The Elcometer P520 Metal Detector (part number W520162I, supplied with charger unit) is a high-powered buried-metal locator originally built to find water mains, pipes and cables. Locating buried services in congested ground is difficult: ordinary detectors lose the target where there is interference from nearby metal or where the object sits too deep. The P520 is built for exactly this kind of work, in cluttered areas and at depths where other metal detectors do not perform.

The instrument's high power allows greater depth detection. Typical detection ranges give a guide to its reach: an 80mm cast iron main is found to around 100cm, a 100mm main to 118cm and a 150mm main to 127cm, while a valve only at 100mm reaches 83cm, a washout or fire hydrant cover 121cm and a 140mm diameter plate 70cm.

The main unit measures 23.3 x 18 x 10cm with a 22cm search head diameter and weighs 850g. It runs on an internal rechargeable battery and is supplied with a charger unit. A replacement 200mm search coil and a replacement mains charger are available as accessories. This model is discontinued; the Elcometer P520 was supplied by BAMR, South Africa's authorised Elcometer distributor.