ACE Troubles

artemis moon

Hero Member
Jun 1, 2007
873
149
Near Bangor, Maine
Detector(s) used
Minelab Safari
ProPointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
On Friday night, my husband and I decided to try our luck at hunting in the dark with headlamps. I turned on my detector and started swinging. When I found my first target, the machine started going crazy. It was beeping over and over and the cursor was bouncing from one side of the display to the other. I know it's got nothing to do with ground conditions or with powerlines, as our other 250 was fine. The batteries are fairly fresh (I think they were down a notch or two). I tried it out again yesterday, and the same thing happened. The machine turns on and it's fine until I get to the first target, and then it goes loopy. Has this happened to anyone else??
 

S

skydiv

Guest
I have had that with mine and I changed the batteries. when they get to low they go crazy.
 

doozis

Sr. Member
Jul 31, 2007
301
0
Virginia
I agree with the battery failure , I buy name brand AAA batterys for
my MP3 player and in the last year I've had a couple new ones that
were not good. If that doesn't do it , then its time to call Melinda
at Garretts , she's super nice and will get you fixed up fast.

Doozis
 

hollowpointred

Gold Member
Mar 12, 2005
6,871
56
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer SE/Garrett GTI 2500/ Ace 250
try resetting the machine. hold the power button down until it beeps at you. maybe its a glitch in the electronics.
 

shadow0966

Full Member
Sep 20, 2006
128
2
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX300,Tesoro Tejon
Also look closely at the batteries, I had left a pack of batteries in the sun and they were swollen and at the bottom they were split a little bit but I thought they would be ok because they were in the package then when the machine hit a signal it went nuts so I pulled them out and put a fresh pack in and everything was ok thank goodness.
 

LadyDigger

Bronze Member
Jun 7, 2006
2,188
51
Virginia Beach
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250
I took mine out in the front yard yesterday...I was testing the sensitivity on it....

Where I know the pipes from the street to the house for water is...I was over that section and had the sensitivity all the way up...my Ace was going nuts!!!

I brought it down about four notches and it was just fine.

I'm trying to learn more about my machine so I can get better targets....but that sensitivity thing makes me go nuts too!!! Can't blame the Ace for going nuts .....LOL ;D

I did test it out in my back yard too....got a coin signal 8+ inches down with the sensitivity all the cranked up!!!....got a dime....rather a CLAD!...but it was way down there.....I figure it was lost from someone when this house was built....it was a '65...but not silver :( ....but with the senstivity all the way up when I was out back...did not make the machine go nuts like it did in the front yard over the water pipes....but it was hitting everything in the ground....guess I'll have to dig up the whole yard and turn the soil over :):)....new project for this fall!!!

Gonna' hit one of the churches here tomorrow....gonna' test my sensivity there too!!! But I hope I can also get some cool finds!!!
 

zlathim

Full Member
Mar 8, 2007
221
2
Boise, ID
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250
My Ace 250 did the same exact thing one day. I knew my batteries were relatively fresh, but I replaced them anyway. That didn't work so I went home. When I got home I was tinkering around with the Ace and I opened the battery compartment. I noticed that one of the springlike metal contacts was bent and not really getting good connection with the battery. I bent it with a pair of long nosed pliers so that it was getting 100% positive contact and the problem instantly vanished. I've never had it happen again. I hope it is something easy like that for you too.
 

Carson Coin Master

Sr. Member
Sep 4, 2007
417
62
Nixa, Missouri
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030,
Garrett AT Pro,
Garrett GTAX 550,
Fisher gold bug 2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
how dusty and dirty is your Garrett i have the gtax 550 and it was doing the same thing to me the other day i took the whole thing apart and cleaned it thouroughly with a damp cloth the i took some dryer sheets and wiped the coil with it. and it fixed the problem right then in there. i think its just a build up of static electricity on your machine if you have fresh batteries and your connection is strong then try cleaning it. that's probably it.
 

OP
OP
artemis moon

artemis moon

Hero Member
Jun 1, 2007
873
149
Near Bangor, Maine
Detector(s) used
Minelab Safari
ProPointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
zlathim said:
My Ace 250 did the same exact thing one day. I knew my batteries were relatively fresh, but I replaced them anyway. That didn't work so I went home. When I got home I was tinkering around with the Ace and I opened the battery compartment. I noticed that one of the springlike metal contacts was bent and not really getting good connection with the battery. I bent it with a pair of long nosed pliers so that it was getting 100% positive contact and the problem instantly vanished. I've never had it happen again. I hope it is something easy like that for you too.


You hit the nail on the head! I took the battery cover off and noticed that one of the batteries was popped out of the spring thingy. I pushed it back in with a screw driver and now it's fine. I was really starting to panic that I wasn't going to have it up and running for the best time of the year. Thanks to everyone who responded..I'm going to give both machines a good cleaning and wipe them down with dryer sheets for good measure.
 

R

RUDY2003

Guest
zlathim said:
My Ace 250 did the same exact thing one day. I knew my batteries were relatively fresh, but I replaced them anyway. That didn't work so I went home. When I got home I was tinkering around with the Ace and I opened the battery compartment. I noticed that one of the springlike metal contacts was bent and not really getting good connection with the battery. I bent it with a pair of long nosed pliers so that it was getting 100% positive contact and the problem instantly vanished. I've never had it happen again. I hope it is something easy like that for you too.
I had the same thing happen with the bent spring, changing batteries, fixed the spring, no more problems..

Keep safe...
 

zlathim

Full Member
Mar 8, 2007
221
2
Boise, ID
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250
artemis moon said:
zlathim said:
My Ace 250 did the same exact thing one day. I knew my batteries were relatively fresh, but I replaced them anyway. That didn't work so I went home. When I got home I was tinkering around with the Ace and I opened the battery compartment. I noticed that one of the springlike metal contacts was bent and not really getting good connection with the battery. I bent it with a pair of long nosed pliers so that it was getting 100% positive contact and the problem instantly vanished. I've never had it happen again. I hope it is something easy like that for you too.


You hit the nail on the head! I took the battery cover off and noticed that one of the batteries was popped out of the spring thingy. I pushed it back in with a screw driver and now it's fine. I was really starting to panic that I wasn't going to have it up and running for the best time of the year. Thanks to everyone who responded..I'm going to give both machines a good cleaning and wipe them down with dryer sheets for good measure.

Cool! I'm glad to have been able to help.
 

luvsdux

Bronze Member
May 16, 2007
1,767
690
Lewiston, Idaho
Detector(s) used
Multiple Tesoros and Whites
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Always suspect the batteries first, and sometimes second. My Tesoro Silver Sabre umax was working normally one time for a few minutes then started going beserk. I checked the battery and after that few minutes of use it tested poorly. SO I put in a spare. After just a couple of minutes the machine is going beserk again. I'm pretty concerned at this point, but remove the battery and put it on the tester. Bingo. The replacement battery which had been unused at this point was in poor shape as well. Goes to show that you can't always be sure of your spares either.
Dig deep
Bill
 

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