Whites Surf Pro PI doesn't ring on Gold?

[JackInFlorida]

I was burying some coins and other items in the back yard for a while and testing out the readings on my Fisher F75. When I tried an 18k earring and chain from my wife, the fisher rang on the earring, but not the chain. I grabbed the PI and tried it. IT DIDN'T SOUND OFF ON EITHER!

What's up with that? I just put them both away. It is a little disheartening. I was wondering if it could be because these items were very thin, but that doesn't make sense. I air tested inside and found the PI would sound off when the items touched the coil. Other items are fine. Maybe I'll try some fresh batteries, but these only have less than 10 hours on them.

Jack

[Dixie Digger]

very thin Gold is one of the hardest items for any detector to hit on. and few will hit on gold chain's at all. the Tiger Shark is the only one iv owned that would find both.

[Indasurf]

Pulse (PI) detectors don't air test well (this has to do with the type of design associated with them).

However, they are deep and more sensitive in actual ground.

If the items were really thin and small, I don't think most detectors would hit well on them.

The Infinium on the other hand, would pick that up as it's designed to ring on the smaller stuff too.

[EasyMoney]

There are many detectors that won't hit on a fine wire gold (or silver) chain or stud earring. There are many that will though..

The 10-14 Khz, and 80-100 Khz Tesoro Silver uMax, Silver Saber, (testy) Tesoro Tejon, Golden Saber, Compadre, Compass x-80, x-100, x-200, GoldScanner Pro, CoinScanner, Relic & Coin, RM7, RM 420, RM 320 etc, my Cheap Chinese $59 detector (with it super-low 5.8 Khz search freq), etc will, but some of these detectors will often read them into the high iron area instead of the foil area.

An MXT (with it's inherent GMT circuitry) will often read them but a DFX will seldom read them at all. An Explorer II or SE will seldom read them. A Fisher cz3d will OFTEN read them but a Fisher cz-70 or C$ will not read then in a hundred light years due to too much discrimination inherent (built into) their circuitry. A Minelab Sov of any kind will almost without question NEVER read them unless someone puts a smaller coil on it, but a Nautie will get a squeek out of them in some cases.

All the various Garrett Aces can't do it even if someone coaxed them all with a free case of prize-winning German beer and a good plate of German fries and blood sausage. The 1250 through 2500 Garrets cant do it nearly 90% of the time. A Garrett GoldStinger could find it though. Very few PI's can ever do it, except for perhaps Erik Foster's creations, and another one, the new White's Pulse TDI, the one designed by Erik Foster for White's. Man, that is a real POWERHOUSE too! I went to the factory and read almost 15" on a penny with the thing, in the air! And people are finding nuggets with them down to about half the size of a matchhead!

The Fisher GoldBug2 will find them with ease and deep too, ANYWHERE, as will the various older Compass nugget hunters, especially the au52's and au2000's.

The reason for this is as I just described; Most detectors are built with at least (some) discrimination built into them, but some have little or zero of it, and it's partly because the circuitry design just does not allow it, and partly because it is DESIGNED to ignore such small, low conductance objects and instead built more to satisfy the craze and obsessiveness we often have to go deep, deep, DEEP, instead of correct, precise, and difinitive.

Here is the rule of thumb for metal detector selection in this regard; If the detector will find a nugget half the size of a matchhead, it will likely find ANY gold or silver chain made of any size or style, and it will also find any gold object the same size as the nugget.

The smallest gold nugget ever found and documented and posted for display (now displayed in a casino in Nevada) was found with an 80's model Compass au52. It was found in a 4 1/2" chunk of quartz in Arizona, and the nugget was about the size of a big dot on an "i". The Fisher GB2 might be able to do that too, but then again, maybe not.

EasyMoney

[JackInFlorida]

Thanks for the verbose explanation. (Really)

I don't want anyone reading this to think that I am dissatisfied with the PI Pro. It kicks butt and I have posts here that show it finding plenty of gold jewelry. I was just very surprised on the thin gold, since I have dug little pieces of metal the size of a leg from a paper staple many times with this unit.

Maybe when I get some time, I'll try some different modes on the F75 to see if I can pick up those items.

As for choosing a detector, I appreciate all the input. I may want to pick up a unit better oriented towards gold if I start making more prospecting trips. I use the F75 for that now. The PI Pro was chosen for what it is good at, underwater use.

Jack

[EasyMoney]

Yes Jack, and I own a Surfmaster too. You can read my review at Metaldetectorreviews.net about the SurfMaster, if you care to. It's one of the best detectors I've ever used, the second best White's has ever made.

Next time you shop for a detector take some samples of what you want to find with you.

Have a good 'n.

EasyMoney