Stud, Pipe & Cable detectors - which one?

[Rick Hughes]

There are plenty of the combined stud, pipe & cable detectors on the market ... anybody any comments on which are good or which to avoid.

Rick

[Andy Hall]

I have a Zircon Triscanner Pro and have found that pretty effective in use. I bought this in the U.S. but RS have them as well.

Others that I've bought periodically from DIY stores here have been uniformly worthless.

[Jim]

wall is built to the standards that the detector was designed to , it might work. Maybe we should consult with the "Standard Walls Consultant.

[Lurch]

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 17:15:57 +0000, Andy Hall strung together this:

That's roughly what I was going to say, my Dad has just got one from the US as all the ones he's ever used from DIY stores have been a bit on the useless side.

[Rick Hughes]

yep that is my worry, I looked at a Draper & Plasplugs model today ... I did like the Bosch detector with the full LCD display of position & depth, but at £500 that is way too much.

Thanks for tip about Zircon.

Rick

[Lurch]

On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 18:28:09 +0000 (UTC), "Rick Hughes" strung together this:

I had a play with one of those at Interbuild, works well but as you say a bit steep in price. It's the only one I've ever used that works though so maybe there's something to be learnt from that....

[look]

RS have the Zircon Multiscanner Pro SL on special offer for £39.95 at present. I've just oredered one so hope its good !

Robert royall at which net

[Rick Hughes]

Let me know how it works ....

I looked on the US amazon site .. they have some very damning reviews .. take a look at

if this the best of the bunch then I may still go for one

[Andy Hall]

I tried different of their models out in Home Depot and some of them do do a better job than others especially on deeper things. You do have to allow a settling time on the surface, but the lights warn about this. If you are too quick off the mark, it won't detect reliably.

One point to note is that the AC wiring detection is mainly a warning, so if you want to look for 1.5mm^2 T&E buried in plaster, you would find it with the power on but not so easily with it off. The stud detection works well as does identifying joists under floorboards, IME. Pipe is easy. For example, detecting 8mm microbore under plasterboard is no issue at all/