When I place the Stanley Stud find against the wall and press the button it continues to beep and the red light never goes off.

Most stud finders have a sensitivity adjustment that should be carefully adjusted per instruction manual before use.
Failure to do this results in erroneous indications.

If you have adjusted exactly per the instructions with the same result the unit is probably faulty.

Try using a magnet instead. Move the magnet back and forth against the wall, slowly... until it sticks to one of the ferrous screws hidden in the sheetrock. These hidden screws are holding the wall board/sheetrock onto a stud.
Magnets! Free stud finder! and no batteries to replace!

The stud finder works by picking up density of the product it is pressed and slid on..Turn your stud finder on make sure the ok light is on...then slightly press it against the wall or surface you are working with,,then slowly moved it right or left still against the surface. As the finder starts to detect more density "thickness" it will. Glow or beep depending what type you have..It will get brighter,louder or what ever it signals are while crossing the stud beneath the surface..keep moving until it stops then move back
again until it stops.....mark or note the position where the signal starts then find the middle...2x4's are 1 1/2 inches across...so center should be 3/4 of an inch...good luck..

Hi Laurie,

I think you might have confused the calibration set up in the first step of the directions. This must be done each time the unit is powered on, placed on a different wall, or whenever it is providing ambiguous indications. For you convenience, I have pasted the operation manual below. You should download and review the entire manual - free of charge here.

1) Hold the Stud Sensor 50 flat against the surface making firm contact.

2) Press in and hold the activation button. The green
and red LED's will light. When the red LED goes off,
the unit is calibrated. Keep holding the activation button
during all of the following procedures.
Note: While calibrating, the Stud Sensor 50 must not
be placed directly over a stud, dense material such as
metal, or over a wet or newly painted area, or it will not
properly calibrate. If the Red LED stays lit, move to
a different location and try again.

2) Slide the Stud Sensor 50 slowly across the surface
in a straight line. As it detects a stud edge, the red LED
will go on.
Use the handy pencil notch located at the top of the
unit to mark the stud edge.

3) Repeat the above steps from the other side of
the stud. Coming from the opposite direction, mark
the other edge of the stud. The midpoint of the two
marks indicates the stud center.

Cautions on Operating
The proximity of electrical wiring or pipes to the surface
of the wall may cause the Stud Sensor 50 to detect
them as studs. You should always use caution when
nailing, cutting or drilling in walls, ceilings and floors
that may contain these items. Always remember that
studs or joists are normally spaced 16 inches or 24
inches apart and are 1-1/2 inches in width. To avoid
surprises be aware that anything closer together or of a different width may not be a stud.

I hope this helps & good luck!

I had this problem as well. The solution was to replace the 9 volt battery that it runs on. The beep was much louder and it calibrated correctly. Apparently the old battery was enough to make the beeping sound but not strong enough to emit the energy required to penetrate the drywall.

Your stud finder keeps beeping because old plaster walls have lath boards behind the plaster that are attached to the studs and running horizontally. Try adjusting the sensitivity of the stud finder by placing it on the wall and turning the sensitivity down until it just stops beeping. Then move it back and forth in a wide enough arc to be sure that you have crossed a stud, turning up the sensitivity ever so slightly until you get a tone when you cross a stud. Hope this works out for you.

Hold the stud sensor against the wall where the wall sounds hollow (no stud at this location). Hold the button down while you slide the unit horizontally. When it moves over a stud, it will give you a solid beep and the display will show you a solid vertical line. If it starts beeping intermittently, you may have started over a stud which will cause an error.
Do not lift the sensor off the wall when you slide it as this will also cause an error.

Hold the unit flat on the wall. Press and hold the side button (you will hear one short beep). Holding it to the wall, slide the sensor left or right, when you get near a wall stud, the lights will begin lighting up, when centered on the stud, the top light will be lit and it will beep continuously.

I suspect there are several models but I have one model. 1) Turn on the unit (if the green light is blinking replace the battery). 2) Calibrate the unit by holding it flat against the wall for 5 seconds until the red light goes off and the beep stops. Make sure you do not move the unit during the calibration or position the unit over a stud (try a spot 6-12" away from the corner of the wall - most studs are on 16" or 24" centers and the wood/metal stud is 1 1/2" thick). If the unit keeps beeping or the red light doesn't go off during the calibration, move the unit sideways 5-8" in case you are above a water pipe or other reason for "too deep a surface" for the unit.

3) Do not lift the unit off the wall or you will need to recalibrate it. Slide the unit across the wall. When the upper red light comes on and the beeping starts, that marks one edge of the object in the wall (stud). Continue until the red light goes off and the beeping stops. Mark the other edge of the stud by moving the stud finder in the opposite direction and marking when the red light comes on and the beeping starts. The center of the two marks is the center of the stud for securing anything to the wall.

If the beep persists over a 6" range, I'd check if you have any old cast-iron pipes or a door/window that was relocated in that wall. Repeating the test in a few places vertically along that spot of the wall will tell you there is a consistent large object in that location. Neither a filled in window or door will run the entire length of the wall but you could be finding the headers (the vertical framing of the opening would probably be ~4-6" wide (double or triple stud depening on the needs of the house design)).

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells
(on another stud-finder that I borrow, you press the buttons on the right and left side to turn it on. Calibrate by holding it to the wall for a short while and then slide it across the wall. Note when the top red led lights and the beep starts. Repeat in reverse to find the other side of the stud.)

Hi Gene,

• Place the unit flat against the wall.
• Press and hold the button.
• The LED will come on for a second or two then go out.
• Slowly move the unit laterally until the LEDs come on again.
• When they top out, that is the beginning of the stud.
• When they start to go back down, that is the end of the stud.

That's about it..

Best regards
Mike