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Anyone bought an OK stud finder on Amazon?

Radian

By Radian
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Radian Advanced Member

Radian

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Being badgered about x-mas prezzie and all I can think of that might be handy is a stud finder Amazon because it's just about too late everywhere else. I looked but there were just so many and I don't trust any of the reviews. Figured someone here might have got one that actually finds studs, screws, cables etc.

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Radian Advanced Member

Radian

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20 minutes ago, ToughButterCup said:

Here you are .  Bosch , natch - wodja expect from me?

Bought mine years ago, works well, gets nicked often  by the children. Love the central hole in which to shove a marker pen so you can accurately mark the wall. 

Does it have a manual calibration that you have to perform before measurement?

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Gus Potter Advanced Member

Gus Potter

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9 minutes ago, pocster said:

I tried all of them - complete shite .

I live in hope!

 

I design a lot of slappings in walls, to make open plan houses and so on. To do this I need to open up parts of the walls and ceilings to see where the joists run and so on. Used to be great in the old days when folk had just carpets, now there are tiles and all sorts so you can't lift floors above so easily.

 

For all on BH.. on modern homes you find that with engineered joists and so they run in all directions and the services can be a bit bizarre, also in modern homes there are a lot more "services" .. and there is no real coordination... what is hidden in your floor depth is a lottery for someone investigating it.

 

Also used to be great when sparks did a proper job.. ie running their cables mid depth of the joists (they know they should) with a small sag so clear of the ceiling.

 

Got caught a few months back. Used to use an insulated plasterboard saw and sometimes don't turn off the all power.. then started using a multi tool.. makes a professional looking cut when doing a structural investigation but once the hole was open here the spark had left a coil of cable lying on the ceiling..the socket ring main. I nicked the cable. The multi tools are great but you have no feeling.. if using a hand saw you sometime get a feeling.. like driving an electric car cf an Astra van.

 

Now it's out to the van and get my "near disaster avoided kit" to sort it as a temporary measure. I also keep in the van.. a distaster kit.. yet to be used.. luckily!

 

Here is a thing for all on BH.. I'm an SE and you may be wondering.. what is Gus doing?

 

I'm just being practical and trying to get a handle on how the building works and where some the booby traps lie for the builder that will have to implement my design. I could pass on all the risk to the Client but it's about getting a balance. If you don't take a bit of a risk when opening up old buildings you are designing on complete guess work and that generally ends up in tears.

 

Yes I nicked the cable but I always explain to the Client before I start.. the more we explore now the better information we can give to the builders and this protects you. When I nicked the cable they were fine about it.

 

It would be great to find a tool that has xray specs! Can it find cables, pipes and studs?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Radian Advanced Member

Radian

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42 minutes ago, pocster said:

No !

I tried all of them - complete shite .

Did a thread on it ; can’t be bothered to link 

 

edit :

Used the (expletive deleted)ing search function

 

It's a good point you make there about all our other impressive technical achievements but we still can't find a bit of wood behind drywall. Actually we probably can with Terahertz waves but we have to have contacts in the defence industry to swing that.

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Radian Advanced Member

Radian

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7 minutes ago, dpmiller said:

I bought a Walabot on a whim a few years back and find it pretty good when I need it.

That's probably what I'd go for If it wasn't something I have to choose for someone else to buy me - on a budget. 

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ToughButterCup Advanced Member

ToughButterCup

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14 hours ago, Radian said:

Does it have a manual calibration that you have to perform before measurement?

 

Thank you very much for asking the question. I've never calibrated it, but your post made me think. 

 

I'll go and get a bit of spare PB , put a copper pipe, a live 3 core wire and a bit of 3 by 2 behind it  to  see exactly how accurate the instrument is.

 

That's a simple test: can anyone suggest a way of trying to 'confuse' the instrument?  Copper is metal after all - and sometimes that copper has smoke in it and sometimes it doesn't. So, while looking for electric wires should we test for  metal first and then an electric field as well? 

 

I suppose I ought to test it using some thick OSB too ......

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Alan Ambrose Advanced Member

Alan Ambrose

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Ahhh, I just chucked a Bosch PMD 7 - it never worked reliably. Occasionally I could find a metal stud or a cable, but more often than not it just went various shades of loopy. Read the manual a few times (such as it is), was careful to give it an 'earth' etc.

 

>>> Yes I nicked the cable

 

A Wago joining kit or two and you're good.

 

I would love to find a reliable cable/metal finder. Maybe a borescope would be more useful?

 

Alan

 

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Pocster Advanced Member

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3 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said:

I would love to find a reliable cable/metal finder. Maybe a borescope would be more useful?

It’s an invention that needs to be done . Would a *super* sensitive thermal camera be able to differentiate between say a sheet of osb with / without timber baton ? . There must be some minuscule temperature difference.

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Alan Ambrose Advanced Member

Alan Ambrose

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From the PMD 7 manual:

 

Manual Calibration If the signal LED 2 illuminates red or yellow, even when no metal is in the vicinity of the measuring tool, the tool must be recalibrated. – To do this, switch the measuring device on using the On/Off switch 3. – Remove a battery from the switched on measuring device. – While the battery is removed, switch the measuring device off using the On/Off switch 3. – Reinsert the batteries into the measuring device (pay attention to the polarity!) – Now remove all objects in the vicinity of the measuring device (including wrist watches or rings of metal) and hold the measuring tool up in the air. – Switch the measuring device on using the On/Off switch 3 and off again within 3 seconds. The signal LED 2 of the measuring device will flash red in slow succession during the 3 seconds to indicate that it is ready to calibrate. – Switch the measuring device back on within 0.5 seconds. The calibration is initiated and takes about 6 seconds. The signal LED 2 will flash green for 6 seconds in quick succession, the calibration is being performed. Now the device is once more ready for operation and the signal LED 2 illuminates solid green. Note: If the sequence of switching off then on again is not followed, no calibration is performed. The signal LED 2 remains either yellow or red, even though no metal is located within the vicinity. In this case, repeat the calibration.

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Jilly Advanced Member

Jilly

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You need an ultra sound machine of some sort. The interface and structure of different materials is visualised by piezo electric echolocation. The technology was first applied to check the structural integrity of ships’ hulls, so there must be something out there. There are cheap medical ones on eBay but might not work for this application. 

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Radian Advanced Member

Radian

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59 minutes ago, pocster said:

It’s an invention that needs to be done . Would a *super* sensitive thermal camera be able to differentiate between say a sheet of osb with / without timber baton ? . There must be some minuscule temperature difference.

 

That could work - but wall and batten would probably be in thermal equilibrium when you first approach it. The trick might be to put a fan heater blowing on the surface for a while, then look at the IR as it cools back down to the original temperature. The area with the battens would tend to remain a little warmer for a while longer. Any rapid change in temperature in either direction should work - it's the difference in rate of change that's most likely to show.

 

This is sometimes useful when looking for air leaks/thermal bridges because of the tendency of materials to reach equilibrium.

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