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Best Chain detector out there.

T

tippyhound

New member
This spring I will be replacing my old Tesoro Sting Ray water detector. It was a great gold detector and would pick up the smallest finest gold ear rings you can imagine. Only problem is that in the 15 years I owned it I never once found a gold chain with it. I recently found out my Mine Lab E-Trac is no good at all on finding gold chains so my question is the Excalibur the same animal ? If so is there a detector out there that ill find gold chains?
Your help and expertise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Rick "IL"
 
Many machines have issues with chains (gold) as they do not see the entire chain instead they see one link at a time... I use the GT and a PI and both struggle with chains unless they have large clasps or have a medallion attached...
 
Chains are very hard to locate unless they are shallow, like 2 to 3 inches deep or they are bunched up together, or have a large charm or medallion attached. From what I understand they try to detect each individual link and I guess this causes an electronic confusion so to speak. I don't know of any one machine that is capable of accurately detecting a gold chain or bracelet with any good depth.

In air testing, a buddy found that his Ace 250 responded to chains better than his Minelab SE PRO. He has found some nice gold chains beach hunting, some that did not have a medallion but they had large links and clasps and were just under the sand an inch or so. I have been told the Fisher CZ 20 and 21 are more sensitive to detecting chains/necklaces but can not testify to that, I have never used one.

I have an E-Trac also, just purchased an Excalibur II 1000 last year and used it on the beach while vacationing. I tested a lot of gold rings and chains in the yard before I went on vacation. The Excalibur had a hard time picking up chains unless you were very close to the coil (ie a couple inches at the most). I have dug some deep targets with the Excalibur but I don't think any deeper than I have with my E-Trac. If the E-Trac was 100% waterproof I would have never purchased the Excalibur.

The Garrett AT PRO is new on the scene and I think it would be a great asset for the beach. Maybe some of the guys that have one can post some results on the AT PRO and gold chains.

BCOOP
 
shadow X5, Tejon, Vaquero or MXT. those are ones Ive used and were great at finding the smaller chains and earrings. those are discriminators. I had a gold bug also, but no disc on that one. even with a discriminator your gonna pick up more small iron bits with the ability to get the small chains/earrings.

both the etrac and excal will find gold chains, just not as small as you seem to be indicating as you after.
 
That Stingray ought to be one of the better detectors for getting chains, especially in fresh water. If there are any doubts about it's condition, send it in to Tesoro, they will check it over and make sure it is ready for the spring.

The Fisher CZ-20, CZ6A and Tesoro Sandshark I have totally ignore the very small link chains that the Cibola, Tejon and Compadre will hit on. The small link chains are tough to find if they don't still have a pendant hooked to them.
 
I found a 22kt chain with my excaliber and the 8" coil. I can't tell how deep it was because it kept falling out of my scoop until I was ready to give up on the signal. It was a very thin fine gold chain, so I know they can be found. I have found some extremely small thin things with my E-trac and have to believe you can find chains, you just have to train your ears and get just the right settings. Good luck!
 
The best are the gold detectors like the Gold Bug series detectors.
They are designed to detect very small gold.

If you need waterproof the new AT PRO seems to be more sensitive to small gold than most of my other detectors.
When a small coil becomes available it might be even better.

Willee
 
I've found chains with both the Minelab Excal II and the Fisher CZ20. They were all pretty large so I cant help much on the real fine chains.
 
So called invisible gold and thus thin chains can be detected by a pulse machine that can run a low pulse delay. Whites Surfmaster is 25, the Dual Field 15, Headhunter 15, Tesoro Sandshark 22, Whites TDI 13 or 14 whilst Eric Fosters Aquastar II manages 10 so will outperform even the T.D.I. Or you could look at the Minelab P.I.'s.
 
Not sure if it does run at that delay though. I do know I get a little better depth with my TDI than I do with my Goldquest SS V2 on a nickel, but that is a 12 inch coil vs a 10 inch coil.

Isn't it true that when you start getting into the 10uS, 8uS delays on the beach, the unit will be harder to run stable with a smooth threshold because of the salt conductivity ( assuming hunting salt water beaches) ?

As for chains...the 2 detectors that have found me ALL of my chains were my Whites DFX and Shadow X5. That may be because at the time, I used them the most for beach hunting and did not have a PI. Still...I have not found a chain with any of my PI's.

Most were found in the dry sand, running the DFX in prospecting mode. Yes, it's noisy and you will pick up tons of foil, but that mode will find small gold. My best chain was in the wet sand with it ( using Best Data). But you could have found it with almost any unit since it was a really big one. The thin chains I have found were all with the X5 in the dry sand. I have never found a thin, gold chain without any pendant in the wet sand or water.
 
Generally speaking I would expect smaller coils to respond well to shallow chains, but deep chains would offer a major challenge!

The only chains I ever recovered had medallions attached, but I mostly use a PI with large coils,

CJ
 
I've done extensive gold testing, especially chains, on many detectors and I think a lot of people would be surprised at the results.

Like therover suggested, the DFX has been one of the best. In fact, until I got my AT Pro, it was the best I've used for small gold. I've even tried the MXT and wasn't real happy with the results compared to a well adjusted DFX and a 4x6 Supper Shooter coil. Even the 6x10 DD on the DFX does better than most I've tried with small coils.

My testing with the AT Pro shows it extremely sensitive to very small targets. Better than ANY detector I've tried so far, by a long shot. My DFX gets very sensitive to small gold, including chains, when I put the small 4x6 on I can imagine the AT Pro will do the same with the 4.5 Sniper coil. That is why I plan to get one as soon as they are available.

I've got many sites that I've pulled lots of gold medallions/pendents missing the chains. I know the chains are there for the detector that can pick them up.
 
Other than the big chain I found in the wet sand ( with the 9.5 stock coil), most if not all the gold found with my DFX has been with the small coil.
 
Here is a few of the chains I've found with the DFX. Most all of my past detectors were blind to these. They were found in tot lots using the DFX and 4x6 shooter.

somechains.jpg
 
I can't remember if this came up on NASA Tom's site or the P.I. forum but the conclusion was that though the TDI has similarities with the Aquastar II and Goldscan 5c the uS of Eric's handmade machines was lower than the mass produced Whites. Could be that the TDI does achieve 10 but the Aquastar is better "in ground" .

Smooth threshold is a moot point because so many are now prepared to put up with that of say the Dual Field for the extra depth they gain rather than the super smoothness of the original Surfmaster.
I also used the Troy X5 on the dry top of the beach and the XP Goldmaxx and found that both would detect small items that other detectors ignored. I rarely use the Goldmaxx on land now as it was surpassed by other machines after a few years but it still keeps its place for the upper beach.

I assume that the bigger than standard coils of most P.I.'s is not helping. Large coil Headhunter P.I. has the depth to compete with the Whites DF but to get chains you have to sacrifice that and go for the small coil version. There was a good article on finding thin chains a couple of years back. I'll try to locate it though I'm off leaving the sleet and rain for the joys of the Caribbean later today.

Re the Goldquest SS I managed a couple more inches with the TDI which was worth having but this was with the Mk1. There wasn't supposed to be much difference (any?) between the Mk1 and Mk2 except the ability to use other coil types but you nether know !
 
I have a cz6a that will find gold chains if they are in the wet sand????? Not dry sand. My Fisher F5 will hit sometimes in dry sand
 
I have one of the original model TDI's...the 'through hole' version ( whatever the heck that means) so I am not sure if there were minor differences in delay timing between them and the new versions.

I have an HH PI with the 8 inch coil and I agree it is much more sensitive and easier to use than the bigger 11 inch open coil. Thing is, running the TDI with the small 7.5 Whites coil, the sensitivity and depth is better, but it's not waterproof !
 
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