Hi Dana We have a D-tect as well. Weve had mostly good results with all kinds of flat roofs as well as comp shingle jobs. As Mark mentions below, foil lined insulation under the roofing material completely blocks the D-tect's ability to find rafters. I havent used it on a metal roof but I suspect that it might not work very well for a similar reason.
Technique plays a really important role in successfully using the tool. It has four wheels which need to roll smoothly in order to locate the rafters. Weve been using a thin flexible plastic cutting board under the D-tect to keep it rolling smoothly this works well. Rolling the device swiftly and smoothly back and forth also tends to yield positive results. It is also often necessary to use it over several different areas of the roof before finding the real rafters. We typically use a building crayon and a tape measure to mark and measure rafters as we go. The tape measure can help rule out false readings since the D-tect will often spot objects other than rafters. All in all it is a great tool and saves a lot of time and headache on difficult jobs but it doesn't work all the time. I'd recommend it for any company installing solar on roofs on a regular basis. Don't expect it to replace a good hammer (tap tap tap...), measuring tape, and patience, however. -August August Goers Luminalt Energy Corporation O: 415.564.7652 M: 415.559.1525 F: 650.244.9167 www.luminalt.com [email protected] ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Frye Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 4:56 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] BOSCH Dana, I own the Bosch D-tect 100. I bought it from Lawson HIS LTD in England. I bought it for a job with a flat built up roof, no access to the attic to spot the rafters. It didn't work quite as well as I hoped because it detected the various nails used to hold down the varoius built up layers. However, I was able to locate the rafters using many passes and building up a sort of a SETI project picture of the locations. I have used it on other jobs as well. I really loved it on an exposed sheeting job for a new roof. The nailing was way off and it was very accurate and fast finding the actual centerline. As far as metal roof, I would say no. I was recently stimeded on a simple comp shingle job because the sheeting had the foil radiant barrier on the back side, total blank. It doesn't do everything, but when it's good, it's good. When it's bad it's sad because you know how much time it can save when it works. Mark Frye Berkeley Solar Electric Systems 303 Redbud Way Nevada City, CA 95959 (530) 401-8024 www.berkeleysolar.com ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dana Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 4:41 PM To: 'RE-wrenches' Subject: [RE-wrenches] BOSCH Hello All, I have heard of a BOSCH rafter/stud finder [Euro product] in the $1,000+ range that can see through a metal roof and find the rafters and it also allegedly works on multiple layers of built up roofing, spray foam roofs etc. Has anyone seen one, used one, or owns one? Does it really do all the above? Does anyone have a source for this wonderful tool? Thanks - Dana Orzel Great Solar Works, Inc www.solarwork.com E - [email protected] V - 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 I'd put my money on solar energy I hope we don't have to wait 'til oil and coal run out before we tackle that. Thomas Edison, in conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, March 1931 _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
