ace 250 questions, from a novice.

[lionhrt9]

Hello all first time posting in this part of findmall and wanted to pose a couple of questions.

1) I was told/read the following, "Garrett had some ace 250 with a pinpoint problem.Something in the electronics circuitry. Anyway they are offering a free upgrade fix. Just call them and get the info to send it in.."

Has anyone verified this? I will try calling them today as my pinpointing was off with the eliptical coil that comes with the machine. I mean with time I got better with it, but I do understand some people's concerns. Heck maybe Garrett is upgrading them."

2) Garrett instructed me to swing my coil 1-2" off the surface. My MDing friends actually scrub the ground with their machines and told me to swing the coil lower to the ground. Has anyone had any interference problems etc. with having the coil rubbing the ground?

Thats all I got, thanks for reading and hope to be talking with you soon!!

HH

 

[ohio fred]

n/t

 

[Uncle Willy]

Garrett coils are not fond of "scrubbing" due to their ultra sensitivity. Try swinging at least an inch off the ground.

Did you read the tons of info on this forum regarding pinpointing with the stock coil? It's a little different than other detectors. If you go to the Garrett web site they have an animation showing pinpoint procedure. On shallow targets just scan side to side in short strokes until the target is centered, then drag the coil straight back until the instant the signal stops. The target will be under the top center tip of the inside oval on the coil. Deeper targets will be a little further back from that position. If you have trouble with a target turn ninety degrees to it and scan and pinpoint again and you'll hit it.

Bill

 

[ohio fred]

n/t

 

[NM5K]

I had about 2-3 hours to practice with mine today.
For the most part, mine seems right on the money.
Being I assume mine wasn't made very long ago, if
they had a problem, they must have fixed it. I'm
sure they would take care of it, if it's in warranty,
and has a problem. I do it the same way as Uncle Willy
was describing it.
One way you can visualize it is to think of the target
having a circle on top of it, when looking down into
the ground. IE: like a snowman, except the target is
smaller than the circle. For it to be real accurate,
it's very important that you are in the middle of that
circle, bisecting it from the view angle that you are
standing. The top center of the inner coil is the
"X" just outside of the inner loop.
So, I'd scan the "circle" to find the top and bottom,
and then I'd find the sides, and then find the midpoint.
As you drop towards the bottom of the "circle", you need
to keep double checking that you are in the middle.
The distance between sides will shrink smaller and smaller
as you near the bottom of the "circle". At the bottom
near the dropout point, the side to side distance should
be very small, and then you back it on up to let the signal
drop out. When it drops out, "X" marks the spot.
After I got it down using this method, I was nearly
stabbing coins in place. In fact, one or two I actually did.
I was using a valve pushrod as a probe/digger for those coins.
As I was getting used to it, I could ignore most of the
"circle" and just deal with the bottom of it only, to save
time. I found the pinpointer useful in telling targets
apart. IE: I'd see three or four coins in one area. All
would be blipping 1c, 10c, 25c, etc, as I'd scan across with
the coil.
I found I could use the pinpointer, and accurately
tell each coins position in relation to each other.
Then , I'd pick one of them, and repinpoint it. Then, I'd
go back to normal mode, and rock the coil and inch or two
until it would retarget it. That would get me a fairly
accurate idea what that particular target was if it repeats
over again.
But, anyway, if you do it real careful, and still no joy,
I wouldn't be afraid to send it in for a checkup. I can
tell you, it's normally capable of being pretty accurate.
Or mine is anyway...I just got the machine yesterday, so
it's brand new as far as date. BTW, it didn't seem to make
much difference if I scrubbed the coil or not, but I using
a coil cover, and just grassy lawn. If I don't scrub, I get
as close and even as I can. To me, it seemed more accurate
if you kept pretty close to the ground.
Just my $2.43 worth...:/ I'm still learnin it myself...
MK

 

[DavHut]

...It's good to have you on! Would you like the stuff I send to folks on the Ace 250? Some is a rehash of where you and I have already been, but some of it's bound to be new to you. Just let me know if you want it.

You are in Garrett country, buuuoooyyy, so look lively. These guys are the ones who keep me going...

 

[Uncle Willy]

Scrubbing is okay when pinpointing but off the ground works better when scanning. Also when pinpointing ( unless you already do it ) after you have located your target, slide all the way off the target, press and hold pinpoint, then slide back over the target to center it.

Bill

 

[lionhrt9]

Yes have read mucho info on the pinpointing and have seen the animation, but still get hung up pinpointing. There is no doubt that im alot better at it than I was, but just wanted to find out about this "upgrade" that I read about through Garrett?

 

[lionhrt9]

ok now when you say center it are you talking detuning or centering the target in the middle of the coil instead of the top middle of the inside loop?

 

[lionhrt9]

THANKS FOR THE INFO it makes sense. I will practice it and keep updating!!!

 

[lionhrt9]

There is no doubt, send away!!

the info here is incredible, they should package this stuff for sale!!!

Awesome people!!

 

[lionhrt9]

You are truly a god send, thanks for the info dave!!!!

 

[Uncle Willy]

Center the target side to side. Just twitch the coil side to side until you establish the loudest signal then slide the coil straight back until the instant the signal stops.

Bill

 

[Uncle Willy]

The upgrade was due to the fact that the Yeller Feller ran out of steam when pinpointing and would detect deeper than it could pinpoint. You would get a loud signal over a target but when you pressed pinpoint you got silence.

Bill

 

[NM5K]

[quote Uncle Willy]The upgrade was due to the fact that the Yeller Feller ran out of steam when pinpointing and would detect deeper than it could pinpoint. You would get a loud signal over a target but when you pressed pinpoint you got silence.

Hummm. Yea, I haven't seen much of that on mine. In fact,
I seem to be able to use my pinpointer as an old style
"tone" detector, and it seems to go pretty deep, and it
lets you get an idea of the size of the object. I thought
maybe it was a fluke, but I tried it on some large steel
items here in the house, and it did seem to work.
I was having a problem here with the pinpointer wanting
to "wander off" from my picked target. IE: I'd find a coin,
and start to pinpoint, but the "source" would seem to wander
way off to one side, and seem very large compared to the
usual coin. Well...It done occured to me that I was detecting
iron deep below my picked coin. I'd pinpoint the big object,
and let it detect in normal mode, and sure nuff, iron...
Sooo...The way I had to get around that was lower the
sensitivity to a low level so it wouldn't detect the
deeper iron. After I did that, it let me pinpoint the
shallower coin. But whats kinda interesting is my
machine seems to be capable of some fairly deep detecting
while in pinpoint mode. I can see large hunks of iron
down below the ground in the backyard, and have no idea
what it could be. But some seem fairly large, like maybe
3-4 feet long. You can plot the shape out with the pinpointer.
It shows the depth as 8+.. I've got a few old car radio
whips. I think I'm gonna grab one tommorrow and see if I
can probe that thing to gauge the actual depth and shape.
I've got one whip off a old ford that is one piece and about
3-4 ft long. It oughta do the job.. :/
MK

 

[DavHut]

...Like I said before, that's what this board is made of. Just read what I sent and and linger a while 'round here.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah that deep iron creates problems, or any deep junk target. Good luck on your probe.

Bill