Zircon StudSensor i65 Electronic Wall Scanner / Centre & Edge Finding Wood & Metal Stud Finder / WireWarning Detection

Product Information

Drywall installations use 48-inch-wide pieces, so a wall will almost always have studs evenly spaced inside that length. Sometimes you can even see the intersecting angles of different sheets or finishing lines if you look carefully at a large section of wall or shine a flashlight along it. StudScan Mode locates center, edges, and direction of wood and metal studs up to ¾ in. (19 mm) deep Laser level is convenient and works with textured drywall, pinpoint bullseye spot ensures accurate mark

As the stud finder approaches the edge of a stud, you’ll see an indicator that it detects a change in density. Mark this point with a pencil on a piece of masking tape or a post-it note. After three passes you should be able to determine a precise stud center line by drawing a vertical line through your marks with a level for reference, but you can probably get it on the first try if you’re seeing clear readings. When you’re happy with the consistency of the marks you’ve made, you can measure and mark the exact height of the fastener you need to install. The Zircon MetalliScanner m40 detects the metal nails or screws in the studs themselves to help you locate them without relying on density measurements. To provide our readers with the best stud finder recommendations possible, we rely on several key sources of information to help guide our selection process.Choosing a stud finder should be a relatively straightforward affair, but there are still a few things that you need to take into consideration before choosing one. The number of sensors and width of your stud finders’ effective area will affect the convenience of use, as will the stud finder’s interface. Lastly, because even the best stud finders are relatively simple, they can come filled with extra features that are worth exploring. Number of sensors On first use, I was a little surprised the Vivreal Stud Finder didn’t detect the stud behind the test wall. On further inspection, it was a blatant case of user error. The instructions very clearly say the tool must be calibrated before every scan. That was a simple matter of selecting the mode I was scanning for (wood stud) and then holding the device against the wall while depressing the scan button on the side. In a few seconds, the tool beeped, indicating calibration was complete, and I rescanned the test wall. The Vivreal wall scanner showed a series of horizontal bars as the scanner neared the stud and a beep when it found the stud’s center. This simple stud finder uses a powerful magnet instead of battery-powered sensors to identify studs, making it our top choice for magnetic stud finders. The magnet’s plastic casing is easy to hold and won’t mar or scratch the surface of the wall. Since it has no batteries or moving parts, the stud finder is always ready to use. Multi-sensor/Instant: This is a relatively new type of stud finder that scans an entire wall at once to give you the location of all of the studs. Because this type of stud finder requires multiple readings, our team found that it tends to be more accurate than the other electronic types. It doesn’t require calibration before use either.

The Zircon MetalliScanner m40 handles an increasingly rare situation—dense plaster walls—better than its competition. Plaster walls, which fell out of usage after the 1940s, present a unique situation for other stud finder sensors as these walls are intensely dense all the way through. That makes studs hard to locate with typical methods. Fortunately, even plaster wall surfaces still use metal fasteners holding them to the studs, so you can usually find studs with a strong neodymium magnet or a purpose-built magnetic stud finder like the Studbuddy. Battery type: most stud finders use a 9V battery type, but one brand we tested uses AA or AAA batteries, which are less expensive and more likely to be in your cupboard already. Rechargeable A-type batteries are also much more common and last longer than rechargeable 9V types. WireWarning® detection is a feature to alert the user to the presence of live,unshielded, electrical AC wires while scanning for studs and metal. The WireWarning® detection is always on in StudScan, DeepScan®, or Metal Scan modes. (An LED light will flash, or a lightning bolt icon will appear on the LCD display when live AC voltage is present, depending on the model.) Now let's consider in detail the additional convenience feature of the device, which we mentioned above. To get the most out of the free space available in the detector case, the manufacturer decided to build in yet another, quite useful device - a two-direction bulb level. Using the magnets and the level, you can locate metal objects in the wall and mark the horizontals and verticals on which the objects are positioned right away. Thus, the device will be of a great use when you locate in-wall metal profiles because once you get the finder attracted the wall just follow the level and mark the necessary points.Like all technology, electronic stud finders have seen many improvements from the time they appeared on the construction market in the 1990s. To pinpoint the location of a stud, an electronic stud finder uses sensors that detect a mass behind the wall. They may come with a single sensor, in which case they will detect only the edge of a stud, or they may come with multiple sensors, giving them the ability to detect both edges as well as the center of the stud. Both single sensor and multiple sensor stud finders perform well on average. Sensor Size Our stud finders with WireWarning® detection help prevent you from driving a nail into live electrical wire. MultiScanner® tools can also scan for metal to identify pipes, ducting, and more, and locate hot wiring if it has the dedicated AC Scan mode. Caution: Electrical field locators may not detect live AC wires if wires are more than 2 inches from the scanned surface, in concrete, encased in conduit, present behind a plywood shear wall or metallic wall covering, or if moisture is present in the environment or scanned surface. Automatic calibration allows for easy, fast detection; requires very little user participation to detect studs

WireWarning ®detection indicates the presence of live, unshielded electrical wiring up to 2 in. (50 mm) deep Stud finders are used to determine where the studs and fasteners in your walls are located. Once you’ve located a stud, you can mount heavy and fragile objects by drilling into the stud and installing the right hanging hardware. Compared to the other magnetic designs we tried, the Studbuddy Plus doesn’t try to show you the precise centerline of a stud at all. The width of the plastic body is just under an inch and a half, so if you trace a line on either side you’d have a rough outline of the stud underneath.

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Why it made the cut: This is a relatively straightforward stud finder without the frills (or the price) of premium-grade finders. After spending years tapping on walls and using bare magnets, we’re happy to say that the latest stud finders really are better than they used to be. Varying visual displays (electronic models only) give you some choice in how you want to “see” the stud. Some electronic stud finders let you preview a digital map of the stud beneath the wall on an LED screen; others feature LED lights across the top that blink when the finder is passed over a stud—both provide a reliable way to pinpoint a stud.