Tesoro Silver uMax Depth tests

[BuckleBoy]

A silver coin will Not acquire a halo while underground. Silver is not affected by the ground--so at Most, the 10% that is non-silver in a coin *might* after two centuries underground, sound "a hair" better. Copper coins likewise, do not acquire halos.

Almost the only metal that will get a halo underground, is iron.


-Buckles

 

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[ParkHunter61]

I found a Barber dime at 16'' with a huge halo
when I was detecting with Jim Morisson and Elvis.
I swear...

 

[deathhare]

A silver coin will Not acquire a halo while underground. Silver is not affected by the ground--so at Most, the 10% that is non-silver in a coin *might* after two centuries underground, sound "a hair" better. Copper coins likewise, do not acquire halos.

Almost the only metal that will get a halo underground, is iron.


-Buckles

I was skeptical about it myself.
Im with you on this BB.
A freshly buried coin WILL sound off just like one buried 10 years. Its just obvious IMO.
Iron obviously weeps itself into the soil though.
Instead of planting this garden I think Ill hunt for stuff instead.

 

[George (MN)]

Something's wrong

What I would suggest is doing some air tests, using various coins at all different combinations of sensitivity & discrimination. You can do this indoors, where electrical interference might limit distance. You might also want to try it going to a nearby park & setting your detector down on a picnic table to air test.

As bad ground can really limit depth, the air tests should be more valid for determining if a detector is defective.

This will give you more info to phone or e-mail to Tesoro, which should help them to determine if your detector is likely defective & should be sent in. If you can use Fed Ex ground, they will charge you about 1/2 as much as postal service to mail detector back to Tesoro. Tesoro will pay the return shipping.

In a planted coin test in England, the Silver u/max detected a large copper coin (1/2 penny) down 10". It detected a smaller lower conductor coin, a 5 pence, 7" deep.

You said you turned sensitivity down to 9, even though is was stable at 10? Why? I'm fairly sure you should use the highest stable setting.

If you have it serviced by Tesoro & depth is still poor, you may need to sell it & consider a detector that has ground tracking, or at least manual ground balance. Hope this helps! Good luck & HH, George (MN)

 

[aladdin]

Well, well as with all machines made by man kind all are diff. ck a few non custom made rifles out and 1 will shoot great the others will shoot as with most of the others (oh well) and one only a god could shoot . So it is with any machine . As it was in the days of old there was a piece of furiture called a friday piece/ left over wood / off color and /or strain/ready to get off for the wkend /and the like so it goes with machines (and furiture)! Just a thought! As for my Silver U-max ! It is still a keeper !!! diggstown!!!!

 

[deathhare]

Well, well as with all machines made by man kind all are diff. ck a few non custom made rifles out and 1 will shoot great the others will shoot as with most of the others (oh well) and one only a god could shoot . So it is with any machine . As it was in the days of old there was a piece of furiture called a friday piece/ left over wood / off color and /or strain/ready to get off for the wkend /and the like so it goes with machines (and furiture)! Just a thought! As for my Silver U-max ! It is still a keeper !!! diggstown!!!!

What's a furiture?

 

[aladdin]

Ya don't know! it is a mis-spell event when one is not paying attention. I do that a lot lately.

 

[jorge del norte]

my Tesoro worked like dung at my fathers place the whole area is mineralized soil......

in my area i can get 7" on some coins, wet ground helps

 

[LuckyLarry]

Of course as you all know, when digging a hole and covering up a coin in it you have already disturbed the soil matrix (the magnetic + and - linearity) of the molecules in the soil stratum.

This type of test is no better than a "test garden", one with soil put into a trough, or plastic containers or clay pots with soil dumped into them over planted coins. Unfortunately this is just the way it is, and if in doubt, I challenge anyone to try it. The only way to test a detector properly is with virgin, undisturbed soil, NEVER soil which has been dug up and disturbed.

Here is an example: When going to the salt/high-iron beach here my Fisher beats every other detector for raw depth in discrimination. My Compass beats everything I've ever had in my hot hands when using all-metal. When I bring a big bunch of of this beach sand/soil home to do some "test pots", the whole thing goes into complete reverse in most cases. The Fisher sucks and the only one out of my 30 or more detectors that gets even close to the same results are the old Compass detectors.

Try a different test, a real-life one, and that should give you a much better and truer idea of the depth of your detector - regardless of which brand or model you test.

Just the words of an old metal detector engineer, detector technician, and detector repairman, for what it's worth.

LL

 

[RPG]

LuckyLarry Nice reply. I have the same problem with my silver. Max air test on a quarter
is 6" but I seem to find plenty when I hunt. I will be upgrading this year and when I do my silver is going
back to Tesoro for a tuneup. Question is, what machine do I want for upgrade? V?
Good luck on your next hunt. Randy

LuckLarry I know that voice from somewhere.

 

[LuckyLarry]

Randy

One day when I was talking to a developmentally challenged friend of mine and I asked his age..

He thought for a few seconds and replied; "That'...s a tough one".

It's nearly impossible to recommend any one certain detector for someone else's use, especially if we don't know where they plan to hunt, or when, or how. The general rule is to buy one that most other people use in your area, especially if many of those same ones are bought and often used in the local parks, etc. Like my old Sogo Kempo Master once said; "Let's just stick with what works".

"Beware the man who uses only one gun, he knows how to use it". That's my philosophy and I'm sticking with it.

I know that in your area there are a few places where the iron content is a bit high but for the most part that is not as big a problem as digging in the high clay areas on a dry, hot day - with a penknife. Think "high gain" for low mineral content soil, and "low gain" for soils with more iron in them. High end Tesoro detectors have a real tough time in high iron soil, especially those with "manual" ground balance controls. So-called "automatic" GB machines can deal with bad soil much better and faster than those with a ground balance knob that we have to retune constantly, or forget to do completely for an hour or so.

So the real and best answer I can give is to get a bar magnet and a cup of soil you wish to search in the most often and see how much iron filings you can glean from it. If you have less than 1/8th a cup then your choices improve dramatically. If you have more than that think (most) Fishers, (some) White's, but tend to stay away from Garretts, Minelabs, and Nautiluses. The latter do better in lighter soils than the real powerhouses designed for the high iron soils. Tesoro is unique in that it's low end detectors handle bad ground better than their high end ones do, and it comes down to (mostly) the too high of gain in the upper priced ones - plus the addition of manual GB which tends to screw up and counter-effect the addition of the higher gain.

Hope this helps.

LL

 

[ink-a-alot]

Yes I am a faithful Tesoro user, but I don't care what brand of detector you are using- if you dig a "clean" hole and put a coin in it you will NOT get a accurate reading. I have used many many different brands and models of detectors in the last + 25 years of detecting and have owned and used four Silver uMax's & they are the best - $250.00 detectors made, period. Air test, the test you did (digging a hole & tossing a coin in it) doesn't mean a thing. In the "real" world the Silver uMax will get the job done. Matter of fact I will go out on a limb and anyone can prove me wrong (it hasn't happerned yet) and say that the Silver uMax will out do the Ace 250 and the F2. Yes the Silver uMax does not have a TID but when it comes to gettin er done the Silver uMax will get the "goodies" that the ugly sounding belltone Ace 250 and the F2 misses. I quarantee that, I have had two F2's and two Ace 250's and 4 Silver uMax's. Steve.

I agree with sky my siver umax is a bad MAMA JAMA! I found a dime at 6 inches so there you go... Send it back in to Tesoro for a test..

 

[Ray in CA]

Yeah, I agree that dropping a coin into a dug hole and covering it back up is not going to yield you the results you want. I have the Silver uMax and my deepest coin with the stock coil was a memorial at 9". A lot really depends on the ground conditions. In Southern California I would average 4-6" in depth on coins (including silver coins) but up here in Washington I seem to be getting some better depth on average. Also, I have the 10x12 coil and can max out my sens with no chatter.

The only way you're really going to find out is to put some hours on that Silver uMax. IMO it is the best detector out there for the price.

Ray

 

[Steve in Cali.]

A silver coin will Not acquire a halo while underground. Silver is not affected by the ground--so at Most, the 10% that is non-silver in a coin *might* after two centuries underground, sound "a hair" better. Copper coins likewise, do not acquire halos.

Almost the only metal that will get a halo underground, is iron.


-Buckles

I don't think that's correct. Silver and copper both will react with minerals in the soil and will create a halo effect. So will aluminum. The only metals I know of that won't are gold and platinum.

 

[shanegalang]

Try the same test but max out the sensitivity. And if it makes you are any body else feel better, I recently attended a hunt in Florida (ponce de leon). Concerning coins on edge, someone "planted" 92 buffalo nickels! From Friday until Sunday only 3 were found!!!! The problem was that he planted them on edge! And I am talking about approx. 30- 40 people hunting the entire area. And of all these folks I saw at least 1 detector from each maker, well with in reason, Tesoros, Garretts, Minelabs, Whites, Fishers, Bounty Hunters. Also saw a wide array of coils being used. I did in fact find 9 nickles but none were the Buffalo's that had been buried. I assume it wasn't the depth of the nickels but the fact that they were on edge. I should also note that it was a high trash area. Lots of pull tabs and screw caps. I read an article lately about different manufacturers and the hype in advertising them. In a particular price range they are all basically the same. I also agree that your soil conditions are playing a role. Was the dirt dry? I have hunted the exact same area when the ground was wet and found dimes that I had missed when the area was dry. A good many more. There are so many factors that effect depth. I wouldn't give up on it. I will try the same test here in my area and let you know what happens with my Cortes. Cheers & hang in there! Shane

 

[deathhare]

Dirt was clean afaik.
Let me know what you find out.
Thanks for the info/replies.

 

[Monty]

I own and have owned many types of detectors. And I tell you quite frankly the Silver Umax is one heck of a detector for the money! It's my go to machine when my high dollar ones aren't producing. If you learn to tweak the discrimination knob as you go, you will find stuff! Monty

 

[Michigan Badger]

The test you did on the Silver uMax--try the exact same test on the Explorer or any other top brand.

When it comes to fresh buried coins they all suck.

I'm using the Nautilus IIB again (my 3rd try at this machine) and like it much better this time around.

My 1st IIB went to ebay after I discovered it wouldn't detect a freshly buried quarter at 5 inches deep (10 inch coil).

I sold my Minelab Excalibur because it wouldn't get 4 1/2 inch on a freshly buried clad quarter.

But all of these machines found coins up to 8 inches deep either at the beach or at a landfill site I hunt frequently.

To test more accurately, use a pipe and make a hole in the ground. Glue a dime to a wooden dowel and insert it into the hole. Then test your machine.

The big advantage today isn't depth but target separation and dealing with iron.

Depth potential for the most expensive machines has been about the same for the last 20+ years.

 

[aladdin]

Well it looks to me that a another unit may b in order for ya. As for me I like (no love) it!! It's a keeper!!!

 

[CWnut]

I've used tesoro for several years now and if i had one that would not detect a quarter at six inches it would be on the truck to Tesoro's repair shop by tomorrow night.

All it will cost is one way shipping.

I bought a used 10x12 coil several years ago and actually got less depth than i did with my 8x9. I called tesoro. They said send the coil and control box to them. I did and a few days later got back my control box with a new coil and a letter saying that the coil i sent in was defective....NO CHARGE