9 Function Metal Detector from Harbor Freight tools?

[silversurfer1111]

i have used this machine for 2 y now . on the 2 hunt i found a civil war button 8" down ....on other hunts i have found .2 silver dimes at 5 " down.. 1 silver quarter at 7 " down .small silver ring at 4" down ..silver pendant the size of quarter at 4 " down .. oldies coin 1862 Indian head penny.. lots of wheat penny's and lots and lots of clad coins . no gold but lots of pull tabs lol.i have the 16 $ pin pointer to and it helps out big time . this machine has payed for it self on the 2 day out .now im looking for somthing new but i would have to pay 300 or more to get a good upgrade from this 50$ machine lol

 

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[silversurfer1111]

here is the civil war button i found on my 2 hunt

 

[dirtfisher]

I was in Harbor Freight the other day and asked the guy if they had any metal detectors. He said we have 2. So I looked at them and although they looked cheap the price on the 9 function wasn't but $45 so I said what the heck and bought it. When I got home to do some air tests I have to say I was really IMPRESSED. This machine actually had some pretty decent depth. The discrimination was really good on the unit and the coil looked to be decent quality as well. It has automatic ground balance every 45 seconds and has a 5.8 khz frequency. The only problem I have seen with the unit is all of the little areas dirt would get in under normal hunting so you have to be very careful with it. Other than that I find myself hunting with it in the near future just to see what it can do and letting others use it to hunt with me so I don't have to loan out my good detectors. lol

 

[TreasurePirate69]

I bought one of these a few years back and it was just garbage. HOWEVER... I understand that they have upgraded these devices in the last couple of years and they are supposed to be much better. So I'm glad to hear that the new ones are pretty decent.

Here is the manual for the older model that I have. As you can see it takes 3 9V batteries, has 5 different knobs that need to be tuned, and has push switches and multiple modes to deal with. Depth was really poor and getting the thing properly tuned is an absolute nightmare. It was a complete waste of money for me.

http://images.harborfreight.com/manuals/43000-43999/43149.PDF

Good luck with your new machine and thanks for sharing the info. We seem to always have our eyes open for that "diamond in the rough" so to speak. Most of the time it is true that you get what you pay for. In my case this was even worse than true in that what I got WASN'T worth what I even paid for it. But it sounds like the newer HF 9 function model is a decent value.

For what it's worth, the old 6 function detector was total junk too back in the day. I originally bought that one for around $35 and took it back immediately for the 9 function. I don't think they have upgraded that one as it still requires manual tuning. So I'd stick with the newer 9 function detector if it were me.

 

[dirtfisher]

I bought one of these a few years back and it was just garbage. HOWEVER... I understand that they have upgraded these devices in the last couple of years and they are supposed to be much better. So I'm glad to hear that the new ones are pretty decent.

Here is the manual for the older model that I have. As you can see it takes 3 9V batteries, has 5 different knobs that need to be tuned, and has push switches and multiple modes to deal with. Depth was really poor and getting the thing properly tuned is an absolute nightmare. It was a complete waste of money for me.

http://images.harborfreight.com/manuals/43000-43999/43149.PDF

Good luck with your new machine and thanks for sharing the info. We seem to always have our eyes open for that "diamond in the rough" so to speak. Most of the time it is true that you get what you pay for. In my case this was even worse than true in that what I got WASN'T worth what I even paid for it. But it sounds like the newer HF 9 function model is a decent value.

For what it's worth, the old 6 function detector was total junk too back in the day. I originally bought that one for around $35 and took it back immediately for the 9 function. I don't think they have upgraded that one as it still requires manual tuning. So I'd stick with the newer 9 function detector if it were me.

I think you would have much more fun with the newer one. Sounds like the other one was a pain. This one is almost turn on and go. Funny thing is they say the coil is waterproof and can be submersed but it still looks like water can get in the coil from where the wire goes in. I don't know if they got something inside the coil around that wire to keep water from coming in or not so I'm not taking any chances. The ID meter doesn't really ID anything. When you get a signal it just swings all the way to the right no matter what it detects lol. But the tone is pleasant and it has an adjustable volume control which I like. I think for $45 bucks they made it the best quality that they could to still make a profit. I think they could have placed a 1/4" plug on there for the headphones instead of those tiny walkman type but I can use a converter and it shouldn't be a problem. I have yet to take it outside and see how it does compared to my other detectors but I have a week off all next week and am going to give it a shot.

 

[TreasurePirate69]

Sounds great. Be sure to check back and let us know how it goes. I'm always on the lookout for cheap detectors that can be purchased for kids and large groups.

 

[dirtfisher]

Sounds great. Be sure to check back and let us know how it goes. I'm always on the lookout for cheap detectors that can be purchased for kids and large groups.

Well I went out in the yard with it today for about an hour and a half. Found a few pennies, a dime, a dremmel tool wheel, a few odds and ends of junk but I must say it handled itself pretty well. Discrimination worked exceptional and it seemed to have decent target separation. I was able to crank sensitivity all the way without any chatter here in VA soil. So far I have yet to find anything deeper than 6 inches with it. It hits hard on coins. All in all it gets a big thumbs up from me. Does exactly what it is designed to do. For $45 you can't go wrong. New improved version seems to work great

 

[Rawhide]

I own one of these harbor freight detectors. It was a gift from my brother as he had used it and made some wild claims about it. If you read the manual, it says used for hunting nails in wood, seriously. But it is a real Metal Detector. It is good for coins in the park, which is what I have mostly been using my more expensive detector for. It has a handy little red button built into the handle to bring GB back. It is a very light and compact detector, can almost fit inside a small back pack. The handle adjustment wont take any abuse so don't over tighten it. The search coil is very small and can get into tight places. Its good on old iron also as you guys already know. I really like the way the needle would swing, and you can have a lot of fun playing with GB settings on this one. When I first started I wanted more depth and a big numbered screen. Now the guy with a $2500.00 detector is gonna tell you all sorts of negative stuff. He paid more so the parts must be superior, lol. What I suggest is learn this detector, understand what it is doing and how it works. This will help when and if you buy a new detector later on. A hand held pinpointer is just a detector also. Good luck.

 

[dirtfisher]

The newer 9 function metal detector from Harbor Freight no longer has ground balance settings to play with. Ground Balance is now automatic. The red button on top of the handle is for the pinpoint. HH

 

[dirtfisher]

Harbor Freight 9 function metal detector finds silver ring yesterday! Details in Today's Finds! http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/343235-nice-hunt-yesterday.html

 

[Gregmid40]

I agree. The *@%^ thing goes off on the rocks we have in this area and there's not a *6#%^ thing you can do to discriminate their signal out. Sounds off CONSTANTLY on these 'hot rocks' as if they were a good target. Apparently has no automatic (or manual) ground balance built in and TOTALLY ruins an otherwise deep-detecting machine. As far as power, this machine is every bit as powerful as my old 1990 Fisher 1260-X but the lack of auto or manual ground balance makes this detector a dud. A thumbs down in my book.

 

[dirtfisher]

It has automatic ground balance. The reason you will pick up the Hot Rocks with this machine is because it perfectly auto tunes to the ground. It has no special circuitry in this machine to set it slightly positive so it will knock out the Hot Rocks. If it had manual ground balance you would tune it to the ground, then set it slightly positive to knock out the hot rocks. I hope this makes sense. But what can you expect for $45. HH

 

[Gregmid40]

In reply to dirtfisher

It has automatic ground balance. The reason you will pick up the Hot Rocks with this machine is because it perfectly auto tunes to the ground. It has no special circuitry in this machine to set it slightly positive so it will knock out the Hot Rocks. If it had manual ground balance you would tune it to the ground, then set it slightly positive to knock out the hot rocks. I hope this makes sense. But what can you expect for $45. HH

Well Dirtfisher, the 'hot rocks' turn out to be normal, everyday pieces of gravel (from parking lots, driveways, etc.) it looks like. The machine does sound off on these pieces of gravel as did a friend of mines' who also used the same exact Harbor Freight 9-Function detector as mine is. He dug himself crazy and finally gave up after finding piece after piece of gravel and ended up returning it. No amount of discrimination increase or sensitivity decrease adjustment will eliminate these 'false positive' signals on this particular model when going over this gravel. If you're in the Triad area of North Carolina and search where there happens to be gravel, you're in for a lot of digging of this gravel. I also have the smaller 6-function model with the six-inch coil from harbor freight tools and this one does not go off on these pieces of gravel. The coil must not be properly balanced to the circuitry as NONE of my other detectors behave like this to gravel or any other rocks of any sort except for maybe gold-bearing quartz, copper lodes, etc. I have read that the Chinese have overlooked a crucial matching of the searchcoil frequency to the circuitry when building this model from what one person said on another blog site. Well for $45, I would expect it to work at least as well as the $30.00 almost identical 6-function I also own, and this one, remember, as I mentioned earlier, does NOT go off on gravel. Oh well. As they say 'One step forward, two steps backwards'.

 

[dirtfisher]

Well Dirtfisher, the 'hot rocks' turn out to be normal, everyday pieces of gravel (from parking lots, driveways, etc.) it looks like. The machine does sound off on these pieces of gravel as did a friend of mines' who also used the same exact Harbor Freight 9-Function detector as mine is. He dug himself crazy and finally gave up after finding piece after piece of gravel and ended up returning it. No amount of discrimination increase or sensitivity decrease adjustment will eliminate these 'false positive' signals on this particular model when going over this gravel. If you're in the Triad area of North Carolina and search where there happens to be gravel, you're in for a lot of digging of this gravel. I also have the smaller 6-function model with the six-inch coil from harbor freight tools and this one does not go off on these pieces of gravel. The coil must not be properly balanced to the circuitry as NONE of my other detectors behave like this to gravel or any other rocks of any sort except for maybe gold-bearing quartz, copper lodes, etc. I have read that the Chinese have overlooked a crucial matching of the searchcoil frequency to the circuitry when building this model from what one person said on another blog site. Well for $45, I would expect it to work at least as well as the $30.00 almost identical 6-function I also own, and this one, remember, as I mentioned earlier, does NOT go off on gravel. Oh well. As they say 'One step forward, two steps backwards'.

Jesus, I would hate to have to dig just about every other gravel myself. Sounds like that would be a pain. I don't know about the frequency mismatching bit, it would seem to me that would decrease the depth substantially if it is not tuned properly to the coil. (Not that it has much depth anyway lol) I do know however that most metal detector manufacturers with manual ground balance have designed their circuitry to automatically set slightly positive after you flip it back into discrimination mode from when you neutral ground balance the machine in order to keep things quiet and make the hunting experience more pleasurable which also knocks out the hot rocks. I have read that in another forum where they were explaining how to power balance your machine by setting it slightly negative after ground balancing due to the manufacturers having a slightly positive setting regardless. Whatever the reason, I do wish they would have given the ability to set the ground balance ourselves. I know they did with the earlier model, and some were complaining that it was hard to balance. Seems they are moving in the right direction if they could only get that part fixed eh? My wife loves the machine but she does dig hot rocks all the time. Although I may not be right, I explain to her that I think it may be where it automatically neutrally ground balances and has no slight positive offset. But I'm like you, I've been trying to figure it out myself. She doesn't seem to mind the occasional hot rock but I bet she would get pissed if she lived in an area like yours and were digging it all the time. Best wishes to you and Happy Hunting! Good luck with your 6-function metal detector. I might get that one next just to see how it does. Have heard some great reviews about it, and some bad.

 

[Rawhide]

The newer 9 function metal detector from Harbor Freight no longer has ground balance settings to play with. Ground Balance is now automatic. The red button on top of the handle is for the pinpoint. HH

I have the older one and it still works. The coil is so small, dont really need to pin point lol.

 

[FishFood]

I also have the 9 function HF MD...bought on a whim. I also have a Tesoro uMax gold. After the first testdrive on the HF detector, I was pleasantly surprised that this cheap little MD actually works...and works well! Found a ton of clad with it. It has become my "in the truck" detector..b/c that's where it lives and stays. When I have an hour or two to kill, I'll find a likely spot and go to town. The discrim. works, I run mine at the 3 o'clock position. Filters out most of the crap and I'm usually only digging copper pennies, dimes and quarters. Owned it since March. My take from today's short 1 1/2 hour park hunt....$4.75 in quarters, 90 cents in dimes, 8 pennies, 1 Canadian penny, 6 bevertail pulls, 1 figure 8 tab and misc. heavy aluminum/steel and two twist-off bottle caps. Not bad for $39.00 (what it was on sale for when I bought it) Most of the targets were 3"-6", a couple of the quarters and dimes were close to 8". It's built like garbage, but the batteries last forever (still on the originals after so many days of hunting...it's crazy lite on batteries). Here's the clad coinage from today.

 

[silversurfer1111]

I have found 4 or 5 hot rocks but.. I don't find them all the time ... my friend got 1 and he don't have a problem . I even use mine at the beach over wet sand ...I love this MD its all I have and I would buy another. I would like to have a better MD but i just don't have the cash .. you can play with the pots on the inside of the MD if your having a problem ... I have found 14 silver coins .... 3 silver rings 1 silver pendant 140+$ in clad lots of buttons / relics ...that's better then some ppl with 300$ MD's... ya luck has something to do with it but you cant beat this MD for the cash

 

[E = Mc2]

Just for kicks (and to satisfy a need to get out) I bought the 9 function MD from Harbor Freight and the Cen-Tech pinpointer. Took a short hobble from my Disney resort towards the bus stop and worked an area along the sidewalk. After finding a steel washer, I got the sensitivity and discrimination set fairly close and proceeded to find 9 pennies and one clad quarter in about a 1/2 hour of playing with the unit. Oddly enough, zero pull tabs.

 

[Nokatay]

I got one of these about 3 years ago after having a few beers in the bar and wanted to show how much metal I have in my bones from a motorcycle accident. I tried it out a few times after and got frustrated. It sat around (with the original batteries) until last month and the batteries still worked well. I wanted an excuse to get some exercise and have been out 3 times. I'm getting the hang of it and found my first 2 coins today, 11 cents! Right now even finding junk is good to get used to the different metals. I've got some homesteads on a small island off Cape Cod I want to check out but the tick and EEE mosquito season is in full swing so that will have to wait awhile.

 

[Nickleanddime]

I use best buys version of a cheap detector and I LOVE IT!!! I find ton of coins and one ring so far. There good to get into the hobby to see if you like it, I hunted against a guy using a 1500 dollar machine and beat him in finds. I'm trying to one day buy a habour freight one to compliment mine since it problay does get better depth. But if its like they say a knock off of a bounty hunter tracker spend the extra 40 bucks and get one of them. Or check CL there everywhere on there.