ACE 250 issues

[P.ALLEN]

Hot day yesterday, so this is kinda weird

I was out detecting at a local park, I was pulling out targets left and right (mostly trash) (I had discriminated out Iron, foil, and nickel on Jewelry setting). After about an hour the machine goes berserk, jumping all over the place, beeping like crazy. I turn sensitivity down one notch, it was up at three, went down to two, still going crazy, go down to one, it stops beeping but the notch is still jumping all over the spectrum. So I turn it off, turn it back on and go to another setting, I think I hit relics, go back up to 3 (nothing was discriminated or eliminated at this point) and it's still jumping around and beeping like crazy. So I went home, put her in the house in my spot and waited till the evening. Went out back with a couple pennys and a quarter and it seemed to be working ok without sensitivity issues or beeping like crazy. Two hypothesis: One is heat (I live in Michigan, it's not drop butt hot/humid like the south, or dry heat like out west) Second thought, did the grounding go? Any help would be appreciated, if it happens again I will most likely send it back, I really don't make the money to upgrade to the next model. This machine was given as a gift 24 Dec 2016, and the first time it was used was March 2017 (ground was frozen). Thoughts?

 

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[longcut]

sounds to me like you ran into some unseen EMI ...... underground cable or something like that ....

 

[releventchair]

A 350 has done that for me.
Very much the same as Longcut's mention of EMI. ( And confirmed similar behavior when in high EMI areas elsewhere).

Seldom has happened since without finding the cause ,but it was so confusing the first time I thought the detector was messed up.
A hot day and moving from shade to sun is when it started on an old yard. No known buried electric wire but one suspected.
Messed with my mind thinking temp or moisture factored but have not had the same conditions cause it again.

Being stubborn ,unless interference is know or discovered I do a reset after pulling battery cover and rolling batteries while checking they are in proper position.
( Change batteries out if less than half charged shows when working on strange behavior, seems strange but has mattered before)Then after a reset ,reduce sensitivity.
If detector is still wonky I move to a previous area it worked right ,or just move off away from the immediate area to try it.
Most times it is area related and not the detector. So far here anyway.

 

[P.ALLEN]

Thanks all, I will do a battery change then factory reset. At the time I didn't think to do that.

 

[John-Edmonton]

My guess is weak batteries. That's a typical effect on the ACE Series when the batteries are running low. The fact that you gave the machine a rest also allows the batteries to push out an extra volt or two.

 

[A2coins]

Change frequencies,also see if there is something foreign stuck on your coil.

 

[P.ALLEN]

Follow up, I did the reset and it works fine now. Thanks all.