350 problems

[tim185]

New to the hobby. I've had my 350 for about 2 months. Crappy weather... been out only twice with it and really like it. Came home after the second time and the batteries were down to two bars. Changed them out and went out in the backyard as I hadn't had enough. It went bizerk. Constantly beeping. Indicator jumping all over. It did this while holding it up in the air. No electricsl lines nearby, etc... Came inside and searched threads. Changed batteries, looked for loose connection, etc...

I called garrett and explained. They are sending me a new coil and will get it by the end of the week. Hope this fixes the problem. I inquired about having to send it to them for calibration. They told me it's unlikely that it will be needed. I must say as others have stated before... they are awesome at costumer service. No issues. No questions. No fees. Just sending me a new coil.

Regardless, I'm confident I purchased the right brand and machine as a newbie.

Wish me luck. Will let you know how it turns out.

 

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[tiderider]

Don't worry they'll take care of you, I had a problem with mine and sent me one and all is well!!

 

[Hookedondetecting]

My 350 will make lots of noise in the back yard or in house due to WiFi - My neighbors and I all have WiFi.
Out in the open no issues - Just wondering

 

[tim185]

Hooked.... good point. We have wireless. I thought of that too. I tried it at another location the next day and same thing. Also, when I first got the 350 I used it in the backyard and had no problems except for frozen ground.
Thanks for your insight.

 

[fireguy]

I would say it has to do with EMI like other people are saying with the wifi. I know that I purchased an aftermarket coil that is large and it does the exact same thing going crazy to the point it makes you think the circuts are going to fry haha. I found it to be the wifi router causing it. Also if you said you've had it on in your house before without a problem try again and unplug your router. A lot of routers are set to auto channel select which changes the channel or frequency to the one with the least interference. The intermittent problem may be caused by your router broadcasting at that time on a frequency that interfere with your detector.

Try that. Also if you turn your sensitivity down with it in the air and the problem goes away then back again when you turn it up it is most likely EMI. If it is consistent probably faulty hardware.

Also to help determine if the wifi is what is doing it download the amped wireless analytic tool app on your smartphone. This will tell you how many wifi signals are broadcasting where you are at and how strong. It will also help determine the stop with the least signals so you can test your detector and compair.

Lastly make sure the coil wire is tight around the shaft or this can cause so falsing.

Sorry didn't mean to overrun your post.

 

[punkass761]

I just had the same problem with my new at gold. I was using it at a couple parks with fresh batteries and my new nel coil all was good until I got to the 3rd park then it went nuts. I brought it home changed batteries still going crazy I put the stock coil on and same thing. I called Garrett they offered to send a new coil but I told them I tried it with new coil and other coil so they had me send in control box and coil for repair or replacing sent it ups yesterday. The people and customer service are fantastic I have complete trust and believe they will send it back fixed. Good thing I have 3 backup garrett detectors that work great. I hope they fix yours too. HH

 

[Lefty]

My ACE 350 goes crazy sometimes like you describe. I usually turn it off, take the battery out then put back in then turn on. If it still goes crazy then I usually move to a different area then it works fine. There's a couple parks that I go to that if I go to a certain area then the 350 goes crazy. I figure it's got to be the power lines in the ground or close by. There's one sand volleyball area I try to hit that always gives me false signals.

 

[BigWaveDave]

Hope you get it worked out soon... lucky me that my 350 has had no issues, you will be happy hunting before too long. good luck!

 

[Kodiak43351]

When I had the 350 it would go crazy around the house because of wifi. In the fields I hunted with it it only acted up in the real trashy sites with rust in the dirt and coal ash. Good luck with your future hunts and the 350 is a great machine.

 

[tim185]

Well..... I'm completely bummed.

The new coil arrived today as garrett said. Put it on and the EXACT same problem. Indicator jumping all over. Beeping constantly. Shows dept of 2, 4, 6 inches. Completely eractic.

Calling garrett on Monday morning. I'm going to tell them I think I need to send it to them for calibration or replacement.

There are two saving graces... 1) a huge snow storm, titan, is coming with predictions of 10+ inches. Wouldn't be MDing anytime soon anyway. 2) I guess I now have two good DD coils.

 

[fireguy]

When you turn your sensitivity down does the problem stop or continue

 

[tim185]

It does stop with sensitivity all the way down.

 

[releventchair]

On very rare occasion,and seems when going from wet soil area to a dry,or a big soil change like sand to loam my 350 will machine gun up and down the scale. First I do a reset by holding power button till it beeps. Then I back sensitivity down to half. If it chatters back and forth from one end to the other still I reset again and lower sens to a quarter of its capacity.When it regains its composure sens can be gradually ramped back up as tolerated a notch at a time ,usually when soil conditions change again.
But do try a reset and back sens down a couple notches. Some days in a frequently hunted area I end up running sens lower for reasons other than any chatter, or your symptoms and don,t feel I,m missing anything. Just that there are conditions machine seems more highly sensitive than others. Possibly those ideal detecting moisture levels.
Batteries below half charged not preferred by my 350. It will work, but with strong batteries its a different machine.Its many hours on a fresh set before their half way down so I don,t mind. Also if using a coil cover,(I do),be sure its not holding soil,sand or anything in it, Just my opinion. Good luck. Happy Hunting.

 

[fireguy]

It does stop with sensitivity all the way down.

Ok next thing is to turn up the sensitivity a couple notches above where it starts to chatter and hold the pinpoint button. Do you heard a pulsating sound. It might be faint but if that happened with the stuff that you describe it is most likely something emitting RF that is interfering.

Let me know what your results are of this.

 

[tim185]

Yes. It did this as you described. In fact, with sensitivity all the way down it gave a faint pulsating sound also.

 

[dustytrails123]

I had the same problems from time to time with the 350 most of the time it would fix itself with taking the batteries out...ive had it 2 years and it prolly only happy maybe 5 times ...the pinpointer garrett makes goes crazy and falses way more often ...hope you figure it out but i kinda have my doubts on the name brand after 2 years of mixed results

 

[fireguy]

What you are describing is most likely it picking up RF. In pinpoint mode you are hearing it instead of the binging of the detector trying to figure out what it is picking up. Most likely culprit is wifi. Try to unplug your router and turn on your detector see if that changes it. If it doesn't and you live with surrounding houses download a wifi analytic app and see how may wifi signals are being picked up you'd be surprised. Find the spot with the fewest signals and try.

Let me know how this turns out and if it doesn't help I have a couple other things to try but the above is easiest to start with.

 

[bottlecap]

This probably isn't the culprit but I know at work when locating those invisible fences for dogs REALLY screw things up. Another thing to consider is buried power cables, CATV cables or phone cables. Another thing that really screws things up is buried fiber optic, a lot of the fiber companies actually have a frequency running on the fiber optic at all times so it can be located. Just trying to make some suggestions, you would be surprised at the amount of infrastructure in the ground....and how shallow it can be.

 

[tim185]

Downloaded the app. Holy cow.
unplugged my wifi. Moved to an area where I only had one other faint wifi signal. Still same thing.
I really appreciate your help.

 

[tim185]

Update...
I ended up having to send in both coils and the control box. It needed a new board.
im over nighting it and will be back in the game sat morning. Might be the best $20.50 ive spent in a while.