That might be the ticket! Lucky he has PVC and not metal conduit!DUDE! Here it is.Buy it here.
Cable Ferret 720p WiFi Glow-Rod Inspection Camera
The New Zealand based manufacturer of the Cable Ferret is founded by someone that spent many years in the Datacom industry. Like most of our other best selling products, the Cable Ferret was developed by someone that saw an opportunity to improve efficiencies on the job. We promise you will love...www.techtoolsupply.com
It says wireless up to 40'. You would have to follow the cable ferret while it is pulled through the conduit. This also assumes its broadcast can get through the earth, concrete, asphalt.
I kind of figured one would have to follow the camera with the phone for the very reason you mentioned. WiFi rated for 40' should be able to get through dirt and concrete cover at a few feet. For $175 I sure would try it.
When I click on the link it comes up $129.99 .
What kind tracer are you using? Something that is in a passive 60 Hz mode will have difficulty, something that uses higher frequency should not have much difficulty as long as what you are tracing is electrically isolated from other items in the vicinity. If you fish tape were contacting a grounded enclosure then you would be placing the signal on the grounded conductors in adjacent raceways.
Yeah, insulated wire should give a stronger signal too. Water in the pipe will bleed the signal out. That’s what I like about my Amprobe tracer, it does not bleed onto other lines. It supposedly will trace up to 8’ deep, but about three foot is the most I’ve been able to get.
If you sign up for "wholesale pricing" like I just did, it's $117.60.
And if you have an Amprobe, Extech like the one below, or a similar one that can do a "loop mode" test then I think you have a better chance of detecting the signal in this situation. In a loop mode test the transmitter is sending a current through the wire in a closed circuit to generate a magnetic field, instead of applying a voltage to an open-ended wire to generate an electric field. Water and damp dirt will attenuate an electric field quickly but less so with a magnetic field. Also, as hillbilly1 indicated, a bare conductor surrounded by water will load down the transmitter and hence lower the applied signal voltage especially with the open-ended wire approach. The loop mode should be less effected from using a bare wire (because it operates with a lower impedance level) but usingt an insulated wire would still be better.
