How does the weather affect your detector...cold vs hot ... or does it ??????????????

[AQUA]

HEY GUYS AND GALS

Made it out today for a 4 hr hunt.

Temperature was +5 ...awesome day to be out !!!!

Here is my findings on weather conditions hot versus cold. This is SALTWATER HUNTING.

We have been out in a lot of cold weather detecting this winter...cold as -19 and a lot of days -5 to -10.

There have been very few days this winter where the temps have gotten above 0.... but what I did notice was this.... USED THE CZ 21 AND COUSIN ED F75.

Went to a spot 4 days ago that we have been to numerous times...TEMP WAS -10. The targets are obviously getting less and less...on this day I hit only about 15 targets which is fine cause 3 of them were good ones WHICH IS STILL A GOOD DAY OF COURSE. I covered the ground very good ..or so I thought !!

So when we got back to the truck we both agreed that this spot needs a rest cause it is getting beat .

Today we were undecided as to where to go...TEMP WAS +5 . I said maybe we should give it another try cause there is always a chance of finding something special there.

I could tell COUSIN ED wasn,t really thrilled.....but away we went anyhow. Well everywhere we went there was targets. Places I know for a fact that I covered really really well numerous times had targets all over the place.

WHY IS THAT ?

I dug and kept 55+ targets !! ED had many more targets than ever before also...even more than the 1st time he hunted this spot.!!

AND... we both were seeing smaller targets than previous days.

This happened last time we had a mild day with + temps......this is with 2 different detectors ...so it isn,t just the user.

I just kept shaking my head in disbelief all day....I really don,t understand. But it was very obvious that the detectors were much more sensitive than previoys days.

Must be TEMP related ...OR IS THERE ANOTHER EXPLANATION ?

Anyone else experience this ?

 

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[kladdhunden]

The only detectors i have used in high/low temps are my first fisher f2 and a x-terra 705.
The only problem i had was with the Fisher F2 at wintertime in sweden.
It was very cold (around -2,-3 degrees celsius + hard wind at 10-15 meters/second and well after 2-3 hours the display on the F2 stopped working but the sound and signals was normal so it was still ok to search with it.
After half a day inside i tried starting it again and it worked fine so i guess it was the cold.

 

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[DFX DAVE in M.D.]

I don't like the cold, so I don't detect in the cold much. The ground freezes like a rock, so that is another reason I like the warmer weather. The only thing that affects my detector is if the ground is moist or not. If I go right after a good rain, my detector screams on a good target. It seems during drought the good targets sound faint.

 

[Helix]

I don't detect in frozen ground but will in any weather as long as ground is thawed. In the bitter cold I have always wondered about condensation inside the detectors. I had a stereo out in a barn I would listen to in freezing temps while working and that thing would sweat and water droplets would start to build up when the radio would warm up. Eventually fried out my radio. I guess a detector would never generate that much heat in order to build up moisture like that. Plus being out in the open air would help.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Cti4sw, K1DDO1979, and Casper-2 all got it right. Exposure to extreme cold very significantly diminishes the chemical reaction in a battery, thereby greatly reducing its output. (Warm it back up and it works fine again.) That is why both you and your friend's detectors' performance was diminished.

Here's a true relic-digging story which is proof of that:
Back in the 1970s, when I was still subject to the foolishness of Youth, me and several friends went on a night-hunt... at 10-degrees Fahrenheit. ALL of our detectors AND even our FLASHLIGHTS quickly got weaker and weaker. We gave up when our flashlights got so dim we soon would have had serious trouble finding our way out of the woods. Because everybody had the same problem at the same time, we riddled out the correct answer that night. The next day, with the temperature at least a little bit above freezing, everybody's detector worked fine again, without changing the batteries.

I suspect that with 21st Century detector microcircuitry, mini-headphone speakers, and LED flashlight bulbs, somewaht less electrical power is needed. But extreme cold's effect on the functioning of battery-chemistry hasn't changed.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I haven't experienced it with today's detectors, but in the early 80's my Garrett Deepseeker ADS III worked best after rains and in moist ground. In the Summer during drought and hot dry weather, it really did not reach down as deeply as it did during wetter times. With moist soil I dug targets at 8"-10" regularly, and during drought with very dry soil 3" was about the best I could do.

 

[AQUA]

Cti4sw, K1DDO1979, and Casper-2 all got it right. Exposure to extreme cold very significantly diminishes the chemical reaction in a battery, thereby greatly reducing its output. (Warm it back up and it works fine again.) That is why both you and your friend's detectors' performance was diminished.

Here's a true relic-digging story which is proof of that:
Back in the 1970s, when I was still subject to the foolishness of Youth, me and several friends went on a 10-degree (Fahrenheit) night-hunt. ALL of our detectors AND even our FLASHLIGHTS quickly got weaker and weaker. We gave up when our flashlights got so dim we soon would have had serious trouble finding our way out of the woods. Because everybody had the same problem at the same time, we riddled out the correct answer that night. The next day, with the temperate at least a little bit above freezing, everybody's detector worked fine again, without changing the batteries.

I suspect that with 21st Century detector microcircuitry, mini-headphone speakers, and LED flashlight bulbs, somewaht less electrical power is needed. But extreme cold's effect on the functioning of battery-chemistry hasn't changed.

TY for the reply CANNONBALLGUY

I think you guys are correct on this one also...

Went out today for a hunt...-6 which isn,t bad if there is no wind...but the wind was blowing pretty good at 25 mph reducing the -6 to prolly-15 at least.....I was colder today than any other day I been out all winter and we been out in -18..but no wind.
The detector was working like crap....sounding off on hot rocks really bad and very few signals....had to give it up and leave. Other days that were really cold the hot rocks were way worse also.

One other thing I noticed was ... when I changed the batteries the detector worked muched better as in more sensitive and louder on targets.... this was during cold days also.

All points to cold weather having a adverse effect on the detectors performance threw battery strength deterioration.. Glad I made this thread as it casts much light on the subject.

 

[AQUA]

I don't detect in frozen ground but will in any weather as long as ground is thawed. In the bitter cold I have always wondered about condensation inside the detectors. I had a stereo out in a barn I would listen to in freezing temps while working and that thing would sweat and water droplets would start to build up when the radio would warm up. Eventually fried out my radio. I guess a detector would never generate that much heat in order to build up moisture like that. Plus being out in the open air would help.

COUSIN EDs F75 went on the fritz this winter on one occasion....

Became unuseable... we had to leave...so he took it home and set in front of the heater all day and night... the next day it was working perfectly.... had to be condensation build up.

 

[AQUA]

I don't like the cold, so I don't detect in the cold much. The ground freezes like a rock, so that is another reason I like the warmer weather. The only thing that affects my detector is if the ground is moist or not. If I go right after a good rain, my detector screams on a good target. It seems during drought the good targets sound faint.

I found the same here also...... couldn,t wait for a good rain to soak the ground in summer !!!!

Ground is hard as a rock here right now---winter never gonna end !!! Just glad I live by the water.... detecting season is year round.

 

[ironhorse]

COUSIN EDs F75 went on the fritz this winter on one occasion....

Became unuseable... we had to leave...so he took it home and set in front of the heater all day and night... the next day it was working perfectly.... had to be condensation build up.

If you take a warm detector from a warm house or vehicle into the frigid cold, condensation could become an issue, especially when you're detecting on a beach where moisture is rather abundant

 

[AQUA]

If you take a warm detector from a warm house or vehicle into the frigid cold, condensation could become an issue, especially when you're detecting on a beach where moisture is rather abundant

He put a neoprene covering on the housing which fits very nicely and hasn,t had any trouble since...assuming thats holding in the heat enough for the 3-4 hr hunts .

 

[Helix]

Now that I have more time and read all the post I was reminded of a few instances with my gti 2500. A few times in freezing temps the 2500 after sometime would start acting up also like hitting on hot rocks or overload signal telling me there is a large object. It seemed the longer I was out the worse it became until unusable. I took it home thinking the coil might be bad. Same thing,, next day worked fine. This has happened a few times in the past. It seemed like the colder the machine got the worse it became. Hope it wasn't moisture build up, that sounds like it would do damage to the detector unlike the battery deal.

 

[AQUA]

Now that I have more time and read all the post I was reminded of a few instances with my gti 2500. A few times in freezing temps the 2500 after sometime would start acting up also like hitting on hot rocks or overload signal telling me there is a large object. It seemed the longer I was out the worse it became until unusable. I took it home thinking the coil might be bad. Same thing,, next day worked fine. This has happened a few times in the past. It seemed like the colder the machine got the worse it became. Hope it wasn't moisture build up, that sounds like it would do damage to the detector unlike the battery deal.

Like I said earlier in the post.... the CZ 21 manual says operate in 32-101 F temps....prolly a very good reason why that is in there...they must have had to deal with a few issues from users about this very thing.

 

[AQUA]

One thing that you have to be very careful about in the cold is not so much the detector itself but the cabling. I have noticed that the colder it gets the more stiff/brittle it becomes. Also, I tested an old pair of headphones and the coiled cable's outer insulation actually broke! Bent it back and forth a couple times in the cold and pop! Something I hadn't considered before.

Just FYI.

Never thought of that happenning....guess very few hunt all winter and most detector usage is during warm months so anything is possible....I call it SHACKWHACKY SYNDROME.

 

[cti4sw]

As far as the electronics go, not my field. But, I was under the assumption that electricity flowed better, not worse, in the cold. As in the absolute zero experiments?

Heat can destroy electronic components. A sufficient power surge will cause excessive dissipation of heat which can damage small components, which is essentially what electrostatic discharge (ESD) does. Proper ventilation and air cooling can mitigate the effect of heat. Low temperatures can slow low power circuits, but can improve functionality of high power circuits by giving the power dissipation a vent away from the circuit. This is what those aluminum heat sinks in a PC do, they provide the heat generated by the power dissipation of the processors an escape via the air being ventilated out with the fans.

Any circuit whose power requirement can be satisfied with AAA, AA, A, B, C, D batteries is a low-power application, as those batteries have a max single output of about 1.5V and a current draw of only about 25 mA.

I don't know anything about absolute zero experiments. "Absolute zero" refers to a complete absence of temperature and therefore absence of energy.

EDIT: Condensation can cause shorts in your electronics, which will destroy your MD. If you're out in the cold, best to just allow the MD to return to room temperature gradually instead of trying to speed it up with a heater.

 

[AQUA]

Heat can destroy electronic components. A sufficient power surge will cause excessive dissipation of heat which can damage small components, which is essentially what electrostatic discharge (ESD) does. Proper ventilation and air cooling can mitigate the effect of heat. Low temperatures can slow low power circuits, but can improve functionality of high power circuits by giving the power dissipation a vent away from the circuit. This is what those aluminum heat sinks in a PC do, they provide the heat generated by the power dissipation of the processors an escape via the air being ventilated out with the fans.

Any circuit whose power requirement can be satisfied with AAA, AA, A, B, C, D batteries is a low-power application, as those batteries have a max single output of about 1.5V and a current draw of only about 25 mA.

I don't know anything about absolute zero experiments. "Absolute zero" refers to a complete absence of temperature and therefore absence of energy.

EDIT: Condensation can cause shorts in your electronics, which will destroy your MD. If you're out in the cold, best to just allow the MD to return to room temperature gradually instead of trying to speed it up with a heater.

That is what I was just about to write exactly !!!!...... HEHE

You know your electronics sir !! All makes sense as to what is happening .

All I know is add batteries..turn it on...walk in drunken line and hope I find something !!!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

My M6 display screen is a little slow, but works ok when it's this cold, my fingers are another story!

 

[webatch]

AQUA I have seen some videos on youtube where guys are using hand warmers strapped to their detectors while detecting in cold environments. That may be a way to counter the effects described by cti4sw. Just a thought.

I know my detector gets really shaky in those kinds of temperatures... or maybe that's operator induced.

 

[Dak]

How about wrap an old canteen canvas on the outside of the detector with one of those toss away handwarmers thrown inside for good measure?

 

[AQUA]

How about wrap an old canteen canvas on the outside of the detector with one of those toss away handwarmers thrown inside for good measure?

HAHA... well that is a original idea !! and would prolly work also !!

Could be easily done also.


What some people will do to scratch the itch ...lolol.

 

[MaineRelic]

I have been using hand warmers straped to my battery pack with painters tape and then coverd with a heavy sock to hold the heat in now for 3 years . Even on land hunts when the temps drop below 40 degrees or so . It may be a placebo but it makes sence to me that warm batteries discharge faster . I also will not use copper top akaline batteries . even though they may last longer . I want to discharge as much power to the circuitry as I can . MaineRelic