Customer Reviews

Zircon MultiScanner i520 Center-Finding Stud Finder with Metal and AC Electrical Scanning

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I replaced an older scanner with this new Zircon. I researched on the Zircon site and found the videos to help me understand how the scanner works. This scanner works exactly as advertised. It is like looking into the wall. Scanning across the wall you see the edges of the stud and the unit clearly indicates the center. The electric wire sensor works well. Overall I am very impressed.

I'm not as enthusiastic about this product as some of the other reviewers. I previously used a Zircon PRO SL before it broke and I was hoping for better performance. First, I was annoyed by the large size of the device. This made it difficult to get into smaller spaces and was hard to hold with the spring loaded on/off switch. I then found that the LCD screen was very difficult to read at awkward angles. Yes, it looks great and bright straight on but when working on baseboards, the display faded to near invisibility. Finally, the calibration process now takes an extra second, which turns out to be annoying and slows you down.

For stud finding, it was no better than the very old PRO SL. There was still plenty of ambiguity with some walls (no, it's not a shear wall) but not others. The suggestion to use a piece of smooth cardboard on "rough" walls did not help to resolve the ambiguity. Sometimes just knocking on the wall and listening to the sound proved more definitive.

Detecting AC was reasonably useful as it did always indicate when a hot wire was near. However, trying to trace electrical wiring without opening the drywall has proved elusive. Wires seem to vanish mid-wall with no detectable resume point on the wall. On well, the product never claimed this as a feature.

I have not tried the metal detection feature. The deep scan worked no better at finding studs through 5/8" drywall or on my shear wall which has an additional 3/8" ply. I think I'll just go back to the cheap $10 version since I'm now convinced that technology is the same and only the display is different (but not better).

Background: I'm coming from using one of the those clip-on stud scanner from a cordless drill. That thing was crap as it thought it found a stud but it was an empty space. I've use old 'dumb' stud scanners before as well.

I bought this stud finder for multiple reason. Primary: I just got a LCD TV mount and wanted a real scanner. This particular scanner is a bonus in that it can also find AC signals (with load on sockets) AND metal. The last thing I needed was to drill down and find a power cable or air duct!

This scanner is great, with the graph on the display it's easy to find the center and the automatic beep with light pinpoints the center. Steps are 1. slap on wall, 2. swipe across, 3. stop when beep. On a test setup it found the stud perfectly. I was curious about the dvd it came with but it's a bit tedious to go through so after the first 10 minutes and only watching 'how to use the AC scanner' I gave up on the videos and applied the same method to the other functions.

The idea to search for the AC signal is a bit weird, it dynamically changes the sensitivity to find the middle. Basically one would swipe across and find the first boundary, at the max of one boundary reset the scanner and you will find new boundaries within parent... keep going until the side-to-side swipes meet in the middle or where the signal is. Same applies to metal scanner. Make sure to not have you hand above the scanner (or where the light is)... the hand adsorbs the signal and messes up the measurements.

Only (very minor) gripe is that there is no toggle on-off switch. Using the side button is a bit of a pain in a tight or long reach area and easily turns off when not pressing hard. It doesn't help the unit is on the large size.

Improvements: Would be nice to have a bubble so you can scan and mark in a straight horizontal line (or vertical).

Additional thoughts:
Signal 'bars' is a nice addition to help determine the true stud (not some random crap behind the dry-wall).

final thoughts: Very impressed at quality and consistency of finding studs. Very happy I didn't get the basic stud finder!

I have tried various methods of finding studs to hang heavy items, e.g., Large Vanity Mirror Cabinet. The "hunt and peck" method leaves a lot of holes. The magnetic stud finders can find the stud nails all right, but I found out they also find copper metal hot water pipes and could not tell me the difference. Drilling into one of those hot water pipes by mistake was quite an experience I do not want to repeat. This Zircon i520 Stud finder is a lot cheaper than the plumber I had to call out on an emergency to fix my mistake. The Zircon i520 easily found and correctly identified the same copper metal water pipes I drilled into by mistake. It also found live electrical lines, plus the studs I was looking for. Great device. Clearly shows you the edges and center of the studs. Very easy to use. DVD How-to guide (plus, there are training videos on line at Zircon's website. I can highly recommended this stud finder.

Though this scanner will not penetrate well through carpet, it does a good job on wall studs and floor joists through linoleum. I've owned three different scanners and this one is the best performer yet.

You may be wondering, why I should pay more for similar featured BOSCH or other major brandname product, when I can have one from Zircon for $40? Believe me, the "big ones", really have advantages over cheaper models.

Some practical results from using Zircon i520:

Metal rods behind the MDF board: Excellent accuracy in finding, good depth.

Metal rebar in concrete wall: Good performance, AC detector feature definetly helps to distinguish rebar from wires.

Wires in plaster wall: Not so good, often misses them, regardless are they hot or cold. If plaster coating is a bit thicker (in range of declared sensitivity), no detection at all. (It should be noted, that manual says, that performance in plaster or gypsum walls may be unsatisfactory)

Wires in concrete wall: Excellent accuracy.

Unfortunately, I don't have any studs behind the gypsum boards, so I can't test detection in that aspect.

Overall, this unit performs ok, just having two VERY BIG disadvantages, besides the ones mentioned above:

1. LCD vertical angles are very limited, so when looking from bottom or top, it appears that it's always on, so for example, if you want to check wires above your head, you have to climb on ladder, otherwise, screen is unreadable.

2. Unit is very sensitive to rotation. If you tilt it slightly over it's axis during the movement, false detection will occur. Altrough this "feature" is mentioned in manual, it makes usage of detector not so pleasant.

Will I continue to use this unit? - Yes.
Will I reccomend it to a friend? - No.

Excellent device! I have a few different types of studfinders and this one works the best. It is great that it finds the stud and shines a light on the center of it for easy marking.

You may read many other peoples difficulties with stud finders and they usually blame the unit. They are a tool and not infallable but this one is about as good as they come. Some walls are unreadable with any stud finder; there seem to be ghost studs in some walls, and some construction (remodels) are hard to figure out. A magnetic nail finder can find a part of a stud with a nail in it but the nail may not be centered (a problem for mounting something heavy) or may have missed the stud completely and been plastered over, and one could be looking in a studless area, such as when a window or door hole has been covered improperly.

I highly recommend this stud finder, and practicing with it. Tapping the wall can be very misleading and one can poke a lot of small holes (to patch and paint later) with nails before a stud is found.

This is as close to x-ray eyes as one can find for studs. It is worth the cost even for the very occasional stud finding job.

Update 5-2-10:

Unless you are unfortunate enough to get a defective i520 (or have a low battery) it would be difficult to not use this successfully. I have had problems with my other stud finders but this one is consistantly right on and it is very simple to use. I did not have it with me recently so I used the "tapping technique", was SURE I found a stud, and had to patch a hole; missed totally. I brought the i520 with me later and it found the stud about 6 inches from the tap spot. I would toss my other stud finders but they do help sometimes. The i520 finds the studs very easily and consistantly. I highly recommend this device and to watch the included DVD if you have any problems.

My old stud finder kept giving me confusing results (it's one of those cheaper models), so I decided to buy a new one. This stud finder is far more accurate than my old one. Most stud finders require you begin scanning on a portion of the wall with no stud underneath, or else it will give incorrect results (but how would I know which part of the wall has no stud underneath!!!). This Zircon stud finder has Auto Correcting Technology, so even if you start scanning over a stud, it will correct the calibration itself automatically. I think this feature is a MUST in a stud finder.

This stud detects stud center. Note that if a stud is much wider than normal (e.g. a stud made up of multiple 2x4 or 2x6 lumber), then this finder may not locate the center correctly. In this case, pay attention to the signal strength at the upper right of the display instead. It will tell you where the starting and ending edges are.

I received the product from Amazon.com yesterday and initially thought it was defective because the scanner found nothing... and I mean NOTHING - not even a metal pair of scissors!

I emailed Zircon tech support and got a response and solution within a couple of hours. Turns out the battery that I was using, while new out of the package, expired in 2008. Once I installed a brand new battery, the scanner started working correctly.

I'm able to find studs in my plaster walls (plaster on top of plaster board, about 3/4" thick) which no other scanner that I've used has been able to do. That alone makes it worth the cost to me!!

Having purchased many stud finders (Black & Decker, Stanley etc) I never found one that was a) all that accurate and b) did a good job at separating metal from wood and AC etc. This all changed when I purchased the i520. I stumbled upon this in a local B&M store and decided that I preferred to purchase from Amazon.

The unit turned up quickly and I set about using it on a tricky area (window frame where the builder decided to hide AC). What had taken me an hour or so in the past and left me frustrated as I could not accurately tell where power was running through the frame, took me 10 minutes to mark up, drill and mount. Now the job is done and I'm happy.

This unit makes finding studs, AC and metal a cinch and more importantly enables you to hone in on the center very quickly.

I would highly recommend this unit to all like me that need a little bit further assistance when tackling jobs like this. Very easy to use and would purchase again. Oh forgot to mention you even get a DVD with it detailing how to use the device if you should choose to watch it.