Whites Dual Field PI how good is depth?

[makahaman]

I would like to purchase a Whites Dual Field PI but was wondering if it goes deeper than the older Surfmaster PI. Not concerned about discrimination but wanting a machine that has really good depth to it. Any advice or experience with this detector is much appreciated!! Aloha

 

[BareBones]

Well I happen to have both machines you mentioned.

I honesty can't say one way or the other if the DF goes any deeper then the old Surf PI, heck they both go deep. I will say that I love the larger coil diameter on the DF, you cover more ground; but let me say that I also hate the fact that the DF coil floats. I even filled my lower shaft with plumbers putty and it still floats.

Another thing to watch out for on the DF is the housing latches are much looser then the older Surf PI machines and the latches are prone to getting caught on clothing and popping the latch and flooding the unit. I try and keep a cable tie on mine to prevent that. I planned to make a nylon strap with Velcro as a permanent solution so I can connect and disconnect my battery without having to cut a cable tie.

Even with the short comings of the DF I mentioned, I have not used my old Surf PI hardly at all since getting the DF. I really do like the larger coil, but to be frank about it. In my neck of the woods, the old Surf PI works just fine. Now head to someplace with high mineralized sand say like in Hawaii and that is where the DF really stands out. If you are in the islands, do yourself a big favor and get the DF.

Aloha

 

[Silver Surfer]

Not that I used mine so much, but the latches on mine are very tight... I would have to tug pretty damn hard to open them up IF they were to catch on my clothes...
I am selling my near brand new Dual if you are interested.... Selling only BECAUSE it goes too deep... I just cant dig that much anymore.. I have found targets as deep as 2+ feet, in fact a 10 Pesos coin just saturday that was at least 2 ft deep. It is slightly larger than a quarter, maybe $.50 size...
Anyway, if you would be interested in saving some money over brand new, let me know... My machine has been in the water 5 times, and has custom straight shaft and even brand new Lithium batteries in it...
A great machine for sure, and it even found me my nicest ring to date... But like I said, I just dont have the stamina to dig that deep for hours..

 

[makahaman]

How much are you asking?

 

[lacey333]

F.Y.I

I have the DFX 300 which is basically the land version of this machine and love it! They have also made the new coil neautral boyancy to eliminate the floating problems!

Kellycodetectors.com is having a huge sale right now. You can get the ID 300 with the 12" spider coil for $899.00 and it comes with a bucket load of extras as well as they are having a BOGO sale so you can get another really good detector for less than $200.00!

 

[petersra]

I struggle giving you this answer, because I use my Dual Field all the time rather than my Tiger Shark, so I am not really intending to bash it. However, the TS is way more sensitive to small gold than the DF. I often wonder what I have passed over with the DF because it didn't see it. I found a thin dime size 1.3g gold earring by accident with the DF while I was digging up a SS nut at about 18" deep. I saw the gold earring in the pile of sand and passed the coil over it without a signal. Thinking it might be cheap plastic, I put it in my pocket anyway and when I got it home, I was surprised to find the 14k marking. So I took it out in the yard and I almost had to touch the DF to the earring to signal, maybe 1-1/2" away at most. The TS saw it at 8". The smallest deep gold I have found with the DF is a thin tri-color 3.6g gold ring at about 8". I prefer the DF over the TS because it is much more stable in the salt water with wave action. The TS does not like the surf. I later found out that the TS is much better in fresh water than salt water but it does ok in the wet and dry sand at the beach so I keep it as a backup. The DF air tests on a 8g gold ring at about 13", but I haven't actually found one deeper than maybe 10" in the wet sand. Now bottle caps, bobby pins, & pennies I routinely dig at 18"-24". Toy trucks, alum cans, heavy junk bracelets, batteries and sunglasses I have pulled out over 24" deep with the DF. So bottom line on the DF is that it is relatively stable (I have never used a Minelab to compare) in the salt water with depth of up to 13" (maybe) on a decent piece of gold, but very little depth on small pieces of gold, including gold chains. I just looked at the weight of the diamond rings I have found and they are generally less than 2g. That may mean that I missed some of those nice with ice rings by using the DF. Hope not, but maybe.

For those with Excaliburs, who might read this post, how deep is the deepest small diamond ring less than 2g you have found?

 

[BareBones]

I've found that my old Surf PI is more stable in the surf then the DF. I actually have to use the pulse delay on the DF in waves.

Gold this year has been so scarce that I can't really give the DF a good comparison on finding gold compared to my other machines. I have found gold with it, but nothing tiny or very deep. I've dug plenty of small trash though and deep so it must be working. Got my fair share of pull tabs the other day with it, but not one piece of gold or silver for that matter.