Question: Black sand. Minelab(?)

[svensken77]

As my other thread about how fast stuff sinks in the water turned into a what should i buy thread im starting a new one for that.
I found a seller in Italy this time called: metaldetectorpro.it/en/ that sells detectors and have really good prices. If i have the guts to send that much money to a company that i never heard of i might buy a Minelab Excalibur II..
My Garrett AT PRO does not work good in salt water and as i talked to 2 other guys today with the same problem here in sweden im assuming theres nothing wrong with it, it just cant handle the black sand.
The AT is a single frequency detector and thats what not working in black sand right?
The minelab Excal works in 17 frequencies is that GUARANTEED to work in the saltwater for me or should i stick with a PI detector like the Whites Surf dual field or Garrett sea hunter (are thoose GUARANTEED to work?).
I can't risk getting a THIRD detector that will not work in the water..
Thanks for any input on this.. My head is spinning with all detectors right now and smoke coming out of my ears...

 

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[Sandman]

It is not just the black sand that is screwing up the AT PRO or any other single freq detectors in the wet sand but the salt water too. Salt is a mineral that the detectors pick up along with the Black sand and they both vary in different concentrations within feet sometimes. The Excal excels at saltwater but so is the Fisher CZ20/21 and the Beach Hunter ID with a close third. The Excal has the advantage also in being able to respond to a gold ring under a Iron item, sometimes as large as a railroad spike. No other detector does this but the Sov GT which isn't waterproof. But take a look at the new Minelab CTX 3030.

 

[svensken77]

But take a look at the new Minelab CTX 3030.

The CTX is out of my budget by far and so is the Excalibur but ill sell my soul to satan if i have to . Now i wont get that much for my soul that i can afford the CTX but maybe the excal depending on the answer i get from the Italian company about shipping to sweden.
But youre saying it WILL work or it MIGHT work here or is it impossible to say without knowing the sand or does it work everywhere?
I read on a youtubeclip that The Whites DF struggles with the high mineral content of Ocean City Wet Beachs? I thought a PI could not have problems with that?

 

[Sandman]

I have never used the Excal in Sweden so I couldn't tell you for certain, but I believe it would work as it works everywhere else. Not all PI's are created equal, just like women. One thing I can clearly state is the White's water detectors coils float like corks. This fine for dry or wet sand, but it is tiring holding it down in the water. White's calls this "near neutral buoyancy." I call this lying, at least in my world. If a manufacturer gives one false claim it throws all the other claims to being suspect.

 

[Burldrives]

I am far from being an expert and will never be , but will share my simular situation. I also believed after much reading a PI was the machine for me . Luckly I found a used unit very reasonable and it did everything a pi was supposed to . Water proof to 200 ft ,ignore salt,did well in black sand and detected all metal. Unfortunatly the area I live the sand gets litterd with pieces of broken crab traps that are coated steel and spent most of my time time digging garbage. I only spent $200 for the unit witch I can easly sell. If you can borrow or rent a PI for a few days you will quickly find if it is the right detector for you.

 

[search and recovery]

The PI detectors will work fine no matter the amount of black sand. The real question is how much iron and scrap metal does the beaches you hunt have? They will keep you digging forever if there is a lot of trash but will go very deep. I own two PI machines. I love the duel field in the water. If you put it on a straight shaft, the coil will not float and it is a pleasure to use. I also have a Tesoro Sand Shark as my backup machine. Works great and has a lifetime warranty as long as you buy it new. Not quite as deep as the dual field but does seem to pick up smaller gold. Then I have the Excalibur. Absolutely wonderful machine with great descrimination. I use it on dry and wet sand. In the water it begins to lose some depth. Therefore, I go to the PI machines as I get over knee deep unless there is a lot of iron. Then I stay with the Excalibur. Just make sure you buy the best warer scoop that you can afford. It does you no good to locate a good target if you can not recover it. For this task I use a sunspot scoop, the largest one they make. Hope this helps.

 

[John (west central FL)]

I have used my Excalibur in a lake in New York State that has a lot of black sand. The lake is very close to an iron mine. In heavy black sand the discriminate mode will make copper coins that are buried over a few inches deep sound like steel bottle caps or they may even null out completely like a nail would. In that situation I hunted in the "all metal" or pin-point mode. I was still able to detect at pretty good depths but without discrimination. Not much worse than hunting with a PI though.

 

[U.K. Brian]

John's experience is the same as mine though there are volcanic beaches that seem to mess up BBS and FBS even if all metal is used. Still use a P.I. in preference to any other as a first choice but not all are equal. On wet/black sand a P.I. should have a user adjustable SAT (Self Adjusting Threshold) knob. A Deepstar has this as it was designed for those difficult conditions. A TDI can be used on the wet but as a land detector isn't quite as easy to use as a Deepstar or Aquastar.

 

[svensken77]

Thanks everyone for all the usefule info..
I got an short answer from the Italian company, We dont have Excalib.. So thats out.

Then i have 2 PI machines that im thinking about.
Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II and Whites Surf Dual Field.
Both have got really good reviews and most people seems satified with them without some exeptions ofcourse.

Sandman: I read that the Coil is a little Buoyant but could be fixed with a sock with sand if needed, i agree that they should not say it if its not true but as for false claim Then Garrett said the AT PRO would work in saltwater too and thats why i bought it. Should have done more reseach..

Burldrives: Rent a detector is out of the question, i having hard times finding someone that sells them, atleast in Europe.

Search and recovery: I will only use this detector IN the water and theres hopefully not that much trash like it is up on the beach then i stick with my AT PRO for the sand on the beach.
The lifetime warranty of the Sand Shark is only in the US and only 1 year here in Europe.
Sandscoop i bought a really good one and pretty big from Ukraine. STAVRSCOOP. could really recommend for anyone.

Anyone here used the Garrett sea hunter mark II? ive read some reviews but any other thoughts would be great.
The Discrete Trash Elimination seems to be useless??

The Whites is In stock and i will have it in 3 days but is it worth the extra money or should i wait 3-4 weeks for the Garrett? Maybe the Whites fans will say yes and the garrett fans will say wait.?

 

[steffenb70]

Hello Svensken77.

I don't know your excact location, But since I live close to Copenhagen in Denmark, I might be very close to you.

We don't have what the Australians call black sand, but your problem might just be the salt water, which will drive an AT Pro crazy.

If your hunting ground is like the one on my side of the ocean, then you will have the choice of a PI (which will be your worst choice if there's a lot of iron on your beach - Go all-metal with your ATPro, and investigate before making your choice) Or a BBS/FBS machine from minelab, or the fisher CZ21.

I own a Minelab Explorer XS, which I use for shallow saltwater hunting, and it goes deep, and an excalibur would do just fine too!

Try your ATPro on the wet sand, and if you dig out coins at 10 inches, then I'm sure that black sand is not your problem, but just the salt. - Stick with the Excalibur in that case!

There's an authorized minelab dealer in the UK if you need one.

HH.

/Steffen

 

[ivanll]

The AT Pro can GB on Red dirt in an Australian Gold field and it can GB on a salt water beach, but to GB on both at the same time is doubtful, same with Black sand and salt water.
Try an auto GB on the black sand then go into manual GB and reduce the GB number by say two numbers (negative GB) before entering the water.
Also reduce the sensetivity to half and try this in both STD and Pro mode.
It's a test I do not know if it will work on your beach.
Not all PI will work on heavy Black sand beaches, try some of the beaches in Italy and you'll see, there a PI with good GB is essential.
The PI we use to use on the beaches here were useless in the Gold fields, then came the PI with GB and the game started.

I've got two PI with GB, a Garrett Infinium LS and a Whites TDI Pro OZ version, both work for me............. but some people do not get on with them. ? ?

ivanll

 

[svensken77]

Hi steffenb70:
i live in Varberg down from gothenburg facin you gus on the other side of the puddle.
I know ill have to dig everything with a PI but will only use it in the water where theres less trash. The prices in UK are to high for me to buy the Excal even though thats the one i would like, about a 1000 £ or more it seems but if you find anything cheaper LET ME KNOW.

H ivanll:
i have tried all the tricks in the book for getting it to work in the salt and even replaced the coil. i have talked to others here now that have the same problem too with the AT PRO.. I is a freshwater or drysand detector at our swedish beaches thats it..

 

[wrecker]

Hi Svensken, sorry I didn't check back on your other post and didn't see your question regarding detector dealers. There are some, and they advertise on the german ebay, but I'm affraid they're quite expensive (just like the dealers in Austria and Great Britain). Never bought from any of them. I bought my machines used from ebay and am satisfied with the deals I got. My first water machine was a Tesoro Tiger shark which wasn't good at all in the Baltic Sea conditions, sold it after I got me a used Excalibur 1000. I'm perfectly happy with the Excalibur, no problems with salt water or black sand. Use it often in the Baltic Sea (7 gold rings during the last week alone) and used it in different locations around the Mediterranian as well. I'm now looking to upgrade to a Excalibur II and a Garrett Infinium for some sanded in beaches with little or no trash. I'm sure you'ld be fine with an Excal or CZ 20/21. Most of the good beaches just have too much trash and would bevery frustrating to hunt with a PI. I would highly recommend the Excalibur for the vast majority of beach conditions.

 

[dewcon4414]

When choosing a water machine..... its different than a dirt machine especially if you are jewelry hunting. It takes a long time to pay off a great dirt machine..... but a water machine can pay for its self very quickly at current gold prices. If you dont know your beach area id suggest a disc machine rather than a less expensive PI. You can at least use it and cover more beach if there are a ton of worthless targets you have to sift thru. You will find also when there beach starts giving..... its not just the good stuff that fall in those cuts. Once you pay for you disc machine you can get a PI as a back up. A lot could depend on your patience to dig every little thing.... but if you have the change id spend the extra money for an Xcal or CZ.

Dew

 

[svensken77]

How does the Excalubur do in the dry sand on the beach? as good as the AT PRO?
I have found another detectorseller in Finland who sells the Excalibur for 990 Euro and that has to be considered a good price but i have emailed them about if they ship to sweden and have not got an answer yet.

 

[svensken77]

Seems like there are some restrictions by the manufactor when it comes to Minelab.
A Finnish company can sell the Excal in Finland but they cant sell and ship to Sweden..
I still have some "hooks" out for an Excalibur in Italy and Finland, ill wait and see or i buy something else. I cant pay 2400 dollars (16900 swedish Crowns) here..

 

[ivanll]

How does the Excalubur do in the dry sand on the beach? as good as the AT PRO?
I have found another detectorseller in Finland who sells the Excalibur for 990 Euro and that has to be considered a good price but i have emailed them about if they ship to sweden and have not got an answer yet.

Excalibur will do well on dry sand .......... better than, but I find it heavy.
CZ 20/21 will also do well on dry sand and they got good pinpointing when in chest deep water, they to are heavy I got 3 of them and use mine chest mounted.
See Fisher.

Jeg er fra Maribo paa Lolland...I'm from Maribo on the Island of Lolland.



ivanll

 

[svensken77]

Thaks for the answer ivanll.
I have just ordered the Minelab Excal about 35% cheaper than here in Swe and 2 years warranty. Just hope im not getting scammed (if thats the right word). . Im gonna keep one of my Garretts for regular huting on land just hav not decided witch yet..

Guess ill come back with a million questions on how to use it later.

 

[maipenrai]

Good luck with the Excal, I was looking for the dealer in Finland, to give to you, but couldnt find his address. I was going to buy from there also, but didnt want problems with importing it into another country.

I have had my Excal about a year, and was a bit disappointed, but that can be with any detector. Its a bit heavy for dry sand, but I attached a bungy cord to mine, and that has taken some of the weight off, also not as easy to lose in the surf. The tones are hard for me to figure out, but that may because my ears are too old, (not me, just the ears) Hope that 2 year warrenty is really 2 years, mine is only a year, and the control box is starting to show some cracks.

 

[dewcon4414]

Heavy? You can hip mount it and just swing the shaft if weight is a factor. Cant get much lighter than just swinging a rod and coil. Also, make your own shaft and put the pods, arm rest and cuff where you want them to balance it out. I have a Plugger rod and to me its not as well balanced as my home made one. Mine does well on the dry or wet sand..... good depth and picks up those tiny ear studs. PP has its advantages sometimes especially when it gets noisy in the surf since its not as affected by an increase in sensitivity.

Dew