Garrett Ace 350 Experience?

[beachcomber37]

Hi I'm new to metal detecting and just got a Garrett Ace 350 and wanted to try it out on the beach. I'm aware of the basic setting modifications and suggestions from the manual but would like to know if anyone has any suggestions for beach use with this model from their own experience. I'm not expecting to find much since this would be my first time using a metal detector and I'd be happy to find almost anything besides trash wrappers. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

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[smokumjames]

I have a garrett Ace 350 and have hunted the beach and lots of sand playgrounds since Jan. of this year. You will want to take the third and fourth notch out on the iron side on custome settings. this will help you identify bottle caps (of which I am the best at finding). My Garrett has trouble on wet sand and I have to knock the sensitivity down to three or four bars so its hard to find much down there "for me atleast". But I have done well finding change around the vollyball courts, playground and places where people layout. As someone told me when you first start dig everything so you learn how to pin point and think what it might be as you dig so you can become familiar with your detector.

Good Luck

 

[BigWaveDave]

I don't bother with the wet sand... plenty of goodies up in the dry stuff.

 

[beachcomber37]

Thank you!

 

[FoxDelta]

I can only run my 350 at half sensitivity or it beeps all the time.

 

[Goldmoon]

I have had my 350/Euro for a few years now and the same thing happens. If I am out in a field that hasn't had many people around, I can turn it up a bit, but most of the time I have to turn it way down.

I have found some nice goodies with it over the years though, but I want to upgrade to the AT pro so that I can do some underwater detecting.

I can only run my 350 at half sensitivity or it beeps all the time.

 

[flgliderpilot]

I use my 350 in the wet sand, but I will get a constant iron hit so i just notch that out then I'm good. I will get a few false hits here and there (just a beep now and then) which I ignore. If I get too many, I'll turn my sensitivity down a bit. I've found quarters fairly deep in the wet sand, but nothing good yet. I don't have a sand scoop so I haven't tried in the shallow water yet.

 

[FoxDelta]

I can hold mine, the search coil, 6 feet in the air and it still beeps all the time, unless the sensitivity is cut in half.

 

[Skippy SH13]

I can hold mine, the search coil, 6 feet in the air and it still beeps all the time, unless the sensitivity is cut in half.

That would be a defect, unless you're standing in an electromagnetic field.

I can turn mine up all the way in most places, and get signals over 10-12" deep. But for the most part, I run mine two notches from the top, because at that point, I'm skipping over the EMI from buried cables. Occassionally, they'll run to the surface, and I have to drop a few more notches.

Ultimately, though, most of what I dig in parks is less than 3"... I keep sensitivity high, just because I like to catch stuff on the edges of my swing. Gives me a bigger footprint each swing.

Skippy

Weird.

 

[Mr.T]

FoxDelta-Make sure your coil wire is properly secured to the shaft- a cable tie is ideal for this.

 

[flgliderpilot]

If you aren't using headphones, get some with built in volume control. The garrett deluxe headphones are very nice for the price. I did a demonstration for a friend of mine and unplugged the headphones and had a REALLY hard time deciphering the sounds coming from the speaker. Headphones are mandatory!

FoxDelta have you tried fresh alkaline batteries? Mine went totally nuts, hits as you describe in the air. Replaced the batteries with fresh ones and now it's fine.

 

[flgliderpilot]

I can hold mine, the search coil, 6 feet in the air and it still beeps all the time, unless the sensitivity is cut in half.

This seems to happen if the ground is wet and mineralized, also when you hold it up in the air you are making it an antenna for radio waves.

That is actually normal behavior.

 

[Beepndig]

I have found my ace 350 to be very accurate in the sand and run mine at full sensitivity. That being said,I am land locked with no saltwater to contend with. I find the beaches and sand volleyball courts most receptive to full sensitivity hunting, but there isn't any random junk washing up on the beach at the local reservoir and the volleyball courts seem pretty clean . There also isn't a ton of treasure washing up on the beach either. 4 inches in depth and less I feel like I can trust the target I'd and depth most of the time. I am also hunting fresh deposited items in play grounds and nice green grass parks most of the time anyway. I have recently been hunting an old school site where the conditions are different from the average tot lot and park. In the hopes of finding some silver , I am running zero mode and max sensitivity. I have been digging anything above iron and finding coins in the 2-4 inch range that aren't as obvious as they ring up in coin mode in a tot lot. The dirt is all baked out in the late summer heat and the signals seem to jumping around a little more. I can't really say I have found a real interpretation or technique for of it all , but I am digging coins.
The one thing I have noticed when running in zero mode, is that it's easier to pick the coins out of the trash. That doesn't make sense right ? A pull tab , foil or can slaw seems to overwhelm things and beep somewhat randomly when running in coin mode. seems to have more delay in signal processing and it makes you think you have unrepeatable junk signal when the delay in the discrimination is causing the detector to miss the good target sometimes. I also tend to slow down my swings to give myself a chance to catch the tones I am looking for when I am in zero mode. I have been able to zero in on potential good targets crowded by trash signals in zero mode. I don't know, probably having better luck with it cause I am slowing down when I hear all the targets beeping at me. Any way , love my 350 and feel its a good upper entry to lower mid machine.