Upgrade ace 300i coil or buy ace 400i

[Cherza]

Hi, I just brought my first detector a ace 300i with proformer 6.5x9 coil.
Will upgrading the coil to a dd coil make it out preform a 400i with the stock dd 8.5x11 coil
Or should I buy a 400i instead?
I'm not worried about iron audio.
The 300i is 8khz and the 400i is 10khz is that much of a difference?
The areas I'm hunting are loaded with trash so would I be better off keeping the 300i
And fitting it with a garrett 5x8 dd coil or a nel sharpsooter a 14.5x10.5 thunder coil make a difference in depth and
Finding coins close in amongst trash
So what's best but a 400i or choose a better coil for the 300i and what one?
Sam

 

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[bowwinkles]

I went from a 400 to a 300 because of the nose heavy 400 coil and then got rid of them and chose another brand with ground balance and better features for less money. Take a close look at the LRP.

 

[John-Edmonton]

That 6.5 x 9 coil is very under rated. It gets decent depth, more accurate ID capabilities compared to a DD coil allowing you to ID more bottle caps as such. If you go smaller to the 5 x 8 coil, you will get even better separation abilities, better sensitivity to tiny targets and still maintain decent depth. The 5 x 8 is a DD coil so bottle caps will often read as coins. If you go to a larger coils, say the 8.5 x 11, your depth will increase, but you will lose some separation abilities.

Your choice should depend on how trashy your parks really are and how deep do you want to go. Usually depth is not as issue in parks, as 90% of your finds are in the top 4 inches. So......you may want to focus on the amount of junk aspect where you hunt. Upgrading to the ACE 400 only gives you a larger coil and an operating frequency change as well as iron audio, which you mentioned you really don't want.

I would suggest you order a larger coil with the ACE 300, which will allow you to also gain some depth searching other locations for known deeper targets.

The ACE Series are a fine machine.....in fact they have been been the largest seller ever of all detectors. Stick with Garrett......they really back their products. Garrett products are well known in Australia! Probably the best warranty in the business! It's the same original company which has been been building detectors for over 50 years.

You asked some great questions mate! Hope this helped. All the best to you.

 

[John-Edmonton]

I went from a 400 to a 300 because of the nose heavy 400 coil and then got rid of them and chose another brand with ground balance and better features for less money. Take a close look at the LRP.

I have had the opportunity to own 2 Bounty Hunter detectors. Got rid of them very quickly. But this is a Garrett Forum, so I won't bash other makes and models.

Good luck with your LRP.

John-Edmonton

 

[doggoneitdignit]

Thanks for posting this John, great to here your input on this. By the way if anyone wants to know Eastern and Western Treasure Magazine posted both the 300i and 400i in there February and March 2017 field test articles. Agree with John here Cherza, stick with your 300i and pick up your 5x8" this will make it a good companion to the coil you already have and give the stock coil time with your detector in different fields for sure no need to buy or look at changing this detector for a 400i or even the LRP...If anything go with what John said you have a good detector. I thought from what you are thinking from as well and likely you have been doing research on other websites to see if you really have a decent detector and wanted to to see what others have had with other metal detector comparison test against the 300i.

I thought this as well if in fact if you would have been better off with the LRP or the Garrett 400i maybe I should have gone with either of the 400i or LRP? But I own this now already and believe there would be not much more on separation and depth if you did a comparison on the 300 to the 400 or LRP, and as you said not sure if I myself would get much benefit of the audio iron feature.

Also I almost got my self a very good deal n a Black Friday Deal Texas Titan 9000 and from what I hear would have been very similar to the LRP, but I didn't get one..only reason why I wanted one to just try is to stand it against my 300i and really see the comparison. Therefore no looking back put that coil to the ground and keep sweeping, from what I have turned up and others you cant go wrong with what you purchased and for what Garrett has offered along with it, hands down it is a good deal for what it punches as a detector, and add that 5x8 DD great for tot parks even if it is not a smaller concentric which they do offer a super sniper coil if you like.

HH.

 

[Cherza]

Thanks for the input everybody
John That's interesting 90% of finds are under 4 inches
So depth isn't everything?
Bowinkles yes the LRP does have a few more features
But wow the aces are very easy to use

 

[Cherza]

On the LRP what is the ground grab and v brake
Is that important having it the ace is ok without it

 

[John-Edmonton]

Thanks for the input everybody
John That's interesting 90% of finds are under 4 inches
So depth isn't everything?
Bowinkles yes the LRP does have a few more features
But wow the aces are very easy to use

Garrett used the "KISS" principle when designing entry level detectors. If you want more bells and whistles, wait until you get some experience, save your clad and spend a little more money on a decent non-entry level machine where the bells and whistles work well. And yes, depth hi highly over rated. If you want depth, get a pulse induction machine. You can pick up a dime at an easy 10 inches in highly mineralized soil, in areas where there actually are deep targets.

All the best mate!

 

[bowwinkles]

Garrett used the "KISS" principle when designing entry level detectors. If you want more bells and whistles, wait until you get some experience, save your clad and spend a little more money on a decent non-entry level machine where the bells and whistles work well. And yes, depth hi highly over rated. If you want depth, get a pulse induction machine. You can pick up a dime at an easy 10 inches in highly mineralized soil, in areas where there actually are deep targets.


Please, someone other than the author of the above quote give me their interpretation of what has been written. The Garrett "kiss" principal to me as written is you need to just kiss your bucks good by on their entry level machine. If you want a machine that actually works well, try to save your clad so you can then purchase one of their more expensive machines that is designed to with bells and whistles that actually function. Does this mean that entry level machines are just training equipment needed and designed to get a customer ready to make someone spend more money? I think that Garrett might just take a very big exception to this type interpretation of their policy's.

 

[Andy Nunez]

Well, I take a different view. I know Hunter GT had mineralization issues with his Ace versus the Landstar Pro and in his situation, I don't blame him for picking the BH. I came along when BH detectors were among the top brands (I owned an RB JR. and A Big Bud Pro with a 10 inch coil). I got my first Garrett shortly thereafter, a GTA 1000. It didn't get the depth of the Bud, but it had some nice notch features and it was hot on Indian Heads. When I got back into the sport in 2013, all my friends had ACE 350s so I got one and was pretty happy with it (got my first cob with it after 25 years, so something was going right). I still wanted a VDI, so in 2016 when the 400 came out, I got one and loved the new features. I sold off my other backup detectors I picked up at yard sales and kept the two Garretts. Do I think they are intro models? Not to me. The lack of ground balance is the only negative I have with it. Over here on Maryland's Eastern Shore, I don't feel like mineralization is a big issue because we don't have much in the way of minerals, except black sand at beaches. I did upgrade and put a Cors Cannon coil on my 400 because I am primarily a field hunter. So far, I have pulled a number of great coins with the 350 and 400, including a 1702 cob, a 1775 English penny, a 1776 Hibernia, 2 two cent pieces, a capped bust dime, three seated dimes and several large cents, the oldest being 1810, plus modern silver, IHPs and Wheaties and lots of buttons, including my first Civil War artillery button. I don't feel like I own an entry level machine at all. I go up against AT-Pros all the time and I stay competitive. If you want to see some of the stuff I found, look at the Garrett ads on the various magazines this month. Andy N. MD, that's me. I'm not downing other brands, but I am just defending what I have as a machine I have done well with and it suits my needs and my budget.