Product Description

The MetalliScanner m40 metal scanner finds studs in lath and plaster walls by detecting nail patterns. Also detects metals behind nonmetallic walls.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2814 in Home Improvement
• Color: YELLOW
• Brand: Zircon
• Model: m40
• Number of items: 1

Features

• Locates ferrous (magnetic) metal up to 4-Inch (102 mm) deep and non-ferrous (non-magnetic) metal up to 2-Inch (51 mm) deep
• Use pinpoint scan to locate small metal objects such as screws and nails
• Use wide scan to detect metal in walls or concrete
• Led arrays indicate signal strength
• Have questions? need more information? Call the Zircon customer service department at 1-800-245-9265, monday-friday 9am-5pm pst; We'll be happy to help

From the Manufacturer
The Zircon MetalliScanner m40 Handheld Electronic Metal Detector quickly and easily detects metal in wood, drywall, paneling, tile, stucco, plaster, concrete, and other non-metallic surfaces. It locates ferrous (magnetic) metal up to 4-inches (102 mm) deep and non-ferrous (non-magnetic) metal up to 2-inches (51 mm) deep. MetalliScanner m40 solves the very difficult problem of finding studs in lath and plaster walls. It works by finding the pattern of nails that attach the wood lath to the studs. MetalliScanner m40 finds plumbing, ductwork, rebar, nails, and screws in your walls, floors, and ceilings, and is great for scanning reclaimed lumber for hidden metal. FEATURES: MetalliScanner m40 has two scanning positions, each with a progressive LED display. As it approaches a metal object, the red LEDs progressively light from the bottom up. The top lighted blue coil and an audio tone indicate when a metal target is located.

Customer Reviews

Great sensitivity, quality product - I love it!
Brand/make: I'm very glad I spent the extra $10 to get this one instead of the Little Wizard II. Zircon seems to be the industry leader in this sort of technology, and seems to be a brand I can trust and get good support from. Their website is well maintained. It's designed in USA; assembled in Mexico. I think it's a newer design than the Little Wizard II, since it was first released in April 2007, whereas the Little Wizard II product manual is dated November 2002.

Purpose: I bought this primarily for finding staples/screws/nails in old wood I want to reuse, but I'm sure I'll find other uses for it too, like finding things I drop, finding studs and nail lines, etc.

Size: It's a little bigger than I imagined it, but that's a good thing - my fears of it being delicate or likely to be broken were completely unfounded.

Battery: I only just got this, so I can't comment on battery life, but it's nice that it came with the 9-volt battery already installed and ready to use.

Broad/pinpoint usage: You can use this lying flat for doing a broad sweep, then turn it up and point it like a gun to pinpoint the exact area. That's really handy.

Proper usage: This is a sensitive, quality device. Like the directions say, if you move it around quickly changing its orientation, it will give you a false positive briefly, but used properly, it'll work great - just use a steady hand and don't twist it around quickly.

Lights/indicators: The scanner has a green "READY" LED under a four red LED "bargraph". This is duplicated on the other side, so you can conveniently see it regardless of orientation. Furthermore, when you're closer than 4 lights, the blue senor lights up and buzzer sounds (engineered at just the right volume, IMO, to be audible but not annoying).

Calibration: Rather than fool with a little adjustment screw till you get it to stop whining (like I saw in a video for the Little Wizard II), this is auto-calibrating. Just hold it out away from any metal while you turn it on, and it calibrates based on its surroundings. This is also helpful when narrowing down a piece of metal in an area with other smaller pieces. Just let off of the trigger and turn it back on where it is, and it'll be better calibrated to pinpoint the large piece (strongest influence).

Metals: This detects ferrous and non-ferrous metals, though it is more sensitive to ferrous metals. I'm not sure how it works, but there may be a different mechanism involved. For example, with ferrous materials, the scanner seems most senstitive when the object is inline with the sensor rather than turned perpendicularly, whereas overall proximity seems to be the most important factor in detecting non-ferrous metals, regardless of orientation.

Large object detection (pinpoint orientation, high calibration):
Item: [distance at first light], [distance at buzzer]
5-qt stainless mixing bowl: 5.5", 3.5"
heavy lineman's pliers: 5.5", 3"
3/8" OD copper tubing: ~2", ~3/4" (similar for 5/8" OD copper pipe)
14-AWG 2-conductor Romex: ~1", ~3/8"
0.024" thick aluminum plate: 4.5", 1.5"
(Your mileage may vary...)

Small object detection: This found one leg of a common office staple (~6mm long - pretty small!!) in a piece of wood. Properly oriented, it's enough to sound the buzzer. Oriented non-optimally, it may only light up 2-3 lights, but I'm still convinced it would find it buried even an 1/8" in both broad or pinpoint orientation, if you're doing a properly careful search. For non-ferrous metal, I got similar results with a 14mm piece of solid telephone wire.

Sensor geometry: The sensor is not as symmetric as it appears. I used the two tiny bits of metal mentioned above to "map" it. The intended pinpoint end is sensitive, whereas the other end isn't very. In the middle zone, there's a variation of sensitivity depending on the material. For ferrous metals, it seemed more sensitive in the very middle, whereas non-ferrous materials were better detected in either direction away from the very middle.

Magnetized materials: The usage sheet states: "Magnetized materials may cause false, unstable indications." After experimenting with a small disk-shaped fridge magnet, I don't think that will make a big difference. It seemed to detect it somewhat better facing into one of the poles, and a little less coming at it from the side, which is about what I expected.

Bottom line: I'm very pleased with my new "toy" and expect it will serve me well for years to come.

Great for the money
I purchased this unit to check used lumber on my jointer. So far so good.

Nail Finder
I bought the nail finder to do exactly that. I do Wind Mitigation inspections which requires a determination of the spacing of nails through plywood into wood trusses. The tool works as expected. I recommend it for this purpose. I also build furniture, so I will be using it to check for nails and metal in reused wood. I haven't had the oportunity yet to try this tool for this purpose.