How can I detect where the wire for my bell pull is?

[njr_26]

I live in A Victorian Terrace built in 1896 and would like to reinstate a bell pull by the front door.
I have found the panel where the bell was, in what would have been the kitchen, and there is a pipe coming out of the wall. In the loft my husband has found the pulleys and a wire going along the wall and disappearing into a pipe, which I assume goes down to the wall next to the front door.
I think the pipe is still there as I can hear something moving when my husband pulls the wire in the loft. How can I kow where to bash a hole in the render where the bell pull would have been?

Some of the houses in the terrace have an electric bell put there, would they be set in a certain place, if I measured where the other bells are would this be a good enough guide to where the bell pull would have been or is there a technical way of finding out?

I did try locating the wire with an electric cable locator but this was very unclear.

I hope someone knows how to do this as I have bought a lovely bell which we have put on the panel and connected to the wire in the loft by putting some strong wire down the pipe which comes out near the panel.

Sam

 

[Penners]

Just a suggestion: you can buy a thingummy for clearing drains, which is like a coil of flat spring steel. This might just be flexible enough to negotiate any bends, but rigid enough to allow it to be pushed down the pipe from the loft to reach the buried bit by the front door. It could then be revolved in the loft, in the hope that its thrashing about would be clearly audible by the front door.

Alternatively, it might give a clearer reading on your metal detector than you get from a thin piece of wire.

Here's another thought: I wonder how watertight the pipe is from the loft down to the front door. If it is reasonably so, you could perhaps pour a small amount of water down it, and watch by the front door to see where the stain appears in the plaster. It might be more noticeable if you added a bit of ink to the water.

I hasten to add that this is an idle thought, not a recommendation! Strictly an "own risk" procedure!

 

[Lime]

It is not clear whether you mean an internal or external bell pull.

Some front door external bell pulls were in the form of a knob which was pulled out and some were in the form of a handle which was pulled down.
The knob variation usually had wire-pulls coming right down the inside wall to the level of the knob whereas the handle type often had external solid metal levers going upto and entering into the wall at ceiling height.
However there was much variation.

If it had external levers perhaps there is some evidence on the external brickwork. If it was a knob perhaps the hole left by the knob surround may be still visible.

 

[njr_26]

It is an external bell pull.
Thanks for your suggestions. I will try and get back to you.

Sam

 

[rogerh]

Just a suggestion: you can buy a thingummy for clearing drains, which is like a coil of flat spring steel.

Or maybe one of these:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yzr3q9

 

[NT]

I take it this uses a metal wire for the pulling, not rope? This strikes me as unusual considering the age, but I'm no expert on Victorian metallurgy. If it is a metallic wire, what exactly does it run in? Metal wire not in metal conduit is not hard to trace using a little basic electronics.


NT

 

[njr_26]

It is a metal wire which runs inside a circular metal pipe up to the loft from the room that would have been the kitchen. It then goes to a pulley and along to the front of the loft to another pulley. From there the wire disappears down a hole next to the wall. At this point it is not in a pipe, so I asume this is why I can't detect it electrically.

Sam

 

[Lime]

I'm not sure how many floors your terrace has but as I understand it the wire runs through the loft and then down a hole in the front of the house towards the front door.
Perhaps looking under the floor directly above where the front door opens might show a pulley or some other connection.

 

[Penners]

Metal wire not in metal conduit is not hard to trace using a little basic electronics.

Yeah - just as a nuclear reactor is not hard to construct.... if you're knowledgeable about basic nuclear reactor construction.

Anything is easy if you know how.