Grandpas old detector

[WhoDey]

I dug my grandpa's gta 500 out of my old garage and tried fixing it up. It needs the battery holders and covers but other than that it works great. I contacted Garrett about the parts but no response yet. I guess my "McGuyvering" will do for now. Wish me luck

 

[cudamark]

Welcome to Tnet! If it doesn't work, out we can give you all kinds of advice on it's replacement!

 

[aa battery]

yup have a gtax 550 and Garett is good about helpin.

 

[JunkShopFiddler]

Welcome to T-net! I must be gettin' old...I remember thinking that the GTA 500 was one of them new-fangled detectors with auto ground balance and this mysterious thing called "notch discrimination". I think of a Grampa's detector as having one knob and weighing about 10 pounds...The GTA 500 is a great detector and you will find Garrett is a great Company to deal with...I still use a GTP 1350 which is a descendant of the GTA 500...Happy hunting!

 

[Rawhide]

I love your avatar, I used the handle hudey for many years till I found reference to it I didnt like. Nice job well done.

 

[deepseeker3]

My GTA500 has found thousands of coins, and uncountable more whatsits. It is a good reliable machine, and I found the depth capabilities to be to about 6 inches with the stock coil.

The battery holders can be found on eBay for much less money than any place that attaches the description "for metal detector" to it. Just look for AA battery holders.

FYI, Garrett performed an Engineering Change Order on mine some time back. You may want to provide the serial number to them to see if yours qualifies.

 

[WhoDey]

Welcome to Tnet! If it doesn't work, out we can give you all kinds of advice on it's replacement!

Well I put a rubber band on each set of batteries to keep them from jiggling and reseting the machine, stuffed foil in to make a connection, put pennies on top of the foil (for now), and used velcro to hold everything nice and tight. So far so good haha.

 

[WhoDey]

My GTA500 has found thousands of coins, and uncountable more whatsits. It is a good reliable machine, and I found the depth capabilities to be to about 6 inches with the stock coil.

The battery holders can be found on eBay for much less money than any place that attaches the description "for metal detector" to it. Just look for AA battery holders.

FYI, Garrett performed an Engineering Change Order on mine some time back. You may want to provide the serial number to them to see if yours qualifies.

What exactly is the Engineering Change Order?

 

[WhoDey]

Update: Garrett emailed me back and asked for my mailing address. They're sending me the replacement parts for free. I've heard Garrett takes care of their customers.

 

[aa battery]

Update: Garrett emailed me back and asked for my mailing address. They're sending me the replacement parts for free. I've heard Garrett takes care of their customers.

well I guess I gotta talk to um cause my holders are about to go