Ace 250 personal comment.

[robert roy]

When most people use the ACE 250 for the first time their response is almost always expressed as “WOW, this is a great machine!” No disagreement there. I have used the Ace 250 for quite some time and it does a wonderful job, especially in the local parks where it zeros in on coins and sometimes little knickknacks people have dropped. I have only found three rings in the past few months and those were two children’s rings from one of those little gum machines, and an adults ring with about 10 or 15% gold included with other alloys. I have found two medallions and a matchbox car broken pieces of jewelry. All the coins have been modern day clad found at the 2 to 3 inch mark. My only complaint is that the pinpoint mode is not accurate.

Some people say they have no problem pinpointing with the Ace 250, but that is not the case with other owners of the Ace. I have tried the various techniques provided for locating my target and they do work, sometimes. The complaints seem to be 50/50. For those having trouble and frustrated at pin pointing, they will have to perform a little stunt called detuning. This is a simple process of pinpointing as described in the DVD and manual then letting up on the pinpoint then pressing again until the target size seems to shrink. After centering the target you slowly pull the coil back toward you. It will usually be found at the very front between the first and second ring of the coil, sometimes. Or it may be off by an inch or two to the left or the right.

Another issue is that you are locked into only three coils: the standard 6.5x9 elliptical coil that comes with the Ace 250 and the 4.5 sniper concentric (round) coil which is far the best for hunting in trashy areas. The sniper coil is a bit expensive (as are most coils) but well worth the added expense. A new 9x12 Rhino coil has been added to the arsenal but it too is elliptical. Hopefully it will not have the same problems with pinpointing as the 6.5x9 coil.

Would I recommend this detector to the “newbie” just getting into metal detecting? Yes, but with some reservations. I would feel better giving an all thumbs up if Garrett would at least provide another option: an 8 inch concentric coil for us die hards.

Robert Roy

 

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[txkickergirl]

I think considering the price of the ace and how it performs you are getting MAJOR bang for the buck! No problems pinpointing here with the ace yet I have trouble pinpointing using other detectors so I think I am just an odd duck. I think it is great that you have 3 coil options as it is and am surprised we have that many. What other detector out there for the price has better options? I am sure the ace will be upgraded with some new or improved features and perhaps more coils by far this detector is popular.
I would tell any one that is starting out without a doubt get this detector unless they wanted to beach hunt, or relic hunt. You can't beat picking it up and hitting the park for some coins and jewelry though. My only complaint is that the disc between pulltabs nickles and rings are too close and after the million pull tab I vow not to dig any more nickle singals the I hit one and have to dig it and yep I got myself another shinny pulltab.

 

[Gulfcapt25]

I have had my Ace for 2 weeks. At first I was having major problems pinpointing then I learned about "Detuning". Now it works great, I just think you have take your time, make sure you center your target. The only times the detuning doesnt work for me if it a large object. Thanks John

 

[shadow0966]

Just take your time and learn the machine , I had problems pinpointing too but I asked around for pointers and checked out the garrett website and now pinpointing isn't an issue.
Great machine for a bigginer or the experienced .

 

[Murph]

I think you hit the nail on the head Robert. As a entry level machine many who use the ace don't have much to compare it to. I definitely went through the "wow" phase when I purchased mine but gradually came to realize it had some pretty significant limitations.

For those with turn on and go high on the priority list and can live with its limitations it cant be beat for the money. Personally those were not my priorities and have since sold mine to upgrade. For my upgrade I discovered that my finds, stability, depth and versatility all increased. I am a skeptic by nature, have limited funds to spend on the hobby and really wanted to believe that the ace could do the same job as a more expensive detector but the evidence I have seen since the upgrade dictates otherwise.

 

[Fluid_Thought]

I've had mixed results with the 250 also. But one thing I wanted to comment on is that I've gotten a 4th coil to work with the 250. On my detector I use the 8.5" Crossfire II coil. I must say that, for me, this combo works quite well as I've found more Silver than with the stock coil.

The other things that influences the results with this detector (or any detector for that matter) is ground conditions. But that goes without saying.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[aerograd]

I think you hit the nail on the head Robert. As a entry level machine many who use the ace don't have much to compare it to. I definitely went through the "wow" phase when I purchased mine but gradually came to realize it had some pretty significant limitations.

For those with turn on and go high on the priority list and can live with its limitations it cant be beat for the money. Personally those were not my priorities and have since sold mine to upgrade. For my upgrade I discovered that my finds, stability, depth and versatility all increased. I am a skeptic by nature, have limited funds to spend on the hobby and really wanted to believe that the ace could do the same job as a more expensive detector but the evidence I have seen since the upgrade dictates otherwise.

Murph, just curious but what detector did you upgrade to?

 

[garrets250]

im getting my first detector on friday and the one im pretty sure im getting is the ace 250.

 

[SC_hunter]

You will enjoy it...It loves to find coins..

 

[X-Terra70_TreasureHunter]

Hi can someone explain to a newbie what the hec is "Detuning" which Gulfcapt. mentioned and is the 8.5" Crossfire ll coil compatabile w/ the ace 250 as mentioned by anouther member mentioned since it is now listed on the Garrett web site.

TreasureHunter

 

[windrun]

I noticed that many people purchased the Ace 250 and really love it. I have not try that one, but I will visit the dealer and test with Ace 250 soon.

Richard

 

[wedjlok]

Hi can someone explain to a newbie what the hec is "Detuning" which Gulfcapt. mentioned and is the 8.5" Crossfire ll coil compatabile w/ the ace 250 as mentioned by anouther member mentioned since it is now listed on the Garrett web site.

TreasureHunter

Detuning is simply when you go into pinpoint mode, the normal way is to take the coil AWAY from where you are going to pinpoint, push the pinpoint (I will call it the PP button) button, and then move the coil BACK to the area that your target is at so as to find the strongest signal and get the location. Sometimes, however, it can be a bit difficult to know exactly WHERE that target happens to be in the PP mode because it may overload since it's close to the surface, or it may be big (can) or underground and highly conductive, therefore you may be a bit confuse as to where the center is, exactly.

So, when this scenario happens, you hold the coil still over the (now full strength PP) signal, but you RELEASE the PP button for a second or less, and the PRESS the PP button again. Now you have effectively SHRUNK the size of the PP to a much smaller area and it will not sound unless it is DIRECTLY over your target. Make sense?

PP is essentially All Metal mode, in the true sense. That signal can become overloaded for a variety of reasons and so you must detune it so as to make that signal emit in a much smaller area so as to better point the location (usually to within the size of a dime).

I hope this has helped at least a little.

Aeryck

 

[khouse]

Texaskickergirl,
Don't give up on the nickels! I don't know the percentage but the nickel notch is where probably 50% of your rings fall in to. Air test all your rings and see. Tabs are a pain. But you have to dig them. At least get them out of the ground for when I'm searching the same soil!

 

[Murph]

I think you hit the nail on the head Robert. As a entry level machine many who use the ace don't have much to compare it to. I definitely went through the "wow" phase when I purchased mine but gradually came to realize it had some pretty significant limitations.

For those with turn on and go high on the priority list and can live with its limitations it cant be beat for the money. Personally those were not my priorities and have since sold mine to upgrade. For my upgrade I discovered that my finds, stability, depth and versatility all increased. I am a skeptic by nature, have limited funds to spend on the hobby and really wanted to believe that the ace could do the same job as a more expensive detector but the evidence I have seen since the upgrade dictates otherwise.

Murph, just curious but what detector did you upgrade to?

MLSov GT

 

[John-Edmonton]

If you compare prices of coils with other makes & models, you will be shocked to see how low Garrett has really been with the cost of it's coils. I have all 3 sizes of coils and have absolutely no problems pinpointing with all 3. My 3 coils all pinpoint dead center. Now, if one of them pinpointed 10 degrees off center, I would quickly observe this and that would still make the machine pinpoint well. I have some detectors that cost me 3 x as much as the ACE, and don't pinpoint as well. I wish I could help you. I suggest you put more time on the machine.

 

[Murph]

With the ace having so many fans I hesitate to offer much criticism. It usually goes over like a fart in church, but the evidence since making a upgrade is getting hard to right off as luck. Grant it comparing a two hundred dollar machine to a seven hundred dollar machine in difficult saltwater beach conditions is unfair. Then again take into consideration many claims to the aces performance on the beach and allow me to compare the two.

First off even garret designates this machine as a coin shooter only. Despite the hype and some of garretts own advertising this needs to be taken into consideration. The often given advice learn your machine is fine but on the other hand the ace is a fixed ground balance silent search only three tone all or nothing detector. With this limited input the learning curve should be short hence the term "turn on and go detector".

Bottom line is I am approaching the 100 hour mark with both machines on the beach. The ace vrs. the Sov. Quality finds with the sov are ten times that of the ace. This is getting pretty hard to write off to luck or beach conditions. Even attributing half of this evidence to luck that's still a five to one ratio. Certainly the ace has its place. In fact I still wish I had mine to keep in the trunk for those sper of the moment hunts when passing by a promising inland site. On the other hand I consider it a somewhat over hyped machine for now leading to some over expectations for new comers which can be a bad thing.

 

[SC_hunter]

Murph,
I have to agree with you that the ace does not perform well on the beach. I have only used it at a beach four times and it was erratic near the water. Dropping the Sens down helped but then I just kept getting the feeling that I was missing signals. The other machine I have works like a champ at the beach. But, when it comes to finding coins, I will put the Ace 250 up against any "higher" priced machine. Mine is a coin magnet and I use it quite a bit for coins. Again, not a big learning curve because you won't hear "whispers" with it...but one heck of a loud tone when it finds one it likes...