H U G E vein of dirt.

[mwaynebennett]

Today I stopped by my older sister's house in Seattle to do a little detecting. I wanted to show-off the Elite 2200 and since the neighborhood in which she lives was built about 100 years ago, I figured that the parking strip and lawns might be promising sites to search. Long story short... I kept getting nice, strong consistent signals showing a quarter or fifty cent piece at about 6" but only dug trash. In one hole, all I found was a vein of dirt that I think goes all the way to Kentucky! Each time I get a signal of something good, like a quarter, fifty cent piece or a dollar and it is shown to be more than 3" deep, it is trash.

Have any of you ever got a signal from a BH unit saying there was a dollar at 5"-8" and dug it and found a dollar? How about a $0.25 or a $0.50 piece? If so what percentage of the time? Was it about 0.0000001% of the time it was not an old soda can or a rusted piece of iron? Even with the iron discriminated out, a rusted nail indicates as a dollar on my machine. What's with that????

Mark

 

[GoGoGopher]

[size=large]You either have something set way wrong, or your coil or machine is BAD...I would be returning it to where I got it if you can, or sending it off to First Texas Products for repair...


HH,[/size]

 

[Dave J.]

If it does a reasonably good job of ID'ing targets lying on the surface, and/or it does a reasonably good job of ID'ing targets in at least some other locations, but it's having difficulty ID'ing buried targets on a particular site, it's probably not a problem with the machine but high iron mineralization in the ground at that site interfering with the magnetic fields that operate the detector. The 2200 is based on a circuit platform (the "Payne circuit") which is one of the best in the business but there are some soils in which even the "Payne circuit" can't do a good job of ID'ing buried targets.

There is a lot of volcanic geology in the Seattle area, and volcanic geology is usually high in iron. If you can stick a magnet in the ground and pull it out with a bunch of "whiskers" on it, you've got bad ground. Also in the Pacific Northwest from the Sierra Nevadas northward into Washington, there are "red dirt" areas which contain a lot of "rusted" iron minerals, and these affect metal detectors about as much as the more familiar black colored magnetite.

Another thing that can mess with proper metal detector operation when used along a sidewalk, is the influence of reinforcing steel in the concrete.

It is normal for some iron objects when swept past the searchcoil in certain directions and orientations, to result in the iron target being classified as nonferrous. However in an "air test" an ordinary straight nail should register as iron in nearly all directions and orientations, and of course in an "air test" coins should fall in their correct categories out to at least 5 - 6 inches away from the searchcoil. If you can't get it to do this in an "air test" there is probably something wrong with the unit and if it's a new unit in the hands of the original purchaser it should be covered under warranty.

Although the specific circumstances are a 2200, the foregoing remarks pertain to most metal detectors in general.

--Dave J.

 

[mwaynebennett]

Thanks Dave J:

It properly IDs real silver dimes, quarters, halve and dollars on the surface, but most any buried aluminum or zinc object of any size larger than a pull tap shows up as a coin. The same goes for severely rusted steel/iron objects underground.

It is interesting that nobody has answered my question about a BH indicating a dollar at 5"-8" and there actually being a dollar there. Maybe it has never happened.

Thanks again,

Mark

 

[wasp]

Heya Mark, I have found two US dollar coins at a local park. One was a Susan Anthony, the other a Sacajawea. It has been several months ago and I don't remember exactly how deep they were but would guess around 4 to 5 inches. I have found many Hot Wheel type cars in the park and most of them registered as $.50 or $1.00 coins on my Time Ranger. So, I was surprised to actually dig up the dollar coins, expecting instead another toy car each time.

Once while detecting in a relative's back yard I too thought I had found one of those large veins or dirt. However, persistence paid off. After much digging, and going to get a bigger shovel, I found a 10# cast iron weight from a weight lifting set about 14" down. It was heavily rusted and if memory serves me it registered as a dime or quarter at around 6".

 

[mwaynebennett]

Thanks for the reply Wasp. See, I'm not alone in having a BH confuse zinc, aluminum and iron objects for coins. I don't think my coil is bad, just my expectations for the BH too high.

If I dig all targets, I would need a backhoe or an excavator, since some targets are only inches apart and all register as coins.

Mark

 

[JJ]

Well lets do some math... You have 9 different slots the pointy little arrow could land in and the possibility of a bajillion different things that could be under your coil. Junk finds can consist of different metals and throw off the ID. Depth can throw off ID on good targets. You will find with any brand of detector that there are plenty of junk targets that look and sound good before you dig, no escaping that. When you do find that machine that only alerts you to valuable targets, let me know, I'll take two. Maybe you should invest in or make a good coin probe, that may solve allot of your problems. JJ

PS..after looking into your machine a little bit, what the heck is ZAP? Maybe your zapper is broke.

 

[dave5710]

If you only want to find coins, just set your disc. higher. I had a Wal -Mart Bounty Hunter 202 that I used for three years. Found over 8200 coins with it. 3 were halves and 5 were dollars. But over 1700 were quarters.

Go to some tot lots, picnic areas, sports fields. Check and be sure you are keeping your coil level to the ground, go slow, overlap your swings. You will still find some trash. Listen to the sound of your targets, you

will soon learn not to pay attention to the visual display.

Take care and good luck, Dave

 

[flash5153]

I have come across this same thing many times wt the 2200. Have found several dollars and 50 cent pieces. But most of the time your right, the signals are something big n trash deeper than what registers. I usually dig everything but there is a way I have found to get a better idea ,when these readings occur. If getting a 50 cent reading 4 to 5 inches and it is solid 50 cent from every direction. Odds just went up. Then lift the coil off the ground .If it is a half dollar ,signal should go away wt coil 1 inch, no more than 2 inches off the ground.If so,odds just went up. If something big deeper ,will still pick it up wt coil up higher off ground.
I have done this and felt very strong that b4 I dug it was a coin. And cha ching they were.
Big Rusty nails will only read as 50 cent from 1 direction in my expirience.When coil is is passed over nail length wise and may not read at all from side to side.
This wrks wt the Pioneer 202 also. Not sure if this helps . good luck

 

[mwaynebennett]

Thanks Flash. I have an Elite 2200 which is the same as the Discovery 2200 I'm told.

Someone suggested using a probe, however where I live about 50% of the volume of the soil is rock 3/4" in dia and larger, so a probe woudl not work.

Thanks guys.

Mark