Question for beach/water hunters!

[treasurekidd]

I am still a newbie at MDing, and use a BH Pioneer 101. I just order a Garrett ACE250, and right now, anyway, don't have the budget to buy a specialized beach detector. My question to the experienced beach hinters is: Have you used a land detector on beache sand or even in the shallow water, and how were the results compared to a specialized beach machine? My VERY limited experience is that I find a good amount of stuff on the dry sand, and very little below the high tide mark in the wet sand. I have not yet been brave enough to try sticking my coil in the water, lol! Am I wasting my time with the BH or Garrett ACE250 on beaches? Any feedback would be appreciated. Good luck and HH!

 

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[KevGA]

TK:

I'm on the Gulf Coast of FL and unfortunately have not had the time to get down to the beach as of yet, which kills me because I am in the same boat you are. Lots of great beaches but not the cash to match. When I was making my decision on the 250 I spent a great deal of time on various d-boards and did find one that had several references to successful salt and fresh water beach finds with both the 150 and 250. Once I get down to the beach (I'm trying to squeeze in some time Thurs. afternoon) I'll give a hollar back, but in the mean time take a look at these forums, you should be able to find some reference:

http://www.findmall.com/cgi-bin/forums/garrett_detector/garrett.pl?

Good luck!

 

[lonewolfe]

I've had to buy/replace (in the distant past) 2 different coils on land machines after sticking/using them in water knee deep (even though they were supposed to be water proof). This was on 2 top makers detectors and they were top machines of theirs. Wouldn't recommend using a land machine in the water no matter what the maker claims. Coils ain't cheap..

Also, any machine that doesn't have a salt elimination function and or multi freq. won't do much justice on a salt water beach in wet sand. Wet salty/sand will mask things out, give false readings like it's seeing iron and reduce depth severly (as will black sand that is present on a lot of salt water beaches)..

Gotta have the rgt tool/s for the job. That's why I bought 2 water machines and don't worry about stuff like that anymore..

 

[stoney56]

If you decide to use a land detector ing the water (fresh/salt) always check the coil cable for cracks, frays, especially next to the coil. That's usually where your problem lies. I've never had a problem yet.(knock on wood) HH

 

[sherpa t]

It's gonna kill you not to go by the water, even worse when there's a nice cut. But try the 250 in all metal mode start up on the dry sand and walk toward the water. you will be able to tell the line were the water table is to high ( you'll get a bonk in the headphones when the coil crosses the line ) turn back and place your coil sweep just inside of it.

 

[treasurekidd]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll keep using the BH and the new ACE250 on land, and maybe if I score enough clad this summer and dip into my beer money, I'll be able to pick up a beach/water hunting machine for next year! Thanks again all, and good luck!