2, and the receiver on manual mode until we would just barely get a signal. Then we set the receiver on the ground, let it settle, then moved the receiver and compared readings. We know this line crossed buried electric and phone, and signal never jumped to those. Overall *super* impressed with this tool, hope i can find reasons to use the other features. Now we can do horizontal line splitting for repairs, saving us a ton of $ and time, and not having to trench across the road.

J’ai trouvé rapidement la coupure sur les 900 mètre de fil périphérique et guide de mon robot tondeuse Par contre la notice est très succincte. Il y a au moins un tuto sur YouTube qui permet de lever les doutes sur l’utilisation du testeur

No problem locating a 250' underground gas line with this unit, and I'm sure it would work fine on a longer line as I was only using transmitter level 2. Very impressed for the $'s spent.

Mastech MS 6818 funktioniert und macht was es soll. Kompakt und hochwertiger Eindruck. Automover Kabelbruch vom Bedrenzungskabel gefunden. Mastech MS 6818 erfordert jedoch etwas Übung. Ich empfehle daher sich vorher auf YouTube Videos zur Suche von Automover kabelbrüche mit Mastech MS 6818 anzuschauen. Wichtig ! Bei der Suche gerät auf manuell stellen und mit der Einstellung der Empfindlichkeit gefühlvoll umgehen. Ansonsten kann ich das MS 6818 nur empfehlen.

Conforme à la description

This product is as far as I can tell identical to Martindale CD1000. It has the same plastics, the same display, the same accessories and the same manual. There are not many times it has come into its own, and it can be tricky to set up and use. (The manual is poor). When it's an appropriate tool, it's excellent. My last use was to locate to the nearest centimetre, a transformer concealed above a featureless plasterboard ceiling. It meant that when I drilled a 80mm holesaw through to get to it, I didn't need to repeat it or to randomly pockmark the ceiling with random openings. I literally hit the thing square centre-on. Problems can come with too much sensitivity (meaning the whole room can set it off). The connection method for the transmitter also needs experimentation. Live-cpc can "activate" a whole house whereas live-N can provide the detail needed. The manual is rubbish and points none of this out, so some experimentation will be necessary to avoid concluding the instrument is useless- it's actually excellent in the right conditions.