Will low batteries.............

[mtsheron]

make your detector act erratic in ways of:

1- Pinging all over the place?

2- When trying to pinpoint a known object location in such as a test the pinpoint only is at highest alert on the corners of the coil rather than centered?

Reason I ask I have had the batteries in since I got the detector about 2.5 months ago and not used alot but recent I was testing it and darn thing pings not over a test object and pinpointer on detector not at greatest alert directly over test object.

Thank you-

 

[airscapes]

If you have a DD coil on the machine and the coin is on the surface, the coil can pick up the coin on either or both outside () as well as in the center |. Lift the coil about 3" above the coin and it should hit just in the center | not in all 3 paces (|) . If that isn't it, try new batteries and see.. after all you will need new ones sooner or later..

 

[Boatlode]

Not familiar with Garrett machines, but I would say no, low batteries should not cause that.

 

[releventchair]

Mine does not like tired batteries. They last long especially with headphones but below half capacity they get changed out or their going to fall too fast shortly. Machine does get erratic before batteries expire. Today my spares were used to near half and when they were installed because the others were down to last quarter and machine did not want to "lock on" to any targets the battery gauge was "boiling" at the top.Pulled the cover and rolled the batteries one at a time in their place and it was back to normal. I should scrub the ground approaching from the side of a target to pinpoint but in trashy areas I forward and back looking for strongest signals over target.If targets are way off center they are often shallow zinc cents or iron pulled me off target. Zinc on the surface seems to get caught on edge of coil, usually towards the forward edge for some reason when pinpointing.
Just my experience.

 

[DigIron2]

Where you testing your machine close to power line's or some other kind of electrical interference? My machine has a light that blinks when batteries are getting low and it might throw a false signal here and there,but it does goes erratic when the batteries are about drained.Maybe check and make sure your coil wire is screwed tight enough to the box?Gotta watch leaving batteries in your machine if not using for a long period of time too,can possibly leak acid and destroy your machine.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

No way, I run my batteries down to one bar a lot, and it doesn't affect the performance at all.

Now if they are Completely Dead, then yea, they get all crazy.

Best way to test your machine is go out and use it.

 

[Frankn]

Mine does not like tired batteries. They last long especially with headphones but below half capacity they get changed out or their going to fall too fast shortly. Machine does get erratic before batteries expire. Today my spares were used to near half and when they were installed because the others were down to last quarter and machine did not want to "lock on" to any targets the battery gauge was "boiling" at the top.Pulled the cover and rolled the batteries one at a time in their place and it was back to normal. I should scrub the ground approaching from the side of a target to pinpoint but in trashy areas I forward and back looking for strongest signals over target.If targets are way off center they are often shallow zinc cents or iron pulled me off target. Zinc on the surface seems to get caught on edge of coil, usually towards the forward edge for some reason when pinpointing.
Just my experience.

You brought up a good point that most overlook. Connections.I worked on electronic equipment for 32 years and the biggest problem was bad connact at the connector. For some reason The battery connections build up resistance. This resistance draws more current (Amps) this drops the voltage. Like relevantchair said, rolling ,or turning the batteries improves the connection and the voltage raises. The worst case of this is with 9V bats that don't have snap on connectors. Just look at all the problems with the pro pointers because of this. You think for the price of the detectors today they could gold or at least silver plate the contacts. Frank...-

 

[mtsheron]

Where you testing your machine close to power line's or some other kind of electrical interference? My machine has a light that blinks when batteries are getting low and it might throw a false signal here and there,but it does goes erratic when the batteries are about drained.Maybe check and make sure your coil wire is screwed tight enough to the box?Gotta watch leaving batteries in your machine if not using for a long period of time too,can possibly leak acid and destroy your machine.

No. Maybe it was just hitting all over due to me not using enough to have a ear for the unit yet. Too darn hot here in the south to get out right now to learn this new machine. I am looking to fall/late fall to really ramp up and get to know her!

Thanks for the replies however in trouble shooting it for me and giving guidance.

 

[luvsdux]

Not familiar with your particular machine, but have experienced a number of different scenarios from low to dead batteries. A set of new, fresh batteries is always the first thing to try when a detector gets quirky and remember that sometimes even supposedly new batteries may not be up to snuff or one of a group may be deficient.
luvsdux