Ace 250 help

[WestGhost]

Been working a local trashy park last couple of days and I am digging up a lot of aluminum scraps. They always hit on a nickel signal and sound exactly the same as finding an actual nickel. Did some side by side testing and still could not notice a difference in tone. This is very frustrating because from my bench testing, gold rings also hit on the nickel signal so I end up doing a lot of digging. I usually run in jewelry mode with medium sensitivity. Would appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks

 

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[RobRieman]

Unfortunately gold rings, pull tabs, nickels and some can slaw all ring up the same. You have to do a lot of digging to get the gold. The best advice I have is to hunt in places that have a higher possibility of lost rings and jewelry. If it was easy anybody could do it.

 

[WestGhost]

RobRieman, Thanks for your response. Looks like I got a lot of digging to do, I actually enjoy it! Was just looking for some confirmation from a seasoned vet that I that I wasn't missing something. Going to put 100 or so more hours on this machine before upgrading. Thanks again, much appreciated-

 

[Produce Guy]

Maybe a sniper coil would help?

 

[sandtrout]

That's what I did...tried it for 100 hrs. Now it's been over 3000 hrs just on the ACE 250. Decided to keep it mostly for cherry picking at parks. I saved and rolled up all the clad from the ACE and added a Vaquero that I use at farms, old homesteads, and places where the soil is "hot" or anywhere I want to go DEEP (usually out of state) but 90% of the time I'm at local parks with the ACE 250. I like it so much or maybe just know it so well that when it breaks I'll replace it with another ACE 250!

 

[Normsel]

No matter what detector you use you're going to dig more trash than treasure in the nickel signal area. Before i would invest in a different coil for the ACE I would save up and buy something like an ATP. You'll need a cpl hundred hours on the ATP before you're totally happy with it but the ATP in an awesome detector for the money

 

[Produce Guy]

I'd stick with the Ace 250 and maybe switch parks or run it in a different mode.Maybe search different parts of the park?

 

[sandtrout]

More thoughts using the ACE 250...pull tabs and can slaw are A GOOD THING! It means 1. that people have been there and 2. they might have lost things and 3. maybe others with detectors haven't been there or didn't like all the trash and left everything there for you so that's GOOD NEWS!

Garrett's sniper coil will separate out the targets making them easier to find and identify. 95% of any jewelry I have found has been 3" or less (and usually it's in the 1st inch) and 5% has been 4"...never any deeper!

There's some basics like: overlap your swings at least 50%, slow down...this ain't golf, work in a grid pattern instead of "willy nilly". I like an up and down pattern. Sure, it takes me awhile but I tend to find everything. Headphones with an adjustment for volume will help control the BONG-BONG-BONG sound that's so annoying.

If it's really trashy then CHERRY PICK! Notch out everything except the Nickel and and silver (dimes, quarters, 50 cents, and dollar coins). How much jewelry will you miss? Who knows but at least you'll find some coins (and possibly some rings and other jewelry) that will save the day and not just walk away from a park because it's too trashy.

Bottle Caps are my downfall. They sound sooooooo good that I can't resist digging them.

Get a test garden. If you don't have the room at home then go back to that park. Put your detector in ALL METAL and totally clean out a spot of all metal. Then start planting some change at various depths to get an idea of what it sounds like. At first, plant everything FLAT. Then start a new row and plant the coins ON EDGE. Now to get an idea of potential problems you'll face, plant some coins together (like a penny with a nickel or a dime) or some coins buried with a steel washer, a pulltab, a bottle cap, some can slaw...you get the idea. With a couple bucks of change you can learn a whole lot about your machine. don't forget to draw it out on a piece of paper (or graph paper) so you know what's there, what it's with, and how deep it is.

Cherry pick a park first, then go back later and hunt deeper. When I first started I was digging everything. One day I was digging a clad penny at 6" and some kids were walking by about 30 feet away and one stopped and picked up a huge pocket spill of mostly quarters and there I was busting my a$$ digging out a rusted penny. Lesson learned! I hunt on top first, then go for what no one else can see.

Do you have the Garrett ProPointer? Buy one (or sell some blood...that's how useful they are!).

I find my targets and mark the spot with bamboo skewers painted fluorescent red, then go back later and dig them up. Go on youtube and look up COIN POPPING by Detecto. It will scratch coins so I wouldn't be using that technique where really old stuff might be but for the newer parks out here in California, I don't care about scratching some of my coins but I'm lazy. Wow...starting to ramble here so if you have any questions, just ask.

 

[sandtrout]

Yet one more item...the ACE 250 "notches" out (or discriminates against) the things you don't want to hear a NOISE on. It will still make that block "blink" when it passes over...it just won't make a noise. There's 12 blocks or segments to notch out. If you notch out ANY block you will lose some depth (as opposed to leaving it in ALL METAL) probably from 1/2" or 3/4" but...whether you notch out ONE block or ALL TWELVE blocks, you don't lose any additional depth by notching out more blocks! On my Tesoro Vaquero, the more you turn the DISC knob to the right, the more depth you lose so, at least with the ACE you don't have that problem!

 

[str8flexed]

I've been running into the problem with my ACE 250 where I'll scan over an area, getting a few different varying tones, I'll pinpoint it, and dig, find nothing, then scan over the excavated dirt and empty hole, and the ACE doesn't even go off when before digging, it was. Even after checking the hole and dirt pulled with a pinpointer just to make sure something wasn't turned over. A lot of junk metal shows up as nickels too, but I guess that's just part of it. Its just irritating to hear varying tones, dig a hole, and find nothing, scan again, and get no tones at all after double checking.

 

[sandtrout]

I think that what you're referring to is called HALO-ING. It's when a piece of metal disintegrates (rusting?) and sort of spreads or leaches into the surrounding soil like a halo. You're getting a good signal but no target, right? One guy on this site (crackbadger) has said that if you "stomp" really hard with your foot on the target area you can break up the "halo" and it will no longer read the target. Now for me, when you said, "It's just irritating to hear varying tones,..." that usually means it's a target I WON'T dig. Bouncing targets usually means it's junk and since I'm a "cherry picker" I'll usually pass on that one, especially it it's bouncing between 3 or more places.

I've been running into the problem with my ACE 250 where I'll scan over an area, getting a few different varying tones, I'll pinpoint it, and dig, find nothing, then scan over the excavated dirt and empty hole, and the ACE doesn't even go off when before digging, it was. Even after checking the hole and dirt pulled with a pinpointer just to make sure something wasn't turned over. A lot of junk metal shows up as nickels too, but I guess that's just part of it. Its just irritating to hear varying tones, dig a hole, and find nothing, scan again, and get no tones at all after double checking.

 

[str8flexed]

I think that what you're referring to is called HALO-ING. It's when a piece of metal disintegrates (rusting?) and sort of spreads or leaches into the surrounding soil like a halo. You're getting a good signal but no target, right? One guy on this site (crackbadger) has said that if you "stomp" really hard with your foot on the target area you can break up the "halo" and it will no longer read the target. Now for me, when you said, "It's just irritating to hear varying tones,..." that usually means it's a target I WON'T dig. Bouncing targets usually means it's junk and since I'm a "cherry picker" I'll usually pass on that one, especially it it's bouncing between 3 or more places.

Makes sense.. sometimes I'll push the area down with my foot after hearing tones, and i'll rescan after pushing the area down, and it produces no tone the second time over.

 

[sandtrout]

Here's a chart I made for me in and in my "local" conditions:


don't know why it's coming out so small. W = womans ring, M = man's ring, The heavy line is where the target hits the most...the lighter line is where the target "bounces" to the most. If it bounces to 3 different spots I'll usually pass on it but not always. Depends on how hard it hits on the main line.

 

[sandtrout]

Okay, anybody getting tired of hearing about the ACE 250? This will be my last "hint". So...you get to a park that is extremely trashy and seems untouched by a detector. Soooooo many pull tabs! This hint will be from the cherry picking point of view. At first, I'm certainly NOT going to be digging everything. I WON'T be in ALL METAL! I'll start with what's ON TOP first. Preferably right on top OR the 1st inch. I've resized some pix I took and will try them out here. All of the modes on the ACE 250 are adjustable. Only the "custom" mode" stays where you set it after you shut the machine off. All the others go back to default. Here are my CUSTOM settings:

And you'll notice it's only the 1st 5 segments (or blocks)(8 - 12) from the right. That eliminates quite a bit of the pulltabs but NOT all. Mostly, it's clad pennies on #8. Copper pennies start mostly on #9.
I "adjust" the relic setting to just segments 9 - 12 for heavier cluttered parks...I'm going MOSTLY for silver at this point. I can come back later for PENNIES. Here's my settings:

And for extremely junky parks I'll go with extreme cherry picking and just get silver (mostly quarters) and even notch out the nickels. They ain't going no where. And sometimes I'll make life easier and just put on a SNIPER coil. Here's my settings for that:

 

[dustytrails123]

The Sniper coil is a waste of money ive never dug so many rusty nails with my machine till i put the sniper coil on it....and pull tabs became dead ringers on the nickel signal not to mention the huge loss of depth ...its completely useless

 

[sandtrout]

I had my sniper coil in a bag that I took with me everywhere but never used. For a whole year it just stayed in its bag. I looked up ways to sell it online. The stock coil that came with the ACE was just fine for all my hunting...and then...I came upon a park that was the most trashiest park I ever came upon. It was a park along a beach and heavily used almost daily. My readings were crazy...bouncing around all over the place. Finally, in desperation, I walked back to my vehicle and put on my brand new but still unused Sniper coil. What a difference! I found mostly dimes and pennies, passed on the pulltabs and no rusted nails (mostly hit on Iron which I have notched out) but that was my park. I knew then I'd keep the coil. Still don't use it much but when I hit a trashy (and I mean TRASHY), it's my GO-TO-COIL. On depth, my stock coil can go 8 - 9 inches on dimes but ONLY 6 inches on the sniper coil. It hits on the dime segment but not hard...it's makes a clicky sound instead of a solid sound. I've considered a sniper type coil for my Vaquero but don't use it enough for shallow items to warrant the cost. For me the MY conditions (parks) in Southern California, the Sniiper has been a great coil. What state are you in? Did you find those nails at parks?

 

[dustytrails123]

My ace 350 can read a dime at 6 inches thats 1 notch off full power ...and even then it bounces from penny to dime to zinc ...it may lock n 8 inches on the id but they are never over 6 inches ...i did dig a dime at 9 inches but it wasnt a tone id be digging at the parks...it was choppy iron/high tones... in short the sniper coil would be a hard pressed 4-5 inches from what i experienced with it ....i got mine because of a building that was torn down in an old park that was littered with layers of iron from rail road days and the nails from the building itself....it did me no good in there what so ever in fact i pulled a 1914 dime out with my stock dd coil after 2 outings with the sniper coil digging nails that gave choppy high tone hits

 

[bluelodge]

123, have u EVER posted a POSITIVE comment on ANYTHING? c'mon sssshhhhhheeeeee!!!!!!!

 

[bluelodge]

str8flexed....same problem with the350...strong signal...dig..nothing...use pinpointer still nothing...run 350 back over hole..absolutely nothing..this is a frequent problem. I've got about 25 hrs. on this piece of s^*#@ and haven't dug a SINGLE coin...go back over same area with my antique whites id and bingo clads,silver,earings,rings...Garrett has sucessfully ripped off another digger..lot of the signals I get is the whole length and width of the dd coil..damn they didn't tell me you had to rent a backhoe with this piece of s$%#...if there are any(probably not any) satisfied 350 owners out there and have any hints or videos on this rig I sure would appreciate hearing from you...thanks bluelodge

 

[squiggy]

The 250 is a great coin machine...otherwise don't think it's great..have found lots of clad..

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