Deepest PI detector with best sensitivity

[Acquisitor]

Hi!

can anyone recommend a PI metal detector which is known for its depth and sensitivity for small gold?

preferably with a waterproof coil and a long cable (6-7ft cable), the coil can be anywhere near 10-12".

considering Tesoro sand shark but I'm reading that it lacks depth.

 

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[Adrian SS]

SDC2300 or GPX 4500.
The 4500 is doing better than the 2300 on small gold here in Australia.
The GPX is not water proof the SDC2300 is WP to 10 foot.
I am refering to gold nuggs not gold jewellery.

The Sand Shark is not good on small gold and is noisy in hot ground.
Just an opinion, Not gospel.

 

[Fletch88]

I just found a deal on a NIB Whites Dual Field PI that seems to be very sensitive to small targets. I haven't found any gold yet but have dug a small earring, a very small brass nut and several tiny targets on saltwater beach at 10-12". I really like the audio and threshold on this machine. It comes with a 12" coil as standard and the build quality is very good. Overall i like it better than the Sand Shark I previously owned. The body is sore from digging clad at 16 to 20 plus inches for 2 days in hard packed sand. Hoping for gold early in the morning!

 

[Acquisitor]

I just found a deal on a NIB Whites Dual Field PI that seems to be very sensitive to small targets. I haven't found any gold yet but have dug a small earring, a very small brass nut and several tiny targets on saltwater beach at 10-12". I really like the audio and threshold on this machine. It comes with a 12" coil as standard and the build quality is very good. Overall i like it better than the Sand Shark I previously owned. The body is sore from digging clad at 16 to 20 plus inches for 2 days in hard packed sand. Hoping for gold early in the morning!

would you say its deeper than a properly used Excalibur 10" ? I'm very very good with excalibur and can find 4-5 or heavier gold rings at ridiculous depth with it.

but I think its time for a PI detector.

 

[Fletch88]

Yes by several inches. I could have never reached some of the targets with my T-Rex. I recently bought the newer Sunspot Stealth with Tube mount that has a 14" long basket. Several times I had the scoop straight down in the hole with the back of scoop 8-10" below top of sand to reach targets. I got very good at telling when targets were junk iron just by listening to audio. Bottle caps were still a problem, but that's usually a sign of needing to move to area with more dense targets.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

You haven't mentioned where you will be primarily hunting. Mostly gold fields? , beaches,? Surf and shallow water?

 

[Acquisitor]

You haven't mentioned where you will be primarily hunting. Mostly gold fields? , beaches,? Surf and shallow water?

it doesn't really matter, I can make most detectors waterproof, if it can be used in salt water then its a good thing as well..

currently i'm investigating Whites TDI pro. Looks like a nice thing

 

[Irishgoldhound]

The TDI is a nice machine. The TDI SL is designed for prospecting and relic hunting. You can use it for some deep goodies on the beach just like the Dual field which uses the same coil. Both have adjustable delay which allows to find smaller deeper sized targets. The TDI also has a conductivity switch that gives you more variable audio than the Dual fields solitary tone to help you pick out low conductive targets such as gold or high conductivity stuff like silver. If you say you can water proof any machine I would imagine water proofing a TDI would be rather difficult only because the controls are dials and enclosing them in a water proof housing would make it inconvenient when you need to adjust as you are hunting in and out of the surf. The Dual Field would be my choice if I was to do surf and shallow water the majority of the time. With the TDI you can change coils which of course you prob know you can't with the Dual field. Good luck in your decision and if you go with the TDI you'll have one awesome all around machine. Just be careful not to get it wet.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

I use the Garrett Infinium LS for all of my wet (shoreline) beach and water hunting. For the dry beach I use the AT Pro and Minelab Explorer SE. This combination works well for me.

 

[Fletch88]

The TDI is a nice machine. The TDI SL is designed for prospecting and relic hunting. You can use it for some deep goodies on the beach just like the Dual field which uses the same coil. Both have adjustable delay which allows to find smaller deeper sized targets. The TDI also has a conductivity switch that gives you more variable audio than the Dual fields solitary tone to help you pick out low conductive targets such as gold or high conductivity stuff like silver. If you say you can water proof any machine I would imagine water proofing a TDI would be rather difficult only because the controls are dials and enclosing them in a water proof housing would make it inconvenient when you need to adjust as you are hunting in and out of the surf. The Dual Field would be my choice if I was to do surf and shallow water the majority of the time. With the TDI you can change coils which of course you prob know you can't with the Dual field. Good luck in your decision and if you go with the TDI you'll have one awesome all around machine. Just be careful not to get it wet.

Agreed, if you want a machine to water detect with the DF would be the better choice. For just wet sand detecting the TDI will work, but I like being able to simply wash down the whole machine and headphones after being in salt air for several hours.

 

[Acquisitor]

ok let me rephrase the question: is there any sea water detector which is considerably deeper than minelab excalibur ? I don't PI in fact I'm quite excited about it, the thing is: I know a few bays without any waves where there is a layer of gold below 10-15". I'm quite sure that digging very deep hopes even if its for iron with result in finding more than one target all over these bays which have a very long history of massive swimming.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

The Dual field is one deep machine. You'll be getting a work out with this detector from digging deep holes

 

[Fletch88]

Ditto! Get a long scoop. I had to let a few go that sank faster than I could dig before sides filled in hole (and I was running out of gas) That was with a 14" long sunspot buried well below the surface of hole on hard packed wet sand. You will probably have a much harder time out in water trying to dig down 15-20". Honestly I've found targets with the Excal I could never reach, but that was in pretty heavy surf. Have you hunted in Pinpoint on your Excal in this area. I found I got a couple more inches in PP on my 1000.

 

[Acquisitor]

what about Garrett infinium LS in salty water ? how does it perform there?

 

[Irishgoldhound]

You should ask Ron Lord on TNet about the Infinium. He's found hundreds of Rings but I think he said he doesn't use his anymore. I believe he hunts the Gulf and said the Infinium didnt work well for him there. I think he now uses a Garrett Sea Hunter and tiger shark or sand shark.

 

[lost items recovery]

Very true! The dual field is SUPER deep!! The bad side of it is digging crazy deep for all the iron and crap that's out there but if there's a ring there you'll know it. The problem I found was by the time I dug out some of those deep iron targets while the sand constantly filled back in in wet sand and especially underwater you are often very fatigued and pack it in. Don't get me wrong, it does what it's made to do and does it well but after digging a never ending collapsing hole at a depth of 1 1/2-2 ft while waves are breaking over you while bending over and pulling up..."yes" a hammer, will drive any sane person to a discriminating machine.
Bottom line..it's a great and deep PI machine if you can handle it!

 

[Fletch88]

LIR, you know how I've felt about PI machines in the past, but I came across a deal on a nib DF I couldn't pass up. I've found that I am able to tell if a target was worth digging almost every time. Mind you I was up on hard wet sand where I could do a good 180 sweep, but if the threshold ever wavered, it was usually junk. I never dug any iron that I wasn't pretty sure it was iron in the 3 days I used it at Xmas. I still dug quit a few iffy' just to confirm, but every coin I dug (yes 3 days of endless clad) had a perfect signal while sweeping from different angles. I guess Clives book and using a GPX relic hunting has helped change my mind on using PI machines in the right conditions!

 

[lost items recovery]

Fletch88
There was times I wish I had it while out hunting particularly when the beach (on the east coast) was sanded in as that machine seemed to punch through and grab those deep targets...some times too deep! Lol! I guess I never became one with it but the last time out of the 2-3 I bought I was planning on hanging onto but unfortunately It was sold on me for leaving it while being out of reach. It would have been a great combo the dual field and the excal but it is what it is I guess. I can say that it can bring home some deep clad and rings for sure. Everything sounded the same to me but I guess I needed more time with it on the beach. Played around with the pulse delay on the dry sand to sort of cancel out bottle caps and still dug some clad but most likely missed some good targets I'm sure while doing so. If I ever had a choice on a PI again it would be my first choice but not before my excal unless I just wasn't hitting anything at all.
Glad it works out for you.
To many damn sparklers on the beaches I was hunting at the time. Good luck!
Dave