Detector going nuts

[SteveDodds]

I was out detecting the other day. In a little 5 foot area, when I was swinging my detector it was just going nuts. There was a lot of beeps indicating silver and there was no other indications of a different type of metal. They were registering between 4 and 10 inches. There was so many beeps I had difficulty pinpointing so I just started digging. I thought maybe a cache. I had a hole about 2 foot wide and about 20 inches deep. I couldn't find anything at all. When I dug, the beeps that I was getting in that area disappeared. When I stuck the detector in the bottom of the hole it said I still needed to go down another 6 inches. When I swung the detector over the hole it would beep at each side of the hole indicating something was there so I would dig some more but still didnt find anything. It was just in this little area and the detector wasnt doing this anywhere else. What was going on? Do I need to go back out there and dig some more? I don't understand why the signals would seem to disappear after I dug and they were good solid signals. About 5 inches down it got really rocky and sandy. I don't know if it was like that any where but where these signals were but I would have to assume so. What is going on?

 

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[JOE(USA)]

SteveDodds,

It's hard to diagnose a situation without being there or with the Info someone gives you but I'll try:
You should know that Target ID info is useless on extremely large targets and unusually shaped objects. That includes any depth readings your ID may give you. Using the info you provided I would have immediately gone to All metal mode. You did not say that you did that?? Because you dug - - - "a hole about 2 foot wide and about 20 inches deep I couldn't find anything at all. When I dug, the beeps that I was getting in that area disappeared." That tells me you have a large object or a number of large objects deep. It could also be electrical interference ?? Joe

 

[firedup]

Steve It does sound like your detector destabilized I agree with Joe(usa) electrical interference caused by overhead wires or radio transmissions. firedup

 

[robbuckalew]

i was digging yesterday and my ace 250 was doing the same thing. i figured out that where i was digging, there was an invisible fence in the ground. and once i moved away i powered of my detector and turned it back on...every thing was fine..

Good Luck

 

[SteveDodds]

No I didn't change to all metal mode. What is the reason for doing so? It was out in the middle of a square mile section in the countryside about half mile from any electrical stuff at all. The really weird thing is it was in one little area. If I moved twenty feet one way or the other I would get nothing. I was thinking that maybe there was something there at one time that rusted to nothing and leeched out into the soil around it and thats what I was picking up. Is this possible? Should I just go back out and dig more or should I just forget about it? While I was digging and not finding anything I got really discouraged, filled in my hole and went home. Maybe i need a larger shovel

 

[deepskyal]

Yep, quite possible out in the middle of nowhere.

When I get hits of silver that say 2"....and i'm down to say 7 or 8.....I quit.

I've found so many times that pop cans, when shredded by a mower, the pieces take on a whole different character than a whole can.....and cause false signals.

The other day I was down about 8" and found the "point" of a piece of aluminum can sticking up in the ground. I dug no further.

Gobs of tin foil do the same thing and dang, they are hard to see.

When I was learning back when...i dug a rusty beer can that sounded like a coin.....2 feet deep!
Al

 

[JOE(USA)]

No I didn't change to all metal mode. What is the reason for doing so? It was out in the middle of a square mile section in the countryside about half mile from any electrical stuff at all. The really weird thing is it was in one little area. If I moved twenty feet one way or the other I would get nothing. I was thinking that maybe there was something there at one time that rusted to nothing and leeched out into the soil around it and thats what I was picking up. Is this possible? Should I just go back out and dig more or should I just forget about it? While I was digging and not finding anything I got really discouraged, filled in my hole and went home. Maybe i need a larger shovel

SteveDodds,

The reason to change to all metal mode is to get away from the detector trying to figure out electronically whether to give a signal or not, all metal gives a signal on ALL conductors. AM will also allow you to make out the shape of the target and with a little practice the depth. Your detectors TID discrimination will NOT do that for you on a large target. If your detector is running a VCO in AM you are in even better shape. As far as the dirt giving you a signal that's easy, scoop up a handfull and wave it under/over the coil.
Yes, you should go back out there because you have something to learn there. The sooner you figure out these oddities about detecting the better off you will be. Joe

 

[SteveDodds]

Very good point Joe. Never thought of it like that.

 

[TRHunter]

I have had this experiance with deeply buried hot rocks.

 

[Sandman]

Joe about nailed it, but without more information it can be many things for the funny signals. I have run into the same thing is a couple locations and decided it had to be tiny pieces of metal. Did you check the dirt you removed? Since it only happened in one small area it couldn't have been something under your coil cover or something stuck to the coil. Does your detector do this if you move the coil wire where it enters the control box? If it isn't small pieces of metal as Joe suggested, my guess would be some radio transmissions or some other electrical interference. Joe knows his stuff.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Rebar reenforced septic tank.

I've "diagnosed" some mystery areas as:

Multiple shotshell blasts into soil (little lead shot is hard to spot in the dirt).

Multiple broken lightbulbs that had been mostly cleaned up (most glass & bases gon but nichrome filament wire all over the place - like hair in the grass - this one was a big puzzle).

Deep iron - in one case an entire buried horse-drawn cultivator sled.



Some tricks are to lift the detector and see if the signal abruptly stops (small) or gradually fades (large).

Sweep from several different directions (helps judge size of target but especially "quality" of hit)

 

[Rifleman]

It was the 49 Caddy I put in the large hole in the field, then filled the hole. Keep digging, it's down there somewhere

I think the other posts hit the nail on the head. You could have dug to China and not found a thing.

Good hunting, John K