Customer Reviews

Zircon 58229 TriScanner Pro SL - Electronic Stud and Metal Locator

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

After an hour of testing at home, I returned the expensive Stanley's Intellisensor Digiscan Stud Sensor. The unit turned on by itself! The multiple beeps were annoying. It can be too sensitive and cautious in it's reading and can give false information where I know there is a stud behind the 1/2 inch gypsum board wall. The live AC wire sensor was constantly on where I know the 14/2 wire was more than 24 inches away from the unit.

I needed a consistent unit that can reasonably detect wood and metal behind gypsum board to replace a 15 year old Zircon stud sensor.

This product is sold as Zircon's "Contractor Triscanner Pro" at Home Depot in Toronto, Canada. It does the job. It's also $5 cheaper than the LCD readout Intellisensor Digiscan.

Pros;

1) No annoying multi beeps,
2) Performs as specified,
3) Auto shut-off function,and
4) Common easy to locate yellow/black colour (i.e. Dewalt, Stanley),

Cons;

1) 9 Volt battery not included,
2) P/N number, Revision number, Patent numbers differ from the information on the packaging, enclosed specifications, and on the back panel of the unit. What's going on?
3) Does not precisely indicate the stud edges. Specification does advise checking for stud edge location by moving the unit in the opposite direction, however, and
4) For a "3-function" stud sensor, the price is a bit steep in comparison to other stud finders.

Does not work as advertised. And yes, I followed the advice of the Zircon employee who said to use it in metal scanning mode when searching for studs in paster and lathe walls. That does not work either. I'm returning the product and getting my money back.

I'm conducting research on stud finders and found the Zircon models highly rated. The ratings are skewed by the manufacturer! Zircon's Marketing Director has rated each of their prodcuts as a 5 in an effort to boost their ratings. I'm not buying from this company SOLEY for this reason - I fully intened to purchase a top-of-the-line Triscanner. As a Marketing VP I thought I had seen everything. Very unfortunate to see this.

This is a very easy to use product that finds not only studs but metal of all sorts on the other side of the wall-or anywhere else. It is very sensitive and can detect wiring, metal supports, you name it.
It also give a loud verbal warning when you find a beam or metal
support as well as many visual cues. It is very easy to use,
rugged and reliable. I wouldn't hang or drill anything without
it. It is amazingly simple to use and very handy. I even use
it as a metal detector when I drop a screw in the carpet. How many stud finders can locate a small screw in a deep pile carpet?
Highly recommended.

It is disappointing to see Zircon Corporation Marketing director put in 5 stars to bias the rating. It would be good to see user ratings and not biased rating by Company marketing staff.

Are they so insecure ?

This little number is always in my tool bag. It's like having X-ray vision to see behind walls and floors. It locates studs and electrical wiring accurately. Now, I reach for this tool anytime I so much as hang a picture. Using it on rough wall surfaces is a little tricky, but lots of practice helps greatly. I have used it mostly on half inch drywall, but it works well on plywood subflooring, too. It's such a time saver, I wouldn't be without one. Thanks Amazon.com!

I had no problems. The Stud Finder worked just fine on the wood studs in my home.

It did however only identify power in the wall 1 out 3 times.

I would buy this Stud finder again!

I have owned a few stud finders and this particular one has been the worst. I am no big contractor but just a simple do it yourselfer. My cheap old vanilla Stanley (stud finder) and my magnet have been my best bets. I got this because of the extra bells and whistles. Well, those bells and whistles ring a ding ding and sing and holler but they don't mean nothing.

I gave it two stars just because if you have this in your bag it is definitely better than nothing at all.

This is the first stud finder I've tried so I can't compare it with any others. It might even be the best one out there but I'm having a fair amount of difficulty with it. It seems straightforward enough to use, but what it's reporting isn't making a lot of sense, leading me to believe it will take a lot more practice. As far as I can tell so far, my wall changes every time I scan it because I'm not getting consistent readings. It's also telling me I have two-foot-wide studs, and other bizarre information that is difficult to interpret. In a few specific spots on my wall it seemed convinced there is a stud. I drilled a hole and got nothing but drywall each time.

While I might manage to get some value out of this tool if I keep fighting with it, it's not turning out to be no-brainer solution I was hoping it would be. Certainly one shouldn't rely on its findings exclusively. Combine with the usual Sherlock Holmes methods of manually locating studs.

We want to give the explanation for why Zircon stud finders are not well suited for lath and plaster applications.

Zircon (and all) stud finders measure "density" or "capacitance" behind a wall, floor or ceiling. For them to function correctly, they need to move from a point of lower density to one of higher density. You can think of it as going from a place that is more hollow to a place that is less hollow. Stud finders don't work well in lath and plaster for that exact reason -- because there are multiple pieces of wood (lath), coupled with the fact that plaster inconsistently leaks through the laths to create varying depths (or densities). So, because of the constantly varying depths, the stud finder is constantly trying to recalibrate, and therefore will not find the studs.

They do work in concrete, by the way, because the material is of a more consistent density than lath and plaster.

This is NOT something that is particular to Zircon stud finders, however. Any manufacturer's product will produce the same results. And we do try to alert users to this in the operating instructions.

There is a work-around. If you turn the TriScanner on "Metal" scan, you can locate nails behind your wall. By locating a vertical row of nails, you have a pretty good, although not certain, idea that you've found a stud. Then switch back to "Stud" scan to verify. As I said, this isn't foolproof, but many owners of lath and plaster walls have found it effective.

Dan Harrell, Director of Marketing, Zircon Corporation