Bosch Professional 12V System Wall Scanner D-tect 200 C (12V battery, detection of (non-) live cables, metal, plastic pipes, wooden studs and cavities, USB-C™ Cable, L-BOXX)

Works like a dream once you understand how to interpret the displays - no more redrilling holes or hitting pipes etc. and the battery / non rechargable version as well as being FAR CHEAPER actually lasts quite well on alcaline batteries.

I made something of a mistake in ordering this detector. We have a basic wall detector that we bought about 8 years ago for something like £20, and it’s not very good – extremely inaccurate, especially on solid walls – detecting cables in places we absolutely know that there is nothing there, and missing them where we know them to be. From the description of this Bosch Professional detector I was hoping that this would be more sensitive and more accurate.I hadn’t realised quite how expensive and professionally targeted a bit of kit this was until after I had ordered it (pricing isn't shown in Vine). Around £600 is out of range for a bit of basic home DIY, and we would never have looked at spending that much on a device of this type.But on this basis, I had very high hopes for this device.It comes with a sturdy storage bag with belt clip, hand strap, shoulder strap, and space to store accessories; a set of AA batteries; a preinstalled cell battery; a USB-C connector cable; and a couple of multi-lingual instruction manuals.The device is easy to set up. It has a colour display screen and button selectors. You can set up language, date/time, wall type, whether you want to simply detect the depth at which bodies are located in a wall or are planning to drill to a particular level – and then you’re ready to go.I have to say, I am very disappointed in this.I was surprised by the build quality, which is very plasticky and less rugged than I would have anticipated a £600 device to be. It’s light and portable, though. The handle is easy to grip and 4 wheels on the underside allow this to glide easily over the surface of the wall being checked. I don’t think much of the fact that this requires AA batteries rather than using a Li-ion rechargeable power source – at this price point, it seems baffling.The biggest problem with this, though, is that it’s hopelessly inaccurate.I’ve tested it in a few rooms in our house over both solid walls and a couple of recent addition stud and plasterwork ones. It doesn’t consistently recognise electrical wiring.I ran this first over a narrow section of brick wall above a light switch. It identified that something was there and gave a fairly consistent depth over multiple passes, but over its length identified this ‘something’ as metal, non-metal, and (only briefly) as live electrical cable. I was literally running this along the path of an electrical cable that runs from the ceiling down to the switch.I tried again in our garage conversion – completed just before the first lockdown. I know exactly where the electrical wiring is in this room, and the walls are finished with stud and plaster rather than internally bricked. Again, results were not as you would hope.On one wall, this refused to work at all – an error message appeared indicating that measurement was not possible because of an “interferer nearby”. On another, I ran this several times over the top of first a light switch and then a plug socket (I know the power cabling for these runs straight down, from the ceiling). Again, successful identification of live electrical cabling was low.Then I tried running this over one of the walls in our shower room – a wall where the only internal objects are wooden studs. On the first pass, this missed some of the studs but correctly identified one. On the second pass, it continued to miss studs, changed its mind about the size of those it did see, and reanalysed its initial identification of non-metal as live electrical cabling. There is nothing electric in that wall. No cabling. No lights. No switches.Although this seemed like it should be a really useful device, in practice it just seems to offer an expensive and more extensive catalogue of ways to be wrong than our old, basic device. Seeing how poorly this performed on walls where I know what features are there is no way I could rely on it to provide safe, accurate feedback on ones where I don't.

First impressions were good, in the box is the scanner, a case, batteries and instructions. Setting it up couldn’t of been simpler, you just install the 4x AA batteries supplied, switch on the unit, program in the time and date and you’re good to go.Using the scanner is just as easy, you just follow the menu prompts; firstly select the measuring mode, either object or leakage detection or distance measuring, then choose the wall type and view. Here there are decent amount of options to cover most situations, ie scanning plaster board, brick or concrete and perhaps you are looking for water, live wires, pipes etc. To scan you just roll the unit gently at a slowish pace from side to side, it has 4 rubber wheels on the back and they will go over pretty much any surface. It then immediately receives a reading on the screen and it also beeps to signal objects.Plus points for me are that it’s very light and the handle fits nicely into my hand with a comfortable grip. The screen is well lit and has a decent contrast so viewing is very good. I’ve had great results with this unit, it’s consistent and has spotted pipes, electrical cables and nails that were buried.The only constructive criticism I can give is for the price (currently over £600) I would have thought it would feel better quality. The plastic shell doesn’t feel particularly robust and I do worry if dropped it might smash quiet easily. Also although the visuals on the screen are very clear they do seem a bit basic and out dated.Saying that, overall I do really like and trust it and I already get a lot of use out of it.

Expensive, but at least it's a reputable make and I was prepared to pay for accuracy and quality.Easy to operate, feels good to handle over large areas.I like the depth reading, spot reading and the large colour screen.I've only used on smooth surfaces, so can't comment of the accuracy on brick or uneven surfaces. Think slow, steady and patience are the operating buzz words for accuracy.

I really wanted to like this product but I had to return it after multiple attempts in various locations and settings. I thought it would be a great high quality / performing device to have at home for long term use. However, for the price, I found that this wall scanner left me with a lot of doubt which would result in more guess work than I was unprepared to bet my safety on. Most of the time it found something, but the 'somethings' width, depth or material moved around depending on how many times you went back and forth over it.You could say that this device is better than a cheaper product that would give you a single yes/no indication whether it was accurate or not, (which would be worse in my opinion). The technology behind this device found more 'results' which in turn created more questions. I read somewhere that it is best to use this alongside a basic wall scanner to confirm and triangulate the results but that would defeat the overall point I think.There were times that it showed green/safe areas but there were few. Maybe I choose bad spots.With some of the basic scanners an apparent technique is to place your free hand on the wall to discharge any static from it... don't do it with this, because everything becomes a 'live wire' on the screen.Lastly, I tested a USB cable on a flat table with a thick cardboard surface on top of it. I was pleased to see that the device worked perfectly this way and accurately found the cable location, width and depth with no other interference, its just unfortunate that it wasn't so confident on the wall.