Honest Opinions, Please

[n5pip]

Hi Folks,
I would like to get some honest objective opinions on some water machines. I live in Daytona Beach and am in the market for a water machine. I've previously owned both the White's SurfMaster PI Pro Diver (Zero Buoyancy Coil) and Beachhunter ID. Both performed quiet well. I am also quite impressed with White's customer service. Presently, I own a DFX and an MXT. Using the DFX (in the Mixed Mode) along with the Hot Shot coil works OK on the wet salt beach.

My hunting style is mostly wet sand with some excursions into waist deep water. The PI Pro worked fantastic for depth, but obviously, being a PI, had zilch discrimination, but it found a lot of targets. The Beachhunter ID was used mostly in the All Metal Mode and then I would verify the target in the Discrimination Mode. The down side was that the coil wanted to float in the water and this would have a tendency to wear me out. The solution was to add a temporary weight to the shaft. The depth was pretty good, my deepest find was a silver ring at about 12" in the dry sand.

Is the performance of the Excalibur worth the $400+ difference over the White's machines? I've heard about the weight/balance issues of the Excal. (I know that there are balance shafts available). I've also heard that the Excal must be swung pretty slow or it loses a lot of depth. And how Minelab service/warranty may be a little bit less than adequate.

Is the Fisher CZ20 about the same? I understand that the CZ20 has just been discontinued. Several people have remarked that the CZ20 doesn't do too well on small gold chains and also mentioned some issues with service.

I'm not trying to start a flame/brand war here. Just looking for more info so I can make an informed decision.

Thanks in advance,

 

[Steve and Bia]

I've used Whites Spectrum XLT on dry sand and have tried a Beach Hunter. I now use a Minelab Excal 1000. I couldn't stand the Whites Beach Hunter or the surfmaster because there is no volume control. It's just too loud for me. As far as my Whites Spectrum XLT, it just doesn't like sand when you compare it to the Excal. The Excal out reads and out performs my XLT from every aspect and the simplicity behind its "Turn it on and go" feature is so easy it's borderline commical.

Anyway, I'm definately a huge fan of Mineab because I've talked to White's about the engineering of their detectors. They even agreed that the Excalibur is a good machine and I'll quote one engineer who said "that baby goes deep huh".

Whites users all have the idea that their machines work better when you swing them faster. This is true but the exact opposite applies to the Excalibur. I would imagine this design to be intentional because under water you cant swing like your swatting flies.

The factory shaft is a dive shaft not a surf shaft. You already know this. When you hip mount the Excal and use a balance shaft it's the most comfortable detecting rig I've ever had.

Yes it's worth the Extra $400 to get an Excal but your fugure is wrong. The Excal, hip mount kit, modifications, Bill Babb's balanced shaft, and materials will cost you neary $1,600.

Now all you need is to figure out if you want the 8 or 10 inch coil.

 

[Bottomfeeder]

I use the Excal the most, but have started using the CZ more again. I will break the Elite in down in Panama city in january.
All are good machines. I had a lot of beginner problems with the excal. I replaced the knobs, put on Ghost headphones (MUCH better), etc. the excal ahs to be learned.
The CZ runs silently, is very rugged, and Fisher has a lifetime warranty. i sent mine in when I broke the mount for the box. I got a complete rebuild. they went way beyond what I needed and I think I got billed 25.00 for some part that was not covered.
On the whole, I am extremely satisfied with fishers product and service.
Minelab has great machines, but the warranty and dependability is pretty light weight.
If i was going into an area with one detector, and there was no repair service available. Fisher would be my choice.
it's buyers choice. I am keeping all three of these. none are for sale at any time in the forseeable future. (Unless a newer and better one is brought out, and I don't buy just to have the newest one). Good luck with whatever you decide on.

 

[Joe G]

I've had the CZ-20 with an 8" coil for 2 years... didn't really use it all that much this summer because I'm hooked on the Exp II.

I've had the CZ in the shop twice since I bought it. This last time out, they basically re-built it (including a new coil). Service both times was excellent with a quick turnaround time. Lifetime warranty on the Fishers. I understand that you'll still be able to get one for a bit, still some in stock. I'm told they did have some quality issues (a crack in the battery cover was one of them) but they stand behind their product.

Even with the 8", it gets excellent depth. I'm told that it is less sensitive to small gold but I've never done any side by side tests with another machine. It is built like a tank and is easily hip mounted. I usually just hunted in autotune and flipped to 0 disc to ID a target. Couldn't run the sens as high is disc mode; too much falsing. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would buy the Excal. Just about everyone on the beach uses one and the finds posted around show why. Warranty is only 2 years (+ 2 with the extended warranty) and they have their share of problems too. I had the coil go on my ExpII just 5 months after I bought it. However, their service was also excellent and even faster than Fisher's. (although to be fair, all they had to do was replace a coil...)

Me, I'm just impressed with the Minelab technology. I went for the extra bucks and I'm happy that I did. As far as price is concerned, I guy I know bought one used for less than $600 and it looked brand new. My next machine will be an Excal even though I know I'm taking a chance since the warranty is not as good as Fishers and reliability may not be up there. But that's me.

 

[Steve and Bia]

Not because you approve of the Excalibur, because I'm an Excal kinda guy, but because it was a very fair opinion across the board.

It's seems all of them have a fair share of problems...

 

[VaBeachRon]

The Excal is a great machine and I like it and will keep it but I also know how to take the beast apart and do my own work. To me, it is not worth thre extra $400 or so. My WHites Surfmaster PI Pro has nailed me 10 diamond rings this year and 2 beauties last year worth over $13,000. Den in OC Maryland and Houndawgg also use PI machines. You'll dig junk but so far, nothing has compared to the depth, ease of use of the PI. Plus, you can swing her pretty fasy & not lose depth. I love the DFX for parks, dry sand, & relics. If the beach is just buried in bits of nails & wire the Excal gives my digging arm a break. But, if I am looking for gold, rings, diamonds, necklaces and small items of that sort, I'll take the PI.

Happy Hunting!
Va Beach Ron

 

[carl]

I use the Surf pi pro with the diver coil. with it being basicly a switch on and go m/c it is deep, its easy to use and Very good value compered to some of the other m/cs mentioned.
By the way i use a bungee harness to dompensate for the extra weight of the diver coil.
One other thing that has bee mentioned in one of the posts was the lack of a volume control, there is a trimmer in the battery compartment which the headphone volume can be adjusted (with out detriment to battery life).

 

[rad7497]

I have owned (for two years now) the HeadHunter Diver. I have never had to have service of any kind and it's the simplest machine that I've evcer used. I recently bought their PI model but have only used it 3-4 times.....still trying to get used to the deep holes one has to dig!!!
I also own a couple of Garretts, but my workhorse is the Diver. I question their choice in clolor a little....but it's a great machine and well priced
just my two cents..........happy hunting to all and really enjoy everyone's posts

 

[BarnacleBill]

one of my favorite subjects, "small gold chains ". You mentioned the CZ20 as not being very good with them, and I have a CZ20, but I want to make sure that what I am going to say is not a slam against any brand as opposed to Fisher.

Take some time and search back thru this forum to see how many pictures of small(fine) gold chains that have been found by any brand or technology in the last year. This means a chain w/ no pendant or large clasp.

There are some very experienced hunters posting here who use Minelabs, how many small gold chains have you seen them post that were found with a Minelab. Maybe there aren't many PI type guys posting here, but I haven't seen many small gold chains from them either.

So is the "small gold chain'" issue a red herring? If not, ask those advising you "how deep" should you be able to detect a small gold chain with a particular machine or technology.

And lastly, how much micro-foil you gonna dig to find a small gold chain? Have I given up on small gold chains? No, just got a Baron MII to try it.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[KENNE-BILL]

I've had my Excalibur for around 2-1/2 months now and really like it so far, for never having had any prior experience detecting it has been easy to use/learn so far. I haven't used any other detectors yet so can't really compare it to other makes. I myself am interested in purchasing a second detector (pulse induction) and am debating between a Surf PI Pro and the Aquasearch from Eric Foster.

 

[sea hag]

HI, I am interested in small gold chains too. I just know I have detected right over thousands of small and large gold chains on the beach.
The last machine I had that found small gold chains (without the clasps or knots) was a fisher 1235. I now use the surf master pi pro, which I love. But, on certain days, after a storm, I know there are chains all over the sand (I have found many over the years that are just laying right on top of the sand). Sometimes I wish I had a rake to comb them out of the sand.
I have been a beach detector for over 20 years and the more I learn the more I realize how much I don

 

[RedRockNv]

Could you guys give me an opinion on the Garrett Infinium as a surf and beach detector. I have one avaliable but not to many beaches here in Vegas. I am just wondering if it is worth keeping for my next trip to a beach. Thank You

 

[BarnacleBill]

http://www.akmining.com/mine/gagold.htm

Steve Herschbach has used the machine and knows it well. Lately he has been posting on Findmall X-Terra & Fisher forums. You might contact him via his posts w/ any questions.

HH
BarnacleBill