Ace 250 and Tones...

[GlassyEyed]

I recently bought an Ace 250 and took it out yesterday for the first official test...here is my problem:

First of all, in the all metal mode, I was getting a variety of tones which was great. But it seems like I get a ton of tones registering in the dime slot. So I would switch it to jewelry and still rcvd the tones. I then put it in coins and of course the tones were still there. So I dig all of these targets I thought were dimes and come up nails, pieces of copper, a strip of wire, and of all things a foot long file.

After the first few mis-toned items I started playing with the sensitivity, but nothing seemed to help. I kept getting these dime/coin tones, but was digging everything but coins. Out of the 20 or so items I dug; I got only 1 penny and 1 dime.

My location was a 2 acre backyard at my bro-inlaws house. I figured that would be a good place to practice my digging/plugging techniques.

Anyways...any ideas for me to try? Thanks.

 

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[mcdpoor]

Does not sound right to me.. I can see the copper wires registering but iron should never be in that area unless it may be round or of similar shape to a coin. example a bolt head or nut. But that is rare. I hope you get more responses but my ACE 250 if it says it is a dime it will be a dime or penny. My suggestion would be to call Garrett and maybe get a checkup on your ACE.

 

[Monty]

Rusted steel that has been in the ground for a long time will often show up as a dime or quarter due to the halo effect. A penny will show up as a dime a lot of the time for some reason. This is true with any detector I have ever used. And a nickel will often show up as a pull tab or vice versa. Why I can't tell you. I found a gold ring in a park once that showed up bouncing between a pull tab and a nickel icon. Unfortunately no detector can tell you exactly what is under the coil. It can only guage the amount of resistance and signal what the electronics indicate. As you learn your ACE better you will get a knack for determining what things are more likely to be by the size and intensity of the signal. It is importat to know that the ACE works better with less falsing when the sensitivity is set at only 4 or 5 bars instead of being topped out. If you are getting that many false signals I would think you have an electrical problem with the detector or most likely your sensitivity is set too high. Monty

 

[GlassyEyed]

Thanks for the responses guys...

I adjusted my sensitivity way down to double check some targets. Maybe I just need to give it more time so I can learn a bit more. I'll try again tomorrow in a more coin likely spot.

 

[khouse]

First of all putting the detector in the coin mode does not mean you'll only pick up coins. Same with the jewelry mode. It's not only going to pick up jewelry. All the mode button does is accept or reject notches. That's it. So in relic, all metal and coin mode your dime notch is still excepted. So you'll get a beep on a metallic "target" that has the same conductivity as a dime. Not a dime only. Monte is right about rusty iron. Plus the ends or edges of iron can give you a coin beep. But you can reduce digging these targets with this simple method. First get your beep. Let's say your getting that dime beep. Then you pinpoint your target. Now release the pp button and center your coil directly over that spot. Now wiggle your coil back and forth about 2 inches. If it's still a dime then dig. If it's iron or bouncing from iron to dime it's probably a piece of rusty iron. Also while in the PP mode you can get a feel for the size of the target. Plus if your running too much sensitivity or have a bad coil technique you can get falsing. I suggest setting your machine in the coin mode. Sensitivity at 4 bars. Keep your coil very level to the soil all the way through your sweep. Do not jerk the coil at the end of your sweeps or you can get a beep. When you get a beep analyze it with a short wiggle of the coil not a 2 foot sweep. There are so many things the pinpoint mode can tell you on the 250. I touched on just a few. If you have any more problems you can send me a message with your phone number and I'll call you.

 

[GlassyEyed]

Well I tried again today at a local soccer field. I figured there shouldn't be too much the cept coins and foil....WRONG!

Again I kept getting the dime signal...and remarkably everything in my town is registering at 6". Well alomst everything. I did get a few signals at 2" which I love because that means less digging.

I got many signals at the dime marking, tried many techniques listed in here and wasn't having much luck. I think at this point it is my lack of knowledge vs machine gone wrong. I learned a little more today I think. Although somehow I dug up a hubcap sized object that was ringing as a dime?? I'll try and post some pics later. I dug up wire, hubcaps?, pop-tops, pull tabs, a few coins, and a SS ring.

 

[khouse]

Did you dig any dimes? If you running your sens down to 3 and all you get is dime hits no matter where you hunt then something may very well be wrong. Try it at 3 bars in coin mode. You may need to call Garrett? Your coil cable isn't flopping around is it?

 

[GlassyEyed]

No...I checked all connections, wrapped cable up good around rods, and replaced batteries with new Energizers. I am getting many tones and hits, but the majority 90% or more seem to be dimes at 6".

And yes I did get 2 dimes, a quarter (which showed quarter on my machine), and a couple of pennies. I also started getting many nickle tones as well at the soccer field. That led me to believe maybe someone else has been there cherry picking. Who knows...all speculation on my point at this time.

 

[Monty]

A chrome hubcap will return a dime like signal just as a clad dime will I suppose because of its shiny silver like surface. However you can tell the size of something that big by your pinpointer mode. If it just keeps giving a tone in a very large area it is going to be something big instead of a small coin. Aluminum beer cans will show up as a quarter or half dollar but if you pinpoint from several directions you can soon see that it's too big to be a coin. The depth meter is calibrated to coins and will not be accurate with other things. Also if you lift your coil about 4" and it's still giving the signal just as loud, it will be an aluminum can. Try it out on a pop can and you will see what I mean. You can learn a lot by planting a coin garden, burying coins at a known depth and then going back over them to see what they sound and look like. Put some trash targets in it too so you can see and hear the difference in them and a good signal. They need to be in the ground a couple of months to be truly accurate of what you will be finding in the field. I mark mine with a wooden golf tee so I will know exactly where they are. Monty

 

[Bat2Way]

Have you tried resetting the detector back to the factory presets? Just press the power button for 5-10 seconds until the detector beeps.

 

[GlassyEyed]

Yes I set it back to factory default.

 

[khouse]

Is your grass tall and/or wet? You can get some falsing in wet grass. Plus when you hit a big weed you can get a beep. Or maybe your area is filled with deep dimes? Maybe you can try another coil from your local dealer if that's where you bought your machine?

 

[ivan salis]

clad dimes (due to their copper core) and older copper cents --(pre 1983 cents) have a very similar conductivity rating ( which is how the ace 250 figgers out what item its found un the ground as well as how deep it "thinks" it is --via its amount of conductivity -- a clad dime and copper cent "read" basically very close --so close that in the 8 notch world of the 250 that their in the same notch zone *

similar issue --with indain head cents and modern zinc cents --they both fall into the "cents" icon zone --this can be good in one way --if not wanting to dig zinc type cents in a area where there no real chance of finding indain head cents --you can "knock out" zinc cents via notching them out --while still getting older " copper" cents 1983 - 1909 which will ring up under the dime icon ---warning however do not do this where indain head cents might be to cut zinc "cents" out is to cut indain head cents out too.

another issue is that of aluminum and nickles and gold items --again all 3 are very similar conductivity wize so the following applies.

gold depending upon its size and % of purity type will tend to ring up from the foil, pulltab and nickle range most commonly -- so to get the gold --one must dig trash signals ( foil , pulltab) with the 250 no way around it --unless one goes "nickles only" and is thus willing to lose some possible gold signals


you want clean "solid" repeating signals --not one time only , scratchy or "broken signals" -- as those are almost always trash

 

[GlassyEyed]

"gold depending upon its size and % of purity type will tend to ring up from the foil, pulltab and nickle range most commonly -- so to get the gold --one must dig trash signals ( foil , pulltab) with the 250 no way around it --unless one goes "nickles only" and is thus willing to lose some possible gold signals"


I have heard this before, but I was getting so discouraged from all the trash I was digging I bet I skipped over 50 or so nickel signals...I'll go back one day.

 

[ivan salis]

gold hunters maxim -- a whole lot trash per 1 gold item -- want the gold gotta work for it --no easy way to get it or everyone whould do this.