Minelab Musketeer Coil Problems

[childoftechnology]

I finally got my new Minelab Musketeer Advantage the other day, along with two "Excelerator" coils for extra hunting advantages. Although I haven't had a chance to use it extensively yet, my first impression is that this is a pretty good machine. Great depth, adequate discrimination, excellent tolerance to mineralized ground, and very few unwanted stray beeps. That, however, is with the factory-supplied 8" coil. The other two that I ordered were from the Detech "Excelerator" series; a 5" and an 18" (I'm handy with a shovel!). The 18" coil seems to perform very poorly indeed; it would only find quarters up to about 5", even in all metal/pinpoint mode. Other users have claimed to find quarters and dollars at up to 2' with this thing, so either that's a huge crock or I've gotten a defective coil/wrong coil for this model.
The 5" coil seems to perform as advertised, finding pennies at up to about 5" deep. It seems however to produce broken beeps on good solid targets - such as pennies at 3", with no nearby junk. This may be normal, I'm not sure.
I'm currently trying to get ahold of the Minelab tech at Kellyco (where I ordered the coils & detector from), but in the meantime I thought I'd get some opinions from you guys. The 5" coil may be working normally, but I'm certain that something is wrong with the 18"-er. BTW the settings on the detector are correct, and fresh alkaline batteries have been installed.
Any ideas? I'd like to get this problem cleared up soon, as the nice weather is just finally arriving and I'm anxious to do some serious hunting.

 

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[rvbvetter]

I have a Musketeer i bought from kellyco that came with the 8 in, and 10 in. Minelab coils, and both coils work great. I've never tried the Excelerator coil. But i think an 18 in coil is a bit large to be hunting individual coins. That size is better suited for finding caches ( buried loot ).
The 14 in. or the 10in. coil would be a better choice for coin hunting. I doubt the coils bad, it's just too large for you're purpose. HH

 

[childoftechnology]

Here's a link to the Kellyco page for this coil:
http://www.kellycodetectors.com/excelerator/excelerator-18inch.htm
The page clearly states that the coil can find individual coins at these depths.
I hope to get ahold of the technician today, and will let you know what I find out.

 

[rvbvetter]

? ? ? ? Don't get me wrong, i'm on your side.
? ? But for a coin to be at 20 to 22 in.? It would just about have to be from around the time of Christ. And unless Christ had made a visit to your neighborhood,? chances of one being that deep, let alone? finding one that deep, is pretty slim.? The only exception i can? come up with off hand,? Is if there had been? 12in. of fill? put on top of the original soil.
? ? I just feel they're misleading you.? ?Good luck.? ? ? ? ?HH? ?

 

[childoftechnology]

I'm starting to get the feeling that these coils aren't all they're cracked up to be. The technician I talked to felt that the coil was working, but that I wasn't using it with the right settings / in the right environment. When I cited the claims on their site about finding coins 20"+ deep, he said something like "Yeah, but that was with an Explorer!". Which suggests to me that these coils were designed primarily for more expensive machines, and just simply might not perform well with a Musketeer.
I'll probably end up reselling the 18" coil, and if I ever can afford an Explorer, I might go with something smaller (say, the 12.5") instead.
Thanks for the advice anyway.

 

[rvbvetter]

Recently my Musketeer was stolen out of my car. Even though i have an Explorer II and a Whites DFX. I went right out and bought another Musketeer. I really like them, there fun to use, great depth ( amazing depth with the 10 in. ML coil ) And there response and recovery time on targets is so quick, there great for those trashy areas. I can even use the 10 in. in heavy trashy.
Until you get that Explorer, you might consider getting the ML 10 in. coil. I think you might be impressed. Whatever you do, good luck and happy hunting.