About low batteries on the Ace 250

[Neil in West Jersey]

I broke one of the cardinal rules of metal detecting today; "always check to make sure you have fresh batteries." It gave me a chance to see how the ACE 250 operated under low batteries.

The unit operates normally with three bars.
When the unit reaches two bars the first thing I noticed is the difficulty pinpointing. Under normal operation conditions, I am able to use the pinpoint function to determine the object size. With low battery I was not able to determine if I had found an object the size of a coin or a can.
After running for a while with two bars, the machine begins to get very unstable. Contact with any object, including hard winter grass, causes the unit to false. I was in an area where I can normally run the sensitivity near full, however as the batteries got weaker I needed to lower the sensitivity to three bars. It was still unstable at this setting, but not quite as bad.

My advice:
1) Replace the batteries as soon as you reach two bars, if not sooner!
2) Check your batteries before leaving home
3) Always bring a spare set of batteries

Happy Holidays!!!
Neil

 

[NM5K]

I usually change mine when they get about 1/2 way down.
I've also seen cases where the lower voltage would seem to
make the machine slightly less stable.
Myself, I don't use rechargables, as I prefer the higher voltage
with the regular batteries. "6v vs 4.8v" Seems more stable to
me, and couldn't hurt the overall depth performance either,
although I've never really tested it to compare.
I've never run it with batteries less than 1/2 down yet.. :/
They will still have a bit of life left , but I throw them in
something less critical like my pager, GPS, etc, and run
em on down.. My GPS eats batteries faster than the ace
machines.. I get a good amount of time before I get to 1/2
down when using the usual dollar store alkies I get cheap.
MK

 

[awhitster]

I carry a small pouch with spare btteries for the Ace and pinpointer. I have changed them in the field more than once.

 

[Uncle Willy]

I don't have that problem buy I use rechargeables. I operate all the way down to one bar.

Bill

 

[draaiorgel]

Since day one we've always changed our batteries as soon as the meter hits 2 bars.
Like NM5K we use superstore own brand alkalines and buy them in boxes of thirty at a time so we've always got some in hand, and never had any problems.

Eileen is treating me to a special birthday hunt in January. I wonder what that means, could she be lacing it with gold rings? Na, I don't think so.
I'll just have to wait and see.

 

[tab-nabit]

I learned my lesson before about batteries - the hard way
Now I'm using rechargeable NiMH batteries and take plenty for changing for my machines and accessories that use the "AA" cells.
I been using 2300 mAh, and my older batch of 2100 mAh will still hang in there just fine. I have 3 condition chargers and can charge 24 max (8 per charger), The ones I use for detecting are set aside and marked. The others are for anything else. Throughout the home, the rechargeable batteries save big time. Matter of fact I have a batch fresh charged for a couple machines for today.