Water , machine metal Detector..

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,455
54,891
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Minelab, why waste time digging tiny pieces of iron..................
 

goldfever

Jr. Member
Nov 6, 2009
70
0
Treasure_Hunter said:
Minelab, why waste time digging tiny pieces of iron..................

Classic vlf user's statment.

I just bought a Garrett Infinium. It's very sensitive to gold. Plus it goes deep.
I found 2 gold rings in two days already.

Many VLF users always mis-inform newbies saying that PI's aren't good because you have to dig too much.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,455
54,891
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
goldfever said:
Treasure_Hunter said:
Minelab, why waste time digging tiny pieces of iron..................

Classic vlf user's statment.

I just bought a Garrett Infinium. It's very sensitive to gold. Plus it goes deep.
I found 2 gold rings in two days already.

Many VLF users always mis-inform newbies saying that PI's aren't good because you have to dig too much.
Goldfever,

My post says not a single word about a PI not being good, or was it directed at PI's, I said why waste time digging tiny pieces of iron, and it is true, as I dig no iron at all when hunting the beaches, my Minelab's null on iron......I also dig deep targets using the Excal and WOT coil......

Thread asked what you would buy and why.
 

OBN

Gold Member
Dec 30, 2008
6,529
7,010
Maryland Waters
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
"Excalibur"..
"AQ" Impulse
Primary Interest:
Other
Voted Minelabs.....Why, Great first detector and they work well just about every beach. After that you need backup detectors, another excal to backup the excal, a CZ20 for the Chesapeake Bay, A Infinium 10x14 mono for the west coast of Florida, which a CZ20 & a excal can do also, but not as deep. And then there are the dry sand detectors, the Minelab SE & White's Dfx for the High tide times. My advice to anyone looking for a water detector is to go to the Beach's you will be working, see what the local hunters are using and having success with and 9 out of 10 times that will be the detector for you, and this goes for scoops also..........joe
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Treasure_Hunter said:
Minelab, why waste time digging tiny pieces of iron..................

Minelabs are almost as deep as PI's with the same size coil but when you get older an wiser you don't wanna waste time digging tiny pieces of bread wrapper wire in deep holes. PI's are for the guys that are still young and have lots of time to kill so they dig a lot of holes and rely on the percentages to find the same amount of gold rings the Excal's and Sov's do. Never ever heard of a Excal leaking.

BHID's are fine for the lads on the dry sand but they can hardly take them in the water because many still leak and all the coils float so they have to be held down. At least the leaking is reported on the other forums which I can not mention. Might have to do with improper closing of the box. Also not even half the depth of Fisher's and Minelabs and have to have a 12" coil to equal depth.

Fisher CZ20 & 21 are fine if you use no disc and ignore the low tones but can still miss a gold ring under a nail.
 

jyt2017

Hero Member
May 7, 2010
532
289
New England
Detector(s) used
Excal WOT
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Can I ask a stupid question. Why on earth do the coils float on beach hunters. Not bad equipment. But why does the dogone coil float? Is that in case you lose your balance and don't have a life vest on. Just a joke. I was thinking of clamping lead or somethin heavy to weigh it down. I just got one. Its not a bad machine...stupid coil float ing problem is only complaint.

As for cz 20. I hated that machine....hated it. MAy give it another try some time. What I would reallly like to try is a minelab of course.

Anyway...enough typing.

Stupid floating coil!

Sandman said:
Treasure_Hunter said:
Minelab, why waste time digging tiny pieces of iron..................

Minelabs are almost as deep as PI's with the same size coil but when you get older an wiser you don't wanna waste time digging tiny pieces of bread wrapper wire in deep holes. PI's are for the guys that are still young and have lots of time to kill so they dig a lot of holes and rely on the percentages to find the same amount of gold rings the Excal's and Sov's do. Never ever heard of a Excal leaking.

BHID's are fine for the lads on the dry sand but they can hardly take them in the water because many still leak and all the coils float so they have to be held down. At least the leaking is reported on the other forums which I can not mention. Might have to do with improper closing of the box. Also not even half the depth of Fisher's and Minelabs and have to have a 12" coil to equal depth.

Fisher CZ20 & 21 are fine if you use no disc and ignore the low tones but can still miss a gold ring under a nail.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,455
54,891
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
joeb1999 said:
Can I ask a stupid question. Why on earth do the coils float on beach hunters. Not bad equipment. But why does the dogone coil float? Is that in case you lose your balance and don't have a life vest on. Just a joke. I was thinking of clamping lead or somethin heavy to weigh it down. I just got one. Its not a bad machine...stupid coil float ing problem is only complaint.

As for cz 20. I hated that machine....hated it. MAy give it another try some time. What I would reallly like to try is a minelab of course.

Anyway...enough typing.

Stupid floating coil!

Do not use anything metal to weigh it down, it will cause it to false.....A small "bean bag" with aquarium gravel or sand works perfectly, make it like an ankle weight with velcro to take it on and off....
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Treasure_Hunter said:
joeb1999 said:
Can I ask a stupid question. Why on earth do the coils float on beach hunters. Not bad equipment. But why does the dogone coil float? Is that in case you lose your balance and don't have a life vest on. Just a joke. I was thinking of clamping lead or somethin heavy to weigh it down. I just got one. Its not a bad machine...stupid coil float ing problem is only complaint.

As for cz 20. I hated that machine....hated it. MAy give it another try some time. What I would reallly like to try is a minelab of course.

Anyway...enough typing.

Stupid floating coil!

Do not use anything metal to weigh it down, it will cause it to false.....A small "bean bag" with aquarium gravel or sand works perfectly, make it like an ankle weight with velcro to take it on and off....
Dive shops have ankle weights that have no metal to interfer with the detector and can snap on the shaft for water work and taken off when you want to do the sand above water Funny, all other manufactures don't have floating coils and they aren't heavy above water.
 

Indasurf

Full Member
Jan 2, 2008
208
2
Detector(s) used
Garrett Infinium, White's BHID 300, Fisher CZ20, Fisher CZ 6A, Bounty Hunter Discovery 3300, Tesoro Silver Sabre Plus, White's 5900 DI Pro SL, and others!
I have the Beach Hunter 300 and it goes as deep if not deeper than my CZ20.
It's not too heavy and chest mounted is easy to handle.

You can't even get to the orange seals on the Beach Hunter 300 as the battery box door is the only opening.
It's DIFFERENTLY designed than the other White's water machines, on the PIs and the Duel Field the box is opened to get to the battery and this is where you have access to the orange seals.

If you change the battery at the beach, and you really should NEVER have to due to the long life of the batteries,
then you should make sure to not get ANY sand on the black gasket on the battery door to prevent water issues!

This is just common sense and would be the same with ANY water machine that is opened in the WRONG environment!!!

The 12" coil is actually super sensitive due to the design which has a smaller type coil within the larger one.

It's the only machine you can use in all-metal for super depth and still have target id with the lights.

The fastest recovery time allows you to cover much more area and that means extra finds!

I find plenty of gold with this machine!!


:icon_pirat:
 

Tony in FL

Full Member
Nov 7, 2009
220
26
Gulf Coast Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Another vote for Minelab Excalibur. . . . .

:thumbsup:

I am new to MD'ing and picked up an Excalibur II 10' about 6 months ago. I am happy with my choice and feel like it is an excellent water / beach detector, plus it can be used just about anywhere.
 

FloridaBill

Bronze Member
Jan 24, 2008
1,541
5
Punta Gorda, Florida
Detector(s) used
Compass & Beachunter 300, Garrett Seahunter Excalibur ll
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ask Fl Bill if a BH300 leaks...................
[/quote]

Here is the story on water machines. They all can mess up sooner or later. (Electronic & water don't mix period) What you have to understand is a lot of us in Florida are far from normal water hunters. And what I mean by that is that we put more time in waist to chest deep water in two weeks than most guys will put on a machine in two years. Pete (Erikk) and I hunt at least three times a week 365 days a year mostly in the water, that's lots of hours. We put these machines through the test. I have always said these companies need to get folks like us and the Treasure Hunter, Mark, Dave, Montalk , MT Pockets , FSS, Etc. (list goes on) that are out there everyday putting these machines to the test. Not making a machine and dipping it in a tank for a few minutes.


I tried buying an ex cal ll and the first one arrived . I put the coil in the water and it went crazy , sent back, another one arrived same thing , sent back, my third one arrived and after a week in the water that to died. At this point I had had it with frustration as most can understand . I didn't want to spend my time sending machines back and forth through the mail.

I had owned a beachunter ID and had no problems with it but hated the floating coil. So I decided to give the new beachunter a try. First machine arrived turned it on went crazy had to return it. Another one arrived and it finally appeared to be working fine. After a year of heavy hunting and happy with the machine I noticed water inside the box. Sent back , in less than two weeks I had in my hand a brand new one from White's no questions asked (Now that's customer service). I think I am going on two trouble free years now with lots and lots of gold rings found...

So you know what, its what you like, bottom line they all have problems and its human nature to knock a machine you had trouble with and also praise a machine you have, even though it may not really be as good as you are claiming it to be. They are all great machines and doesn't matter if your coil doesn't pass over it your not going to find it anyway.

As far as the red gasket it has cut down on most of the leaks if not all and I think the weak spot is not the gasket but in fact the toggle switch that controls the all metal mode is leaking. You are NOT suppose to mess with that gasket and it will void the warranty . The box is not designed to be opened up and lubed, it just stays sealed. So leave it the way it is and if you get a leak don't worry whites will be there to stand behind their product.

I could go around knocking Minelab , shoot I couldn't get any to work and they were brand new units. I even had Pete test them out also because at that point I thought I forgot how to run a machine, even though I had run his ex cal. many times, and yes same conclusion machines were messed up. Does that mean I will never try another ex cal. nope it will be my next machine but with a WOT coil .....

Sorry for the long post but maybe this will help someone down the road....

Bottom line Don't Mess with the gasket !!!!
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Well said Bill.... :headbang:

I am in the water about every day during the warmer weather because I don't like to be bitten by the bugs and the eye candy is better at the beaches. The manufacturers must have someone test the detectors, but we are subject to what they think is the best detector. I am sure White's thinks most of the hunters that buy the BHID 300 are going to never go in the water so they'd want a light weight coil. And designing detectors that are idiot proof is hard to do.

I once had trouble with my CZ-20 not turning on even after I installed fresh batteries. It took me a couple beers to think to check the batteries again. Sure enough I installed two the wrong way. Why I didn't see that the first time I checked I have no idea, an this was before the beer. :laughing7:
 

D

digum smacks

Guest
treasure hunter you are mistaken you dig steel all day long with your minelab if i remember right they are called "bottle caps" :laughing9: go to miami beach if you hunt all day long you will have no less than 2 pouches full using a minelab.in the water they all sound like a big fat gold ring
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,455
54,891
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
snooksion2 said:
treasure hunter you are mistaken you dig steel all day long with your minelab if i remember right they are called "bottle caps" :laughing9: go to miami beach if you hunt all day long you will have no less than 2 pouches full using a minelab.in the water they all sound like a big fat gold ring

No, I am not mistaken, I said "I do not dig IRON", I do dig the bottlecaps that I can not tell are bottlecaps which is at least half of them (^*%@$^$&)... Though no where near 2 pouches full....
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I think those bottle caps are alumium and not steel. As such they will sound off on the Excal and Sov GT's even with the Iron Mask turned on.
 

S.S.Tupperware

Hero Member
Jul 18, 2009
798
51
Orlando
Detector(s) used
PI Dual/Coinmaster 5500d/DFX/BHID
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I really like my DF, I do dig some Iron but you can tell a lot of it as the tone isn't as sharp. Mine never leaked but I am very conscious of the gasket and such. So I use my DFX for fluff and the wet sand and, no Iron ... which is where I find most of it. Over on the gulf I find more than enough old crab trap pieces, but because of their size, most sound good. I wouldn't mind trying an Excal, but the lack or maybe slow service has me shied away from them, I sure don't want 1.2k invested in something that will take months to fix. I don't know why everyone cries about the floating coil on whites, I don't even notice it, but maybe some forum members need to eat a lil more spinach... :laughing7:
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,455
54,891
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
S.S.Tupperware said:
I wouldn't mind trying an Excal, but the lack or maybe slow service has me shied away from them, I sure don't want 1.2k invested in something that will take months to fix. I don't know why everyone cries about the floating coil on whites, I don't even notice it, but maybe some forum members need to eat a lil more spinach... :laughing7:

SS

Heck, there are people waiting a year to get their Tesoro water machines fixed because of the connector problem. I have never had to wait more then 3 weeks round trip on a Minelab repair, and that included weekends and travel time there and back.

I had the Beach Hunter ID, it had the floating coil, I still used it, but there was no doubt it wanted to float, and I eat lots of spinach... ;D
 

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