Pull tab ends up being a nickel signal, Huh?

[Fishtanks]

Why is it when my detector picks up a nickel signal it usually turns out to be a poptop or a pull tab? What is a nickel made of anyways?

 

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[mtntrekr2]

what are you running the sens at. if to high it will sometimes be off with the target id. But if you pass over all those pulltab signals you could be missing some nice finds as a lot of rings are found in the pulltab range on any detector.

joe

 

[itsmymind]

The older ones were made out of buffalo testicles and the new ones are made out of the recycled pull tabs we all send in to the government each month for our part in the stimulus package. LOL just kidding.

 

[mtntrekr2]

I enjoy digging beaver tails because I know that the place has some goodies left for me if there are still some old tabs left behind by the cherry pickers.
Joe

 

[crazyjarhead]

Why is it when my detector picks up a nickel signal it usually turns out to be a poptop or a pull tab? What is a nickel made of anyways?

I can't tell you why but you have to dig them anyways as you might miss out on a ring or a nickle. My Ace is the same and I know other detetors come up the same way. Correct me if I am misleading you but I can only speak on my experiences and what I have read on other members post. You will dig lots of pull tabs if you want to find some coinage or rings. The choice is your's. Good luck and be patient as it's part of the adventure of digging for treasure. HH Ron

 

[treasurehound]

Don't be discouraged to dig pull tabs. If you want to find jewelry and nickels you have to dig it all. I know on my DFX if the VDI is around 21 or 22 and stays there no matter how many times I go over it then it is almost always a nickel. The best way to learn your machine is to dig every target and listen to the tones. It takes time to learn a machine no matter what brand it is.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Fishtanks, welcome to the harsh cruel reality of the metal detecting world: various junk items and nickels share the same TID range. And small gold and small aluminum share the same TID ranges, etc....

You did not say what type detector you are using, but some have a more expanded scale than others. That is to say: some have a mere 5 quadrant (or whatever) TID scale, while others (the XLT for instance) have a 0 to 95 scale, to allow you to make better guesses at tabs verses nickels. Other have even more fun scales, like the up/down left/right axis of the explorer, to allow you to make even more assessments.

But the bottom line is, aluminum will always share TIDs with gold jewelry and nickels. Nickels will be a lot easier to ferret out, because unlike gold jewelry (which comes in infinate sizes, shapes, weights, karots, etc...) nickels are always 100% the same. Only depth and minerals are there to skew those TIDs, so you can acutally, with the right TID machine, pass practically all aluminum types, while effortlessly digging nickels (shallow easy nickels anyhow).

 

[UNCLENICK]

I as well, with my ace250, running sens at 5 solid bars[i guess thats medium sens on other machines] and in jewelry mode always, always dig solid pulltab, and nickel signals. Every ring I have found was either pulltab, or nickel. I heard... that you have to dig the pulltabs to get the gold/silver rings. I have gooten so confident with my machine depending on the area, if I hit a solid nickel signal my chances so far have been,65% nickel,25%ring,10%nail. DIG those nickel/pulltab signals!

 

[Woodland Detectors]

The older ones were made out of buffalo testicles and the new ones are made out of the recycled pull tabs we all send in to the government each month for our part in the stimulus package. LOL just kidding.

That's funny

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Why is it when my detector picks up a nickel signal it usually turns out to be a poptop or a pull tab? What is a nickel made of anyways?

Sadly, as much as we'd like to believe otherwise, metal detectors do not detect metal. They just detect relative conductivity that passes through the field of the coil. Metal just happens to conduct very well. Detectors also detect salt, especially in solution (potassium and calcium are metals). A detector doesn't know aluminum from nickel from gold or silver other than how they are calibrated based on relative conductivity. Silver is very conductive and excites the field of the coil in a concentrated area and triggers a great signal. Copper a bit less, gold even less, iron least of all. Nickel falls down below gold. Aluminum, on the other hand, does about as well or better than gold for conductivity.

So, just because someone told your detector that at a certain conductivity it will illuminate a "nickel" icon does not mean it is so. There could be several conductive objects under the coil at once. The better the detector the better the processing software and circuit designs and, therefore, the better the target seperation and interpretation. Some detectors can spot a nickel beside or even under a nail. Others will null out from the nail and ignore the nickel entirely.

The answer is to dig it all and gradually learn how your detector interprets what is in the soil. And be skeptical of the display at all times.

 

[luvsdux]

The answer is to dig it all and gradually learn how your detector interprets what is in the soil. And be skeptical of the display at all times. Wink

Charlie P. is right on. Especially the part about being skeptical of the display. Fortunately it works both ways. I often see trash displays that sound a little off, that when retrieved, turn out to be a goodie. One example, a while back I got a blip on the display that I normally would pass up, but the sound was a bit off. In fact, I did walk on by a step or two and then thought about it, turned back, relocated the signal and dug. Up came a very small .925 silver, scotty dog charm from a charm bracelet. The whole nickel, pull tab etc. similar response is a part of the hobby that one has to live with if you're going to keep hunting. If every target were a %100 sure thing a lot of the interest and mystique of what's there would disappear.
HH
BB

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Very good post Charlie. And I would add more woes to our dilema: there are alloys that affect resultant conductivity. To simply say "gold is a low conductor" for instance, is a loaded statement. Because in fact, gold in its pure form (24k) is an excellent conductor! If you had a small gold ring, made of 24k pure gold, believe me, it would read up at penny/dime (high conductor). But the same size ring, made of 14k gold, would read down at tab, nickel, or whatever (low conductor). The reason for the lowering of conductivity, is the alloys added to gold, to harden it up into useable jewelry functions.

And size plays in to the equation too. For example: Aluminum may be a low conductor ..... SIZE FOR SIZE! But if you took an entire aluminum can and waved it in front of your coil, you would get a penny or quarter (high conductor) signal, right? But why is that? A tab is aluminum, and an entire aluminum can is aluminum, so why did the TID's read different in each case? Because size plays into it.

Thus the harsh cruel world of metal detecting disc. If they ever invent a machine that can tell actual composition, and not just conductivity, we're all going to be digging gold rings till our arms fall off, eh?

 

[stefen]

The older ones were made out of buffalo testicles and the new ones are made out of the recycled pull tabs we all send in to the government each month for our part in the stimulus package. LOL just kidding.

Damn...you beat me to it...you're as warped as I am

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

'S true, 's true. The detector manufacturers have to start somewhere, so they pre-discriminate the adjustments to assume everything comes in "average coin size" pieces. A shallow buried but complete aluminum can overloads the circuits big time. The detector is saying: "It's a Chicken sized nickel or a couple dozen Lincoln Cents!"

For $hit$ and giggles - here is a link to ALL elements sorted from least conductive (electrically) to most. http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/electrical.html

Silver, copper, gold, aluminum (in that order). Nickel trails a ways further down.

One of the reasons gold (or silver) rings pick up so well is the ring shape itself. The toroid shape has surface eddies out the giggie in an electrical field.

 

[Fishtanks]

Holy Crap guy's I do appreciate all the knowledgable responses to my question. You have all been very helpful. But what is a nickel really made of

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Barbers, Buffs and Jeffs: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel. (And the super hard to find 3¢ Nickels, too! - You dig them you're a dedicated detectorist and digger of MUCH trash)

War nickels: 35% Silver, 56% Copper, 9% Manganise.

Early 5¢ pieces ("Half-dimes"): 90% Silver, 10% Copper.

 

[Fishtanks]

Barbers, Buffs and Jeffs: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel. (And the super hard to find 3¢ Nickels, too! - You dig them you're a dedicated detectorist and digger of MUCH trash)

War nickels: 35% Silver, 56% Copper, 9% Manganise.

Early 5¢ pieces ("Half-dimes"): 90% Silver, 10% Copper.

Charlie, That is very interesting to know. Thankyou

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

The base metals used in some pull tabs are a lot like the base metals in good targets, if you don't want to dig pull tabs, and descriminate them out, your going to miss a lot of nice targets including GOLD.......

 

[liftloop]

My master hunter cx told me it was a nickle showed 5 inches deep.I pulled out an old pull tab, what a let down.but right be for that I found a 1944 wheety at around the same dept.I thought for sure it was a nickel.

 

[pokerdad911]

Why is it when my detector picks up a nickel signal it usually turns out to be a poptop or a pull tab? What is a nickel made of anyways?

When my IDX PRO hits on nickle and it has to stay on the 5 cent for me to dig , and 80% of the time it is a nickle for me then pull tabs and a couple of times GOLD!