Info on the 6" coil

Gone Detectin

Full Member
Nov 2, 2015
108
60
Tennessee
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Bandido II Umax,
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
So whats the consensus on the 6" at this point? Got back to hunting yesterday in a good iron patch with the standard coil and am amazed at what it pulls out. Is the 6" that much better? Only reason I ask this is last year when I looked into reviews it seemed people were not touting it to heavily.

Also head something about needing to rollback to the oldest version of software for it to work well?

And (if at all) what mode does this coil work the best in?

Gonna be hunting pounded, iron filled sites with this, so any answers regarding this style of hunting would be great.
 

tennessee digger

Bronze Member
Sep 14, 2011
1,672
701
Nashville
Detector(s) used
Tesoro and Troy Shadow Fisher Gold Bug Pro Minelab Equinox 600.
I just got one but haven't used it yet. My buddy has one and he swears by it in trashy places. Can't wait to hear other's opinions.
 

RobNC

Full Member
Jan 5, 2019
230
405
NC
Detector(s) used
EQ800 (Stock Coil), XP ORX (X35 11")
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
So whats the consensus on the 6" at this point? Got back to hunting yesterday in a good iron patch with the standard coil and am amazed at what it pulls out. Is the 6" that much better? Only reason I ask this is last year when I looked into reviews it seemed people were not touting it to heavily.

Also head something about needing to rollback to the oldest version of software for it to work well?

And (if at all) what mode does this coil work the best in?

Gonna be hunting pounded, iron filled sites with this, so any answers regarding this style of hunting would be great.

My best advice is to pull off the coil cover when it arrives and check for defects/ problems with the epoxy covering the windings.
From my limited testing with mine(now on the way back to minelab for replacement), it appears to be very sensitive just like the standard coil. It's a bit weird trying to get used to it though after you've swung the standard coil.
I only took it out once and even then i had issues with iron at one site. I did dig one deep penny at around 8 inches. So it does get on down in the ground. No worries there.
While you can crank up the sensitivity with this coil you really don't need to. That defeats the whole purpose of it I think. Working in heavy iron or trash areas as someone else told me it is not a bad idea to run your sens down. It won't hurt the depth but will help with separation and make the better targets come on through. I seen this first hand with indoor tests and nails scattered around a coin. Sensitivity all the way down to 10 and still hitting hard on indian head test penny among nails.

Yes, it has been said since that was not in dirt it doesn't matter. It does show the detector is capable of separating good from bad targets. I think the 6" coil is a worthwhile investment.
 

Dan(NM)

Bronze Member
Dec 3, 2014
1,668
3,812
Central Texas
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
5
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Modified Explorer 2
Raptor c-31 digger
31" Lesche Sampson
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
So whats the consensus on the 6" at this point? Got back to hunting yesterday in a good iron patch with the standard coil and am amazed at what it pulls out. Is the 6" that much better? Only reason I ask this is last year when I looked into reviews it seemed people were not touting it to heavily.

Also head something about needing to rollback to the oldest version of software for it to work well?

And (if at all) what mode does this coil work the best in?

Gonna be hunting pounded, iron filled sites with this, so any answers regarding this style of hunting would be great.

I have it to hunt extremely trashy sites and its works fantastic. I hunt in park 1, but have used it in Field 2. There is no best mode, but, it all depends on what your hunting for. I have the update on my machine and it functions without any issues. Not sure what bad reviews you've read, but, I wouldn't be without one. I've had 2 different coils and both have done what I bought them to do, hunt in trashy or iron infested places. I run with 0 iron bias and 5-6 recovery speed, drop the pitch down on unwanted numbers and listen for the high tones on what I'm looking for. I also drop sensitivity down to 12-14, not trying to go deep, just get in between the crap.
 

baddley

Jr. Member
Jan 28, 2019
21
16
West Virginia
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have the 6 inch coil myself and have used it too work on my pinpointing, it has been useful for this too. I am mainly using Park 1 and Field 1 mode for this too. It has help me weed out targets close to each other and do away with some trash to, my swing speed it as 4 and I am pleased with it so far :D

Scott
 

JoeVal

Full Member
Oct 28, 2018
199
959
NE Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 600 & 800
Bounty Hunter Land Ranger Pro
Bounty Hunter Tracker Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I watched every YouTube video I could find on this coil, and couldn’t find a single negative review...not sure where you’re hearing this, but it sounds to me like someone who pulled it out of the plastic, attached it to the machine and never bothered to read anything about how to use it, or what it’s capabilities are. There’s a segment of the population that cannot make ANYTHING work, especially stuff that requires you to read directions. ???

Based on the hunt videos, test bed evaluations, reviews and personal reports on forums, I ordered one and it will arrive today in the mail. After adding the 5x8 coil to my AT Max, I learned the value of a small coil in tight, trashy areas like I like to detect in. With the small coil, I pulled more coins from around the baseball bleachers than I initially did with the standard coil.

I can’t recall where I heard or read this, but the person said that because of its physical size, it detect about 2” shallower than the standard Nox coil. To compensate for that, they cut the recovery speed on their 600 back to 2 and slowed down their swing to about 2-3 seconds per pass, and were able to hear more of the deeper targets.

After hearing that, I took my 600 with the standard coil to a park, and applied that to an area that is pretty trashy. Changing to recovery speed 2 and slowing down, actually yielded a deep clad quarter and dime in the same hole. I couldn’t hear either coin on speed 3 with my normal swing (which is pretty fast at 1-2 seconds per pass), but had no problem picking it out after the change.

Looking forward to trying out the coil this weekend, even if it means going into the woods to do it.
 

sprailroad

Silver Member
Jan 19, 2017
2,577
3,980
Grants Pass, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Garrett A3B United States Gold Hunter, GTA 1000, AT Pro, Discovery Treasure Baron "Gold Trax", Minelab X-Terra 70, Safari, & EQ 800, & Nokta Marko Legend. EQ 900.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have NO regrets in buying one. None at all.
 

vferrari

Silver Member
Jul 19, 2015
4,910
8,376
Near Ground Zero for Insanity
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with HF/x35 Coils and Mi6 Pinpointer/ML Equinox 600/800/ML Tarsacci MDT 8000 GPX 4800/Garrett ATX/Fisher F75 DST/Tek G2+/Delta/Whites MXT/Nokta Simplex/Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It is a great situational coil, for small curb strip sized plots of thick iron or for maneuvering around restrictions such as shrubs, corn stalks, or playground equipment. Honestly, I wish ML had gone with a 10 x 6 elliptical so you could get in tight if you had to, but could also get more coverage in more open field situations. I can’t use that thing in large open areas because I have to basically tip toe along with only 6” of swing coverage. Don’t overthink the whole pre and post update thing, it will likely work ok regardless, though many insist it works best pre upgrade. I’m finding I use the stock coil about 90% of the time and split the remainder between the large and small coils, depending on the situation.
 

cudamark

Gold Member
Top Banner Poster
Mar 16, 2011
13,173
14,463
San Diego
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
XP Deus 2, Equinox 800/900, Fisher Impulse AQ, E-Trac, 3 Excal 1000's, White's TM808, VibraProbe, 15" NEL Attack, Mi6, Steath 920ix and 720i scoops, TRX, etc....
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It's another tool in the box. I use a the biggest coil I can at a given site. The 6" is a trashy/iron infested/ site coil. I find it particularly helpful around fire rings, playground equipment, rebarred walls, picnic tables, tight planter boxes, areas with real bad EMI, and metal fences.
 

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gsxraddict

Hero Member
Sep 21, 2005
629
413
Resaca, GA
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, Minelab Equinox 800, Whites V3i
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
I have it and I think it sucks, killed the depth.
 

vferrari

Silver Member
Jul 19, 2015
4,910
8,376
Near Ground Zero for Insanity
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with HF/x35 Coils and Mi6 Pinpointer/ML Equinox 600/800/ML Tarsacci MDT 8000 GPX 4800/Garrett ATX/Fisher F75 DST/Tek G2+/Delta/Whites MXT/Nokta Simplex/Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have it and I think it sucks, killed the depth.

You mean beyond what would be expected for a 6 vs. 11" coil? It is designed for separation and tight swing areas, not depth. The expectation is that it would have about half the depth, on average, as the stock coil if you were swinging them side-by-side over the same ground. You might be able to compensate by being able to run sensitivity higher, but 4 to 6 inches is the expectation with excursions as deep as 8 inches in sandy soil possible. The whole point of the coil is to allow you to maneuver it around iron junk and obstacles to retrieve shallower masked or blocked targets left unretrieved by those using slower machines with larger coils.
 

Wild Colonial Boy

Hero Member
Sep 7, 2013
599
834
the nearest ditch
Detector(s) used
equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
the coil is great for me for old house sites, where a lot of in metal in ground, I have ran it over sites i had already seached with 11" coil and found a lot of new stuff like dimes penny and buttons, that did not ring up with 11" coil due to iron masking, the small radius and less coverage works as an advantage as less iron is under coil as it sweeps and it picks up small medium depth items, I was one of the unfortunate ones that the is only successful at 6" unmasking goodies in old firmware, I did extensive testing with upgrade and confirmed it only works well for ME pre upgrade, so I run old software and have great success,I know others sold theres for that reason but I stuck with it.
it also works great with multi directional searches as new things pop up in same spot when you sweep over from a new direction
 

detectorben

Sr. Member
Feb 19, 2017
345
1,518
Nebraska
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I love the 6 inch coil. I use it in trashy parks and homesites with great success. The depth is very good for a coil that size as well but obviously there is depth loss over stock coil.
 

HighVDI

Silver Member
Feb 16, 2017
2,765
4,594
Pa
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I had one for a while and it was a complete iron magnet. Ran my stock coil over a spot after and got a few non ferrous so I sold it off.
 

digger27

Bronze Member
May 18, 2011
1,506
3,225
Love mine, it rarely leaves the bottom of my rod.
It likes iron like the bigger coil but there are behavioral clues I am now noticing that really helps to tell the difference between iron and quality targets.
At first I couldn't tell a thing and I was fooled by lots of iron, now several hours in I am digging way less iron and finding way more.
I assume I will get even better than this as I gain more experience.

I hunt in fast oceans of mineralized dirt and massive extra iron, here the prime issue we deal with is masking.
That larger standard coil has found me a lot that was hidden in sites that have been scoured to depth but the small coil is doing it even better and easier.
Things are surfacing that are dropping my jaw in areas I hunt all the time but have found very little in recent times like silver coin spills and older coins I should have found befire...but didn't.
I get great depth, better stability in the tones and numbers than anything I have ever used before in my strange devil dirt at all levels from shallow to deep.
Seems to pick up coins on edge well too, I have found a few that I know for sure were standing vertical and I suspect several more coins I have found were also.

The really big coil looks interesting but I doubt I will ever get one because the two I have seems to but the depths I need, but a buddy has one so we will see how it works around here.
For now, I believe I got the best coil I could have ever asked for to deal with my challenging sites.
 

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