infinium shaft length?:ausflag:

[blowfly1967]

i took my infinium out to the local gold fields for four days hunting.things i found wrong with the unit,the shaft is to short.i'm 6'6"tall.if i was shorter by at least 6",the coil would have been at the right hieght above the ground.as it were i feel that i missed a lot of important finds.garrett never pointed out they were for smaller people or americans.the machine's great,it finds the iron easy'ly,nothing much else.iron discrimination,thats a joke and why has the machine have to be upside down when looking at the controls.why not a momentary'll switch when checking possible iron targets.the accessories that came with the purchase are a joke.garrett if you read this,is this how you treat your customers,with junk! blowfly

 

[Vancouver Steve]

Sorry to hear your experience was so poor with your Infinium. I'm not sure it was made for smaller people, or Americans (meaning smaller or soils?) per se. The reading I've done indicates it was designed/tested for/with Australian highly materialized soils. I'm 6' and have a few extra notches to extend the lower shaft farther out. At 6' 6" tall, I would have expected the potential for issues regarding shaft length. I have a very good friend who is 6' 7" and he has to select even the car he drives based on the restraints of his height vs. the general population. I've never been to Australia, but I suspect you're well above average height. Garret makes an extended lower shaft for taller people, and although I've not priced it, extra regular length shafts are about US$10. It may be worth the money to research this, and remove that frustration.

The control box is designed for three different mounting configurations, two of which allow for the writing to be oriented upright. I'm not sure with having such mounting flexibility, it would be possible to always have the writing upright however. I agree that It would be nice to have the momentary Iron Check switch that you, and others, have mentioned.

Pulse Induction detectors like the Infinium are known for their strong attraction to iron, and also for their inability to reliably discriminate iron out. I'm not sure if you stay with a PI detector of any brand that you will have any better success in dealing with the iron; The trade-off is superior depth over VLF detectors in highly mineralized soils such as those found in gold fields. Through experience, your ear can become an excellent discriminator of various objects passing under the coil. There are a number of great "how to" articles on this forum if you scroll down they should stand out, and they may be of assistance to you.

What other machines do you own/tried, and how did they compare?

 

[Vancouver Steve]

Re post - I got caught by the Edit Timeout and need to clarify a few points, spelling etc...

Sorry to hear your experience was so poor with your Infinium. I'm not sure it was made for smaller people, or Americans (meaning Americans are smaller or American soils?) per se. The reading I've done indicates it was designed/tested for/with Australia's highly mineralized soils. I'm 6' and I have a few extra notches to extend the lower shaft farther out. At 6' 6" tall, I would have expected the potential for issues regarding shaft length. I have a very good friend who is 6' 7" and he has to select even the car he drives based on the restraints of his height vs. the general population. I've never been to Australia, but I suspect you're well above average height. Garret makes an extended lower shaft for taller people, and although I've not priced it, extra regular length shafts are about US$10. It may be worth the money to research this, and remove that frustration.

The control box is designed for three different mounting configurations, two of which allow for the writing to be oriented upright. I'm not sure with having such mounting flexibility, it would be possible to always have the writing upright however. I agree that It would be nice to have the momentary Iron Check switch that you, and others, have mentioned.

Pulse Induction detectors like the Infinium are known for their strong attraction to iron, and also for their inability to reliably discriminate iron out. I'm not sure if you stay with a PI detector of any brand that you will have any better success in dealing with the iron; The trade-off is superior depth over VLF detectors in highly mineralized soils such as those found in gold fields. Through experience, your ear can become an excellent discriminator of various objects passing under the coil. There are a number of great "how to" articles on this forum if you scroll down they should stand out, and they may be of assistance to you.

Garrett is well known for their excellent customer service and equipment; Far from being a "joke". Perhaps your single outing and I presume limited experience with the Infinium has added to your frustration. PI's do have a much steeper learning curve in my experience, than the more popular VLF machines. What other machines do you own/tried, and how did they compare?

 

[ivanll]

There is no reversing if your Infinium LS purchase was influenced by reading a disguised half-baked one eyed field report selectively in AGG&T.

As to modify the length of the shaft to fit a taller person, this is easily done by replacing the solid plastic rod between section 2 and 3 with a 20mm OD aluminium tube to your required length.
The tube can be obtained at Bunnings Warehouse or a bit further up the road at Norweld Engineering, Ogden St.

There are other ways to make a satisfactory shaft but the above is the easiest and cheapest.

ivanll

 

[Vancouver Steve]

IvanII: What is AGG&T? I tried Google, but it was stuck on AT&T. I'd like to find the article you were referring to just for the read

 

[blowfly1967]

thanks ivanll,that's what i was thinking of doing.probaly only little petty gripes from a frustrated person.just spent four days at flat creek.if i was going to be a tin miner,this would be the place to start and not having a four wheel drive,it kinda limited where i could go.my suv rav is actually not a go anywhere machine.the wife would kill me if i scratch it.have you been to flat creek? blowfly

 

[blowfly1967]

hi vancouver steve,the agg&t is an australian magazine called the gold,gem and treasure.it deals with our little corner of the world.blowfly

 

[ivanll]

I have.

 

[blowfly1967]

hi ivan,what you think is going to be an easy fix,it ain't!the lower shaft on my infinium is 20mm od niether norweld or bunnings stock this size in id.the closest is 21.5mm id.what was the brand of the broom or rake handle did you used.i'm really interested to know this one,as i drove the poor shiela mad in the broom section in bunnings,pulling the ends of all of the mops,brooms and sweepers and checking them out .very helpfull ,didn't find a solution.blowfly.ps i reconize the toilet block,you have been there