cibola with SEF coil was a let down

[radar1625]

Hello all,
Last week I took out the cibola and was digging targets from seven to thirteen inches with the stock coil and the machine supertuned. I decided to order a SEF coil from Kellyco to get better performance (not that that depth isn't awesome). While the service at Kellyco was stellar to say the least; the SEF was a little bit of a let down today. I was hunting an area where I know there are deeper targets, yet the deepest target I dug was maybe 4". Upon testing the stock coil airtest deeper than the SEF. Have any of you ever heard what may ne causing this lack of performance from the SEF coil. I wanted to research the problem before I ship it back.

 

[DetectorOCD]

I've heard mixed reviews about that combo. Could you do an in-depth written comparison or maybe a video for us?

 

[radar1625]

not a bad idea, I'll have to work something up

 

[Sven]

Without manual ground balance on the Cib you may not see full potential of that coil. The Cib has fixed ground balance set up for the stock coil. If the pot inside the housing for GB is tweeked for the SEF..............never owned a SEF so I can't comment on it's benefit.

 

[DiGGER27]

I'm with Sven on this one.
I talked to a great guy at Tesoro a few months agoabout sending my Vaq in for a tune up.
I asked if I should send my stock coil or my DD coil in with it so they could tune it correctly to the coil I use most often.
He said on the Vaquero, because of the manual GB, this was not necessary.
Even Tesoro sells specific coils for specific units...HOT coils and such....this coil is from a totally different manufacturer.

I am afraid you will probably have to get inside and mess with the pre-set GB to get any better, or even decent performance with this after market coil.

 

[C.J.M.]

Send it back, talk to frank donot take any chances,been there done that.

 

[BarberBill]

I, for one, am dubious bout non-manufacturer's coils. It seems to me that it behooves the factory to develop the best performing coils they can and they know their detectors better than anyone. As to the ground balance statements, manual or a true auto ground balance will generally give the best performance with any coil that fits the detector. I have several preset Tesoros that work very well in the soil in my area using coils from the 4" up to and including the 10.5" donut, but I can't say they are working at the optimum level. Only that I get decent depth and no chatter.
My two bits,
BB

 

[amcjavelin]

well i've had 2 12 x 10 SEF coils on tesoro's and i too on my vaquero was struggling and i learned to keep my disc i had to run threshold at 1:00 o'clock position and worked great from there and got my first barber half with it, TVR helped me with mine

 

[radar1625]

thanks guys, I think I will send it back and try a set of new headphones instead.

 

[targets]

some repairers say you need to recalibrate when adding a SEF coil and you cant use the stock coil without recalibrating again .
i was told this by a UK repairer who does Tesoro repairs for them

 

[BarberBill]

It's my understanding that for OPTIMUM performance the detector (preset ground balance) should be adjusted to the coil that is used the most. This is taken care of with manual or true auto ground balance. In the case of the preset Tesoro models and switching coils from the stock to the 7", 5.75", 8" donut, 10.5" donut and the 10X12 most often one will still get acceptable performance, but no guarantee of optimum results. Bottom line then is it behooves the user that wishes to change coils often or between more extreme jumps in size to use a machine with manual or true auto ground tracking. This is not to say that one can't get good performance from a preset machine, but results may vary depending on the soil mineralization. While I do own an Eldorado with manual ground balance, I can say that for the soil in my area, I've done quite well with preset machines (I own several) and am not posting this to knock them at all, just pointing out the differences. In fact, many of my best finds were found swinging preset Tesoros.
BB

 

[Youngted]

I have a Tekenics T2 machine I know its not a Tesaro but I found that the difference was minimal using the 12x10 SEF coil even when manual balanced. To my mind not worth the price and no good at all in minarilsed soil i.e. Cotswold brash But in this soil the Cibola with the standard coil has been awsome.