Discuss Best method to find joists ? in the Electrical Wiring, Theories and Regulations area at ElectriciansForums.net

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I got a thermal imaging camera a while back for another reason, and it has the side benefit of finding the joists in a ceiling when you're fitting recessed lighting fixtures. It's the closest thing to having X-ray vision. Shows each and every joist very clearly, and also shows any additional blocking that you might not have expected if you only found the joists.

Here's the one I have:
FLIR ThermaCAM B-CAM Infrared Thermal Imaging Camera - Mfg# 27801-0202

Best method to find joists ? {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net


Best method to find joists ? {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net
 
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blimey! thats more than i thought it would be! suppose you'd have a job pricing one of these in with 10 downlighters! looks great tho, its like something off that arnie film "eraser"
 
blimey! thats more than i thought it would be! suppose you'd have a job pricing one of these in with 10 downlighters!
Yes, it would be pretty difficult to hide that in the price of a job like that, unless your customer was rich and suffered from Alzheimer's.
 
thats ace does it see through clothes?

seriously tho i have done surveys with one of these in industrial applications looking for hot spots never thought of looking for joists with one though

and the de walt laser line with auto levelling is the one i used couldnt fault it

oh and not 10000 more like 2500 you went the wrong way :D
 
oh and not 10000 more like 2500 you went the wrong way :D
Oh, sorry. Yeah, that makes a big difference.

After that whole Boston Tea Party thing, when we ran you all out, you not only forgot to leave behind your dictionary, but a dollars to pounds calculator would have been nice. ;)
 
great piece of equipment, you got any other gadgets to show us?
Beats me. I'm not sure what I might use that you'd find interesting that you don't already use. I've got so many gadgets for stuff, but many of them are peculiar to US wiring methods.

i thought the usa was trying to turn the dollar into The global currency??
We're saving that for after we take over the world. :D
 
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>>thats ace does it see through clothes? <<
I hope not, my vault stick ain't what it once was, well and truley battered, needs attention.. Any apprentice females out there know how to repair it? In fact it ought to be an exam question -:)
 
Sorry if I'm missing something here, but after you have found the joists, how are you going to get a cable through them if the punter doesn't want you to lift the laminate, and doesn't want the ceiling peppered with holes? Are you planning to put all the downlighters within the same joist and point them in random directions, or is the ceiling suspended with some space above the joists to run cables?

My tip for looking in tight spaces is a bit of broken mirror tile and a head torch. If you shine the torch on the mirror and angle just right you can see what you need to. Not sure the "Elf N Safety" ----'s would necessarily approve of carrying broken mirrors in the toolbox though. I like the thermal imaging camera and endoscope ideas though :)
 
Are you planning to put all the downlighters within the same joist and point them in random directions, or is the ceiling suspended with some space above the joists to run cables?
I guess you can drill holes in the UK, same as we can in the US? :p

I use these long, flexi bits if I need to drill through several joists, from one down lighter location to another. They're between 3 and 6 feet long, and they bend a bit so that you can get them in the ceiling cavity. Maybe you all have those available to you already?

Best method to find joists ? {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net
 
with reference to that looooong drill bit! im not sure that would work over here, for one i dont know if you could get that through a 65mm downlight hole without destroying the cieling around the hole, 2ndly, dont know what the regs are like over there but we've gotta drill a certain depth in the actual joist, must be a bit of guess work involved in using one of these and also not knowing what your about to drill through!! (pipes, soil pipes, cables) it'd be one of them hope theres nothing there moments where you close your eyes and pray!
 
with reference to that looooong drill bit! im not sure that would work over here, for one i dont know if you could get that through a 65mm downlight hole without destroying the cieling around the hole,
Probably not. My typical recessed lighting cans take either a 4-3/8" (110mm) hole or a 6-5/8" (168mm) hole. They work well for that. There is a placement tool that holds the bit "bent" so that you can effectively drill "dead centered" in the timber if you're skilled. No way to prove it to an inspector, obviously. Here's another nifty gadget you might like, along the lines of the broken mirror and head torch. It's called a "wall eye periscope". Works good in ceilings too. It's basically just a mirror with a little LED lamp built in.

Best method to find joists ? {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net


Best method to find joists ? {filename} | ElectriciansForums.net
 
They say the simplest ideas are the best.

That wall eye periscope is a superb idea, the number of times I've tried to make my neck double jointed to try and see if there is a way round a hidden noggin. Ebay here I come.
 
Whenever I get conned into a domestic job and need to find the ceiling joists my first option is to get up close and look for any rippling that coincides with the 16 inch spacing.
If that doesnt reveal anything, next port of call is to drop the pendant and locate the joist it's usually fixed to. Then apply 16 in centres.

Loving the mobile phone camera wheeze though, kudos for that one. And that little periscope doodad is just an excellent bit of bling for the toolbox! :cool:
 

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