Silver uMax problem

[beerguy]

I have a Silver uMax that has seen little use for the last 12 years. Bought it new for the kids in my extended family, now my kids are ready for it.
It probably has 4 hours on it.

It worked great for an hour or so, then started going berserk regardless of mode, sensitivity or disc setting.

Replaced the battery, cleaned the dirt from under the coil cover, no change.

Any advice before I send it in for service?

No chips or dents in the coil, cord looks great, this thing has lived it's life in Grandma's closet pretty much.

Thanks for any help.

Beerguy

 

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[Decdad]

Where was it stored for the last 12yrs? You might want to give the Tesoro folks a call as well.

 

[Kookiemonsta]

I got my uMax earlier this year. I did notice a change after a couple days and I started picking up more interference. It rained heavily at that time and the humidity increased. I notice it much more now when I am in an area with a wireless router or wireless devices....

A big realization for me was a few days ago. We had bad storms and were without power for 3 days... so I was MDING! I left my MD turned on and leaning against my porch while I went inside to get a drink of water. During that time the power came on!!! My MD almost instantly started beeping and freakin out! It made me realize just how much the interference does effect it.

Also - Make sure your connections are tight!

That being said! It did not take long to start differentiating the true signals as opposed to interference. I have detected all along the sides of my house now with it constantly chirping, but still easily able to distinguish those repeatable coin sounds.

Hope this helped!

 

[rainyday101]

What do you have the disc set at? Constant chirping, clicking, and clipped signals is usually the detector disc.ing out rejected targets. This is not EMI, it is just the detectors reaction to the items that are being disc.ed out. As described, when you hit a good target above your disc. setting you will get a nice clear signal. So that constant chirping while hunting may be your detector doing exactly what is supposed to do. Just because an item is disc.ed out doesn't mean it won't give a chirp. I love it when my Silver starts getting noisy in these trashy areas. Just slow down the swing speed and you can zero in on the coins others have missed. I get what you described in your last post often because I usually hunt these areas with the disc. set at just past pulltab and just before zinc penny. If you get a clear sound check it from both directions and make sure the sound is clean from both directions. I have only had interference once from my Silver uMax and that was over and slightly around a buried phone line. I have not gotten interference from a wireless router either. I think you are just detecting some trashy areas. Some of the areas I detect you can't go 2 inches with out getting clicks, chirp, and clipped signals, but with a slow swing speed I listen for the clean tone and zero right in on it. I just found a 1894 barber quarter doing this. Go out into a field that should have little trash and I bet you your detector runs quite as can be.

 

[Kookiemonsta]

I have not gotten interference from a wireless router either. I think you are just detecting some trashy areas.

Maybe not a wireless router ONLY, but something electronic from the house causes major chirping for me. Detector sitting there on with no one around it no noise.... power to house comes back on and it starts chirping... hadnt touched detector... wasnt moving it.. etc. There is definitely something causing interference that has to do with my house and the power being on

 

[TallTom]

I bought my Silver uMax (new) in early 2012, so I don't know how different
the electronics, software, or coil are from your 12-year-old one. With that
disclaimer, here's what I've noticed with mine (related to your situation):

1. I definitely get interference sometimes in certain areas. The areas seem
to be near power lines or power sources. There's a chance that's it's really
wifi devices or something else, but it seems to be power to me. This includes
the power lines that run from the power poles down to my house (and my
neighbors). I've also seen the problem when I was close to certain lighting
fixtures (not all, maybe just certain fluorescent ones?) and when close to
big electronic motors and/or transformers. However, you should be able
to confirm whether this is your problem by simply moving around while
running your detector. Once you're 50 or 100 feet from the possible
source of the interference, the noise should go away. If you keep hearing
the noises when you're, say, out in the middle of a park or a beach with
no wiring anywhere near, the cause is something else.

By the way, this problem is strongest when you operate in All Metal mode.
In Discriminate mode, you can reduce or eliminate the noise by lowering your
Sensitivity setting.

2. I once had a problem with a bad coil on my Silver uMax. It was the original
eight-inch concentric coil that came with it. The noises it caused sounded
like Morse code, but it was more random. If I shook or tapped the coil gently,
I could often get the noises to stop. Then, after swinging it normally for a
while (sometimes a few seconds, sometimes many minutes), the Morse code
would come back. I finally sent it to Tesoro and explained to them how
to reproduce the problem, and they replaced the coil (for free, except I had
to pay shipping one way to return the coil). With the new coil, it's fine. The
problem has not come back.

So, If you have access to another coil that works with the uMax, try the
other coil. If the problem goes away, the coil was obviously the problem.
(Of course, the problem might not be the coil itself. It might be the cable
or the cable connector, but that's all part of the coil assembly in my mind.)
Maybe there's a detecting club near you or another user you can find on
the forums, from whom you can borrow a coil for a test.

If you have any interest in the 11-inch DD widescan coil for your uMax
(which lists for $100 and sells for about $85), you could buy that (or borrow
one) and see if the problem continues with it. I bought one and really like it,
although it's more tiring on the arm and shoulder because it's heavier.
Also, I had my uMax "retuned" at the Tesoro factory (for free, except shipping
one way) because I told them I planned to use the 11-inch almost exclusively
from now on. The uMax was certainly usable with the 11-inch without the
retuning, but you might get more chirping if the ground you detect is mineralized
enough. The retuning process involves Tesoro reducing the fixed ground
balance level to eliminate this excess chirping.

Just a few thoughts to consider. Let us know how it all turns our for you.

You could also just phone Tesoro and ask to speak to Rusty Henry or one
of their repair technicians to see what they suspect your problem is. They
certainly know much more about what might go wrong with a Silver uMax,
especially one that's at least 12 years old.

--Tom

 

[ArizFlash]

I have a Silver uMax that has seen little use for the last 12 years. Bought it new for the kids in my extended family, now my kids are ready for it.
It probably has 4 hours on it.

It worked great for an hour or so, then started going berserk regardless of mode, sensitivity or disc setting.

Replaced the battery, cleaned the dirt from under the coil cover, no change.

Any advice before I send it in for service?

No chips or dents in the coil, cord looks great, this thing has lived it's life in Grandma's closet pretty much.

Thanks for any help.

Beerguy

Try the detector in a park or any place away from your house. If it still is erratic send it to Tesoro. They will make it right.

 

[luvsdux]

I learned to ALWAYS make certain the replacement battery was good. What you described can be from a very low battery and once the one I changed to turned out to be trash as well.
luvsdux

 

[lastleg]

I can't use my U-Max in the back yard due to power lines. I had a Tesoro in the '80s do the same thing.
It's the nature of the beast.

 

[TallTom]

I've had the same problem, both with the Silver uMax and with other brands.
That's just the way VLF detectors work.

However, with the Silver uMax, if you turn down the Sensitivity a bit
and turn up Discrimination toward the top, you should find a point where
you reduce the chatter enough that you can do SOME detecting. At
least you'll be able to search for dimes, quarters, and silver.