steve herschbach
New member
Hi All,
Well, I went and did it. I got another Infinium.
I am really into PI detecting, and fond as I am of my Minelab detectors being a user first I wanted more competition. So I was thrilled when I found out Garrett was working on a ground balancing PI unit - the Infinium. I got to test a prototype and was happy with what I saw. True story is the Infinium was not well received when it came out, as brand loyal types piled on it with a passion. It was probably not entirely undeserved to to some pre-production hype. But still, I was happy to see a US manufacturer finally take a stab at the technology. I owned one of the first Infiniums and gave it a good go, both nugget detecting and surf hunting. The dust has settled now, and it appears the Infinium has found its niche mainly as a water hunter. Which makes sense, as it is the only submersible ground balancing PI detector on the market.
Labor Day at Ganes Creek
Garrett Infinium in Hawaii
Garrett Infinium at Moore Creek
Coin Hunting with the Garrett Infinium
One of the few things I did not like on the early Infiniums was the coil cables. The were pretty wimpy - wires surrounded by a thin plastic sheath. Lighter duty than the competition and I was worried about pinching/leaks into the cables. I was told no worries in that respect and so there you go. As my early posts indicate, I also had noise issues. Well, it seems to have turned out that the old cables were not so much a problem with being wimpy as they were with not being well shielded against outside electrical interference. So new cables were introduced that not only are better shielded but are much beefier.
I'd moved on to other detecting and detectors but reports of newer units with quieter operation intrigued me. So I went ahead and got a new unit and an 8" mono coil. Tonight I took it to the same freshwater beach where I did my "Coin Hunting" report and gave the unit a spin. And to put it simply the new Infiunium was much quieter and stable running the 8" mono coil, far more so than the older units I used several years ago. I can't swear it is the coil cable but all I know is this is a better Infinium. I bagged a wheatback in minutes which may not seem impressive to many but I'm talking the most detected real estate in Alaska. Got a lo-hi and there it was, not 6 feet from where I started.
Kudos to Garrett for making a good detector better. If you have extreme noise issues with your Infinium check out the coil. If you can feel/see the inner wires it may be a cable issue. Now do not go nuts over this. I just drove poor Fisher crazy over an interference issue that ultimately proved to be my fault! This stuff can get pretty complicated in this age of wireless communications. But from what I'm seeing at the moment Garrett has addressed issues that the early units had. As of this moment this is the only ground balancing underwater pulse induction detector on the market. For some detectorists in some locations it will prove to be invaluable. But at the end of the day never forget that metal detecting is very site dependent and so what works well in one location will be lackluster in another. Use what works!
Steve Herschbach
P.S. I want to thank John-Edmonton in particular for his numerous posts regarding the Infinium. So much sharing of good times had with the Infinium made me give it another go. And I'm happy I did. Thank you John.
Well, I went and did it. I got another Infinium.
I am really into PI detecting, and fond as I am of my Minelab detectors being a user first I wanted more competition. So I was thrilled when I found out Garrett was working on a ground balancing PI unit - the Infinium. I got to test a prototype and was happy with what I saw. True story is the Infinium was not well received when it came out, as brand loyal types piled on it with a passion. It was probably not entirely undeserved to to some pre-production hype. But still, I was happy to see a US manufacturer finally take a stab at the technology. I owned one of the first Infiniums and gave it a good go, both nugget detecting and surf hunting. The dust has settled now, and it appears the Infinium has found its niche mainly as a water hunter. Which makes sense, as it is the only submersible ground balancing PI detector on the market.
Labor Day at Ganes Creek
Garrett Infinium in Hawaii
Garrett Infinium at Moore Creek
Coin Hunting with the Garrett Infinium
One of the few things I did not like on the early Infiniums was the coil cables. The were pretty wimpy - wires surrounded by a thin plastic sheath. Lighter duty than the competition and I was worried about pinching/leaks into the cables. I was told no worries in that respect and so there you go. As my early posts indicate, I also had noise issues. Well, it seems to have turned out that the old cables were not so much a problem with being wimpy as they were with not being well shielded against outside electrical interference. So new cables were introduced that not only are better shielded but are much beefier.
I'd moved on to other detecting and detectors but reports of newer units with quieter operation intrigued me. So I went ahead and got a new unit and an 8" mono coil. Tonight I took it to the same freshwater beach where I did my "Coin Hunting" report and gave the unit a spin. And to put it simply the new Infiunium was much quieter and stable running the 8" mono coil, far more so than the older units I used several years ago. I can't swear it is the coil cable but all I know is this is a better Infinium. I bagged a wheatback in minutes which may not seem impressive to many but I'm talking the most detected real estate in Alaska. Got a lo-hi and there it was, not 6 feet from where I started.
Kudos to Garrett for making a good detector better. If you have extreme noise issues with your Infinium check out the coil. If you can feel/see the inner wires it may be a cable issue. Now do not go nuts over this. I just drove poor Fisher crazy over an interference issue that ultimately proved to be my fault! This stuff can get pretty complicated in this age of wireless communications. But from what I'm seeing at the moment Garrett has addressed issues that the early units had. As of this moment this is the only ground balancing underwater pulse induction detector on the market. For some detectorists in some locations it will prove to be invaluable. But at the end of the day never forget that metal detecting is very site dependent and so what works well in one location will be lackluster in another. Use what works!
Steve Herschbach
P.S. I want to thank John-Edmonton in particular for his numerous posts regarding the Infinium. So much sharing of good times had with the Infinium made me give it another go. And I'm happy I did. Thank you John.
