INFINIUM.. Black Sand.. Shallow Saltwater...

[seahunter34]

I'm going to shallow water detect a particular black sand saltwater beach again. Excaliburs meet their match here! The last time there I tried the Infinium with 8 inch mono coil. I did scoop 3 gold rings, but the Infinium was noisy. I'm certain this was because of the black sand. I did not try aggressive discrimination because the gold here is deep. This time I plan on trying the 14 DD coil. But I prefer smaller coils in the water. My question is, will the larger DD coil help to quiet the Infinium down in this environment? I guess in theory it should, but have any Infinium users here actually used both coils in black sand? How do they compare?

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Black sand does not bother the Infinium. It is more likely that you did not have correct ground balance and salt elimination.

The DDs are in theory a bit quieter than the monos in iron mineralisation but I have not noticed much difference.
The 5 X 10 works well on salt beaches but lacks the depth capability of the 8 inch mono plus it is not rated as waterproof.

GB in the normal manner with disc at ZERO and mode in FAST TRACK and get the best GB that you can, then with mode in Lock dial in a bit of disc in small steps until remaining ground noise is reduced to minimum. The should be no need to set the disc any higher than 3.
You will not loose much depth on gold rings at 3.

Before you GB make sure that you have compensated for EMII.
Be sure to select Lock before adjusting for EMI.
When finished EMI cancelling, return the threshold to zero and then return the disc to zero in that order and then bring the threshold to your desired level.
If you try to cancel EMI in fast or slow track, the detector will try to GB the EMI.

 

[cymro]

Black sand does not bother the Infinium. It is more likely that you did not have correct ground balance and salt elimination.

The DDs are in theory a bit quieter than the monos in iron mineralisation but I have not noticed much difference.
The 5 X 10 works well on salt beaches but lacks the depth capability of the 8 inch mono plus it is not rated as waterproof.

GB in the normal manner with disc at ZERO and mode in FAST TRACK and get the best GB that you can, then with mode in Lock dial in a bit of disc in small steps until remaining ground noise is reduced to minimum. The should be no need to set the disc any higher than 3.
You will not loose much depth on gold rings at 3.

Before you GB make sure that you have compensated for EMII.
Be sure to select Lock before adjusting for EMI.
When finished EMI cancelling, return the threshold to zero and then return the disc to zero in that order and then bring the threshold to your desired level.
If you try to cancel EMI in fast or slow track, the detector will try to GB the EMI.

Totally agree with Fishers Ghost, but would like to reemphasise his point on eliminating electrical interference first. I set the Infinium up in the following way.
Turn on into the lock position
Place coil on the ground make sure it is still, any noise now is likely to be EMI take time to slowly tune it to the quietest frequency.
Then move switch to slow and ground balance give the machine plenty of time to settle, then pretty much as Fishers Ghost has outlined.

Dave

 

[papajohn]

I too have a new Infinium that I bought because my sov.gt wouldn't work in the country of Panama on their black sand beaches.I realize that this black sand is probably over a foot deep but the Infinium will not handle it either.I was using the stock DD coil and have set the machine up properly with no luck.It is very unfortunate as the only reason I purchased this detector was because I was assured that it would handle all soil conditions Could our detectors possibly be defective?.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

The Infinium should handle severe black sand concentrations quite well. There may be slight drawn out tones but the detector should still achieve good depth.
Once you have ground balanced as well as possible, With Mode in Lock, dial in a bit of discrimination to offset the salt in the sand. Also try operating in fast track.
If the detector is seriously noisy and impossibly annoying to tolerate then the machine has a problem.

I have had my Infinium for quite a few years now and the only time I have selected auto tracking was out of curiosity to see how it altered performance. I run in Lock all of the time.

 

[LarryL]

Hello, All,

I'm looking at a used Infinium, reportedly in excellent shape.
Any problems or issues I should be on the lookout for?
I'm concerned about how to determine if the machine has a problem, like if it is seriously noisy and impossibly annoying to tolerate as mentioned above.
I plan on testing out the machine. Would this type of problem be readily apparent?
Is there some best environment to test it which would reveal problems?
How would I best test it?
If by chance I do not pick up a problem and buy a machine with a problem, what would be my best recourse?
Are repairs by Garrett expensive?
Thanks in advance.