tesoro vaquero ground balance problem

[civil_war22]

Just got a really nice tesoro vaquero. Got rid of cibola for it and have tried ground balancing the machine and seem to be having problems. First i put in all metal mode and put sensitivity at 9 and threshold just at slight hum. I began raising and lowering the coil and its loud. I adjust down and its still loud and not really steady sounding. Anyone have some help. It chatters alot too which not sure if that's normal or not. Plz help

 

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[atomicscott]

Make sure there is NO metal in the ground in the area you are ground balancing over. You may also turn down the threshold so it is a quieter, just barely audible hum. Also turn the sensitivity back a bit (6-7 to start), some say the sensitivity is fixed in all metal, however when you crank the sensitivity, it directly affects the threshold hum. It should not be loud in both directions of pumping the coil. Turn the GB knob 5 turns counter clockwise, then 2 turns clockwise. This will put you about the center (neutral) of the ground balance setting. Try to get the response to be louder when only dropping the coil (turn toward the + symbol if needed). Then you can turn the GB knob toward the counter-clockwise (toward the - symbol) in VERY small increments until you get an even response when lifting and lowering the coil. It can be tricky getting it just right, but it's not difficult. Good luck.

 

[Sandman]

Atomicscott nailed it.

 

[civil_war22]

Just wondering. In the gb knob are u supposed to always feel slight drag on both directions of knobs. I was wondering cause i don't feel it on mine at all

 

[GibH]

You're only going to feel drag at the ends of the potentiometer. If you turn it 5 times counter clockwise, when you turn it clockwise you won't feel any drag until after 3 3/4 turns

 

[civil_war22]

Wow. I dunno. Is it real noticeable. Cause i don't notice any drag

 

[rainyday101]

A multi-turn pot between it's end to end limits has virtually no drag. It's the nature of beast. If you want drag you can put a 1/4" o-ring under the pot knob and tighten the knob back on so that it press down slightly on the o-ring. The internals of the multi-turn pots do not have a bigger wiper like the single turn pots, they are much smaller and just don't have the resistance. The big wiper on a single turn pot causes the resistance that is normally felt. If you turn your pot 5 turns in either direction and listen very very carefully, you will hear when it hits the end of its travel. If you are really good you might even feel it. Your pot is just fine.

 

[SpiritRelic]

Civil War,So glad to see you got yourself a V.You got the GB figured out?Did you go to some clean dirt and get her done?When you lower the coil and the sound gets louder,cut the GB counter clockwise.If the sound goes lower,cut GB clockwise.Try to get no change in threshold while lowering the coil.I guess you decided to go ahead and get the V instead of doing the Cibola mode.You practice with the V.It should get you a little better performance than the C.Let us know how it goes. O:-)

 

[atomicscott]

Just wondering. In the gb knob are u supposed to always feel slight drag on both directions of knobs. I was wondering cause i don't feel it on mine at all

You will feel it but yes, it is very slight. Great idea on the o-rings under knobs, you can dial in drag where you like it! Helps with the 'headphone cord bumping knob' problem.

 

[atomicscott]

Sorry, I meant to say: like GibH said only at the ends of adjustment will there be drag but it is very slight.

 

[civil_war22]

Guys another quick problem. The dang thing won't quit being so chattery. I turned threshold down and sensitivity down and it still chatters. I even re ground balanced it a couple times. Its in a area where i test all detectors including the cibola. The cibola never chattered here so do not know what the problem is. I can't get it to stop. Please help me figure this out

 

[atomicscott]

Usually I can get mine to run pretty smooth in all metal except when EMI is a problem. In that case you may have better luck running in disc mode and supertune as hot as the interference allows without chatter. Of course you are using headphones, right? If you have NO sources of EMI around, I would just play with thresholdhold and turn down as quietly as possible then work from there with the sensitivity. The Vaquero has a bit of a learning curve, but it's worth it. I have about 80 hrs on mine and still I'm still learning alot about it.

 

[civil_war22]

Actually i haven't been using my headphones. Would that make it better. I did non stop on cibola but not on this one

 

[atomicscott]

Actually i haven't been using my headphones. Would that make it better. I did non stop on cibola but not on this one

Yes you definitely need to use headphones. That will enable you to get the threshold to a lower level and run smoother. You need to balance the sensitivity and threshold, kinda like shifting a car and giving just the right amount of throttle and just the right amount of clutch.

 

[bleaver]

Just got a really nice tesoro vaquero. Got rid of cibola for it and have tried ground balancing the machine and seem to be having problems. First i put in all metal mode and put sensitivity at 9 and threshold just at slight hum. I began raising and lowering the coil and its loud. I adjust down and its still loud and not really steady sounding. Anyone have some help. It chatters alot too which not sure if that's normal or not. Plz help

The Chattering is not normal. Your Vaquero should be as quiet as the Cibola was.

Guys another quick problem. The dang thing won't quit being so chattery. I turned threshold down and sensitivity down and it still chatters. I even re ground balanced it a couple times. Its in a area where i test all detectors including the cibola. The cibola never chattered here so do not know what the problem is. I can't get it to stop. Please help me figure this out

First, do you have another coil to try on the machine? See if it goes away with change of coil.
If purchased locally I'd contact whoever you got the machine from to see if they can get it to setup correctly.
If that's not possible I'd give Tesoro a call. They are more than willing to help. Even if new there may be a problem with the machine that needs correction - happens on rare occasions.

 

[civil_war22]

Yea i am going to be sending it in. The chattering is annoying

 

[TC-NM]

Yes Atomicscott hit on the head again. Send it back to Tesoro and let us know what they find out. I have a question to you atomicscott, do you think it might be a bad coil or overall alot of EMI?

Thanks,

TC-NM

 

[civil_war22]

I noticed that coil wire and under coil had sand in it. And the little expendable coil cover at lower connection was full of sand. Im thinking coil may have some sand.in it also.

 

[TC-NM]

The reason I asked is I had a Vaquero here in NM where we have moderate to high mineralized soils. I set the sensitivity knob to 7 cuz of my soil. . . no problem here. Start to GB at the mid point of the 3 3/4 turn. 9 times outta 10 I'm turning the knob counterclockwise (-) while pumping the coil over the ground. . . no problem here either.


Well, let us know what happens,

TC-NM