Difficult choice!

[ujat]

Greetings from Italy

I'm a discontinuous (despite i like it a lot) practitioner of this wonderful hobby, i live by the Adriatic sea and when i can I'm out in the shallow water or on the beach. My only water machine is now a Tesoro Sand Shark and I'm happy with it, but it just can't stand some very trashy beach nearby where i live.

I'm planning to buy a VLF discriminating waterproof machine and just can't come out with a decision. Seeking advice from you, friend from USA!

The hunting condition here:
Normally can't afford to hunt over 4 hours; the water here is very salty, much more i think than the average ocean spot; we have also black sand in some beaches.

Lot of people here swings the Excalibur, and some have turned to the CTX; i know that these are great machines but i am worried about maintenance needs of the excal and almost every CTX owner here had fllooding problem with those detectors. Also Minelab customer service is VERY slow in Italy.

So aside from the previous what else? A fast, low mainteinance, waterproof, VLF that could manage salt water, not a Minelab?

I'm intrigued with the Fischer CZ 21. Will be a good choice for my needs?

Thank you in advance for your advice and forgive me for if i mishandled your language!

 

[icurabeachguy]

Greetings from Italy

I'm a discontinuous (despite i like it a lot) practitioner of this wonderful hobby, i live by the Adriatic sea and when i can I'm out in the shallow water or on the beach. My only water machine is now a Tesoro Sand Shark and I'm happy with it, but it just can't stand some very trashy beach nearby where i live.

I'm planning to buy a VLF discriminating waterproof machine and just can't come out with a decision. Seeking advice from you, friend from USA!

The hunting condition here:
Normally can't afford to hunt over 4 hours; the water here is very salty, much more i think than the average ocean spot; we have also black sand in some beaches.

Lot of people here swings the Excalibur, and some have turned to the CTX; i know that these are great machines but i am worried about maintenance needs of the excal and almost every CTX owner here had fllooding problem with those detectors. Also Minelab customer service is VERY slow in Italy.

So aside from the previous what else? A fast, low mainteinance, waterproof, VLF that could manage salt water, not a Minelab?

I'm intrigued with the Fischer CZ 21. Will be a good choice for my needs?

Thank you in advance for your advice and forgive me for if i mishandled your language!

I think you answered your question there...CZ21 all the way. I have owned/used all 3 you mentioned and the CZ is bomb-proof. If reliability is what you're after, you can't go wrong.

 

[KinTN]

Not to hijack the topic at hand (perhaps you could start another thread?) but could you elaborate on what you mean when you refer to the 'maintenance needs' of the Excal? I am planning on one for my next machine and appreciate all thoughts.

 

[therover]

CZ21 with 8 inch coil (recommending 8 inch coil since you specified the high trash area beaches you want to hunt...plus it's in my opinion the best coil for a CZ for all around use. It goes deep too !).

A new one will have a warranty, and they are built very well and have very few maintenance issues. Not sure if you are in the market for a used one, as there are some around (as well as the older CZ20's), but since I believe you are concerned about reliability, a new one is probably the way to go.

3 tone, manual GB, easy to pin point targets (even without using the pin point button) with the 8 inch coil, fast all metal mode, and the 8 inch coil is sensitive to small as well as lower conductive targets. Easy to hip mount too.

I don't think you can go wrong picking up a one.

 

[ujat]

Not to hijack the topic at hand (perhaps you could start another thread?) but could you elaborate on what you mean when you refer to the 'maintenance needs' of the Excal? I am planning on one for my next machine and appreciate all thoughts.

Your welcome!

Well, Excal user here say you have to periodically replace all the ORs, even in the knobs, or flooding will happen. I don't know if this is true even for the Excal 2.
It appears to be quite difficult to change knob's O-Rings.

Our local detector shop sell O-Rings kit for this job.

This the kind of maintenance job that scares me.

 

[ujat]

CZ21 with 8 inch coil (recommending 8 inch coil since you specified the high trash area beaches you want to hunt...plus it's in my opinion the best coil for a CZ for all around use. It goes deep too !).

A new one will have a warranty, and they are built very well and have very few maintenance issues. Not sure if you are in the market for a used one, as there are some around (as well as the older CZ20's), but since I believe you are concerned about reliability, a new one is probably the way to go.

3 tone, manual GB, easy to pin point targets (even without using the pin point button) with the 8 inch coil, fast all metal mode, and the 8 inch coil is sensitive to small as well as lower conductive targets. Easy to hip mount too.

I don't think you can go wrong picking up a one.

Based on your bias and my instinct I think i will go for the CZ21. Positive feedback in Italy also!

Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions!

 

[Water wizard]

I love my Excalibur, it finds me lots of gold, never breaks down and is easy to swing. I am a happy minelab customer I recommend them. If you can, try a few different machines before you buy your favourite. Good luck with what ever machine you buy

 

[ujat]

Just purchased the CZ21! Impressive detector. Can't wait to try it.

Tomorrow at dawn, baptism of fire... er... i mean of water!

Adriatic sea wait for me!!!

 

[tomcatpl]

i have my excal2 for about 4 years now and i never had to replace o-ring just flush the MD with fresh water after every use


and i would buy an excal 2 if the trash gets to u so much

 

[ujat]

i have my excal2 for about 4 years now and i never had to replace o-ring just flush the MD with fresh water after every use


and i would buy an excal 2 if the trash gets to u so much

Surely Excal 2 will be my next underwater detector.... but CZ 21 Rocks!! Today one short 2 hour hunt, one big Silver chain! I like hunting in autotune then switching to zero disc for checking iron.

It is very stable with clear, unmistakable audio.

The drawback: very heavy! Must muont the box under the forearm!