Do all stud finders suck? (2 Viewers)

[KLF]

Been doing a bunch of cabinet work at home the last few weeks, off and on. My oooolllld Sears stud finder wasn't helping much anymore, I figured it was time for an upgrade. Scanned the rack at Lowes, found a nice Zircon model, the "Studsensor Pro LCD", I think it was $25.

This thing blows. It's no better than my ancient Sears model. Stupid POS constantly gives me false hits, and "calibration error" beeping. You'd think they would have improved since then. Nope.

So, I borrowed a new Craftsman one from a friend, just to compare. It's a little better, but not much. Sometimes they agree, but usually not. Sometimes they are correct, sometimes not. Usually they totally contradict each other.

Is there one that works reliably? Or do they all suck like this?

I can do as well as these thing by guessing and knocking on the wall.

 

[AJP]

Mine is a "Sears Best" Craftsman Studfinder ("Deep Scanning") .. my sister in law keeps wanting to borrow it to take to the bar with her....

any way mine is pretty good ... always seems to find lots of studs....and about 50% of the time there is actually something there!

I get best results if I run it back and forth about 15-20 times marking with pencil where it squawks and "averaging" the findings...then adding a little common sense like measuring over 16" from a known stud...


had a guy come and put drapes up recently ... he rejected my offer of the "Sears Best Studfinder" and the kids room looked like the outside of Beirut office building after an election (after being sprayed with the obligatory .50cal) when he was done....

 

[KLF]

Mine is a "Sears Best" Craftsman Studfinder ("Deep Scanning")

That sounds like the one I have here... red body, black belt clip, has the "Deep Scan" setting. It's OK, but I expected better.

 

[oilcan]

Or do they all suck like this?

In a word, yes. I have a Zircon model, and I swear that thing couldn't find a stud if you threw it on top of a stack of 2x4's.

If you are hanging cabinets, take a small bit and drill thru the wall above where the bottom of the cabinet will be, thus finding the stud, and then hang said cabinet, thus covering up the exploratory drilling.

 

[AJP]

That sounds like the one I have here... red body, black belt clip, has the "Deep Scan" setting. It's OK, but I expected better

... actually mine is black with a deep blue decal around the leds...sounds like you may have the "improved" racing model....

Wish I could say something more encouraging!

 

[97 FZJ80]

Only if they find the "stud"

My old Zircon model works okay. I do the same thing as AJP and run it across the wall 10-15 times and take an average.

 

[-Spike-]

They all suck. Some have a 'metal' finding option, and you can use that to find the nails sometimes. Foil-backed drywall makes the job particularly difficult on any setting, as does thick texture or tape joints. It's always a crap shoot.

-Spike

 

[e9999]

I have one I bought at Sears 15 yrs ago or so and it works just fine.

Used it recently to find the frame members in the floor of my RTT...

 

[nat88toy]

they suck! i just messure 16" off the wall and drill a small hole around the area once i hit something i just pull 16 of of that my zircon sits on my shelf covered in a layer of dust

 

[KLF]

they suck! i just messure 16" off the wall and drill a small hole around the area once i hit something i just pull 16 of of that my zircon sits on my shelf covered in a layer of dust

Well, unfortunately I can't do that, this house is almost 100 years old now, so the framing is really rough and nothing is on a consistent spacing. Most of the studs are "generally" on 24" centers, they are unsurfaced 2"x4"'s, and not very plumb. It's like the framer didn't have a tape measure or level and just did it all "by eye". It was built before the days of sheetrock, but fortunately all the old plaster and lathe has been ripped out and replaced. I'm glad I'm not the one doing that job!

I pulled one of the kitchen base cabinets away from the wall yesterday, and found a whole row of little holes in the wall. So apparently that is a common trick...

 

[Gumby]

Zircon model here.


Brings the major suck.

I generally measure off of a wall or from an outlet box.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Zircon x5, works great. It's supposed to be able to find the "center" of the stud (LEDs go higher closer to center and then low as you move away), no idea how accurate it is.

 

[kulangot]

Try doing this -

Put the stud finder on the wall and hold it still before you press the button. Hold it still for a minute while it calibrates and then while still holding the button down, move it side to side. It won't work unless you do this first.

You need to do this calibration of the tool, each and every time that you use it. Once you get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake.

I renovated houses as a long time hobby business and use them all the time. They are amazing accurate if you use them properly.

Go here for more info:

Zircon Tips & Tricks

Zircon Tips & Tricks

 

[RavenTai]

I have a 10 yo zircon, works every time.

 

[Thornton]

I like what Gumby said measure off a wall or the outlet. In my opinion tape a quarter to the stud finder and throw it away, then you can say you threw something away. If you are doing cabinets take a keyhole saw and start cutting the drywall across the wall, you'll find a stud. Measure 16" from there and there is your next one (hopefully). Make sure you do this where your cabinets will cover it up. Mount your cabinets and then go to Gumbys location. Life is good, Rock On .

 

[-Spike-]

Try doing this -

Put the stud finder on the wall and hold it still before you press the button. Hold it still for a minute while it calibrates and then while still holding the button down, move it side to side.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. I'm a handyman, so I have lots of opportunities to practice playing with stud finders. Today I had to locate studs in a stairway wall to put in hand rails. Found most of the studs OK, but one was a phantom stud that didn't exist according to the drill bit. Stud finder insisted it was there, even while looking through the new peephole I drilled for it to look through. Studfinders, meh. Can't live without them, but they are frustrating sometimes.

-Spike

 

[reffug]

suckage yes!

 

[Gumby]

Hold the stud finder still, let it calibrate, slowly move it back and forth, not too fast, 10-15 times.


That's called bringing the suck in my book.

 

[reffug]

yaa but judging from the # of replies to this thread the industries sales of said item are doing fine.

sonsofbitches.

 

[e rock]

I've got the cheap little $8 Zircon model with a pocket clip. It works just as well (which isn't saying a lot) as every other expensive one I've owned and lost/broke/etc. I've gotten better at knowing its limitations, and just know not to rely on it to be perfect. Sometimes it absolutely will not sense a stud that I know is there, but I almost never get a false positive. Frankly, on sheetrock, I'm more accurate listening to the change in tone as I tap a wood block along the wall.