Sand Shark or Whites Dual field?

[Irishgoldhound]

Can't decide which one to get. Anyone own both detectors?

 

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[Fletch88]

Wow that puts things into better perspective. Thanks. I have the At pro and just wanting to get a PI machine to get those deeper targets in the water. Maybe a sea hunter might be a new choice for me. I mainly hunt fresh water but I'll be travelling a few times to Mexico.

For freshwater I have 2 words CZ or Excal. You will drive yourself bonkers with a PI in freshwater.

 

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[Irishgoldhound]

Yeah I know it will be frustrating but its more less a decision for when I make those few trips to Mexico and down south. I have an AT pro for fresh water but trying to decide which PI detector to purchase that I could also use once in awhile to try and get those deep goodies that my AT pro is missing.

 

[DewGuru]

My negative experiences have been with a Stingray and an original Sand Shark, but here is a copy and paste from The TreasureBeachesReport blog, that illustrates that I am not the only one to experience this problem: The Treasure Beaches Report brought to you from Florida's Treasure Coast.

"What is a liftetime warranty? You might think that if a metal detector manufacturer offers a liftetime warranty that means that you'll be able to get your detector fixed under warranty for as long as you own the detector. Think again!

I don't know what lifetime Tesoro is talking about when they advertise a lifetime warranty, maybe the lifetime of a fruit fly, but it does not mean the lifetime of the detector.

One person was motivated by the advertised lifetime warranty to buy a Tesoro detector, which he used primarily as a backup. He liked the idea of having a detector that he could get fixed without cost or problems. He also owned a variety of metal detectors made by most of the other major manufacturers and used a couple of those other detectors the vast majority of the time.

But "lifetime" to Tesoro did not mean what the buyer thought it meant! When he sent in his detector for repairs after years of using it only rarely, mostly having it around as a backup, after tracking the detector and finding that the company had received it a week earlier but having heard nothing from them, he called to see if it was shipped back yet. What he then learned was that in the past week they did not diagnose the problem but instead told him he would have to send in a deposit to have it fixed and that they no longer had a circuit board for that model and so didn't think that they would be able to fix it anyhow.

Evidently what lifetime means to them is the period of time that they maintain a stock of parts for repairs. When they no longer have the parts for a particular model, the "lifetime" is over.

I know of another case in which the same thing happened. The older detector was purchased under the lifetime warranty and when sent in for repairs was deemed too old, and they said they no longer had the necessary parts to repair it. When pressed about the lifetime warranty, they said there was white dust from corrosion in the unit and that voided the warranty. That was said after they had already admitted that they no longer had the parts to repair the unit, but it gave them an out. If the corrosion had voided he warranty or not, they still did not have the parts to repair the detector. I suspect you can find some hint of corrosion on any electronics of some age even if you have to use a microscope to find it.

My main point is that when you hear a "liftetime" warranty advertised, it probably means something other than what you think when you hear the term. Don't be fooled by that.".

The Treasure Beaches Report brought to you from Florida's Treasure Coast.: Search results for tesoro warranty

As for the models in question, I am sure you can email the blogs author to find out.

I'll have to call that into question as i've a pal who sent in his Stingray which had a MB issue about 3 months ago, and it was replaced and back in 10 days. I'm sure there are always extenuating circumstances where there are other factors involved that we are not privy to, and some posts merely get made up/exaggerated. No company of course is fool proof, but i'd put Tesoros warranty up against any other.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

I live in Canada so fresh water is what I hunt in. So just wanting to know the best and deepest PI machine to purchase to get those missed targets

 

[Fletch88]

I live in Canada so fresh water is what I hunt in. So just wanting to know the best and deepest PI machine to purchase to get those missed targets

Get back to us after you use one in freshwater with a report of how many "deeper" better finds you get with the PI.

 

[DewGuru]

Get back to us after you use one in freshwater with a report of how many "deeper" better finds you get with the PI.

This one came from a depth of close to 2 foot.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

I'm looking for suggestions and help because I've heard of guys using them to get deeper stuff the VLFs will miss. Never swung a PI b4 so I don't know which would be the best one to use. It sounds like you're laughing at the whole idea of a PI detector doing better than a VLF in fresh water for deeper stuff.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

Nice find!! Was that using a PI?

 

[Fletch88]

This one came from a depth of close to 2 foot.

I don't doubt it Dew, I know they are deep but man at all the junk you have to dig in freshwater to find the goodies.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

Yeah it will be tiring digging deep holes in the water but I guess to change up the hunt from using a VLF may get those ones that I missed or just ignored and may turn out to renew a hunted out area.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

Seems like the dual field is the deepest out of all the water proof machines. The coil floating is my only issue and pin pointing with a big coil. But the whole idea is to get those old and deeper items other detectorists and my VLF won't pick up.

 

[Fletch88]

8" Sand Shark still gets my vote if you're just dying to try one. Find a used one so someone else already took the $200 hit though. My itch wore off quickly after the 27,000th bottlecap.

 

[DewGuru]

Nice find!! Was that using a PI?

Yes, that was with the 8" shark.

 

[Jolly Mon]

Yeah it will be tiring digging deep holes in the water but I guess to change up the hunt from using a VLF may get those ones that I missed or just ignored and may turn out to renew a hunted out area.

You are not going to get better depth, coil for coil, in freshwater with a PI over a VLF unless you are in EXTENSIVE mineralization. Your single frequency AT PRO will beat the socks of a Sand Shark or Sea Hunter for gold except in salt water, wet salt sand or very high mineralization.

The advantage of the multifrequency VLF's is that they are great in fresh water, great in wet salt sand and great in dry sand as well. Their performance does drop off in deeper salt water, however.

The Dual Field will get down to the depths attainable with BBS machines fitted with a WOT, but it will do so with no discrimination capabilities. With much practice, you can learn to ignore most ferrous trash with a PI, but not all...and it does take much practice. The floating coil issue is just nonsense to me. I have waded with the Dual Field and dove with the Dual Field. It requires almost no effort to keep the coil on the bottom. I guess this is just a personal thing, but I don't want my coil to sink.

I don't like the Excal's design, but there really is nothing like them for performance in the kind of situations you are looking for. The same can be said for the CZ-21, though there are more coil, mounting and modification options for the Excal. And I believe the Excal has the better resale value in the event you decide to sell. Check out EBAY and see the crazy prices used Excals bring. There is a reason for this.

One more point to add is that no pulse or multi-frequency machine will be able to match the performance of a single frequency VLF for very small gold targets...like thin chains, for instance. Metal detectors are a little like boats---there is a trade off for almost everything.

 

[Irishgoldhound]

Well thanks for your info you have shed a brighter light for me. Mainly I'm purchasing one for the trips I will be making to Mexico or other places with salt water. But would still of course use it as a back up for my AT pro here in the fresh lakes.

 

[tiderider]

Sand shark !

 

[KEYSHUNTER]

i swear my pi growled and it was treasure

 

[lost items recovery]

If you want Max depth with a learning curve but kills when learned and annoying floating coil but solved with a coil bracket stabilizer I'd recommend the dualfield. Decent depth and easy use SandShark. Next best thing in depth or maybe better plus discrimination when you want it or without, spring for an excal or find a used excal 1000 to save $. I did and will never leave it. 1st whites mxt or something can't remember. 2 beach hunter 300 I.D. Vlf 3 dualfield pi 4 sand shark 8" and 10" pi and 8" and 8" and 8"! 5 dualfield pi again and still 6 excal 1000 bbs That's my 9 million dollar investment order! LOVE my excal! Dual field for back up! I own what I own because I learned what I learned! Repeated # 4 should be self explanatory! Un sure rent each one you're considering until you know what you like!

 

[Irishgoldhound]

Thanks! My choice I think will be either Excal or Dual field.

 

[Jolly Mon]

I saw these on Youtube.
They might be of interest to you.