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"X" Marks the Spot

Drill-spotting tool helps electricians take the guesswork out of drilling

Electricians can easily rupture water pipes, destroy conduit, or damage cabling when drilling blindly through a wall or ceiling.

Now, rather than wasting valuable time and materials to make unnecessary repairs, an electrician can use First Edition Products' DrillSpotter to locate the exact drill exit point, measure the wall thickness, and identify the presence of conduit and pipes with a built-in metal detector.

A record number of manufacturers submitted entries for the 2003 EC&M Product of the Year competition. After a panel of judges narrowed the field down to 20 finalists, EC&M readers named the DrillSpotter the 2003 winner because of its practical applications for the electrical industry.

“I believe this will save countless hours,” says EC&M reader Michael Urbine, senior electrical instructor at Penta Career Center, Perrysburg, Ohio. “The DrillSpotter has many applications for one of the most time consuming and problematic jobs in our industry.”

A team of German engineers designed and manufactured the product in the late '90s, and First Edition Products introduced it to the U.S. market in 2000. Contractors in both Europe and the United States are now using the tool to minimize drilling errors and improve efficiency on jobsites.

Electricians can quickly identify hidden metal in walls and ceilings by placing the tool's transmitter directly over the area to be drilled. A continuous tone will indicate the presence of iron beams, metal cables, or pipes.

“If a contractor needs to drill a hole, and it needs to come out in one exact spot on the opposite side of the wall or flooring, this allows them to avoid hitting any type of electrical conduit or rebar,” says Liza Feicht of First Edition Products.

By using the DrillSpotter, electricians can save time and money and ensure accuracy in drilling applications, she says.

“Workers used to have to go back and forth between different sides of the walls or ceilings to take measurements,” she says. “Now they can work around cabling as opposed to drilling blindly through walls.”

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