Zircon 56990 Multiscanner Pro SL Wood, Metal, and Live Wire Stud Sensor

by Zircon

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Find studs, metal, and hot AC before you drill, saw, or pound with the Multiscanner Pro. The easy-to-use LCD display and audio signal indicates your target, with continuous AC detection in all modes. The SpotLite pointing system automatically displays a beam of light over the edge of of a stud. Metal Scan finds rebar in concrete up to 3 inches deep, and copper pipe or conduit as deep as 1-1/2 behind walls, ceilings, and floors. When in Deepscan mode, for extra thick surfaces, it scans through up to 1-1/2 inches of drywall, plywood, and most flooring to find wood or metal studs and joists. Features four switch-selectable modes, patented TruCal instant calibration, over-the-stud indication to ensure accuracy, and a high impact case with comfortable grip.

Product Description

Find studs, metal, and hot AC before you drill, saw, or pound with the Multiscanner Pro. The easy-to-use LCD display and audio signal indicates your target, with continuous AC detection in all modes. The SpotLite pointing system automatically displays a beam of light over the edge of of a stud. Metal Scan finds rebar in concrete up to 3 inches deep, and copper pipe or conduit as deep as 1-1/2 behind walls, ceilings, and floors. When in Deepscan mode, for extra thick surfaces, it scans through up to 1-1/2 inches of drywall, plywood, and most flooring to find wood or metal studs and joists. Features four switch-selectable modes, patented TruCal instant calibration, over-the-stud indication to ensure accuracy, and a high impact case with comfortable grip.

Product Details

Product Manual [410kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004TRBC
• Item model number: 56990
• Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,814 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, January 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Zircon 56990 Multiscanner Pro SL Wood, Metal, and Live Wire Stud Sensor (Tools & Home Improvement)

Being an Electrian I have used different stud finders . This one scans to deep in regular mode and tell you there are blocks and studs where there are none.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars pretty flakey, February 28, 2001

By 

Carpenter in Minn (Cambridge, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zircon 56990 Multiscanner Pro SL Wood, Metal, and Live Wire Stud Sensor (Tools & Home Improvement)

Tried this for awhile then gave it away. I could never seem to get the hang of it. It keeps giving indications where there is nothing there. Maybe its too sensitive, or maybe I'm just not using it properly; but it didn't help me much in my carpentry work.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money and buy something else, August 6, 2004

By 

Engineer "Engineer" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zircon 56990 Multiscanner Pro SL Wood, Metal, and Live Wire Stud Sensor (Tools & Home Improvement)

After using this tool in a variety of situations and testing all of the functions, I find that the tool is worse than useless. It produces inconsistent and random results, as a consequence you don't know if the tool is not detecting or there is nothing to detect. In this context, the AC finder is dangerous.
1. The first problem was with the function selection switch; this is a slide switch and moves sideways to select a new function. It is very flimsy and sensitive, and doesn't make positive connections. As a result it takes a number of tries before it will switch from one function to another. This is particularly the case in switching from normal to deep scan. It usually skips right over the deep scan function. Very annoying.
2. The LCD display is almost useless in real life situations. I found it almost impossible to see in anything other than perfect lighting conditions, and had to rely on the beeper. The bright red LED displays on other models are far more useful.
3. The rebar detector never gave the same reading twice. This lack of reliability seemed to be related to the composition of the aggregate in the mix, in that the degree of error seemed to vary depending on the mix. Since it never gave the same reading twice anyway, and generally worked so poorly and unreliably, I can't really be sure of what it was doing. This makes it worse than useless.
4. The AC detector only detected power when I placed it directly over a wall socket. This is a dangerous shortcoming. Ie: you don't know whether the tool is not detecting power lines because there are no power lines, or because the tool can't detect them. This is very dangerous; if you rely on it, you could end up with a shocking experience.
5. The stud finder seemed to work OK on brand new, unfinished wallboard walls with new studs. It didn't work very well on old painted walls, and old studs seemed to totally confuse it. In general, the more uneven or rippled the wall, the more random and unreliable the readings. In real life, most walls have variations, therefore this makes the stud finder function useless.

I returned the Multiscanner Pro and got my money refunded, and bought a Zircon Studsensor Pro SL (It was the only other stud finder on the shelf at the time.) This model works very well, and makes up for the uselessness of its "bigger brother". I have now used it on a number of projects, and it has already paid for itself. No more plastering over pilot holes!

I suggest that you don't waste your money on the supposedly more functional Multiscanner Pro, and stick to the basic unit. It only detects studs, but at least it does that one job reasonably well.