The electric utility used two pieces of 1/8" copper ground wire that they use to ground things at the top of a power pole. They run it from the ground points at the top of the pole, down the pole attached with staples, and in a J shape around the bottom end of the pole just before they stick the pole into the hole. The foreman just chopped off two pieces from the reel on the truck about 18" long and bent them into a "L" shape. He held them in front of him loosely in his hands with the ends pointing forward and walked around in a pattern. When the wires swung and pointed left and right he made a mark in the dirt with his boot heel. After a few minutes he had a line of marks where the wires went. In my case there was a power line, a telephone line and a sewer line to a septic tank all buried together about a foot or so deep. The power line and the telephone line were both disconnected at both ends. They had originally gone from the telephone and power boxes to my trailer, but when I moved my trailer closer to my boat under construction I just chopped off the wires at ground level. The sewer line was still active but not being used at the time of the dowsing. I checked later: the sewer line was in a straight line from the trailer to the septic tank so I could confirm the electric foreman accuracy after they left. He was right on.
The water company guy used two store-bought gizmos. They were like a portable radio telescoping antenna attached at right angles to a plastic hand grip and allowed to rotate around in circles. The boss walked down the street with the two rods pointing ahead and when they turned to point left and right his assistant spray-painted an arrow on the street to indicate the branches from the water main to the individual houses. When I asked he made up some BS about water flowing in the pipes. Seems they don't know how they work, just that it does work. Personally, I belive the entire process is in the human mind and has little to do with the devices. Since Arild found that his talent works on buried wires, but not in boats, perhaps the object being dowsed must be underfoot. I suspect all physic phenomena has to do with electromagnetic energy which might have something to do with the results he had with various footgear. Norm S/V Bandersnatch Lying Julington Creek 30 07.695N 081 38.484W > [Original Message] > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 3/11/2009 12:23:44 PM > Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Re-wiring trace > > > About borrowing a wire finder from an electric utility. > > > > Many years ago I watched a utility crew boss find buried wires using > > dowsing rods made from two pieces of ground wire! No electronics needed. > > > > I also watched the water company do the same for the water feed lines from > > the main in the street to the individual houses. > > > Norm > > S/V Bandersnatch > > > REPLY > Norm it doesn't seem to workfor wires in conduit in boats. I tried. I > worked as a buried cable locator for both a cable TV company and later on > for a power utility company. > An oldtimer taught me how to dowse for wires, water lines, and gas pipes. > It does work! Despite having some $15,000 worth of test equipment and > fault finding gear there were many times I was stuck and had to resort to > my dowsing rods. > When I started back into working on boats I tried dowsing for wires hidden > behind panels. It didn't work. Ended up buying a toner like the > telephone guys use. > > I suspect it has something to do with the person not being well grounded. > On occasion I had difficulty getting good results with dowsing and it was > always when I had brand new non conducting running shoes on. Leather > usually picks up enough moisture. > Arild > _______________________________________________ > Liveaboard mailing list > [email protected] > To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard > To subscribe send an email to [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ > > To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
