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How does the SE really stack up against the II?

B

Big Fang Coin Biter

New member
I have been using the SE for a year now. I have done pretty good with it. One of the main reasons that I bought the new machine is because of it's advertised "handles iron better". To me it seems that just the opposite is true. Shortly after learning the SE I noticed that, unlike the XS and the II, the SE will give a nice high tone off of iron trash in two directions (initially and when turned 90 degrees). As I said, this is something that the other versions never did - or at least very, very rarely. I have resorted to using ferrous tones and very little or no discrimination (in iron mask). This works good but is annoying to listen to, plus I hate having to try to ID a signal using the display. In the conditions I hunt, with lots of iron trash, the cursor is usually stuck somewhere. I have to do a little dance with the machine to get an estimate of where it falls on the screen (if lucky). I bought the thing for the conductive tone ID.

I am going to pull the Explorer II out of retirement and start using it again, just to see if my suspicions are correct. Anyone else used both versions enough and see the same thing? Maybe I am doing something wrong? I did lower the gain setting a notch and that helped but not much.

Just to clarify, I usually use the SR X-8 coil, using conductive sounds, gain 6, iron mask with a little less than a quarter inch of iron knocked out, and manual sensitivity from 28 through 32. I have in three years experience on both the XS and the II.

I know the newcomers love the SE, what about the seasoned guys?

Thanks in advance - Robin (MI)
 
Lastly you may encounter a rusty nail that is bent into an L shape, they are difficult to avoid even for experienced users. They behave like a nail but with high tones from two directions they fall into the iffy signal category that you got to dig, some coins can sound just as awful, even worse so its not unusual for me to dig a bent nail now and then

You gotta go to explorer forum and see NH Bobs link.....and read all.....and don't miss Charles(upsateNY) web site on tips etc......read it..this is where I found this peice I copied and pasted above.
 
I wonder how Charles is dealing with his SE....he went thru a few SE till he got one he thought was good.....then used the EX. II stock coil instead of the slimline SE coil (better known to me as the frisbee). I am surprised he hasn't buzzed in on this....I wanted an SE but am very nervous about getting one. Maybe you should sell the SE and stick with the EX II.....just a thought......good luck.
 
I have only used the SE and new at it to boot,but I only get high tones on iron myself.I use the stock coil and gain from 6 to 7.I have used it in ferrous and conductive with the same sounds.Just thought it was me and my less than perfect hearing.
 
Finally I tried my E II in conductive/IM mode Sunday. It was like visiting an old friend! My confidence returned and only one iffy target turned out to be iron. The rest were coins! I guess I learned a costly lesson; Just because it is new and improved does not mean it's better. I just cannot believe ML would do this. Maybe my SE is faulty.

I contacted Minelab through their website Monday. I may have been a bit too strong asking for my money back or a unit that works better than the Explorer II. So far no response..... I would imagine they have run into a few unsatisfied customers with this version.

Take care and HH - Robin
 
From hunting with guys with their II's and me my SE, I can tell the II's run more stable in manual sensitivity then my SE, and have smoother tones in general. I think the SE is more susceptible to falsing and this may be because it is slightly more sensitive and therefore may get a slight increase in depth and better separation as well. Know this as a fact, no, but logical because of the SE's faster recovery. The VCO pinpointing, however, by itself is an enormous advantage on the SE because it helps you recover targets a great deal quicker. I would find it impossible to believe Mine Lab spent all that money and time producing the SE without it having many advantages over the II's.
 
If the soil is dry I can get away with a gain of 8, but as it gets wetter, I may have to back off to at least 7 and eventually 6. Wet beach sand is an example and with the gain at 6 I was still getting 14-16 inch deep coin targets in auto sensitivity and that was with the stock ten slimline everybody complains about. I have two SE's, so when it starts acting weird, I just grab the other one, and every time I find it's not something wrong with the machine as much as it's a hunting condition that I need to make adjustments for, the first adjustment that seems to make the largest impact on falsing is my gain setting. Hope this helps.
 
I sent the control box and the Slimline coil, as they requested, back to repair about two weeks ago. I hope they can find/fix the problem. Still waiting on a call or response from repair. I will post what happens.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help!

BF
 
I just bought a new SE. Is it common for Minelab to take over 2 weeks to repair problems?
 
The last time I sent one in it took exactly two weeks to get it back. I am thinking that with the holidays and such that the time in the mail is going to take longer. Minelab has a great service dept. here in the US. I have rarely had any problem with their work.
HH - BF
 
I am considering an se...but am kind of surprised you have not posted a return and repair.... What if anything have you found out... I would consider over 2 weeks unacceptable sorry.... I guess my main reasoning is I have a Whites repair center 14 miles from house.... Maybe one of the reasons I still have not switched to a se yet...this does nothing to help the situation...
 
Two weeks is about the usual turn around time for ML repair. They are somewhat backed up plus the holidays did not help.

I did finally get a call Thursday the 3rd. and they were testing it out. Somehow when they turned the machine on the pinpoint mode was activated. So they thought I might be hunting in pinpoint - DAH. By the time I had her convinced that eight years experience would not allow me to hunt in pinpoint accidentily, I was half ticked-off. Then they tried to tell me they could not find anything wrong.

I know they have had a few people send the SE back with the exact same problem as mine. They weren't letting on if they had heard this before. I ended up telling them they could send it back and I will sell it. She said she would see what she could do and that she would be in touch. So, I'm not sure what the outcome will be. My Explorer II works much better. So, unless they swap it out for one that is not a lemmon, I will have to sell my SE.

I think I put it in the simplest terms in a follow up letter that I sent Friday:

I have learned, using your previous two Explorer models, to trust what the machine is telling me. When I got the SE it started lying to me. If nothing is wrong with my machine, then you have produced an upgraded model that actually does not work as well as the previous two models.

Here is the simple thing that has made the Explorer great.
Explorer XS and II: Get a high coin tone, turn 90 Degrees, get the same high tone - Dig a coin.
Explorer XS and II: Get a high coin tone, turn 90 Degrees, get a null - Dig a nail.

My Explorer SE: Get a high coin tone, turn 90 Degrees, get the same high tone - Dig a nail.
My SE has lost the ability to distinguish between a high conductive coin and a square nail. It is a small thing but a big problem for me.

HH - BF
 
They must on occasion build a lemon. I have an Exp ll that has the same symptoms as your SE. Besides not being able to accurately ID a
target deeper than 2-3 inches, that little dance you have to do to make the screen change is very annoying. Sent it to Las Vegas a couple of
times last summer, but they keep sending it back saying it works fine. Since the ground is froze I might send it in one more time. (may as
well wear out those UPS trucks)
Good thing I kept the sovereign, it always works great.
 
Sort of a long story. ML did everything they could to help me out. They ended up putting new guts (cards) into my machine and replaced my coil. The only thing that got me was that they acted like I was the first to report a problem like this. After much discussion and many "we cannot duplicate the problem" responses, I finally said send it back and I will sell the thing. At that point, I guess, they realized that I was really unhappy with the performance and decided to change out the boards and coil.

I did get out to use it last Sunday before it got so cold around here. I was hunting an iron infested corn field home site. I used the SE for about a half hour in conductive tones with just a tiny iron disc. The unit seemed to work good but I will have to do some "front yard" hunting before I am completely convinced that it works as good as my EII. The unit worked great in All Metal ferrous tones but it always did.

I had no idea that this post would stay on the first page of the forum for so long! I hope it did not offend anyone. I am a true ML Explorer fan, just not a lemon SE fan.

Take care and HH - BF
 
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