Stanley Stud Sensor S150

Not just useless, it is DANGEROUS - avoid purchasing – After turning it on, the Stanley Stud Sensor (sic) gave flickering lights and a buzzing sound. I attempted to calibrate but it turned itself off after 3 seconds - I was using a fully charged battery. Further attempts to use resulted in signalling that there were studs everywhere (even on clearly stud-free wall space). With the electricity mode… Read more

selected there was no response from the unit when held directly over a live wire. I threw this piece of rubbish in the bin.

Zero accuracy – I would like people to be aware they should not buy this product. Would "detect" a stud but would then fail to detect a stud when rescanning the same location. According to this stud sensor - studs are everywhere and nowhere in my walls. Show details

False alarms for AC make this the worst stud sensor I have ever used – Continuous false alarms for AC. No matter how many times I re-calibrated with my hand next to it the false alarm for AC kept going off. Eventually I removed a weatherboard to find no AC wires within 750mm of the area! This is less than useless. A total wast if time and money. Show details

Iconic Brand - disgraceful product line – I always respected the Stanley brand as my father did, owning many excellent tools over the years however this thing is junk, its sensor array is wildly inconsistent and untrustworthy and the AC "static" detector will drive you to despair. Benefit of the doubt, a faulty unit, so I upgraded to the S300, bells & whistles & more money - amazing, same… Read more

garbage, same good looking useless features. I disassembled both units with my 30yr old Stanley claw hammer and it performed faultlessly as always and it felt good. It also does a much better job of stud finding. Cheap & nasty circuitry and internals VERY disappointing Mr Stanley please drop this trash from your range.

Does the job, but requires effort to stop AC warning going off everywhere – We had to hold the unit an inch or so off the wall to trace the AC wire by VERY SLOWLY sweeping, then when using to find the studs, either shut off the power OR put your other hand on the wall right beside the unit. The entire palm flat. Otherwise it will think the whole wall is energised. There was a lot of guessing involved in using the AC side… Read more

of it.

For finding studs the thing is great. It would even detect known studs without touching the wall, but the AC warning is woeful. For $19 at bunnings, it's worth it. Used it to mount a TV and will use it for other things.

Don’t get one! – My advice as like everybody’s advice in this forum is please do not get one. The AC detector continually stays on even when there is no live wires and the consistent beeping will annoy everyone in your house. Not to mention that it is extremely unsafe and very dangerous. Someone could die if they rely on this tool. I love Stanley products, but this one has been a let down Show details

piece of crap – it finds live wires every where it drives you crazy with the beeping a huge waste of money. i would take it back but lost receipt i bought it at bomgaars Show details

Useless as a stud finder – I have tried to use this several times to locate studs and the reading are not correct, I find a normal magnet will locate the screws which didn't line up with the detector readings, as a carpenter I find Stanley make some great products, but this isn't one. It does however indicate power sources in the area, but so does my screwdriver which cost… Read more

me $5. Money wasted, I see Stanley have posted a video to teach you how to use it properly, but there are more videos and comments showing peoples dissatisfaction with the product.

S160 - Waste of time and money – Makes an irritating beeping virtually everywhere you move it, indicating live wires all over the place. Absolutely useless instructions with no indication what most of the lights mean. Hopefully there are better brands than Stanley.

Piece of s*** – This thing detects live wires EVERYWHERE and detects NO studs at all! Faulty, awful, dangerous product. I thought that we must have just had the odd lemon, but after coming online to read other reviews of it, turns out none of them work. How does Bunnings even stock these?!?! Show details

Totally inaccurate – Bought one of these to find studs, as well as live wires. Was completely useless - continually gave false positives. better off using the old knuckle test to find a stud, and buying a dedicated live wire detector. Show details

Warning do not buy - Rubbish total waste of money – Read the manual and tried over areas where i knew the stud layout. Does not work what ever you do - total rip off - please don't waste you money on this Show details

Very Inaccurate - extremely dangerous – This things literally beeps at AC cable being present over the whole wall. I have tried on every wall in the house and the same occurs. I have read reviews that this things cannot be calibrated and are super inaccurate. This is dangerous because it gives people a reason to go out on a whim and drill where they think is best without being able to… Read more

check because this device is literally worthless. A poor reflection on Bunnings and needs to be removed from stock immediately. Poor form.

Stanley Rubbish – This is a dangerous piece of Chinese rubbish which reflects on Bunnings who did not show a concern when I returned it & said it was probably just a bad one. They obviously don’t quality check their products as reflected in these reviews. OMG! Show details

Useless – I have a very old Stanley stud finder and it's very inaccurate. I thought I should spend some money on a new one and the guy at Bunnings said these work well. Garbage, it is as useless as the old one. Don't waste your money!!! Show details

Complete garbage – Apparently I live in a bundle of electrical wires with moving studs. Even my open shelves are full of wiring. Bought from Mitre 10. Not sure how this thing can be legally sold. Does not do the job as advertised and as others have said on this forum, it could be very dangerous. Completely inaccurate and yet another piece of garbage plastic to go into the dump. Depressing. Show details

Defective rubbish – Stanley Studfinder S100 isn't worth the cost of the petrol to drive to Bunnings. The AC light constantly beeped despite there being no electrical wires in the wall. I knew there was one stud that I wanted to accurately pinpoint before I drilled but it kept giving false readings all over the wall. Back to the knuckle knocking and hoping for the best and now another trip to Bunnings to get a refund tomorrow. $16 worth of junk! Show details

Defective, do not buy – Doesnt work. Sometimes it shows a stud, sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes it shows AC, sometimes it doesnt. It simply does not do the job its supposed to. Its offensive that this product is still for sale. Show details

not fit for purpose – The Stanley stud sensor does not accurately sense studs. It indicates false readings in regard to live power cables. Not only does it not do the job for which it is purchased, it can cause life threatening situations if the operator relies on its ability to detect 240 volt power cables. This product should be removed from sale immediately. … Read more

bad,bad,bad

Stanley stud sensor is inaccurate and dangerous. Does not detect studs with accuracy and gives false readings re 240volt live wires. To rely on readings with live power wires from this device is to endanger ones life. A terrible product and should be banned from sale before someone dies.

Stanley Stud Sensor S100 – The AC light constantly comes on despite not being anywhere near electrical cable. The stud sensor is inaccurate as it takes a number of operations to hone in on the studs but I was eventually able to find the stud. Returned it to Bunnings and upgraded to the S300, haven't tried it yet but hope it works better. Show details

for S100 model - AC red light and beep constantly on due to static all over the wall – S 100 model - very annoying AC red light and beep constantly on as picks up static electricity all the wall/ house . Cant use it . Can stop static by placing palm on wall near device , but to keep doing that is very annoying too. Returned. Show details

piece of crap – I don't know if they ever tested this product many times before they marketed it. It's very inaccurate and useless. My hand knocking on the dry wall was more accurate than this piece of crap. They should banned selling this product. Show details

Completely unusable – I have owned two of the Stanley stud finders and have found them to be incredibly unreliable and inconsistent. The device will often give false positives, but will also fail to detect over areas where there is known to be a stud. Couple that with the device frequently failing to calibrate and you have an item which is poor value even at the low… Read more

price point. I do not believe this item is actually fit for the purpose for which it is sold and would recommend it is not suitable for almost any project including simple diy.

Faulty out of the box – Bought this from a big chain hardware store. Got home and the unit did not work. Would not calibrate. Tried on several walls. Nothing. Waste of money. Will be avoiding Stanley from now on. Show details

THE WORST – Stay away from this device. False positive readings. We resorted to tapping on the walls to find studs and climbing in the roof for electrical wiring. How they can legally sell this product is beyond me. I will be returning it ASAP. Show details

worked for a while, now shows false-alarm AC everywhere – I've had this tool for about 9 months of sporadic use. Works ok at finding studs in my old weatherboard house, but in the last couple of days, despite changing battery, it gives false alarms everywhere for AC. Show details

Just avoid this stud finder – I thought I was having too bad skill to find the stud, but proved after years of using this finder that this simply doesn't work to locate the stud. I fail to drill into timber on the wall, i used my sense to drill where the detector said no stud and it had the stud. Returned to bunnings and looking for alternative now. Show details

Doesn't work – Doesn't detect wood or wire waster of money. Do for bigger brand. It can not detect anything it gives false alert all the time. This is rubbish product don't buy

WILL SHOW AC for LEGAL REASONS – The fact is that the Stanley Stud Finder is designed to auto show electric current when in fact there is no electrical wiring. Why ? Well I am the world's worst hanyman and buy the cheapest tools as I do very little odd jobs about the home and prefer to leave to tradesmen. I bought one of these a S100 for $14 AU and had the same problem. I looked… Read more

on the net reviews and seen that almost everyone has the same grievances, so I asked myself, why.? As my background is Insurance and if Stanley Manufacturing were my client I would suggest to them that ALL of their stud finders ALWAYS show electric current. In Australia consumer laws exist (ACL), insofar that all products purchased be of merchantable quality , fit for the purpose intended and free of any latent defects, in other words, " They work and work safely" Lets look at an example of a stud finder that can differentiate between AC or no AC the product malfunctioned and failed to read correctly and in consequence thereof, someone receives a shock and is injured. Then of course that party has a legal remedy against the manufacturer for damages, citing that the product did not fire a warning signal alerting them to an inherent risk of danger. But if all of the stud finders gave false signals saying beware electrical wires present, act with caution, then the manufacturer has prudently put in practice the mechanism for protecting their interest against any potential legal liability cause of actions damages plaints. As in Shakespeare's Hamlet ." there is a method in the madness".

I can live without the stress – Another half -done Stanley product done too cheaply. Works well occasionally. Works inaccurately 95 % of the time to the point where I’m hitting the wall to find studs Way more precisely. Has so many false electrical readings (new plaster boards, NO cables) I would not trust it there either. Piece of junk.

Not practical - AC false alerts continuously – It did seem to find studs correctly, but the AC alerts goes off ALL the time, on every wall and every location. Continuous annoying beep-beep-beep and flashing lights make it a real pain. At least I got my money back.

The stanley stud sensor S150 should not be on the market – This device had an entire wall as live (AC present) even though no power wiring ran through the there. Totally unreliable tool as you could pass the device over the same area of wall and get different readouts every time! As for me it's back to Bunnings ( they recommended this rip off), for my money back, a waste of time and money for all concerned!

Don't waste your money, pay extra for a decent brand that works – The electrical wire signal seemed to be completely in accurate, it went off non stop on pretty much every inch of the walls. I calibrated the devise multiple times following the instructions, i went back and forth trying to work out if it was lighting up at a stud or nothing. I marked out where the light started and stopped, drilled a hole in the… Read more

centre and was out from the stud by a centre-meter. What a great stud finder this is! Seems to give you a rough idea where the stud is but is nowhere near accurate.

Do yourself a favour and spend extra on a brand that works. You're likely to keep it for life so why not?

This device is unsafe – I've just bought this on the spur of the moment and it's going straight back. Before using it I decided to test it on a wall where I know where the studs and power are - one side not yet gyprocked. Firstly this device fails to locate the studs, two passes over the same spot provide different results, changing the sensitivity makes no… Read more

difference.

Secondly and more worryingly it gives false positives and false negatives for AC power. Detecting power where it isn't and failing to detect power where it is. For example I ran it around a light switch where the cable and C-clip for the switch are attached to the stud, the device failed to detect both the stud and the AC. If someone uses this in an older property where there's no RCD this could be fatal.

I'm submitting a complaint to Fair Trading NSW - this device needs recalling.

The Dud Finder – No matter what depth I chose or location the only thing it picked up was AC. No studs just live wires. After re reading the instructions, changing the battery just in case. I lost interest. Taking the dub finder back.