depth with ace 250

[jeffmrgan]

the deepest coin ive found is probably 5 inches. from what ive read here this isnt deep enough for most of the old ones. if max out the sensitivity, will this give me more depth or less? i understand its a good machine for coins but i'm not looking for clad. does this machine really go deep or not? i read a good post on here about running with the pinpoint button pushed. i tried this and released the button,scanned over the area, got nothing, pinpointed again and dug the spot, scanned again and still nothing. any ideas, or do i need a better machine to find the deep coins?

 

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[Wally]

hi i have a ace 250 and depending on the size of the object say like a quarter or half dollar you should go down to about 6 inches. but there IS a larger coil i belive it is a 9X12" made by Garrett my cousin has it and he said it is a defenate improvement on his ace 250 and it should go deeper than the stock coil. this might be something to look into for you. post this question in the Garrett forum you will most likely get more infomation.
Good luck and HH.
Wally

 

[warsawdaddy]

Depth of the older coins depends more on where you're hunting.There have been many,many 1800 era coins found 2-3" deep.The 9x12 coil will add about 2'.HH

 

[Trescher]

The ACE will sound on more items with the Pinpoint button down. It basically turns off the discrimination and runs in all-metal-mode. This is usually a little deeper, but that probably isn't the reason that you got the beep over the target.

Most likely the item was more iron than not and so while in Coin and Jewelery mode would not sound. Push the pinpoint button to get into all-metal-mode and the iron will ping.

You would not have heard anything without the button due to the discrimination mode.

Most detectorists declare that a non-disciminating mode will beat a discriminating mode by several inches.

Paul

 

[MD Dog]

First off I use the 250 with all three coils designed for it including the 9x12. But let me say it only gives an additional 2 inches not 2 feet. secondly the depth of your search should be adapted by a number of factors like location. For instance at the base of hillsides or mountains would be a clear indicator of possible runoff which would suggest to me that deeper is better. also deeper searches in flood prone areas would make sense, but then if your in a wooded area with trees of approximately 80 plus years I'd keep it shallow with a 3x5 coil. Ground moisture and mineral content can also affect these things as well as the trash content of the search area. Farmers fields would indicate searches at shallow depth first followed by a deeper search second for (if you think about it) obvious reasons. Deeper doesn't always mean older it really depends on allot of factors that time and experience in your location will teach you. Also if you havent tried using one yet I always suggest the use of a good quality pinpointer.

 

[gregl01]

The ACE250 is really limited to about 6". In bad soil probably far less. Max-ing the sensitivity will only cause more chatter and falsing. In pinpoint mode it may be slightly deeper but you're also in "all-metal mode", so you'll be finding things you weren't expecting. Keep digging!!!!!!
Greg

 

[jeffmrgan]

will the whites mxt or xlt go deeper? what is the big difference between the 2?

 

[Ant]

will the whites mxt or xlt go deeper? what is the big difference between the 2?

Deep equals MineLab Explorer SE, Explorer 2, Explorer or similar machine. One major factor that limits depth is heavy soil mineralization and salts. The MXT is weak on depth in these areas as well as similar machines, otherwise it's a great machine.You can try hunting demolitons sites or any prospective spot that the top soil has been scraped, moved or disturbed.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[txkickergirl]

I get around 7" max with mine on coins with the larger coil and running in all metal. A lot deeper with larger targets especially tin cans. Trust me those are not fun to dig really deep for. I upgrade to the 2500 and have no problems with depth there.

 

[lucky1777]

will the whites mxt or xlt go deeper? what is the big difference between the 2?

Deep equals MineLab Explorer SE, Explorer 2, Explorer or similar machine. One major factor that limits depth is heavy soil mineralization and salts. The MXT is weak on depth in these areas as well as similar machines, otherwise it's a great machine.You can try hunting demolitons sites or any prospective spot that the top soil has been scraped, moved or disturbed.

Just my 2 cents.

I have to disagree with the MXT lacking depth in heavy mineralization. I hunt some heavy mineralized soil and turn my sensitivity down. This reduces the chatter and still gives you good depth. I have never hunted beaches so I cant help you any there. The XLT has the ability to make your own programs. I prefer the mxt because of the ease of adjusting it on the go. You don't have to stop and scroll through the menu to adjust the machine. I also believe the MXT has better depth than the XLT. Good luck with what ever you decide to do....

 

[Ant]

will the whites mxt or xlt go deeper? what is the big difference between the 2?

Deep equals MineLab Explorer SE, Explorer 2, Explorer or similar machine. One major factor that limits depth is heavy soil mineralization and salts. The MXT is weak on depth in these areas as well as similar machines, otherwise it's a great machine.You can try hunting demolitons sites or any prospective spot that the top soil has been scraped, moved or disturbed.

Just my 2 cents.

I have to disagree with the MXT lacking depth in heavy mineralization. I hunt some heavy mineralized soil and turn my sensitivity down. This reduces the chatter and still gives you good depth. I have never hunted beaches so I cant help you any there. The XLT has the ability to make your own programs. I prefer the mxt because of the ease of adjusting it on the go. You don't have to stop and scroll through the menu to adjust the machine. I also believe the MXT has better depth than the XLT. Good luck with what ever you decide to do....

We will have to agree to dissargee on this one.

IMHO the MXT lacks depth and won't even work in highly mineralized areas. You can see a real life review at this link ,or just search for MXT and reviews.
http://www.hookedongold.com/new246254.html

 

[lucky1777]

I disagreed with the user in your link. You do have to ground balance the MXT. You do this by pumping the coil up and down a few times over clean ground. I think most mid range to high priced machines will do a good job, its just that you need to learn your machine.

 

[jeffmrgan]

if the minelab machines are good for depth,are they also good at differentiating the good deep targets from the bad? what i mean is, is the target the machine says is deep usually what you dig up? i like the ace-250 and will keep it as well, but i'd like to know that i'm not just skipping over good stuff because it doesnt go deep enough. rusted_iron posted this on another question ........The old coins are all 6-10 inches deep, almost always near trash, and they give signals that are often indistinguishable from deep, rusted nails. Lately they are getting even tougher to distinguish. Sometimes they are wedged down between rocks. ..........

 

[Ant]

The pros say that the Explorer ML's series are the best deep divers for silver, if you take the time to learn the machine that is.

They cost the most and have a long learning curve too. The ML's machines I mentioned are for sportmans or expert level users and the ACE 250 that you use is an entry level machine.

HH

 

[Willy]

"IMHO the MXT lacks depth and won't even work in highly mineralized areas. You can see a real life review at this link ,or just search for MXT and reviews." You've gotta be joking!! I had an MXT and used it for prospecting and coin hunting in some of the toughest ground that can be found. I'm up here in B.C. where some of the ground will give PI's fits. I've also detected, with an MXT and other detectors, from the Arctic Circle clear down to the Mexican border. Either you've used a defective machine or, like plenty of other people around, just like to sling mud. ..Willy.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Since the REAL topic here appears in the subject line of the post, and it appears to say ACE 250, I won't say anything other than this:

I KNOW my machine's got some REAL depth, cause I just found this python stuck in an electric fence:


-Buckleboy

 

[Willy]

Well, I happen to own an Ace 250 and find that depth, in mineralized soil, is comparable to many other detectors. Regarding the MXT response; as far as I can tell, the statement was, at best, misleading.. if not outright false. Kinda like the proverbial 'red flag in front of a bull' (pun intended). ..Willy.

 

[Ant]

VLF machines won't find gold under black sands and PI machine will Willy. Why is that Willy?

Although trash will give PI machines fits, both VLF and PI machines have their places. I was not putting down the MXT I was stating what I have learned.

No bull, the proof is in the pudding Willy. Maybe I'll take an updated photo of my three year treasure trove for ya, the photo is obsolete as I have found a few more gold to add to it.

 

[Willy]

VLF's WILL find targets under black sand.. as long as the concentration isn't too high. Highly mineralized ground does not automatically mean that the ground is carpeted with a layer of black sand.. just the overall mineralization. I've used PI's for quite a while and there are areas here where even a PI won't work. If you don't believe me, you can search for some of Steve Herschbach's observations about using a PI over basalt. The ground I generally hunt has an MXT VDI reading of 84-86, which denotes a highly mineralized ground matrix. Sticking a magnet into this ground, there will be up to 1/2" uf black sand covering it when it's withdrawn. There are often large streaks of black sand covering areas near water. Many of them I have successfully hunted over using the MXT (with DD coil and full gain/hypersat) and other VLF detectors. It's a common myth that PI's are unaffected by ground mineralization; taking a fixed GB PI with no adjustable autotune into many inland areas would disprove it. If you check out the ML gold hunting PI's, you can see that they have ground tracking and there's a good reason for this. Also, one of the reasons that a PI is generally less affected by ground mineralization is because of longer pulse delays. This reduces the sensitivity to smaller objects though. Check out the experiments done by Eric Foster and Reg Sniff utilizing PI's with pulse delays lower than 10 us. Ground signals tend to become a problem, as they are with VLF's. This is not to say that there aren't areas where I've had better success with a PI. While much of the ground here can be hunted with a VLF, the depth is lacking. Hunting at a favorite inland beach test area, I was getting 2-3 times the depth with a PI. Problem was, the hardpan was covered with nails. Luckily, I was using a Garrett Infinium (a very underrated detector) and was able to successfully use the dual tone (and adjustable pulse delay) to ID the majority of them. Pulled out plenty of old silver and a bit of gold. Right now, I'm waiting for the Pulse Devil to be (finally!!) released, which is a hybrid PI/VLF detector. Judging from what I've read, the PD should be able to work well in areas that pose problems for both VLF's and PI's.
One problem with a lot of VLF detectors, when faced with high concentrations of black sand, is that modern detectors often operate at both higher frequencies AND at high gain. This tends to swamp the receiver circuitry and lead to an overload response. Sometimes, even turning down the sensitivity doesn't help. I've been able to hunt areas with my old Golden Sabre that shut down 'better' detectors. There was an area in the Laguna's that basically shut down my buddy's GB1; I ran over it with my GS and picked out a couple of coins. A detector like the Ace 250 does pretty good in bad ground, being GB'd to ferrite at the factory. One way to minimize the ground response of both a preset GB and adjustable GB VLF detector is, if it has full range notching, to notch out the last segment. There's a phenomena often called 'wraparound' wherein a ground signal or tiny iron (usually) target hits in the highest conductivity segment, even when disc'ed out. Ther where areas I've recently hunted where the detector was constantly sounding off on a high tone with the reading pegged to the right. These were ground signals and, when notched out, didn't present a problem. I was able, after adjusting the disc., to hunt with the sensitivity set near maximum. ...Willy.

 

[Monty]

Sigh...hate to repeat myself but......I have an ACE 250, one of the first ones I saw posted on Tnet. I have found coins at 6" deep many times. A lot of them wre pennies. In a club hunt (deep hunt) where the coins were planted around 9" I found two silver dimes that rang in loud and clear. They were planted just that morning and I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not. In regular field use I have dug several clad dimes near the 9" mark. I don't know why but my machine loves dimes and I probably recover more dimes with it than any other denomination. Strangely enough, deep clad quarters come in at not much more than a whisper, and I know I have probably missed several of them. All things being equal, I'd have to say my ACE 250 has no problem on coins at 6" but struggles past that. I have not tried hunting in the pinpoint mode, but that is something I might experiment with next time I am at the park just goofing off. My deepest finds were with the standard coil, zero discrimination mode and sometimes the jewelry mode. Sensitivity was set at 5 bars, and sometimes I upped it to six to eight bars to confirm one of those deeper quarter signals after I got the initial weaker tone. Sometimes I get the deep quarter tone in only one direction and upping the sensitivity usually gives me a tone in both diretions. If it doesn't I usually don't dig that deep. The reason I stopped digging those one way signals is because if I can't get the tone in both directions by upping the sensitivity I have nearly always found it to be a piece of an aluminum can. Also as of late my depth scale has been off, targets shown at two inches are often four inches or deeper. I think it's about time for a tune up as it was really accurate on its depth reading until just the past few weeks.

While I am at it, I might mention black sand. I often hunt beaches on Lake Keystone on the Arkansas River. It flows through the Great Salt Plains of western Oklahoma and therefore has a much higher salinity than most fresh water lakes, a lot of sandy beaches and a lot of black sand believe it or not. Black sand gives it fits and I usually either stay back away from wet sand or change to my GTI 2500 or my Sea Hunter II so I can manually ground balance. I'm sure it would have a similar problem with sea water beaches. It isn't too noisy, just gives a lot of false readings. 'Nuff said for now. Monty