Metal Detecting discussions and finds

Thanks but naw, I already got one of those...

 

Hoping for a little help from some folks that know a little more about this than I do (which is pretty much anyone)... My Garrett Ace 300i; bought new in September, with approximately 10-12 hours of use went nuts today. Took it out, and as soon as I turned it on, it was pinging non-stop, all over the scale, and didn't matter what I did; even up in the air away from anything that could trigger it.

Changed batteries, and when I turned it back on, for a minute or so, it wouldn't detect anything, even resting on my shovel. Then, it went crazy again...
Took it home, opened up the head unit, totally dry and no sign of water ingress and no sign of any damage to any component on the board. The only other sign is that the LCD indicators (all of them) look just slightly less "black" than normal, even with fresh batteries.

Does anyone have any insight? Coil or head unit? I'd like to get my hands on a schematic and a pin-out for the coil.
Thanks!

Edit: Turns out it was moisture after all; the "slightly less black" appearance of the display was due to a super-find layer of moisture, which I couldn't see until I actually started looking at it with a loupe. It looks like a very small amount of water (literally a couple of drops) entered via the speaker grill (Possibly from putting it down in wet grass or something). A couple of hours over the furnace vent and all seems good again. As a low-level protective measure, I've put some clear packing tape over the grill openings.

 

The first things I would do in that situation (I am not familiar with that machine) is to double check your sensitivity and discrimination settings. I would then disconnect the coil and see if the behavior changes.
I am curious how much water got inside. I don't think a modern detector should be that susceptible to a little bit of moisture.
It might not be a good idea to leave the tape on for an extended period of time. The slots are there so the machine can breath.

 

Literally just a couple of drops; it somehow managed to work it's way forward and bridge a couple of the traces on the switch side of the board. As for breathing, the slots are there for the speaker. It's a solid-state board run by 4 'AA' batteries; I don't see it has much need to breathe. You're right though, it's more than a little disappointing that something that minor could cause such a serious issue.

 

Do you live in a high humidity region? Most detectors are built to be used in the field and should be able to handle a bit of moisture.
I hope it keeps working as it should.

 

West coast, Vancouver Island (100 miles north of Seattle)... I very much hope it keeps working; I don't get a chance to use it as often as I'd like, but I sure enjoy it when I do. All I can think of is that it had to have been a 'perfect storm' situation of the water getting in and managing to get to just the right spot...

 

Vancouver is a neat area!
Do you store the detector in a dry area of the house? What is the ambient humidity in Vancouver?

 

It lives in a nice, dry shed; nothing else there has suffered from humidity, so I don't think that's an issue. I really believe it was a result of putting it down in long, wet underbrush the last time I was out. As for the ambient RH? NO idea.

 

This thread is too quiet!
What is everybody finding??

 

The sum of the square root of fourth fifths of sweet f*** all!

 

Crumbs mostly

 

Very nice!

Gold Monster by chance?

 

Hobbs First you want to see pictures. Then you ask about equipment. What's next? Location???


Ha Ha. Just messing with you. I found a pretty rich wash that has a cemented type bottom with tight little pockets in it. Tried to do some vacuum work and discovered I wasn't getting the pieces because they were wedged in. I started getting signals with my pin pointer after I had vacuumed. So put on kneepads, put on my reading glasses and used a scribe to scratch out little pieces. They are deep enough that the detector isn't seeing them. The pin pointer gets down into the little holes and signals pretty sharply and I can dig them out.

 

Location would be great!!
Ha! Not too many detectors will see gold that small.
Interesting workings you have going on there. The cement layer, does it break apart easily? Does it dissolve in water? I'm curious if there is an easier way to get at the gold. The picking and scratching seems tedious. But it is clearly working, so I can't knock it.
Who makes the pin pointer you are using?

 

It's like cement with small rocks 1-2". Creates little pockets and cracks in it. It's like the gold was wedged into the cracks by water pressure. That's why the vacuum wasn't pulling it up. Just to check my work I tried the pin pointer in a couple of the pockets and got a signal. The more I poked around I started finding more I missed. It is kind of tedious but more fun than digging trash all day. In 3 days I have recovered more than 1/2 oz. So I'll keep scratching away until it peters out. Kind of don't leave gold to find gold. I have a Minelab pin pointer.

 

Sorry I left the thread for a little while, no detecting and now there’s snow in the desert. I’ve still been building the shed that’s turning into a house... Making it a workshop and keeping all my hobby goodies in there, but maybe a couch as well since I’ve been getting grumpier and complaining more that we can’t go on weekend trips to the desert these days...

 

That is really cool, is the cemented bottom the conglomerate or an actual cemented bottom of a wash? Also just curious if there’s any corrugated pipes under the nearby roads in the wash, definitely vacuum those out as well!

 

Yeah. I know! Have you been out detecting at all, where did you go?