Prosensor 710 Franklin ProSensor Precision Stud Finder Yellow, Full Size

After my wife broke her hand, I needed to put a temporary bannister rail on the wall side of the stairs between the floors of our house. I first tried my old magnetic finder but it was useless, so I ordered the ProSensor after reading reviews. It turned out to be perfect for the job and was easy and quick to use even though this job was awkward. First, the house is old and has thick lathe and plaster. Second I'd repaired the plaster and lathe some years ago so there were metal screws embedded all over the place. Third, my temporary bannister rail needed to cross floors from downstairs to upstairs where the framing is different, and the floor framing gets in the way. Fourth, there is wainscoting and molding on the lower 3 feet of the wall creating obstacles and making that part thicker. Besides this, I absolutely didn't want to drill any extra holes. The ProSensor managed the job superbly. Its readings are almost instant! I love the way it shows the entire width of the stud. Tips: 1) holding it upside down lets you get it closer to some spots. 2) Use small squares of masking tape to mark the center of the studs. Then check at various heights to avoid chance of misreads using a bubble level or plumb line to ensure vertical . This increases accuracy. 3) You can mark a series of studs and check the distance between them for places where you may be in doubt. This also allows interpolating studs in tight spaces where the sensor may not fit. 4) if you can access the other side of the wall, mark studs there too, and compare both sides by measuring with a tape from a door jamb for example. 5) I found it best to place the sensor and then press the button. Moving the sensor around with the button pressed sometimes gave ambiguous results. I recommend trying all these techniques as there are often unusual framing configurations in older houses. Summary - I'm delighted with this device! It's essential for any do-it-yourselfer. It turns an awkward job into a lot of fun.

I grew up in a family of contractors. For us, a stud finder was a hammer and a finish nail we poked in the wall until we hit one. The other electronic stud finders gave too many false readings so they just gathered dust and we got really good at patching drywall. My brother-in-law gave me a Franklin Sensors stud finder for Christmas this year. When I saw how many sensors it had I wondered why no one had thought of this before. Somewhat skeptical, I tried it out. It worked like a charm. It lights up right where the studs are. Next time I visited my parents, I took my new stud finder over to show off my new toy. My dad and I tested it throughout the house. It worked on wood and metal studs. (We built the house so we knew what walls had wood or metal studs). The hammer and finish nail approach works but if you aren't into fixing drywall just to hang a picture, I highly recommend the Franklin Sensors Stud Finder. Any other stud finder will just gather dust in my shop. UPDATE 5/15/12 - I recently remodeled my kitchen and putting in new cabinets gave me the chance to put this stud finder to work. It was really helpful with finding studs and because of the many sensors, I could find and mark both edges of the stud. There were a few times where I thought I was getting false readings. Once where I was putting in the sink cabinet but then I realized the stud finder detects density. I was getting a reading where I knew there wasn't a stud but I have copper vent pipes and it was right where I expected the vent pipe would be. In another spot, it would light up like I had a stud but if I went above or below in the same area on the wall, it would not light up. Then I remembered that I patched a hole in the Sheetrock there and have a small piece of 2x4 in the wall to screw the patch to. This Stud Finder exceeded my expectations. You still have to use your brain so you don't end up putting a screw in a vent pipe but I am happy with the ProSensor 710. I think it would be nice to have a way to keep it on. The button works but sometimes it's awkward to hold it down. If there was a button but also a way to lock it down, I think that would be great.

Used my zircon unit for last two days trying to hang tv. Unit gets a quite confused on double studs, copper behind drywall etc. took lots of interpretation and retries Bought franklin 710 and damn. Worked first time and very easy to interpret. Tried over existing wall i knew was difficult because of venting and piping. If u want first time, every time. No drywall patching because you missed by an inch, try this. You can return if it doesnt work for you but you wont. This ones a keeper.

Good product and works well

Very good for locating studs or other fixtures inside walls. I have another one (yellow) that gave good service but unfortunately I didn't remove the batteries when I stored it so they leaked and damaged the connections and possibly the circuit. Why I bought this one was I needed a stud finder and can't repair the original one.

Used it in multiple homes. Never failed me. It’s perfect.

I love the very graphic way this tool shows the stud locations. Easy to use. Pleased I bought this.

The big brother to the m150. Has more sensors compared to that one, so you get a wider field of 'view' inside the wall. Just like the m150, when checked on oneself, it correctly ID's the stud. No issues there. Very simple to use, place against the wall, hold the button, and slowly move across the wall. LED lights will light up to show there is something behind the wall. Then I always move up and down the wall to ensure a correct reading and voila, done! Have used it many times and have never 'missed' a stud when this is showing (never had any false positives) on a wall. Unlike a Black and Decker stud finder which 'worked' some of the time, this one never has any issues. While it does say it works on ceilings, I find unlike for the wall, it is a bit more finicky and had some issues finding a stud when looking to mount some ceiling brackets in a garage. Battery life is very good. Have owned it for years and only had to replace the batteries once. Highly recommend over any other type/brand of stud finder.