That fancy stud finder I talked crap about for years saved my butt yesterday

Been using the same old magnetic stud finder my dad gave me since 2003, thought those digital ones were a total gimmick. Had to hang a 400 pound boiler tank in a weird corner and my magnet kept giving false readings because of steel pipes behind the drywall. Borrowed a Franklin Sensor from the electrician on site and it mapped out exactly where the studs were, even caught a live wire I missed. Told my crew to pick one up for the shop van tomorrow. Anyone else refuse to switch tools for years then finally give in?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamienguyen1mo ago

Four hundred pounds? On a boiler? That's a lot of trust in a tool that costs what, a hundred bucks. I get that your magnet was messing up but you hung a tank that heavy on a device you just borrowed from a guy. Hope you double checked with a tape measure after. My buddy used one of those fancy ones and it showed a stud where there was just a junction box. Ended up with drywall screws in a live wire. Not saying they're all bad but that's a lot of weight to bet on a gadget.

nina1471mo ago

Wait, nobody's talked about the real problem here yet - those magnetic stud finders are literally just strong magnets. You're hanging 400 pounds based on finding a drywall screw head with a magnet, which means you're just hoping the screw is actually in a stud and not just some random leftover from a picture frame. The magnet grabs the screw head but can't tell you if that screw is in wood or just floating in drywall paper. That's way different from a density scanner that actually looks for the wood behind the wall.