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@@FinnieFinnster13 Noyafa NF-820 Upgraded Underground Cable Wire Locator with Anti-Interference to Locate Pet Fence Wires, Metal Pipes amzn.eu/d/9x1QHkt

@@Crazy_Dave Kolsol Underground Cable Locator NF-820 Wire Locator Network Tester High & Low Voltage Cable Wire Locator with Anti-Interference to Locate Pet Fence Wires, Metal Pipes Electrical & Telephone Cable amzn.eu/d/6Gy7S1I

@@barryjohnson9626 Thanks but I've already found the break using a 12v battery and light probe. Thanks anyway.

Ahh cheers buddy. I'm glad it helped!!

You don't have to, but it's a bit like anything in that if you power it down, you give yourself the best chance of success as there are no other factors interfering. I've tested before whilst the station was on and it made no difference in my case. I'd say with the guide wire question: yes. The idea is you want to trace to find breaks so if you have fewer cables connected to your test loop, you're isolating everything and it's easier to find the break(s).

The wire detection device doesn't need a closed circuit to work so if you're looking for a break in a specific guide wire, my advice would be to disconnect all the cables (make sure you label them first!) then connect the red Croc clip to the guide wire you want to detect the break in and start tracing. Unless you've got a very large cable (hundreds of metres) then you should be able to detect where the guide cable break is. To do it from the other end, you'd need to know where the guide connected into the boundary wire and then start from that end instead. If you've got multiple properties, I'd recommend considering the 550X EPOS. I have one and will maybe do a video on it if you're interested in what that's like?

Glad it helped mate 👍🏻

If it has a radio boundary wire, then yes mate it should do.

You can mow without a boundary wire?

@@jday1986 yes... Unlock press menu hold 7 and 9 go to loop signal select no and then start it. If you don't have anything to stop it will cut everything but you have to do it manually everytime. I'm just fed up of the wire breaking somewhere so I do this instead

Thank you so much for that tip!! Now I just have to keep it from mowing over a cliff into the river😅

@@jday1986 I don't have to worry about a cliff, but plants and everything else I just place bins and things in strategic places.

Did you stick it in the ground to 'ground' it? Is that a necessity to make it work?

Thanks David 🙂

I did, but one was broken quite early on. The 305 has a much smaller area so it probably doesn't need more than one guide. The max for the 305 is 600m2, whereas the 450X has a 5000m2 +/- 20%. It's therefore unlikely you'd need more than one guide but nothing to worry about 👍🏻

Yeah that's right. It was a long time ago since I did this but the idea is that the bearing sits against the hub from memory. The centre of the hub then rolls on the bearing, but I'm pretty sure there's another bearing on the other side of the drum as well. As I say, it feels like an age since I made this video!

It's a good question... I think that sometimes ground shift might create a small split in the insulation and that has a knock on effect to moisture getting to the cable, causing corrosion, etc. Handily, since having this now, I'm breaking the cable into multiple sections to enable an easier length for troubleshooting but this definitely is better than the radio method which, frankly, is a weak hack at best. Good luck!

@@barryjohnson9626 thanks I’ll need it… I keep my thinking I might change the wire for copper wire a section at a time… thanks again

@@barryjohnson9626 well what a waste of money that was. Bleeped all the way round both ways and I still have a blue light! Did I mention I hate this job. Back to my method this Saturday then…..

​@chrisjones6542 I did the test as well and it beeped the entire time, yet I still have the blue blinking light. I'm curious: 1. Should the power to the charging station be disconnected first? 2. Should all the cables be disconnected e.g. Guide and Boundary? 3. Does the black gator clip need to be 'grounded' to insure better testing outcome?

That is very dangerous as you don't know why your cable is broken! Please do not follow this advice if you have happened across this video as you may end up causing damage or injury to someone. Stick with tools designed for the job.

Dangerous if you don't know what you are doing, obviously. But if you do, I see no harm. I always take proper precautions. Inspect the entire boundary wire first, etc.

Surely that would just trip the RCD?

@@steverichardson6405 you only connect the 'live' wire, not both :) but you MUST understand what you are doing...

@@sorinpopa but the rcd is designed to activate when more than 30mA current imbalance is detected between phase and neutral or in other words an earth fault occurs. So if you connect 'live' to the perimeter wire which has a break then current will flow to ground and trip the rcd immediately (assuming that the break is buried) and disconnect the supply

This is a link to the exact one I bought from my order history: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WT9VBND/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_YGXPF659K3Q4TK5K2KN8?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Jog on mate. I'd found the break using the method in the video and exposed the wire to show this. It's helped loads of people already and I've got a boundary cable which is hundreds of metres long. This method works. If it doesn't for you, the problem is in the mirror.

@@barryjohnson9626 : Sorry I have not see you are using a NF 820 which is correct for underground cable. I use a NF 826.

@@barryjohnson9626 no need to be ignorant is there

No, just the red/positive one. I think the negative is for power cable tracing

I had three. One was around 75m away, one was about 150m away, and the other was around 250m away (all approximate perimeter wires distances, not 'as the crow flies'). The further away you get, the harder it is to find the guideline signal and I ended up literally brushing the antenna against the ground to find the signal. My garden is approx 8000m2 though quite a bit bigger than the 450X is rated for, but it manages fine.

Barry Johnson Thanks for the reply. I tried using an AM radio to find a wire break for our 450X base but it was difficult to pinpoint the cut. I’ll try this device.

@@skyserf I had the same problem. I think if you live in a Faraday cage or somewhere no with fewer AM interference, maybe it works better but I really struggled to differentiate the interference from the boundary wire signal vs the ambient radio noise. Good luck!

It is the NF-820 John. I don't know why they say it won't find wires underground since the principle is only around pushing an RF signal down the wire and then the receiver picking it up. Ours is between 1-3 inches buried, but when the strength is turned up high, it will pick up the signal from the wire even when I'm metres away from it. Admittedly struggles with distances over 300m of typical boundary wire, but does still work. We got ours from Amazon and it's been fine.

@@barryjohnson9626 I read several reviews on it and it seems like unless the wire has a clean break it won't work. With my boundary wire, I often find that the wire has gotten a nick or something and then it corrodes and stops working. It has enough continuity to tone all the way through, but not enough for the Automower to see the signal. :(

No worries - I hope it helped! :)