Is my f2 broken or is this nomal! Please help!!!

[Bah Bam]

I am fairly new to this hobby, i got an f2 for fathersday and years ago had a cz5. I have had the 8 inch coil only on the f2 so far. Anyways, the reading will say zinc then, switch to iron then go to quarter, then dime, sometimes a nickel and not necessarily in that order! But seems to gives you a variety of possibilities and then i dig and get like a bottle cap or penny or foil! Wouldnt foil register as foil and dime as dime, etc? I mean, it cant tell you exactly whats there but why does it say something different with every sweep? Is my coil bad? Any suggestions? Ive turned the sensitivity down and that did help weed out a bit of the issue but still acts up! Is this normal. Wisconsin area sand and dirt soil!

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[Kbron2000]

You have to tune your ears to the tones of your machine, I do most of the time... To give you an example the screen sometimes shows a quarter reading and you end up with pennies, or bottle caps! dimes and you end up with silver coins or rings etc.

[Sandman]

This is what is wrong with detectors that can't lock on. Even the AT Pro hangs on a wall because of this. I prefer to use a Beep and dig detector like the Tesoro's and let my ears do the Id'ing. Also the disc settings are more accurate.

[Paulsj]

This is what is wrong with detectors that can't lock on. Even the AT Pro hangs on a wall because of this. I prefer to use a Beep and dig detector like the Tesoro's and let my ears do the Id'ing. Also the disc settings are more accurate.

What do you mean about "lock on"? What is this feature?

[Vizzio]

One thing I've noticed with the F2 is that you have to set the sensitivity down one from the default power-on sens. Try setting it to 2 and see if you still have that problem. I'm using the 11" DD coil and I have that at higher sensitivity, but not terribly often. There may be something wrong with your detector too. I would call Fisher and see if there is anything they can do about it. The F2 has a great warranty.

[Sandman]

What do you mean about "lock on"? What is this feature?

What is meant by "locking on," is the meter sticks to one number or item but can change to another ID number if there is another target very near the first item, but doesn't jump all over the place.

[dbsmokey]

I have experienced what you are, but with a different brand of machine. I think there are at least three possible reasons:

1. The VDI numbers of trash (especially pulltabs and foil) tend to bounce around, often indicating trash.
2. The coil you are using is too large for potentially highly mineralized soil in your area. I say this because when I switched from a 9.5" to a 6" coil, my VDI numbers became more stable, with minimal loss of depth.
3. The sensitivity setting is too high and needs to be lowered.

If lowering your sensitivity doesn't help, consider getting a smaller coil. It made a huge difference for me. Bear in mind that Tone ID and Visual ID are never 100% accurate. That's why Sandman says beep and dig machines have their advantage. What I tend to do, until I get tired, is dig every positive VDI because I never know if two targets (junk + keeper or two keepers) are being averaged by my machine.

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

I am fairly new to this hobby, i got an f2 for fathersday and years ago had a cz5. I have had the 8 inch coil only on the f2 so far. Anyways, the reading will say zinc then, switch to iron then go to quarter, then dime, sometimes a nickel and not necessarily in that order! But seems to gives you a variety of possibilities and then i dig and get like a bottle cap or penny or foil! Wouldnt foil register as foil and dime as dime, etc? I mean, it cant tell you exactly whats there but why does it say something different with every sweep? Is my coil bad? Any suggestions? Ive turned the sensitivity down and that did help weed out a bit of the issue but still acts up! Is this normal. Wisconsin area sand and dirt soil!

If it always does this call Fisher. They are awesome at helping people out! Felix up there is THE MAN!
Sounds like you migh be around electrical interference. Try several different places.

[Sandman]

If it always does this call Fisher. They are awesome at helping people out! Felix up there is THE MAN!
Sounds like you migh be around electrical interference. Try several different places.

Electiical Interference

Also make sure your coil cover is clean of sand.

[Bah Bam]

So i went to a different place and turned the sensitivity down to 2bars. Ran over several objects that registered as quarter or dimes, dug targets and all were steel and iron. Also rechecked holes and nothing else was there after finding iron or trash steel. Is this the way they act, here im thinking, awesome ive got something thats not iron and a vdi of like 55 nickel and dig up a large flat steel washer or a square nut. I mean this is weird to me!

[Bah Bam]

Also once the item is out of the ground it always registers as iron, then i recheck hole and surrounding area and nothing else is there. Maybe ill switch coils and see if that makes a difference.

[gleaner1]

Stick a big patch of duct tape over the screen and make pretend the f2 is your beloved old cz5. You will do good, but not as deep.

[Lowbatts]

Have you tried to see how accurate it is with some example targets on top of the ground and from what height above the target(s)?

Put some pieces of can slaw out there in the yard, a couple coins, rings, pull tabs, federal reserve strongbox or floor safe, etc.. Have them spaced a bit apart and run that coil over them. See what the best settings are for each target category at various settings and heights.

Actual in-ground conditions are a game changer, but trying this first might give you some confidence in what the machine is indicating.

[Bah Bam]

Its broken, now it sounds like a slot machine in vegas when you turn it on! Even a different coil made it worse! Going back to fisher!,