AT Pro triggers a reading in the 80s what it shakes?

[KJ&nugget]

AT Pro triggers a reading in the 80's what it shakes?

When I'm scanning the ground in front of me, at the end of the stroke my Brand new (week old) AT pro will bell tone at the end of the swipe.

It was making me crazy to hear the "money sound" one time, and then not hear it again! I would carefully scan over the area and get nothing. But then, another 5-8 steps and the bell tone chime with a score of 84. But never again.

It finally dawned on me that it was always at the end of the scan stroke. I held it up in the air and scanned, sure enough, then I just twisted my wrist back and forth and it does it all the time.

What the heck? This cannot be normal it will make me insane if this is normal! Is something loose? broken? out of adjustment? Garrett tech support is so overwhelmed it's been a long time and still not call back.

Anyone else with this issue?

 

[hondapartshero]

What's the first few digits of your serial?

How do you have the coil cord wrapped?

 

[Sandman]

The earlier ones sounded off when you held it still up in the air. This is quite normal for some of these AT Pro's sadly. There is a sad story about why i am on my 3rd. one and it sits on a wall gathering dust. I have no confidence in using it anymore as I have too many that I trust. Read my signature below. You could try lowering your sens even more like two or three bars.

 

[KJ&nugget]

The coil cord is wrapped going under the stem and tightly around the stem or handle shaft all the way to the top. I have tightened the connecter as tight as possible with my fingers only. I guess looking down the shaft from above it would be Counter clockwise.

I'll go out and check the serial number. It's only a week old, but I'll get the number for you anyway.

 

[Potts]

Page 6 of the user manual tells you how wrap the cable.....starting at the searchcoil..... Wrap the cable snugly about the stem with the first turn of the cable over the stem...........Reads like yours is wrapped under the stem.....If you don't have the manual you can find one on the Web in PDF format.
Keep us posted on your findings to the problem...

 

[KJ&nugget]

Hey Hondaparts,

There are three numbers which do not seem to have any indication of which is the serial number, at last nothing jumps out at me.

5303 7070
GG13708
972-494-6151

That last 10 digit number is in line with the address or zip code of the factory. Or so it seems.

I did re-route the cable clockwise around the stem and made it shake proof. Then finger tightened the connection with as much strength as possible without tools.

Shaking it now generates the faintest and very rare high pitch tone. But I have to shake it like a coyote killing a snake. It will not "beep" now as it did before. The random beeps now would require a use that would exceed the design parameters I'm sure.

So it would seem that either the connection was a bit loose, the cable was wiggling against the stem, or the counterclockwise wrap was the problem. Changing all three at one time does not allow differentiation of the causes.

It seems that the issue is under control and I can go try some metal detecting for a few hours to be certain of this.

Thanks for the guidance on this, just joined the site and already you folks have knocked it out of the park for me!

 

[hondapartshero]

The serial seems good as it starts with 53xxxx. Good luck hunting!

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Your serial numbers indicate it was built the third week of 2013 (5 303). The last number is Garrett's customer service phone number. Coil wrap is important, the unit is very sensitive.

Wayne

 

[John-Edmonton]

Your metal detector is operating in standard mode, with the sensitivity up way to high. Also, you must keep the searchcoil horizontal to the ground, even at the end of the swing, or it will false when the coil drifts suddenly from it's 180 degree orientation to the ground. This is common knowledge for all makes/models of metal detectors.

Your machine is fine. Please turn down the sensitivity, and start learning the AT Pro in PRO Mode. Good luck!

 

[gleaner1]

Sandman I just cannot figure out why anyone on earth would not be 100% satisfied with a Garrett product. Garrett has what could be the number one service and support out there. Plus the warranty. I just cant figure out why you would not get a 600 dollar metal detector fixed, especially if it was under warranty by a company like Garrett. I just cant wrap my mind around that. It's absolute madness. Every atpro out there works as advertised, except yours. It takes a lot of work in the field in order to start trusting a machine. Atpro is not a heavy hitter salt water machine but if you ever become a land lubber, you will probably be reaching for the atpro.

 

[KJ&nugget]

I spent the afternoon at a little beach on the columbia river. Just killing some time before a meeting I had to attend. Each time I had the 80-99 score on my display I would check in both Standard and Pro mode to compare the tones and then verify with the dig.

I came to be able to predict bottle caps about 75% of the time in the Pro mode. Standard mode it's not possible or I cannot see how? However that Pro/coin mode is pretty darn good.

Aluminum still gets me, but I think For mine anything with the mid tone in the 70's has been very frequently aluminum. However the trick is pin point. Most times bigger then a coin means an aluminum can. The pop tops still get me to dig.

And what is up with the depth of this thing to find those little aluminum tabs? 10" or more is the normal I found in wet sand! I'm glad this does not detect deeper then that, I would be digging at arms length! Over all I dug up a lot of coins, nothing of great value, just standard pocket change. I did notice one more thing. I've found that I locate more then one coin in the area the majority of the time. Do people not lose just one coin? must be that they fall out of their pockets in bunches?

Now, bottle caps, is the algorithm in the AT pro somehow seeing round and calling it good? I was 100% certain getting 80+ readings after getting a dime or quarter and then it's a bottle cap. They are not silver or aluminum, so how come the high score? Is it just because they are round too?

 

[gleaner1]

Sounds like you fixed it. I can shake mine and bang it on brush and it's quiet as a mouse. Sometimes I have to wave a zincoln around it to see if its still breathing.

 

[Dwight S]

Sounds like you fixed it. I can shake mine and bang it on brush and it's quiet as a mouse. Sometimes I have to wave a zincoln around it to see if its still breathing.

I thought I was the only one who had to wave something metal around to see if my detector was still working... I use my shovel.

 

[Dwight S]

Sandman I just cannot figure out why anyone on earth would not be 100% satisfied with a Garrett product. Garrett has what could be the number one service and support out there. Plus the warranty. I just cant figure out why you would not get a 600 dollar metal detector fixed, especially if it was under warranty by a company like Garrett. I just cant wrap my mind around that. It's absolute madness. Every atpro out there works as advertised, except yours. It takes a lot of work in the field in order to start trusting a machine. Atpro is not a heavy hitter salt water machine but if you ever become a land lubber, you will probably be reaching for the atpro.

I agree... I've got one of the first month of production units and mine has been flawless. No falsing, no leaking... Works like a charm. I put this out there everytime someone mentions that there may have been some issues. I believe there were far more "good" machines than problem machines in the early production runs.

Yes... my machine will false early in the morning in the dew with humidity when I swing fast and strike a wet corn stalk. But then again I'd like to see any other machine NOT false under those conditions. If it didn't false, I wouldn't want to use it because it ain't working!

You know gleaner1, I use my At Pro in the salt water and it works fine for me. It goes deeper in the water than I want to dig.

 

[KJ&nugget]

That's funny! I use my shovel all the time for both the AT Pro and my Pin Pointer.

The pair continue to blow my mind. Yesterday It signaled a good hit of about 78 on the display, although I'm still learning this. It was the "low, high low" cadence. Which I believe now is always something like a bottle cap or or small piece of metal. To confirm my suspicion and build on my educationI had to dig it up.

Anyway, I dug this up and found a small piece of aluminum foil. I just looked at that in disbelief, how could this thing see that tiny piece of foil that deep in the ground? So I was sure there must be something else. In the mound of dirt I started poking around,.... The pin pointer was vibrating but there was nothing there. I kept straining my eyes to see what it could be. I finally saw this tiny speck which made the pin pointer go off. It was a screw from a set of eye glasses that holds the frame to the bridge.

How could this thing find that tiny screw that deep? More important because it had the low high low tone, it saw both the foil and the screw! Its simply astonishing!

The person that learns to hear and understand AT Pro language with fluency, will never want for another detector.

 

[Potts]

Could it been possible that the screw was silver.

 

[mrmackin]

The person that learns to hear and understand AT Pro language with fluency, will never want for another detector.

True, 'tis a language to learn and take heed of...

 

[Jason in Enid]

This something that has been "normal " with Garrett's for at least 30 years. It is the reason I moved away from the brand many years ago. I have heard the same complaints every year.

 

[Normsel]

Sounds to me like others have said it could be your wrap on your coil cord and ck your tightness again at the top. I thought mine was tight and was getting weird signals and then I tried to tighten the cord more and found it to be loose. I had never tightened it good enough the 1st time. I used a pliers to ck the snugness the 2nd time and haven't had any bad signals since

 

[gleaner1]

Atpro is no etrac or F machine but man it's so smooth and the iron stability is off the chain. Atpro has very good recovery speed. Atrpo is a completely different VLF from Garrett, and no Garrett machines prior can give any comparison. Atpro is very stable over rusty shallow crown caps or scattered old rotten rusty beer can slaw, and it does not take long to figure out the iron, its all in the hearing. The machine does not break into the higher tones over iron very easily. Which is perfect for the zero scrim guys. If they offered a dry version with a bit better ergos, lighter, and 25% cheaper, it would be a grand slam. Plus you would see decent aftermarket coils for it. I will never part with mine, but I still eyeball Etracs and F75's and T2's. I just gotta find a good used one someday.