Finding Studs

TNGW1500SE wrote:
Anybody know if the studs in the roof of my 2003 Itasca Sunova are wood or are they metal?

No roof has "studs" but rather rafters. Whether wood or metal just use a quality multi scanner such as this Zircon i520 which is capable of detecting both wood & metal, along with wiring detection.

Right tool, and a cheaper choice than the Zircon: Walmart stud finder

SoundGuy wrote:

TNGW1500SE wrote:
Anybody know if the studs in the roof of my 2003 Itasca Sunova are wood or are they metal?

No roof has "studs" but rather rafters. Whether wood or metal just use a quality multi scanner such as this Zircon i520 which is capable of detecting both wood & metal, along with wiring detection.

Meh.

I have several different models (not this one but they all work the same) of Zircon scanners..

Neither works well with the extremely thin RV walls, they are designed primarily for standard stick and brick 2x4 walls.

RV walls are at best 1" thick so stud detectors tend to get a lot of false readings. The detectors see the back side of the wall confusing the detector.

While it is possible to use one, they don't work as well with shallow RV walls so be prepared to drill a few exploratory holes..

If you ever get snow where you are, look at the roof after the snow. Every time it snows here, the snow melts over the rafters first.

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I wonder if the factory / manufacturer could help.

I know yours is older but when getting ready to install a back up camera on my 2017 Apex I contacted Apex and they e mailed me a detail drawing of the wall layout. It showed exact location of all studs. Not sure it would be the same with the roof or with your manufacturer.

I have a Zircon i65, works well in the RV either wood or metal framing. 100% success drilling holes in the roof of the last RV; getting ready to do it again on the new one.

You can partially disassemble a roof vent usually and get a look at the framing.

Gdetrailer wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

TNGW1500SE wrote:
Anybody know if the studs in the roof of my 2003 Itasca Sunova are wood or are they metal?

No roof has "studs" but rather rafters. Whether wood or metal just use a quality multi scanner such as this Zircon i520 which is capable of detecting both wood & metal, along with wiring detection.

Meh.

I have several different models (not this one but they all work the same) of Zircon scanners..

Neither works well with the extremely thin RV walls, they are designed primarily for standard stick and brick 2x4 walls.

RV walls are at best 1" thick so stud detectors tend to get a lot of false readings. The detectors see the back side of the wall confusing the detector.

While it is possible to use one, they don't work as well with shallow RV walls so be prepared to drill a few exploratory holes..

The Zircon type electronic stud finders use ultrasonic waves to detect density change. It did take me a little while along with some patients, pressing against the paneling, looking at where the paneling was flexing and a little though that the reason I could find some studs and not others where the folding tv shelf was located was because the area where the shelf was mounted had a piece of plywood under the paneling as reinforcement for the Shelf. Once I figured that out it was easy to find the perimeter of the plywood and the location of the studs. What I was wanting to do was lower the Shelf about 2-1/2 inches to make sure that I was still mounting to a solid structure. This allowed me to put an articulating mount for the TV on the wall and lower the Shelf for the DVD player and satellite receiver. Once I swung the TV out of the way and without having to move the DVD player and satellite receiver out of the way I could still swing the nearby cabinet door open.

After that job it was really easy to find the wall studs and the plywood backer for the TV shelf in the bedroom.

I was able to determine some of the studs were 1 x 2 & 1 x 3.

I'd use almost any STUD-finder, most use density of material rather than finding actual wood or metal to locate the framing.

I have a problem, because they usually start beeping when I get near them?

I'll leave now.

Remove a ceiling vent or some other access and find a rafter. Usually they are on 16” centers so if you find one you found them all. Often ceilings panels are 48” wide and the edges are on the rafter center. On my trailer I was able to attach my ceiling panels better and didn’t miss a single rafter (actually they are trusses).