I got a call last Wednesday from a repeat customer asking if I could help him find a sprinkler solenoid valve in his yard. We agreed that I’d meet him today, Thursday, Oct 29th. When I arrived, Jim was waiting for me in the yard. He showed me the suspected area where the solenoid was buried. He told me that he had had some landscaping done and the protective boxes had been covered up with dirt and rocks. When I turned on my Equinox 800, I was getting all kinds of EMI (electromagnetic interference), so I turned down the sensitivity. Luckily, Jim had another solenoid that he had already found that I used to test. I knew I was looking for negative numbers and probably in the -4 to -5 range on the VDI. The valves are mainly plastic with very little metal (basically screws, a spring, and some copper wire) in them. When I ran the coil over the exposed solenoid, I wasn’t getting much of a signal. I cranked the sensitivity back up to 25 (max) and was able to get enough of a signal I could distinguish the signal from the interference. After checking a different signal that turned out to be nothing, I swung over an area more into the bushes. I got the low grunt sound and the numbers I was looking for. Jim started digging and after a few inches of dirt and rocks, he spotted the cover protecting the solenoid. We found exactly what he was looking for. Jim for holding on to my number and giving me a call. So glad I could help.
Jim -Thanks, for holding on to my number and giving me a call!
Jim
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