Zircon Studsensor I65 Center-Finding Stud Finder With Dvd How-To Guide

This i65 unit from Zircon works very well, based on my experience. I have been remodeling a very old home for three years, and it included removing and working with existing wood lath with plaster walls.

Conventional wisdom says none of the modern-day Stud Sensors work with wood lath and plaster walls, and the reasons cited include...
1) The rows of wood lath can vary in thickness -- thereby, throwing off the reading depth of the sensor.
2) When plaster is applied, it is forced through the gaps in the wood lath and builds up behind the lath to lock the plaster to the wall upon drying. These varying thicknesses also throw off the accuracy of these stud sensors.

Yes, I agree with all of that on merit -- but I've used the i65 successfully after realizing a few things. First of all, many owners never bother to read the instructions, and try to use these devices too quickly. Here are a few tips that might help...
a) Set the unit flat against the wall and press and hold the left-side button. This will result in a flash of its red locator light and a short beep. This sets the initial depth reading.
b) Keeping the unit pressed against the wall, continue pressing that button (do not release it after setting the depth)-- then start sliding it slowly on a horizontal line parallel to the floor. When you reach the leading edge of a stud it will show the gauge on the device, and when you reach the center of that stud the red light will come on indicating that centerline.
c) If the device fails to locate a stud within 16 inches of your starting point (typically, more like within 8 or 12 inches) a few possibilities could have occurred: 1) You started off directly on a stud by chance. 2) You moved the device too quickly. 3) You hit large pockets of plaster by chance.

Solution?
Move the device down (or up) about an inch from your original level, reset the depth reading as described earlier -- and try again.

Using this method, my i65 read accurately thru a layer of 1/2" drywall on top of cracked deteriorating plaster of about 3/4" thickness, and that was on top of 3/8" thick wood lath -- finding the studs accurately nearly every time. Do you get the occasional misread? Yes. But the device acts differently when that happens.

For instance, the red light may never come on.
This is a sign of moving too quickly, or of hitting an odd pocket of very dense plaster during the initial read -- in my opinion.

Or it may show a narrow gauge reading on the screen, which quickly disappears. Again, slow down and maintain an even horizontal movement as best you can, shifting its position.

Believe me. I've been working on this old house for 3 years. This device definitely works! And if you ever hear me mention the word "remodel", again, please SHOOT ME!! 8-) I'm sure I'll be happy once this ordeal is through. But there have been a few tools which I've bought during this time that actually WORK -- and this is one of them.

The other, invaluable remodeling tools I've purchased include DeWalt battery-operated circular saw and drills, Milwaukee Sawzall for ripping out pipes (corded is best, with the rotating handle), and my Makita combination saw. Give credit where credit is due! Zircon builds a good product.

I was researching these things like crazy. Everytime I found a good one, there would be a review saying it sucked. I finally went into the nearby Lowes to see them in person.

Once there, I was just as lost. Then I noticed a display case Zircon had set up. They had a piece of drywall with a wooden stud behind it. Hanging below it dangled this Zircon unit begging to be tested. I ran it over the drywall and it found the stud every time. I did it at least 10 times and it gave perfect results. Even better, it shows you in 'real time' via the LCD display where the edges and center are. The LCD literally shows the stud moving across it while you slide the unit past the stud. When it reaches the center, it gives a loud beep and a red laser lights up showing you the exact center spot.

I bought it and headed home. I ran all over the house. It found studs every time. I should note my home was built in 1996 and contains smooth normal drywall and gypsum walls. I'm very satisfied with this simple studfinder.

Note: Move it slowly for best results.

I bought the i65 to see where the studs were in my wall so i could rip off the plywood (I live in a house built in about 1910 and remodeled around 1950 in a perpetually wet area, so there ain't no drywall) and repair the electrical connections to my washer and dryer. this thing is great at detecting electrical currents, which is GREAT, but when it comes to detecting studs through thick paint (or worse, plaster) covered plywood more than 3/4" thick, it's at a loss. Lucky it comes with a dvd, 'casue the instuctions suck. After watching the dvd (and cracking jokes about it and laughing the whole time)
it suggests using a thin piece of cardboard or chipboard to run the unit across while scanning. This totally works (when you use deepscan), but seems to affect accuracy. As a rough guide, it's awesome, but if you need to find a stud without destroying your wall, maybe the i500 (the model that turned me on to zircon) or a more advanced model is a better idea.

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