Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

[~MetalDigger~]

Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I'm new to metal detecting, and I'm a soon expectant owner of an ace 250, and I would like to know what your experince with the ace's are, and your finds.

What tips, and advice do you have. On a scale of 1-10 how accurate was your detector, far as depth, and visual on screen accuracy on an object. What is the maximum depth you have detected at. And do you prefer rechargable batterys, or just standard batterys, and how long do they last.

My friend owns a lower end detectors, like the one I'm listing below, he use's his to find nuts&bolts, and things he looses in his yard, how would the ace compare to one of these anolog style jobs. Thanks

 

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[funkman]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Outback,

The Ace 250 will bring you many great items. I have had mine about a year and a half and it has brought me a few nice coins from the 1800's. Do you have any old homestead sites that you can detect at? This machine will find some old coins and relics for you if you know what the machine is trying to tell you. If my 250 says it is a quarter, more than likely it is a quarter. What Ricardo says about lifting the coil on some objects to see if they are big or not is correct. The cans always give me that great coin signal but I lift the coil off the ground a good distance and if it still sees it then it is bigger than a coin.
I have dug flat buttons from the 1800's that show up in the nickel/pulltab range so where I hunt I usually leave it in jewelry mode which will get rid of the iron signals.

One other trick that we learned on our 250's and might be the same for other machines is that when you are in pinpoint mode and you slowly bring the coil back towards you with the pinpoint button depressed, if the pinpoint meter drops instantly then the item is shallow and usually right under the front of the coil. If the pinpoint meter bars drop off one by one, then the object is deeper and somewhere areound the middle of the coil.

Any other questions feel free to ask. We are more than happy to help in these forums.

Funkman

 

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[MD Dog]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Wow, Ok so your brand new to this. I agree with Ricardo except on the removal of the nickle signal. Now it's true that it will cause you to dig some junque', But keep in mind that this will eliminate almost any chance you might have for finding any gold, including but not limited to rings. Such things as gold platinum, white gold and a few other metals are lumped into the lowere frequency signals. Don't get me wrong cause I know your brand new at this and some of the people are trying to save you some headaches digging alot of pulltabs which also come in this range, but I think you might wanna get used to digging these signals right from the start because as you can see most of us learn to dig these for the gold anyway. With the Ace the trick is to see how consistant the signal is. Does it say nickle everytime I swing over it or does it jump around. Only dig consistent signals, that means it sounds off on every swing over it. this will save you plenty of headaches but still allow you to find gold etc..I'm afraid I'm not as computer savy as Ricardo or I'd show you another pic to show my settings. But I hope you can get it this way.
1.) Sensitivity as high as you can go until it falses allot then back off one bar (Falses=beeps alot without any ryme or reason)
2.) Set target selection to all metal
3.) Set discriminate settings for exactly what Ricardo has except I leave the nickle tab as well as one below and one above on. Again only dig these targets if they are saying the same thing swing after swing. I also eliminate all pennies as the older copper ones will still usually ring in as dimes anyway. I hate diggin an eight inch deep hole to find a zinc penny that disintegrates as soon as it hits the air, they're worthless and one of the few coins that is actually worth-less than their face value.

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

You'all are shure right about the pennys, I'm going to eleminate them, and only start digging on the dime. And I believe I'll keep my pull tab. And I know how to tell know if it still rings off a foot above the ground on a dime,quarter,half/dollar ect, it's a Pop can or drunk can, And watching the display make me dizzy, I'm learning to go buy sound, of the chimes as much or more then the display.

Also I went to lowes hardware and bought me a nice seraded stanless digger. only 9 bucks, wish I had a pouch/bag.


Thanks yall for all the help, and great info on this little ace, I'm already wanting another detector, maybe a minelab x terra 70 or explorer II ect, or maybe anoter garrett, but I'd rather try the other.

 

[Monty]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Stick with the ACE 250 for a while to learn the fundamentals of treasure hunting before you jump to one of the high dollar machines would be my advice. I didn't take my own advice and wound up with 5 machines and still found myself pulling out the ACE more than any of the others. I found a couple of gold rings I would have missed if I had exed out the nickel icon. I'd rather have dug a little junk than miss either one of those rings. Both of them were found fairly shallow and the signal was jumping from nickel to the pull tab icon. Monty

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I'm going to keep the Ace 250 and keep on useing it, as much as possible. I not going to throw it in the closet, theirs no room in there.

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I agree with Ricardo except on the removal of the nickle signal. Now it's true that it will cause you to dig some junque', But keep in mind that this will eliminate almost any chance you might have for finding any gold, including but not limited to rings.

I agree with the above myself. To clarify, I recommend disc'ing out this notch in the very beginning until you are comfortable with digging all the non nickel clad coins (Pennies, dimes, etc). Once you are familiar with what those sound like and have gotten some PP'ing time in, then you should open that nickel notch up and start getting your ears used to what the nickels sound like in both tone and when PP'ing them. The best way to recognize that you have a nickel as opposed to a pull tab is by realizing that the true nickel signal will be good in most directions and it will sound like a coin when you are pin-pointing. Tabs and other junk that come up under that notch will have their own distinct characteristics. My major point is that you don't want to get caught up digging a crap load of pull-tabs and other junk that is going to come in under that notch in the beginning. Digging for gold and nickels=digging up major junk. This is not what you want to do in the first week of detecting with your 250. You're safer and will get better quality practice by going for the easy clad. Later on down the line you will learn that the Pin Pointer will tell you just as much information as the TID and basic tones do, and then some. The PP'er in my method is the final call in my decision to dig or not, as it is excellent in revealing junk. While to a certain degree you can get size information by how wide/narrow the target seems to be when you sweep over it with the coil, it is by learning what a coin at any particular depth should sound like as you sweep across it in PP mode that gives the most information. The more you use the detector, the more you will remember what I mentioned.

Something I left out: Personally, in the parks I hunt at, me and even people I hunt with like LI TOM leave the nickels alone, as even though we understand that we're going to miss gold, the actual effort in these parks is really not worth it considering the amount of trash. You would turn the place upside down and/or you could dig within a 4x6 square foot area the entire day. There is that much junk. The only time that I look for nickels is places where I have found silver, as there could be a buffalo somewhere in there. Again, it's digging alot of junk and it's an individual call whether it's worth it or not. The advice to remove the nickel notch of course is advice for the first week or two of digging to help avoid frustration. Once you are comfortable and have become a clad machine, open the notch up!

Best,
Ricardo

 

[cntrydncr1]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I LOVE my Ace 250. I've only been hunting since March and I've found over $175 in clad, a gold ring, a tiffany watch, a V nickel, an 1881 IH penny and of course tons of trash. I have a sniper coil I love too. But it was very frustrating till I got my pinpointer. Now I wouldn't go out without it. I normally dig in jewelry mode unless there is too much trash to get around or till I'm getting very tired and then I'll go into coin mode. Enjoy!

 

[Murph]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Garrett designates the ace as a coin shooter. IMO it will perform best if you don't try to buck this and use the coin setting. It will still hit on all silver using this setting and probably 50 percent of gold items which will ID as nickels.

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Thanks for the chart, looks the me like the ace has all the important areas covered in my book, and most every elses also.

 

[ringfinder]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Congrats on your new detector. It is a fine detector. I have been using my ACE 250 for over 2 years now and have had GREAT success with it.

I recommend you try the coin mode while learning your detector. In most cases it will discriminate out pull tabs and find coins and bigger gold rings very well. Smaller Gold rings, you must use the all metal or Jewelry modes. But to start out learning your detector just try the Coin mode. I use very little sensitivity. If I can get away with it I kick it up a notch or two. But if the detector sounds off too much, turn your sensitivity back down.

In 2006 I found over 4000, that's Four Thousand Clad coins, over 100 Indian Head pennies, over 200 wheat pennies, many, many silver coins, watch fobs, tokens and even a 6 pound cannonball with my ACE 250.

I guess the most important leason I can tell you about is make a test plot. Lay several coins down, a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and a Silver dollar if you have one. Also put pull tabs down. Learn what they sound like on your detector. See where they come in, raise your coil, see how deep you can pick them up. Try different settings on your test plot. See what each setting will do.

Above all use a HEADSET!!!! Buying a Good headset is a must. A headset that you can adjust the sound for each ear. I use a $100 headset. You can buy cheaper ones, but like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for! A local dealer will help you with the right choice.

Also a good Digging Trowel is a must. One that is Stainless steel. Buying one at your local garden shop, will probably break in a hour or day. Again a local dealer will help you with the right Trowel. I use one that is a Stainless Steel 12 inch trowel.

Good Luck, hope to see your finds on here soon.

I'm including a picture of my finds from 2006, I haven't cleaned my finds from this year yet. By the way, I did find a 1899 Silver Dollar on Jan. 11, 2007 and the ACE 250 said it was a dollar signal. Of course I told my partner when I started to dig the target, well I'm going to dig this darn beer can and get it out of the soil. Much to my surprise it really was a Silver Dollar. I said while looking at the Coin, Damn I love this Detector!

HH, Ringfinder
P.S. P. S.
I forgot to tell you I also use a SunRay Probe on my ACE 250. It is mounted on the detector and uses the batteries from the detector to run on. A Probe is a must.

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Was you useing the factory, 6"X9" coil, during the time you found all the coinage, and other goods? If so man what a haul. Bye the way I did manage to get the other two coils, and a pinpointer. My pinpointer is a pain in the A__because of it's size, un balanced, ect, but it does a good job finding targets. It's all that this old boy could afford.

And I got a good digger, and belt ect

Thanks for the info, and the photo of the mountian of coins.

See guy's what the ace can find, it's well worth any mans money.

 

[Larsmed]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

Hi

I have a 150 and the only problem I have is that the coin ID tends to beep for cans, copper, nickel and anything eliptical in shape. I dont know if its just my ace that is off or if it is the technology.

All I know is that if you havent gotten the ace yet, you may want to look at the Fisher F-2 or whites prizm 2 for about the same price.


Larry

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I have never had any other detectors besides the Ace 250, but I'd be willing to bet that none of the other detectors, can tell the difference between a coin and a can. It the operator and his or her experience with the machine, not the machine it self.

My Ace 250 is only as smart as the person operating it, ME


If a person buys a $1000 MD he will still be digging some cans now and again.

 

[ivan salis]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

personally here in fla -- for my soil I just love the custom setting -- with a bit of fine tuning -- I "tweaked" mine just right for my area --- it hits small gold (found a 625 gold kiddie ring recently ---first gold for the new ace 250)) -- big gold ( I use my wedding band as a check item -- haven't put the coil over a big gold ring yet but it will ring up if I do , I very sure ---my fault not the machines there) -- with my custom setting it misses the iron , modern pulltabs and zinc cents sadly I give up nickles most of the time --- while nailing pre 1982 cents ,dimes silver and clad, quarters silver and clad ,half silver and clad and dollars silver and clad "older beavertail stylr pulltabs still ring up but even the high dollar boys have trouble with them at times -- all in all I like my 250 great lil tool for the price -- if I'm in the relic mood then all metal it is --- been hearing lots abot the new F2 --but haven't got to get my hands on one yet to check it out --- Ivan

 

[MD Dog]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

when ever you guys get a hit on the ace 150 or 250 you should spend just a little more time evaluating the hit. Try lifting the tector about a foot above the hit and see if it still rings out. If you do this gradually you'll begin to see you can evaluate the targets size before you dig. The larger objects like cans will ring out even when they are 6-8 inches deep + 12 inches above in air. Pop topsn are a little harder especially the older steel caps. The trick here is to know your markets.http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=bottle+caps&category0=

 

[monsterrd]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I would also suggest hunting schools and playgrounds at first, and don't look at the control panel, learn the sounds, I now can tell the difference most of the time, but takes practice, I also hunt at night so it helps to learn what it is telling you. I still dig the pull tabs but not as much as I used to, 2 months of learning my ace.....over 500 coins,5 silver rings, 1 gold ring, 10 silver coins, and 50,000 pulltabs lol , now the pull tab ratio is about 3 per hunt. Also put some things on the ground and scan them to get used to the sounds, each is different, you will see. Good luck hunting.

 

[ivan salis]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I have my ace 250 tweaked just right in custom mode --- I can still get the small gold items (found a 625 gold kiddie ring) but it does not "make noise" on many of the modern pull tabs even though it does still shows up as detected (lights up the block -- but i have it notched out === by kicking out iron --- foil--- nickle and zinc cents via the notch out in my custom set up --- I have tweaked my machine to hit --- small and large gold ---all silver and copper items --- pre 1983 cents thus old wheat pennies and indains --- however I have to lose the nickles (like old buffalo nickels but not the silver world war era 2 silver ones in the process) if I want old iron relics--- its back to the relics or all metal mode

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

I usely keep mine in the custom mode, with these settings. See picture below. HH

 

[ivan salis]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

check out this setting use 4 bars of sen -- starting from left hand side first 1 & 2 sections (iron foil) off ---then on for 3 section --- then 4 and 5 section off ---then on for the 6 section --- 7th& 8 section off --- 9 thru 12 on --- will not "ring" up (make a sound) on most modern pulltabs (old pullring style ones will still ring up though their too close to small gold to wipe out without losing small gold items ) this setting will give you small gold / big gold and silver jewelry ---pre 82 cents will ring up as dimes --- silver and clad dimes ,quarters ,halves and dollars -- however you will lose nickles and zinc pennies with this setting ---

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Re: Garrett Ace 150&250 owners

ivan I set mine up like you said, sounds good to me. And I try it out next time the weather permits. Thanks