Garrett American S2

[CTDIGGER01]

All, Hello, I have a Garrett American S2 detector which has stopped detecting any metal objects. The board is clean and no burn or short spots and all solder joints are tight. When I turn on the machine to tune it I get noise and the tune works fine but when I place a coin under the coil nothing. I'm thinking the coil may have a broken wire but the unit is sealed. Does anyone know of parts available for this machine? It was a great machine until it stopped detecting.
Thanks for any help.
ctdigger01

 

[silverseeker 2]

Give Garrett a call and talk to Sue. She can answer
all your questions and you'll have your answers your're
looking for. Garrett has better than Good Customer Service!!!
silverseeker 2

 

[CTDIGGER01]

silverseeker 2, already talked to Sue, she says send it in, they have no replacement parts for this machine Hence asking on the forums. Thanks for the reply.

 

[FrankG]

Just my 2 cents worth.

It sounds like a possible bad coil or cable to me or possibly a faulty push button switch in the handle.

I used to own 2 of those S2 machines and gave them them away years ago.

To be honest with you... If it were me, I wouldn't invest any money in repairing an S2.

By almost any standard, most modern day entry level detectors are far superior to the older S2.

I gave both my S2's away about 10 years ago when I picked up an ACE 250 because there was just no comparison.

I feel that Garrett could easily troubleshoot to the component level and repair that S2 if they had it in hand. It's more of a matter of whether or not it's worth the cost.

If your on a tight budget, a lot of excellent used, but older, detectors show up on Craigslist.

 

[CTDIGGER01]

Frank, Thanks for the reply. I got it from a close friend as a time passer to repair it, Garrett said they have no parts to repair it and you are right to much $$$ for repair outside the shop, I think you maybe right about the coil, the push button on the handle works fine so I think I am going to cut the coil cover and check out the wires. Thanks again
ctdigger01

 

[CTDIGGER01]

Frank G. Checked the cable to the coil, and I get a reading on 2 wires and none on the other 2 so I assume 2 transmit and 2 receive. That makes sense. If that means the cable is ok then something on the board maybe is bad, diode, capacitor? Your ideas....
Thanks

 

[Orion42]

If one pair of wires shows good but the other pair show open, that would mean a bad coil wire somewhere, wouldn't it.

John

 

[FrankG]

If one pair of wires shows good but the other pair show open, that would mean a bad coil wire somewhere, wouldn't it.

John

To CTDigger:

I have to agree with Orion, sounds like one of the coils or cable pairs is open.

I've never measured resistance on an S2 coil set but I have measured resistance for all my AT Pro Coils and all my ACE coils (about 6 in total) and they are all different but NEVER has one of them measured measured an open or short. Depending on the coils, the coil pairs typically range from 2.2 ohms to as much as 35 ohms.

The actual resistance "values" are not necessarily a good diagnostic indicator because a search coil is not simply a coil of wire. There's usually a PC board epoxied in there as well which has passive component's mounted on it (resistors, capacitors, inductors). Last year I purchased an AT Pro sniper coil that was DOA but resistance wise compared almost identically to a new working replacement sniper coil. I think an open or dead short WOULD probably indicate a coil or cable problem. In the case of the bad sniper coil it was just constantly chattering and couldn't be quieted. It's surely not easy to isolate and repair even a broken cable wire in one of those coil assemblies.

All I can say is ... Good Luck!.

 

[Des D]

"I had one of those years ago and as another poster said, wasn't much god [ compared to modern inits ]
But, as a DIY project it could be a fun thing to do.
I'd call around a few of the less established Dealer's especially Garrett reps to see if anyone has one in a back room someplace and I'd look for Yard Sales 'cos one could turn up there?"

 

[CTDIGGER01]

John, I don't know, you tell me. If one is transmit and one is receive do they both have a signal when not hooked to the detector?
Thanks

 

[CTDIGGER01]

Frank, Would it be a good idea to maybe cut open the housing of the coil and check it out? Doesn't look like there is a seam anywhere. On a good coil should both sets of wires have readings?
Thanks DIY Project.

 

[FrankG]

Frank, Would it be a good idea to maybe cut open the housing of the coil and check it out? Doesn't look like there is a seam anywhere. On a good coil should both sets of wires have readings?
Thanks DIY Project.

I can't say for sure but on the 6 Garrett coils I own and have measured there have been clear measurable resistance readings for EVERY coil pair.

I typically measure the basics a new coil for my own benefit so if I later suspect a problem I can check to see what has changed. When I do the measurements.
(1) I identify the coil pairs, pinouts, and write down the resistances of each.
(2) I verify that the coils are in no way shorted to one another.
(3) I verify that none of the coil wires are shorted to the connector housing (which may be used as a ground path)
(4) I assume all of those cables must be shielded so there's always a possibility of a short. I assume that the ground shield (or shields) gets back to the detector through the connector housing when the connector has 4 pins. Some coils have more than 4 pins and may use a pin for ground. (eg. AT series use 4 pin connectors, ACE series use 5 pin connectors)

 

[Orion42]

There should be two pairs of wires. Each pair should have a low but measurable resistance, with it reading open between the pairs. If one pair reads open, then there has to be a broken wire somewhere in the cable or coil.

John

 

[CTDIGGER01]

thanks all for the help. will let you know what I find...

 

[FrankG]

thanks all for the help. will let you know what I find...

FYI - Take a look at this Garrett video, it may help you if you're going to try and dissect that coil.

Starting about 5 min into the video there is about a 2-3 min span where they show a coil being assembled in the manufacturing line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6adQvxOugcU

 

[CTDIGGER01]

Thanks Frank. Like doing Brain Surgery LOL This has turned into a very interesting project. Learning more and more about the electronics of a detector.
Thanks again for all the help and info. Will let you know how things go.
ctdigger01

 

[slingshot]

The S2 has a place in my heart. I found that by holding the retune button, I could keep the threshold near maximum and the signal wouldn't fade before I swept the target. I used it in the first International Treasure Hunt to win TWO detectors and several other prizes, including a small gold coin.

 

[CTDIGGER01]

Frank, They were very interesting. Further investigation I find that the coil is ok, I get readings from both sets of wires SO it ain't the coil so it has to be something on the board.
Nothing looks burned or shorted and all the solder spots and joints are shiny, used a mag to check the board for cracks too, clean. Now I don't know where to start, any ideas?
Thanks.
CTDIGGER01

 

[FrankG]

Don't know what to say....

With a meter, about all you can do is check voltages at the board and make sure they are there and it's not a bad switch or power connection. I seem to recall that my S2 needed 2 - 9v batteries.

Beyond that, unless you have a scope and some troubleshooting skills, I'm not sure can do much. With a scope you could at least determine if it's a transmit or receive problem (by looking across the coils); do some circuit tracing and detective work, poke around, and maybe get lucky and find a bad component. Not a real easy job without a schematic. I have no idea what that thing uses for semiconductors. It can be to sophisticated since that's like a TR machine from the early 80's.

If it were me, I wouldn't invest much time.

good luck !