What is the best underwater detector to find gold and silver coins and rings?

[OBXmetalDet]

My Nokta PulseDive Underwater Metal Detector failed on me after going into the water (and not even using it). When I came back on land, although I could turn it on, I couldn't detect metal. Maybe some water got into it.

I'm looking for something that is handheld so about 15" long.

I would be diving right off the shore/beach in relatively shallow, but it would be good to have the ability to go much deeper in case I ever decide to boat dive.

Can anybody recommend anything?

 

[cudamark]

Do you have a picture of your Excalibur with the short dive shaft and coil? I would like to see what the entire thing looks like.

I don't have one set up for diving right now.

 

[cudamark]

When I search for "Excalibur II" instead of getting results for Excalibur II, I get Excalibur II 1000

Amazon.com : excalibur II metal detector

What is the difference between Excalibur II vs. Excalibur II 1000?

The 1000 is just an indication as to the coil size it came with. At one point you could get an 800 which had an 8" coil. They discontinued that option, so, all of them have the 10" coil from the factory now. The other coil options are all from aftermarket suppliers.

 

[OBXmetalDet]

What are the downsides to the Excalibur II?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Excalibur II was the upgrade of the Excalibur which was the upgrade of the Excalibur Sword. Coils from all 3 excaliburs are interchangeable with each other as are the coils from all Sovereign models.

Downsides depends, the stock shaft sucks and puts all the weight on your forearm, a after market straight shafts fixs that, and it gives you a wider sweep path.

Excals do not detect thin gold chains very well. I have found a couple but I think it was the lobster clasps it saw. A gold chain is seen as individual links, and tiny links are hard to see.

I own 3 excals with the reverse pinpoint mod so you can hunt in reverse discrimination and they have different size coils, with the 15" WOT coil I have dug targets over 18 inch deep..

 

[OBXmetalDet]

Excalibur II was the upgrade of the Excalibur which was the upgrade of the Excalibur Sword. Coils from all 3 excaliburs are interchangeable with each other as are the coils from all Sovereign models.

Downsides depends, the stock shaft sucks and puts all the weight on your forearm, a after market straight shafts fixs that, and it gives you a wider sweep path.

Excals do not detect thin gold chains very well. I have found a couple but I think it was the lobster clasps it saw. A gold chain is seen as individual links, and tiny links are hard to see.

I own 3 excals with the reverse pinpoint mod so you can hunt in reverse discrimination and they have different size coils, with the 15" WOT coil I have dug targets over 18 inch deep..

I have a few questions.

1. Can you please post a link to the exact after-market straight shaft you are referring to so there is no confusion?
2. I searched for a 15" WOT coil but I can't find where it is sold. Can you please post a link where I can buy that?
3. What does WOT stand for?
4. If I buy an Excalibur II from Amazon, it looks like it comes with a 10" coil since it's named Excalibur II 1000. If I remove that coil and install the 15" coil, is that easy to do or is there anything I need to know in particular? Would I need to buy any additional parts to make that 15" coil work?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I have a few questions.

1. Can you please post a link to the exact after-market straight shaft you are referring to so there is no confusion?
2. I searched for a 15" WOT coil but I can't find where it is sold. Can you please post a link where I can buy that?
3. What does WOT stand for?
4. If I buy an Excalibur II from Amazon, it looks like it comes with a 10" coil since it's named Excalibur II 1000. If I remove that coil and install the 15" coil, is that easy to do or is there anything I need to know in particular? Would I need to buy any additional parts to make that 15" coil work?

The coils on Excalibur are hard wired to the motherboard, you have to modify the Excalibur to change coils which would void your warranty so you dont want to change coils till out of warranty.

The WOT was made by Coiltec, I think the new ones are called Coiltek 15" All Terrain coil.

I recommend you buy from a supporting vendor too

Why are you looking at Excal when you have EQUINOX?

 

[OBXmetalDet]

The coils on Excalibur are hard wired to the motherboard, you have to modify the Excalibur to change coils which would void your warranty so you dont want to change coils till out of warranty.

The WOT was made by Coiltec, I think the new ones are called Coiltek 15" All Terrain coil.

I recommend you buy from a supporting vendor too

Why are you looking at Excal when you have EQUINOX?

Thank you. Where is the motherboard located? Is it integrated with the coil, or is it inside the control panel (the cylinder with the knobs)?

After my trip to OBX last week, the ears on my Equinox coil broke. Also, when I charge it for a while, when I should definitely see 3 battery bars on the control panel, I only see 2 or 1, so something is wrong with the control unit. I even bought a new battery, and I still have the same problems.

Also, sometimes I see a faint black blemish at the lower part of the control panel screen. I've had this for about 5 years. I really haven't used it too much for 5 years.

I think it's time for a new detector. Mainly I'm interested in underwater metal detecting right off the beach as well as detecting on the beach. I would also detect on land such as parks and fields, but that is secondary.

 

[cudamark]

I have a few questions.

1. Can you please post a link to the exact after-market straight shaft you are referring to so there is no confusion?
2. I searched for a 15" WOT coil but I can't find where it is sold. Can you please post a link where I can buy that?
3. What does WOT stand for?
4. If I buy an Excalibur II from Amazon, it looks like it comes with a 10" coil since it's named Excalibur II 1000. If I remove that coil and install the 15" coil, is that easy to do or is there anything I need to know in particular? Would I need to buy any additional parts to make that 15" coil work?

1. Check with Steve's detecting rods, or, Anderson.
2. They may be hard to find at this point as coil makers have moved on to newer models. If available, I recommend the NEL 15" Attack coil....my favorite!
3. Wild Orange Thing was what I heard the most. Wide Open Throttle was another. It just identifies that particular Coiltek coil.
4. Not easy, but, doable if you have the skills. If not, check with Tony Eisenhower. He did all mine and knows how to do it properly. I had him do my pin point mod and headphone upgrade too while he had it apart. I agree with TH, you may want to wait until the warranty is up before the mods, if you can wait that long! I couldn't so I just had it done and to heck with the warranty.

I also agree with TH on the question of why you are buying it instead of, say a Manticore? By the time you get the straight carbon fiber shaft, 15" coil, pin point mod, and upgraded headphones with all the labor, you'll have more money into it than a new Manticore with multiple coils and new waterproof headphones. Unless you're diving, the Manticore or even the 900 or Deus 2 are a much better option IMO.

 

[OBXmetalDet]

1. Check with Steve's detecting rods, or, Anderson.
2. They may be hard to find at this point as coil makers have moved on to newer models. If available, I recommend the NEL 15" Attack coil....my favorite!
3. Wild Orange Thing was what I heard the most. Wide Open Throttle was another. It just identifies that particular Coiltek coil.
4. Not easy, but, doable if you have the skills. If not, check with Tony Eisenhower. He did all mine and knows how to do it properly. I had him do my pin point mod and headphone upgrade too while he had it apart. I agree with TH, you may want to wait until the warranty is up before the mods, if you can wait that long! I couldn't so I just had it done and to heck with the warranty.

I also agree with TH on the question of why you are buying it instead of, say a Manticore? By the time you get the straight carbon fiber shaft, 15" coil, pin point mod, and upgraded headphones with all the labor, you'll have more money into it than a new Manticore with multiple coils and new waterproof headphones. Unless you're diving, the Manticore or even the 900 or Deus 2 are a much better option IMO.

My Equinox is pretty much done. Not only that, but I want to focus on diving, then beach detecting which is why I was interested in the Excalibur II.

What did you mean by "pin point mod and headphone upgrade?" What does that involve?

 

[cudamark]

My Equinox is pretty much done. Not only that, but I want to focus on diving, then beach detecting which is why I was interested in the Excalibur II.

What did you mean by "pin point mod and headphone upgrade?" What does that involve?

Sure, deep diving is where the Excal shines. The pin point mod is where you have the Discrimination/pin point switch moved to the end of the handle to where you can just press that button easily instead of having to grab the switch handle with your other hand to change positions on the pod. What most of us do is to hunt in Pin Point (all metal for the purpose of this discussion) and then press the button to change to Discriminate to ferret out the iron targets. The Pin Point mode gives you WAY more depth than Discrimination does and is almost always quieter. The factory headphones to me are rather tinny sounding. Tony uses better speakers.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Cuda gave excellent advice. Mother board is inside the control pod, and if you dont know what you are doing you can easily destroy a motherboard. The soder tracing on motherboard are thinner than human hair so soldering on them is very tricky.

To change coils you have to either drill or cut out old cable from end cap, pass new cable through, and then pour new resin in the end cap to waterproof it again, then solder the wiring to the motherboard, and again the circuit traces are thinner than human hair. If it isn't sealed properly you can quickly destroy motherboard, saltwater and electronics dont mix well when mixed.

You can also do inline splice, but I dont recommend it as you are adding resistance in the electronic wiring, and you have to worry about splice also leaking,

My recommendation is if you really want Excal you get it and learn it using the stock coil, before you use larger coil also get a dive shaft

The pinpoint mod is not good for diving, all 3 of my Excals have pp mod and never leaked, but I wouldnt recommend or take it deeper than 10 foot. They work great to chest deep.

 

[ROBOTCOP13]

For reference the WOT coil is the last one on the right, on a Sovereign.

 

[OBXmetalDet]

The factory headphones to me are rather tinny sounding.

What do you mean by this?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

What do you mean by this?

The stock headphones suck, poor sound quality, the absence of low-end frequencies or base. (Turn on a stereo then turn off all the base and low end freq, you then have a tinny sound.

 

[cudamark]

What do you mean by this?

Ever make a "telephone" as a kid with two tin cans and a string? That's tinny. No bass and a hollow muddy sound quality.

 

[dcisfun]

it’s hard to beat a pulse machine so a Garrett, an Excalibur (small coil version, custom handle for diving) stay away from the Equinox since they tend to flood just wading! Or go whole hog and get the JW Fisher!

 

[OBXmetalDet]

The stock headphones suck, poor sound quality, the absence of low-end frequencies or base. (Turn on a stereo then turn off all the base and low end freq, you then have a tinny sound.

Oh great. That's another thing I'll have to consider if I buy an Excaliber II.

There are already many "options" that I have to buy as it is.

I'm interested in using the Excalibur for diving (mainly).

 

[Sand Swinger]

Oh great. That's another thing I'll have to consider if I buy an Excaliber II.

There are already many "options" that I have to buy as it is.

I'm interested in using the Excalibur for diving (mainly).

You don't have to do everything right away. You can start off with the stock headphones, then upgrade down the road. Better headphones will provide better comfort and a better listening experience, but if you'll be using the Excal for diving, all you need the headphones for are to beep when you're over a target, you're not in a recording studio mixing an orchestra, lol. Just need to hear the beeps so you'll know where to dig.

I've been swinging a Sovereign Elite for the last 14 years, and Excal's are basically a waterproof Sovereign redesigned to fit in a waterproof tube. They use just a few knobs and may look fairly simple, but they're a different beast and will take a good amount of time to master. Both are BBS (Broad Band Spectrum) and run 17 frequencies. When running in discrim mode, you get all tones, and I mean you get a LOT of different tones (pitch's) as tones are based on conductivity of the target. It took me 1-2 full seasons of beach hunting to become proficient with the audio.

 

[surfnturf]

I have used the Fisher CZ21-10 in 50' of saltwater with a hip-mount and just the lower coil stem (about 15"). Worked great and found a lot of jewelry that day. It was an area where yachts dock off Martha's Vineyard.​

WHAT!?!
Do tell more Terry!🏴‍☠️

 

[OBXmetalDet]

You don't have to do everything right away. You can start off with the stock headphones, then upgrade down the road. Better headphones will provide better comfort and a better listening experience, but if you'll be using the Excal for diving, all you need the headphones for are to beep when you're over a target, you're not in a recording studio mixing an orchestra, lol. Just need to hear the beeps so you'll know where to dig.

I've been swinging a Sovereign Elite for the last 14 years, and Excal's are basically a waterproof Sovereign redesigned to fit in a waterproof tube. They use just a few knobs and may look fairly simple, but they're a different beast and will take a good amount of time to master. Both are BBS (Broad Band Spectrum) and run 17 frequencies. When running in discrim mode, you get all tones, and I mean you get a LOT of different tones (pitch's) as tones are based on conductivity of the target. It took me 1-2 full seasons of beach hunting to become proficient with the audio.

Each tone has a target ID right? Instead of listening to tones, couldn't you just look at the target ID?