Coil Question on Explorer II

[Digger22]

I have several coils for my Explorer, however all of them are at least 10 years old. I am wondering if there may be a different coil (s) that I might obtain that would give more depth than the ones I own.
I have the following:
1. 15 inch WOT (coiltex) coil
2. 11 1/2 in (12inch?) Explorer coil
3. 7 1/2 in (8 inch?) Explorer coil
4. Sunray Stealth X-5 coil
Thanks to you folks help, I am finally beginning to understand my Exp? Now that the machine and I are on speaking terms, it even seems to be a lot lighter!

Roy

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Put on your stock coil as in the right hands gives nice depth so learn it well before jumping around to others.
No reason to use another except perhaps a smaller one in trashy areas or perhaps a larger one for more coverage...
Explorer series can be as easy or hard as you want it to be...

 

[Sambo]

I reckon you've pretty much got all bases covered with those coils. The 15" WOT should give you that little bit of extra depth over the stock coil if you have a site that allows you to run it. Being 10+ years old shouldn't be an issue.

Sambo

 

[Digger22]

I reckon you've pretty much got all bases covered with those coils. The 15" WOT should give you that little bit of extra depth over the stock coil if you have a site that allows you to run it. Being 10+ years old shouldn't be an issue.

Sambo

Thanks, I was wondering about the age of the coils, and curious about the newer technology. I'm not sure about the meaning of 'stock' coil, because I have both a 12" and an 8" minelab explorer coil. When I bought the Explorer, I bought all the coils at the same time along with the Sunray Probe and switch attached.

Roy

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Explorer 11 originally came with a stock black 10.5 double D....seems like you never had or used one...Sure the W.O.T. wild orange thing will give you more depth and several smaller coils availalble but in the long run you should learn the stock coil which is made for the units and then experiment with other coils...

 

[Digger22]

Explorer 11 originally came with a stock black 10.5 double D....seems like you never had or used one...Sure the W.O.T. wild orange thing will give you more depth and several smaller coils availalble but in the long run you should learn the stock coil which is made for the units and then experiment with other coils...

I re-measured the larger Explorer coil that I have. It is 10.5 inches in Dia. It is a DD and , You are correct, I have never used it. When I wanted a large coil, I went to the WOT.
I need to give the 10 1/2 a try.
Thanks for pointing that out.
Roy

 

[dirt doctor]

The stock 10.5 coil is a great coil .It's a bit heavier than the new Pro coil but it slides much better on the sand and turf.

 

[Sambo]

The stock coil is a great all rounder. Good depth, seperates well and does well in trash and is very stable - When you consider all the R&D that goes into matching a coil to a detector when first released, it's no wonder the 'stock' coils perform well.

Sambo

 

[Digger22]

I put the stock coil on the Exp II today, and hunted in my yard. When I found a target, I didn't pay attention to the digital or the smart screen. I Id'd the target and put a golf tee over where I figured pin poin was. I then picked up my AT Pro, (5x8 coil) and identified the target and depth. I did the same thing with the GTI2500 12.5 inch coil. The GTI was off somewhat at its id. The target was screaming Iron. I picked up the Exploer and it Id'd as Iron (high left).
I changed from auto to manual, when up and down with the sensitivy, removed deep. The target stayed with the same Id. The AT Pro showed it was at 6 inches. I dug up the target. It was a rusted 2 inch washer. AT and Exp spot on.

Next target I hunted AT first showed a dime (clad at 8 inches). The GTI again was off. The explorer showed junk iron at 4 inches. Again I tried different settings, I kept getting a caliopie sound and couldn't get it to stablize. I dug a clad dime at 7 1/2 inches. After finding the dime, I dug the hole about 14 inches in diameter and over a foot deep. All I found in the hole was the dime. AT wins Exp loses.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong with my Explorer, so I am looking for enlightment. Comparing these two detectors is telling me one of two things. I know the AT Pro better than the explorer, or MY explorer was never up to snuff to start with.
I am beginning to believe the latter. I was thinking of the CTX, but I am very doubtful that I would get a good one.
Roy

 

[Neil]

The 10X12 SEF coil is one of my favorites on the explorer. You might want to try that one.

 

[Digger22]

Thanks Neil, If I decide to keep my Explorer, I'll look at the SEF.

Roy

 

[sgoss66]

Digger --

No way to know what was going on with that dime, without being there and watching/seeing myself. That being said, there is NO WAY your AT Pro and 5x8 coil should ID a 7 1/2" dime, while your Explorer was saying 4" deep iron. Your Explorer and stock coil should do at least as well on the depth and ID of a 7 1/2" dime as the AT Pro would (should actually do better). If there truly was nothing else in the hole with that dime (which you say there wasn't, though there could have been a flake of rusty iron or something like that that you didn't see), then something isn't right. BUT -- you can't draw ANY conclusions with one or two targets. I suggest you do some more experimenting, just as you did in your description above, on several other "good" targets. ID them with the AT Pro (since that's the one you are most comfortable with), and then re-scan them with the Explorer. If you continue to get drastically different information from the Explorer, something is wrong. Another thing you could do is bury a few coins at known depth, and hit them with both machines. If you can, remove the "plug" in one piece, bury the coin, and replace the plug in-tact. Explorers don't do as well in general on newly disturbed soil, so keeping the plug "in-tact" will help some. After more testing, report back, or PM me, and I'll try to help...

Steve

 

[valeria]

Well I don't have much knowledge about that so can't help you I think you should google it. Keep sharing such type of information in future too.

 

[Digger22]

Digger --

No way to know what was going on with that dime, without being there and watching/seeing myself. That being said, there is NO WAY your AT Pro and 5x8 coil should ID a 7 1/2" dime, while your Explorer was saying 4" deep iron. Your Explorer and stock coil should do at least as well on the depth and ID of a 7 1/2" dime as the AT Pro would (should actually do better). If there truly was nothing else in the hole with that dime (which you say there wasn't, though there could have been a flake of rusty iron or something like that that you didn't see), then something isn't right. BUT -- you can't draw ANY conclusions with one or two targets. I suggest you do some more experimenting, just as you did in your description above, on several other "good" targets. ID them with the AT Pro (since that's the one you are most comfortable with), and then re-scan them with the Explorer. If you continue to get drastically different information from the Explorer, something is wrong. Another thing you could do is bury a few coins at known depth, and hit them with both machines. If you can, remove the "plug" in one piece, bury the coin, and replace the plug in-tact. Explorers don't do as well in general on newly disturbed soil, so keeping the plug "in-tact" will help some. After more testing, report back, or PM me, and I'll try to help...

Steve

Thanks Steve,
We are on the same page as the Explorer should have given a better signal than the AT Pro, I have felt that from day 1.
The dime signal by the AT Pro was faint, but it was recognizable. After digging the hole I addressed it with my detector pro uni probe. The probe found nothing, so I assume it was free of metallic objects.

The Explorer gives off a number of sounds which doesn't sound right to me, sort of like the proverbial Calliope. I really would like to get this the explorer to work. So, I'll take you up on your offer. I have a Honey-do for this week coming, but I'll get a targets in the ground. As you suggested, I'll remove a "plug", keeping the plug intact is not a problem in my yard, finding a 'clean' area (no iron) is a bit more of a problem. I will get back to you Via PM.
Thanks again
Roy

 

[surfman]

Just read this post. Agree with Steve. Something doesn't sound right. I have both detectors only my Explorer is a Se Pro. Know both very well. Your Explorer is broken if what your saying is true. Both great detectors, both have there place at the different places I hunt. Explorer in my very neutral ground goes deeper and ID's with a lot more accuracy at depth than my ATpro. AT in the iron infested colonial sites I hunt is hard to beat but don't need ID on deep targets just tones. I dig it all so it works well for me. Joe

 

[Digger22]

Thanks Joe.
I will give Minelab a call on Monday, maybe I could have them check it out before, I go any further.
An AT Pro is a fine machine, BUT, I just don't believe it will go as deep as the Exp II.
I've heard they do not service the Explorer II detectors any longer. I hope this is not true. I'll find out for sure.
Roy

 

[sgoss66]

Roy --

Calling Minelab may not be the first thing I'd do; they will have a hard time diagnosing it over the phone based on the limited information, and will just have you send it in.

Before you do, I'd go through the process I mentioned, and one other thing I'd try -- SWITCH COILS. You said you have more than one; try a different one. Sometimes, a noisy/chattery unit that is IDing everything as iron and not getting much depth is a COIL issue. If you can narrow it down to being a bad coil, no need to call Minelab.

I'd urge you to do some more testing -- find a few coins with your AT Pro and then hit them with the Explorer, using different coils, and see what you come up with...

Steve

 

[Digger22]

Thanks Steve
That sounds like a plan. I may be able to do that during the day today if it doesn't rain.
Roy

 

[Digger22]

I went to Lowes and bought a garden device that will give a a neat 2 inch diameter plug and keep everything intact.

I went to a yard that I had previously hunted and cut a plug to an 8 inch depth. (I hit shells so that was as deep as I could go)

I dropped a clad dime in the hole and manipulated it to approximately center of the hole and placed the plug back on top and set it in place with my foot.

I tried my AT Pro first I used two different coils and kept creeping sensitivity to max, but I got no signal of anything.
I next tried my GTI 2500 and I got an 'iffy' dime signal, depending where I was hunting, I may or may not have tried to recover it.
I then tried my Explorer II, with the largest minelab coil I have.(on closer inspection it is an explorer 1000, so it is a 10inch coil). I got the calliope with it. I tried deep on deep off. I did a noise cancel, and manipulated the sensitivity from max down to 7 both manual and auto. Calliope sounds but the less sensitivity, the less eratic it was.
Next try was the Explorer with the minelab 8000 coil(8 inch). I got a lot of signals with this one, not calliope sounds, but the sounds were jumping all over the minelab audio spectrum, but in a more organized manner. Nothing to go with there.
Next try was the SunRay S-5, about the same as the 8 inch.
My conclusion is at an 8 inch depth and in that particular yard, I do not own a metal detector that would find older, deeper finds.


Next try was to cut the plug and bury the dime at 4 inches.
The Explorer II was a disappointment at 4 inches
The 8 inch coil gave a good high sound, but it wasn't very repeatable, in an old residential site i would have dug it.
The 10 inch coil gave lots of target, If I would sweep back and forth over the target zone, I would get a low signal, If I pulled the coil away and gave it a few seconds to recover, I'd get a different sounding signal, some high, some low, some in between.
I put the 15 inch Coiltek WOT and It was able to I'd the target a little bettert than the 10 inch, but not something I would want to take out on a hunt.

My conclusion is that my 10 year old Explorer was and is now....... not up to par.
From the threads I have read on using an explorer it is best to use sounds than the display.
If that is the case, I am sorry to say I made a huge finacial mistake in buying this machine. I would have better results with much less expensive detectors, Tesoro make machines that I have read will go deeper than the explorer but with no visual ID. This is hard for me to swallow.

Roy

 

[sgoss66]

Roy --

It sounds to me like there is a problem with your unit. This is not how an Explorer should behave. That 4" deep dime should have been a solid, clear, loud, repeatable, obvious tone, even with the smallest coil (though, I hope it was an X-5, and not an S-5 as you stated; the S-5 is not an FBS-compatible coil -- the X-5 is. Both are made by SunRay, but the S-5 is not for Explorers.

There is ONE OTHER possibility though that could cause the symptoms you described, and that is EMI. If I am too close to a source of strong EMI, my detector behaves just as you describe -- a "calliope" of continuous sounds. Otherwise, if you are not in an area of strong EMI, I'm thinking the problem may possibly be the coil connector -- where the coil cable connects to the connector on the control head/housing. This is something that I'd think Minelab could fix; you might call them. Sometimes if you don't have a coil screwed on tight enough to that connector it can cause the symptoms you describe, but if you screwed it on good and tight, I'm thinking the connector may simply be loose, within the control head. That call to Minelab sounds like a good idea at this point.

I would suggest that if you are willing, that you DO NOT give up on the Explorer until you have it working properly; these are outstanding units, and should NOT be behaving the way you describe.

Do you happen to live close to any other detectorist you know of that uses an Explorer? This person, if willing, could be of assistance in you trying to get this sorted out...

Steve