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Adding illumination to my ACE250

D

Danimal

New member
I posted this in the modification forum, with no response so far...

Has anyone here added LED lighting to their screen to help with night hunting? I was thinking either a single 5mm LED and it's own lithium button cell (plenty of room in the ACE's case) set off to the side slightly above the LCD screen level, or...
modifying one of those LED Nintendo Gamboy screen lights that mount outside the case and shine downward onto the screen.
Currently I use a 3-5mm LED headlamp, which does light up the screen well, as well as allow the plug and recovery to be done, but sometimes I like to swing with no real lights on, as it helps keep your night vision intact.

Any ideas?
 
I thought about it.
But never tried, afraid to mess something up.
If I had a second detector. I would go for it.
But the ace is my only detector.
 
I've kicked it around, but wasn't sure if I wanted to
try it with it still under warranty. Also, I haven't
pulled the cover off yet to see how an LED would actually
fit, and be able to light up the screen. IE: is it capable
of being backlit, or would it need to be lit from light coming
around and reflected to the front, and bouncing off the display.?
I'd also kicked around the idea of using a single battery/LED
and making a clip on light to clip onto the hood.
But after thinking about it, I decided to just wait for now.
I came to the conclusion I needed light more for digging,
than actually using the detector. I can hunt ok just using
the sound, cept of course you can't read the ID tabs...
A no brainer for coins, but mid tones could be a hassle.
But I may yet try it one of these days. Probably after the
warranty expires...I've also considered adding a light to
my pinpointer. It might actually be more useful than one in
the 250... At night, it probably wouldn't take too much light
to make a ace display readable.
MK
 
a single 5mm LED with one side of it's lens painted black and the clear side placed so it shines into the gap between the LCD screen and the acrylic cover should work. Backlighting won't work.
Converting a clip-on gameboy LED light to fit on the hood would be by far the easiest way. Powering it shouldn't be too hard.
I may do this soon.
 
Danimal you may want to use an inexpensive sport headlamp.The lamps work great because the light shines in the direction you are looking. You guys are forgetting rule number four. If it's not broken don't fix it. Ron.
 
Ron,
I already wear a 3-5mm LED headlamp on night hunts, but quite often it is a hassle turning it off and on, and it screws up night vision. I don't always want all that light. It's not a matter of something being broke and needing fixed. A small light source directed at or near the screen would be great, and is, IMO, doable.
 
Danimai I used a halogen headlamp when making sweeps on cross country skis(Nordic National Ski Patrol) after the park was closed to make sure all skiers were safe and off the trails. There were times when I needed to retrieve a bandage or cravat from my first aid belt to help a distressed skier. These lamps work great. Now excuse me I may be wrong. If were going to metal detect at night I would need a lamp to see the area detecting,for digging, find target,and to operate the metal detector.I don't think the effort to put lights in an instrument panel will help.What you need is duct tape and a high powered flashlight. Thanks Ron
 
I already have a head-mounted LED/Xenon lamp combo!
I want what other (higher-end) Garretts offer: Screen illumination.

OF COURSE I have my headlamp on when I cannot see the area around me well.

OF COURSE I use it when retrieving my target.

There are other times when I want to see my ID screen and no other light spill.
Is that what you would tell someone whose GTI2500's screen light was malfunctioning ..."you need duct tape and a flashlight"????
 
should be able to adapt as well.

I bought a cheap push button flat key chain light that is good for 10,000 hours. I attached it to the detector with Velcro so I can take it off. I also attached a thin wire to it in case it fell off. Never has so I suppose I could take it off.It has a blue light for going stealth on those secretive hunts....ha.

The light reflects off the side and lights up the face of the detector nicely exactly where you want it (left end of the scale for pin pointing).

The only down side is if your detecting at night and its raining you can't push the button with the Garret rain cap on.

The rain cap fits nicely over the detector and does not interfere with the light installation. With the cap on I switch back to using a regular hand light to illuminate the face.

To be honest I have been doing the pinpointing by sound at night and with headphones on you will be surprise how accurate you can be when your ear has been trained to recognize the maximum tone at the exact pinpoint spot.

Anyways it works for me I'd like to see what other people are doing as well.

Cheers!
 
Its doable for sure. Piece of cake
really, as the LED's can run off a pretty
low voltage. So you can use a small battery
and the drain is low. Like you say, you'd
probably end up covering part of it, as it
might actually be too bright. Note the small
white LED flashlights that they sell.
I'm pretty sure radio shack sells them. "LED's"
I think most need to be fed with a resister,
but check the instructions.. They will state
what value resister is needed. Would probably
want to mount a switch to be able to turn
it off/on. I'd use one of those tiny toggle
or pushbutton switches. It could be mounted
on the base of the control head pointing down,
and would look ok I think. If it was in the
general area of the phone jack, it's reachable
with the right hand fingers, and can be turned
off and on while normal detecting.
Or the other side if left handed...
But...Like I say, if anyone ponders doing this,
be aware that it would likely void the warranty:cry:.
But...if you did it totally reversable, so it
could be taken off with no trace, I guess
you could get around that. If you drill a hole...
Bye bye warranty I bet.. Might ask them to see
what they think. I bet they officially frown on it
though. :( Don't blame em really...Avoids trouble..
You won't be actually connecting to the detector
in any way if you use another battery.
Make sure no wiring can short or ground any of
the circuit board, etc.. The drain of the LED
should actually be low enough that you could
use the ace 250 batteries if you wanted. But..
I'd probably want to go separate battery just
to save that small amount of voltage drop and
avoid messing with the machine. As far as changing
batteries, it would be easier using the ace 250
batteries though. You would just change a bit more
often if the light was on all the time. You gotta
unzip the case, if you put them/it inside. More
hassle to change the battery/s...But they should last
a while.
MK
 
Ron,
Why the attitutude, sarcasm and belittling tone to your posts?
I am sure there are reasons why Garrett didn't light the ACE250. The main one being that a TRUE backlit LCD screen is far more expensive that one that's not. The ACE is truly a remarkable unit for the money already.
 
By far the easiest way!
http://www.thequickstore.net/images/naschem/DSCN1855-nobg-100x80.JPG
MasterVision G2 Cap Light
MasterVision <b>G2</b> Cap Light
larger image
$17.99
 
Dollar stores are great for finding stuff to try out. My wife found this nice snake light which takes two AAA batterys.I attatched it with velcro.With the help of an elastic band it fits nicely over the green fella's rain hood.
I'm working on another push button style which is better yet....can you tell I'm bored yet from being home bound from the weather?
 
Yep...I just saw those myself at the dollar store
around the corner. But the ones I saw were with about
3 small lithium batteries, instead of aaa's, and the
snake part was real thin. Looked like it could be
rigged up as a tecter light pretty easy. They came
in various designer "clear" colors. Maybe even yeller. :rofl:
The one you have actually looks a bit better made
than the ones I saw. Or a more robust snake part anyway..
I prefer the aaa's vs the lithiums too.. The aaa's much
easier to get. IE: I can get 4 aaa's for a buck at the
same $ store..
MK
 
yah the AAA's are great..... I have lots of rechargeables I can use. It really lights up the detector well.Can't get much cheaper than that.
 
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