Any old plumbers or engineers out there that could help, info

John White · Jan 29, 2018

I bought a old Goldak PB44 ferret sewer pipe locator. I need some help. Called the co. they said they hadn't made it for years. The locator works off 119khz. It uses a flushable sonde down the toilet or vent pipe. I am trying to find who makes the little sonde flushables. Most of the newer locators work on 512 hz. A co called Ptootek has them for around $30. But I cannot find any that work on 119khz. When I called the co. they said they had one for $250 that went on the end of a camera but that is not what I am looking for. I got one with the locator when I bought it. It is about the size of a grape. Tie a string on it and flush it and works great. But I would like to locate a spare. I cant find any thing on a 119khz. Read some where that it was not hard to make one but cannot find that info any more. Any one that could point me in the right direction appreciated. I could stand to loose $30 but not $250 if it gets hung up.

mbohuntr · Jan 29, 2018

John White said:
I bought a old Goldak PB44 ferret sewer pipe locator. I need some help. Called the co. they said they hadn't made it for years. The locator works off 119khz. It uses a flushable sonde down the toilet or vent pipe. I am trying to find who makes the little sonde flushables. Most of the newer locators work on 512 hz. A co called Ptootek has them for around $30. But I cannot find any that work on 119khz. When I called the co. they said they had one for $250 that went on the end of a camera but that is not what I am looking for. I got one with the locator when I bought it. It is about the size of a grape. Tie a string on it and flush it and works great. But I would like to locate a spare. I cant find any thing on a 119khz. Read some where that it was not hard to make one but cannot find that info any more. Any one that could point me in the right direction appreciated. I could stand to loose $30 but not $250 if it gets hung up.

SONDE TRANSMITTING EQUIPMENT

these are 116Khz, if they aren't an exact match, you might be able to adjust the receiver if it has a pot, or variable inductor.

RNeumann · Jan 29, 2018

We wouldn’t flush these on a string. We would add them to the end of our sewer snake with no cutter- obviously not through the toilet. The attachment consisted of about 1/2 roll of electrical tape.
It would be hard to lose- you have the locator!
Where to find a spare- if it’s that important set up an auto search on eBay. You will get an email and or text when one shows up for sale.

John White · Jan 30, 2018

Yes. If there is a cleanout, I would tape it on to my sewer snake. Many older homes do not have a clean out. I have seen some plumbers take the toilet up but I am not going to do that either. Some bring a ladder along and crawl up on the roof and run it down through the vent stack. Over the years I have called a plumbing friend to locate them. He usually charges them $100. People don't like paying that fee. (they don't take into consideration how much he has invested, a trip out and back to his shop. ) Most of these locators run around $400 to $500 used. And work on 512 kHz. So I just couldn't justify the cost for a limited use. I ran on to a Goldak PB 44 with every thing for $125. Even has the transmitter. (excellent condition, with case) It works great. I would just like to find a spare sonde. Most of then listed are the larger ones made to be screwed on a cable sewer snake. I have did a little research since first post and I think the FCC wont allow them of operate on the 119khz frequency any more. I just thought some of you might know of a old plumber has one laying around.