Minelab Excalibur vs. CZ21

[Jeff Harris]

I want to get a water machine, main use is river hunting in AZ on a river that has thousands of tubers drinking, applying sunscreen and losing jewelry in the river each weekend during the Summer. Mild to moderate mineralization, some hot rocks, lots of trash. May hit some California beaches occasionally. How are their respective repair records and ability to operate in fresh water? Will I really lose chains with the CZ21? If you own both I especially want to hear the pros and cons. Thanks a lot for your input.

Jeff

 

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[Hangingfor8]

The pro's of my minelab excal...

1. It's bullet proof. everyone who knows me knows I kill everything and this thing has stood up over 3 years with no problems.

2.The iron null has helped me find gold right next to iron several times.

3.The battery will last longer than I can physicly hunt (sun up to sun down) and I consider myself to be in great shape. I run 5 miles most most mornings to warm up for the gym.

4.In the right hands you can tune it for just about anything. It does take practice, but if you're serious, you'll figure it out.

5.If you hunt the beach go with as big a coil as you can. I use the 15 wot.

Cons...

1.The factory shaft stinks. build a straight shaft or get an Anderson shaft.

2.There is a learning curve using it, but it's worth it.

My Excal has paid for itself many times over and has offered me years of dependable service. I've found all sorts of things from rings, necklaces, earings, watches (Rolex Submariner in gold and stainless), eye wear, bracelets, spanish cobs and other spanish artifacts, and tons of other things. I love it.

 

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[Sandman]

I only use my CZ-20 when I forgot to charge the batteries in the Excal. I also enjoy using the Tiger Shark because it does find small gold chains even without the clasps. However it can also find small split shot an bird shot but you can usually tell from the signal noise. The Tiger is the only water VLF that I can think of now that you can change coils yourself. All the others are hard wired except some of the PI's.

The CZ-20 has found earring backs as have the Tiger and Excal. I used to dive with the 1280, CZ-20, Tiger and Excal but now only wade. Most water detectors have the coil and phones hardwired to idiot proof them from water getting at the connection. Some PI's have changable head phones.

My charge on the 1600 AH NIMH pack lasts a couple days of hunting and never had any trouble with it as it is about 5 years old. Never used the orginal battery that came with the Excal so I have no idea how long that would last.

 

[seeker41]

Hello people of this very helpfull forum.I am a diehard Fisher fan,back to the Topic,if i was looking to purchase a detector to hunt the river First thing would be the Warranty...... I have never hunted A.Z. rivers N.C. rivers have alot of trash so the small coil i think would be helpfull.A hardwired large coil may be a bad choice......Theres nothing worse than having to leave a hunt because of a sudden rain storm.WATER PROOF is the best feeling there is in a downpour. My CZ is a Tank, but Fisher has New owners ...and i will never purchase a New Fisher again.........I have 20+ years of using Garrett,Whites,Fisher andTesoro.I will answer your question Jeff , and agree with MT Pockets.When my CZ20 stops, i will order the Minelab Excalibur.

thank you for not buying any new fishers !!!! maybe you oughta read some of this before you go with minelab!!!!!!!! http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,292963.0.html
then explain to me how minelab is different than fisher and you should buy a minelab but not a fisher!

 

[Montauk3]

the hole will need to be bigger,ask people who know me.i have the biggest scoop you will ever see in your life

Post a pic please.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Hello people of this very helpfull forum.I am a diehard Fisher fan,back to the Topic,if i was looking to purchase a detector to hunt the river First thing would be the Warranty...... I have never hunted A.Z. rivers N.C. rivers have alot of trash so the small coil i think would be helpfull.A hardwired large coil may be a bad choice......Theres nothing worse than having to leave a hunt because of a sudden rain storm.WATER PROOF is the best feeling there is in a downpour. My CZ is a Tank, but Fisher has New owners ...and i will never purchase a New Fisher again.........I have 20+ years of using Garrett,Whites,Fisher andTesoro.I will answer your question Jeff , and agree with MT Pockets.When my CZ20 stops, i will order the Minelab Excalibur.

thank you for not buying any new fishers !!!! maybe you oughta read some of this before you go with minelab!!!!!!!! http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,292963.0.html
then explain to me how minelab is different than fisher and you should buy a minelab but not a fisher!

Yes, read each post carefully, you will find some people who assume the Minelab repair department works 7 days a week ( they don't, they work 5 ), 20 working days for repair doesn't include weekends or holidays as some think, and if a part is needed, that they have every part ever made for every Minelab ever made in stock always, (they don't). Telephones only work one way, and you have to wait for Minelab to call you. (You don't) You can call Minelab at any time and ask them about the status of your repair. (I have several times)

If you still have any doubt about buying a Minelab, don't, it leaves just that many more nice finds for the rest of us Minelab owners...

 

[seeker41]

treasure_hunter, i hope you understand....i would buy a minelab in a heartbeat!!! but if stevefisher or anyone else wants to claim the new fisher has bad service and crappy detectors because they were bought out...thats bull !!! he would also have to have the same opinion of another company in a simmiler situation, right?? i try and ignore it but since its not based on fact i get ticked off!! i can see that you have the same high opinion of minelab that i have of fisher. like you said dont buy.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

treasure_hunter, i hope you understand....i would buy a minelab in a heartbeat!!! but if stevefisher or anyone else wants to claim the new fisher has bad service and crappy detectors because they were bought out...thats bull !!! he would also have to have the same opinion of another company in a simmiler situation, right?? i try and ignore it but since its not based on fact i get ticked off!! i can see that you have the same high opinion of minelab that i have of fisher. like you said dont buy.

Seeker, I understand, and I didn't mean for my reply to imply any different, if it appeared it did, my apologies.

I talked to Minelab today and was told a small part of the problem is the demand for the gold machines and they have also made some changes that are causing some short term problems, but will have great long term results. Their words were "Really wonderful results"

 

[Ironshore]

I have a CZ-21 and find small earrings and thin chains. As far as being in salt water mode great! That's why I got it. With that said, it has performed well in fresh water and on land.
Now about the finding gold while nulling iron, that's great, but I would like to keep finding the anchors and cannons from the 1600's. My next underwater detector is going to be a JW Fishers Pulse 8X Pro.
My friend has a minelab. They seem to work great when they are not breaking down. My friend has had to replace two coils so far. They make good coils till they stop working.

As far as battery life minelab loses everytime.

 

[ToniSteve]

Get to know what you have and it will work great. My Excaliber 1000 is 6 or 7 years old, no problems other then I don't use it enough right at this time. I have not used a pulse though, so cannot reply to that. I have friends who have the SandShark and show great results with it. It is nothing fancy though.

Best regards,
Steve

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I have a CZ-21 and find small earrings and thin chains. As far as being in salt water mode great! That's why I got it. With that said, it has performed well in fresh water and on land.
Now about the finding gold while nulling iron, that's great, but I would like to keep finding the anchors and cannons from the 1600's. My next underwater detector is going to be a JW Fishers Pulse 8X Pro.
My friend has a minelab. They seem to work great when they are not breaking down. My friend has had to replace two coils so far. They make good coils till they stop working.

As far as battery life minelab loses everytime.

You can still hunt and find iron objects with Minelabs, the null means it is iron. Iron Patch has no trouble finding great iron artifacts. As far as battery, I replaced mine with 1500 NiMh batteries a long time ago. I have owned 3 Excals and 2 Sov GTs, in the last 4.5 years, I sold one of the Excals, still own the rest. I have only had to replace one of the coils, and it was my fault, I let the detector slide off the van and cracked the coil....

Of the 5 Minelabs I have owned, mine have made only 2 trips to the repair shop, one was my fault (cracked coil), the other one a side of the headphones stopped working.... I owned a Whites Beach Hunter ID, it made 2 trips to Whites for repair the first year, I traded it in on my first Sov GT.....

 

[Aurora64blue]

Here's an alternative machine:

Now, I know this gentlemen is looking for the best detector for mainly freshwater. Nothing can beat both the minelab Excal and the CZ21 units for detecting saltwater beaches. But this guy also said that he will mainly be hunting freshwater rivers and then occationally salt water in California.

The Tesoro Tigershark is one of the most sensitive detectors for freshwater. Simple to use, and has a lifetime warranty with Tesoro. I have found some very small rings, as well as fine chains on land that neither the Fisher F70 nor the Garret 250's would even give a hint of recognition. I was always told how sensitive this TS was, but I was surprised how it compared to some of the other brands.

The TS coil is also neutrally boyant and is a pleasure to swing in the water. Battery life is also pretty good as well. The unit is also quite a bit cheaper than an Excal or the CZ. So if you're looking for a reasonably inexpensive water detector that is fantastic on small gold and has a "Lifetime Warranty", think about a Tesoro Tiger Shark.

Cheers,

Ralph

 

[niffler]

I agree with Aurora64blue...The TS is great, even on the wet salt beaches. I Presume you mean to detect the Salt river near Tucson, AZ?

 

[jkasta]

From what I have read and then actually called Tesoro in AZ, the Tiger Shark has not been in production for over a year and Tesoro says they do not know when the production line will start again. Some lame excuse about can't find the right seal for the headphones since their supplier of said seal is no longer an option.

 

[Bruley24]

This appears to be a heated topic and I will put my two cents in. I live in florida and have both machines and both are new and bought at same time. I hunt dry, wet sand and water. It depends on what I am hunting as to what machine I use. More often than not it is the CZ as I have had very good exoerience with the machine in a short period of time.
Is the Excal a better machine in my opinion no. Which is deeper set in similar settings? The CZ is slightly deeper. Which has more chatter in the surf The CZ. Does this hamper hunting no. I hunted this morning on a beach with two other detectors one a BHid and the other an Excal. Though I did not know the other hunters we left at the same time. They all fussed about no good targets and thier finds for the morning. One was a pull tab and bottle cap and the other a couple of pull tabs. They asked about my finds and I showed them two spoons and $2.96 worth of change. They said you found that before you got here right I replied no. It all came from here. Most were deep as sand was thick and required two scoops even with the Pro scoop I had just bought to use.
Bottom line is they are both good machines and with proper learning and use will produce many good finds for whoever uses.
Excal in my opinion is a better/easier machine to use for someone who hunts once in a while. CZ pin pointing is a little more difficult. Excal is slower response and requires slower hunting. CZ tones for deep targets are just as strong as shallow one. The excal if not listening could be a missed item as tone is a lot less on depper targets. This is good and bad. you know it is deep and decide to dig or not and clarity on these targets can make you wonder if it is even a target worth digging at all sometimes. Choose not to dig and maybe leaving a very nice target.
I have hearing problems and the Excal on the quiet side could leave a target. The cz has solid thump on good targets.
You will not go wrong with either machine. Learn it and they will make you glad you bought either.

 

[TedAK]

One of the questions in the thread was "How are their respective repair records?

I have read quite a few posts on the forums about Minelab machines requiring repair shortly after the warrantee is up and requiring expensive repairs ($700) One of the members posted his experience with Fisher repairs and invited someone with experience with Minelab repairs and service to post their experience but I didn't see any responses. I'm a relatively new member to the forum so I may have missed it. I'd be interested in others experiences with this issue.

All the best,
Ted

 

[adamBomb]

One of the questions in the thread was "How are their respective repair records?

I have read quite a few posts on the forums about Minelab machines requiring repair shortly after the warrantee is up and requiring expensive repairs ($700) One of the members posted his experience with Fisher repairs and invited someone with experience with Minelab repairs and service to post their experience but I didn't see any responses. I'm a relatively new member to the forum so I may have missed it. I'd be interested in others experiences with this issue.

All the best,
Ted

This thread is from 2010 so anything about customer service and such could have change considerably...and it has.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Excals all day long!👍👌

I have owned 3 excals in the last 9 years, still own 2. Grand total of 3 repairs on all 3 combined, total of maybe $300 +/- few dollars with shipping.....




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[beerguy]

It looks easier to find a used Excal on ebay, and after picking up a used one, having the mods done will make it a fine machine for a reasonable cost.

My two cents...

 

[flgliderpilot]

Excel or CZ they are about the same, except the Excel requires a bit more skill to use effectively, in exchange for providing a little more information. The CZ is easier to learn although its only three tones... but the order and number of the three tones can provide additional info for target id. For example, Quarter, Nickel, and Dime all give high tones, but I can tell the difference in how the tone sounds and if it breaks to a mid tone and how often.

One advantage to the CZ is it takes 9V batteries. If your battery dies on your Excal you are out of luck unless you have a spare. The 9V's in a CZ last for months and drop off linearly so it's easy to tell when they are getting low. They are easy to obtain in a hurry.

Upside of the Excal of course is you don't buy 4 9V batteries every couple of months... but you do need to make sure they are always charged and hope they are still holding a full charge.

I have found several chains with my CZ... not small thin chains though.

I don't know of anyone who uses the CZ in discrimination mode.. it's Autotune then Disc 0 (tones but no discrimination).. and that's it.

BTW:

I was detecting over the weekend and had a local hunter tagging along behind me in the water with his Excal. I asked if he'd found anything behind me that I'd missed, and he replied only a penny. So I let him pass, and I followed directly behind him for awhile. I dug three rings behind him over the hour. We were only about 100 feet apart.

Your hunting technique is vastly more important than the differences between these two machines.