Garrett ADS Deepseeker TR/VLF not working

[DGS]

Hi,

I recently inherited a Garrett ADS Deepseeker. I have never used a metal detector, and after going through the user manual, it seems that this unit is not working properly. When I turn it on, I can adjust the "Tuning" to achieve a faint tone. When I place the coil over a metallic object nothing happens. The unit came with 2 different coils and both behave the same way. Doing some searching on the internet for schematics for this unit I came across one for a similar unit. The schematic showed two coils, a Tx and a Rx coil.
The coils I have, have a few feet of cable then have a 4 pin connector on the end of the cable that plugs into the detector.When I check the resistance of these pins I measure approx 5 ohms between only 2 of the pins, Should I measure 2 different coils in this connector?
Any other ideas on what might be wrong with the unit would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

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[Sandman]

First welcome to Tnet. Assuming you installed fresh batteries all correctly, this should give you the faint hum (thrushold)
Forget the pins, you may have deeper troubles if you have it in all metal and volume up high and hear no sound when coil is over metal. I believe Garrett will still fix these things. Why not give them a call.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Your detector is an ancient one by today's standards, but still capable of finding stuff. Call Garrett about sending it in, it's probably an easy fix since it's a pre-IC detector.

 

[DGS]

I removed connector body on both coils to verify problem was not in the connector. Both have the same problem:

pin 1 connected to ground of connector
pin 2 -- pin 3 5 ohms
pin 4 no connection

With ohmmeter connected to pins 1 and 4, tried moving cable where it enters coil, to see if the problem was there. Did not get any continuity
It seems that the problem is inside the coil. Has anyone tried opening a coil up to repair it?

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Since I'm an old Deepseeker fan, here's some "chatter" from a place I found:


Found & Bought:Garrett Coin Hunter ADS VLF/TR Deepseeker

Jun 9, 2011.

Sorry to keep asking questions and maybe someday I can contribute. Well I will contribute a few pictures right now. I knew where there was an old MD in a pawn shop 10 minutes away, been there two years or so, and I bought it for $150.

He had it marked $250 and wouldn't go $125. The 10.5 inch coil appears like new, no marks on the bottom at all and has a sticker on it that says "Deepseeker 5.5", which I believe is 5.5 Khz. It has a small scuff with a bend on the right side by the knobs in the side view picture, a very small scuff on the other side and a dime sized paint scuff on the bottom.

Serial # sticker says "2667 -121" with spaces just like in the quotes.

I went to McDonalds and had a sandwich with free WiFi and googled it. I came up with one for sale in 2009 for $149.95 and none on ebay so I went by that.

It came loaded with 6 Walgreen's Alkaline 9V batteries that test good. I'm going to go read and see if I can learn to tune it. It does work and all knobs seem to operate as they should.

Any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I have not tested it outside but my yard must have every penny ever lost in it! Found a quarter out there with my Red baron.

I guess I have the fever......shhhh, don't tell the wife!!!! HAHAHA....she is the one that said buy it!


Holey moley your gonna have a field day with it... look online for a manual.. thats awesome...let the addiction begin...wohoooo for you..:bthumb:


I suggest you look around for the smaller coil for it.

That machine in the right hands can keep up with most if not all the new VLF/TR machines.

Hip mount it works good too.

Here's the User manunal if you don't have it.

http://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hbby-manuals/ADS-Deepseeker-Groundhog.pdf


Hears a little trick the others don't do.

REVERSE DISCRIMINATION. Put your switch in the VLF mode. Since this is a no-motion machine, begin slow sweeps as you will miss targets if you sweep too fast. Upon detecting a metal object you must pinpoint as closely as possible which is fairly easy seeming as it is a no-motion detector. Once you have the object pinpointed and your metal detector is not moving, flip your mode switch to the TR discrimanant mode. Have your discrimination set to reject nails or other rusted objects. If your machine blares off or sounds off when you move off the target, that implies you target has been rejected. On the otherhand if your machine goes silent that implies that your target has been accepted.


Why a smaller coil? Did I do OK on price? My first find was a 1950 wheat penny in my yard! The toggle switch in the handle was reversed, I think someone tried to tighten it and rotated it. It wasn't acting right according to tuning in VLF mode....Ground cancel was not working when you held the switch to the left.

Thanks for all you guys help.

Is it a good one and why?


Price was ok but with the 10 coil your going to be missing the rings and smaller goodies.

I'm looking for a sniper coil for the one I have.


The smaller coil allows for better separation of the targets. If you have a bunch of trash around a single good object the larger coil will see all the trash at one time thus missing the good target.With the smaller coil it will be seeing the trash one piece at a time and therefore be able to see the target. Hopefully this makes sense. This is one of those cases where bigger is not beter.

I see...

Will the larger coil go deeper?

Do they still sell new coils that will fit it or do I have to find a used one?

The larger coil may go a tiny bit deeper but not very much. In my opinion its not worth the aggravation of trying to hunt trashy parks.

I doubt you will find a new coil for this unit. It was discontinued long ago.


The larger coil does in fact go deeper but at the cost of not seeing smaller targets.

The Field strength in not as strong on the larger coils. Your distributing the power over a larger area.

Smaller coils Concentrate the power in a smaller area.



No, I don't believe Garrett make coils for them any more but they do show up on Flea Bay all the time.

There around. If you call Garrett they may have some? I don't think so.

If you do get another coil, be sure to get the right one.

They changed the connector from 4 pins to 5 and you need the right one for your machine.


If all you have is the 10" coil. use it. When I had my ADS back when.....I used the 10" the most, you will see an increase in depth....works great in parks schools or relic hunting. You will have no problem finding gold rings and coins. Listen for the repeatable faint sounds in VLF mode, make sure threshold is on the very edge of making a slight sound.

Not sure if you have it, you need the arm rest swinging the bigger coil.

Find yourself the smaller 8" coil if your hunting trashy areas or going prospecting.
I had the 4" sniper coil but rarely used it.

If all you have is the 10" coil. use it. You will have no problem finding gold rings and coins. Listen for the repeatable faint sounds in VLF mode, make sure threshold is on the very edge of making a slight sound.

Not sure if you have it, you need the arm rest swinging the bigger coil.

Find yourself the smaller 8" coil if your hunting trashy areas or going prospecting.
I had the 4" sniper coil but rarely used it.

Well at least I have a name for it "Sniper Coil".

And yes, I believe I have it tuned right. The switch was rotated so the modes were not right. When I pushed it to the left the ground cancel control didn't work. I rotated it and now left is VLF, boy did that help to understand the instructions!

I found a very thin turquoise silver ring in my front yard with it. I also had to spray some tuner cleaner into the metal/null tuning control. It would not get a stable threshold, it does now. Other pots seem ok.

Now I am in the market for a Teknetics Delta 4000, yea, I done some research.

I also have a Red Baron I paid $50 for (RB7 I believe). It needs the pots cleaned as it is a little wild. So I have $200 in two old classics that a lot of people like, of course other don't, but hey, par for the course!

After I clean up the RB I don't know which I will like best. I really like the motion of the RB, but the ADS is easier on my back, hence the Delta purchase. I just like old stuff, cars, ham radios, Marantz stereos (the old boat anchors), I have two and a Sansui.

Save the environment, use classic stuff! :icon_wink

 

[Jason in Enid]

I removed connector body on both coils to verify problem was not in the connector. Both have the same problem:

pin 1 connected to ground of connector
pin 2 -- pin 3 5 ohms
pin 4 no connection

With ohmmeter connected to pins 1 and 4, tried moving cable where it enters coil, to see if the problem was there. Did not get any continuity
It seems that the problem is inside the coil. Has anyone tried opening a coil up to repair it?

That can't be done. The wires inside the coil were wound on a form, then glued into the coil, then the coil filled with foam. Garrett doesn't even repair coils, if one is bad they replace the coil.

 

[DGS]

This particular unit is in pristine condition! While I had it open, I measured the DC voltage on the supply lines. All looked good. I also did a quick in circuit test of all transistors and diodes, they all looked good as well . No signs of corrosion, over temp, etc.

I have never used this unit when it worked. I am not sure where the meter should be once the unit is powered up, and the tuning has been completed:

Manual Tuning:

1. Turn POWER ON-OFF/SENSITIVITY KNOB to “ON.”

2. Flip TUNING SELECTOR to “MANUAL.”

3. Press MASTER CONTROL SWITCH either to the left or right and hold.
4. Rotate TUNING CONTROL away from NULL (quiet) ZONE until a FAINT sound is heard.
This is the detector’s OPTIMUM TUNING POINT.

At this point where should the needle on the meter be? When I get to this point using my unit, the needle is just above the back end of the "REJECT" arrow. Should it be here or more mid scale?
If I leave the detector in the same position(sitting on the bench), the audio and needle on the meter slowly increase. Is this normal?

 

[DGS]

I called Garrett. They were not really that helpful. They indicated that I would not be able to measure the coils in the search coil unless it was connected to the unit. Doesn't sound logical to me if there are two coils of wire in the search coil, I should be able to measure continuity with it disconnected from the unit. The coils is wired as follows:

The Shield wire is on Pin 1, also connected to non-existent center pin(which connects to cable backshell)
Black wire is on Pin 2
Red wire is on Pin 3
White wire is on Pin 4

I measure approx 5 ohms between pins 2 and 3
No other connections anywhere. Sure seems like bad coil to me. Seems strange thought that both would fail. Can you measure the 5 ohms and 20 ohms are your coils?

 

[DGS]

Well I am thinking now that perhaps there is a capacitor in series with the one coil, and that is why I cannot measure any resistance. When I spoke with Garrett, they indicated you could not check the coil by itself, and that it had to be tested with the coil connected to the unit. They would not give me specifics about the internal workings of the search coil as it is proprietary. I had "assumed " there were two coils of wire inside and should be able to measure resistance of both. Perhaps not? Anyway they mentioned they still service the units, so it looks like it will be going to them for a check up.

 

[Keppy]

Why don't you just send it to Garrett it is the only way to get it fixed right…They will fix it but there is no detector maker that is going to spend time on the phone trying to explain on how to work on them…...

 

[roaddust66]

Those ADS Deepseekers are very rugged. You are not working on a ham radio microphone. If the detector is pristine as you say ...then chances are very slim it has a lose wire. As I say those machines are very rugged. Chances are you have not mastered tuning the detector yet. Go to youtube and search for " ground balancing " a detector. Also setting the threshold. If no sound then come back to us.

 

[Keppy]

Yes do that then come back to us then after you come back to us for about 50 times … Then you can do it right send it to garrett...

 

[phred01]

I just refurbished a deepseeker ADS found a problem with the 5 pin connector pins. Garrett used silver plated ones for low contact resistance. However in time like silver wear the silver plating turns black which is silver oxide As the coil voltages are low contact connection has hi resistance. This why Garrett said the resistance must be measure in circuit......leading the problem are the pins. Quick solution use pencil rubber to remove the corrosion. The 5 pin DIN plug locking ring version Is available in GB and is very expensive. Don't throw away the plug use the casing again and get the pin assembly from a stand metal cased din plug. The platinum approach get the pin assembly wire the pins together remove the old plating and plate with gold. This fix will eliminate the corroded pin issue. Also there maybe a problem with the contacts in the din socket