Interested in the F5

[airdon]

Had that "seizure" once on my F5, wasn't sure what was going on. I then looked around and discovered I had walked across a utility easement, everything buried underground-cable, phone, etc... Tried freq change with no luck, too much EMI. Walked away from the area and the machine calmed down and ran correctly.
Don HH

 

[autopilot42]

I have only had the overload problem when with alumimun raising the coil a couple of inches seems to work for me. I also have an f2 and it doesn't overload but the f5 has at least one third more depth than the f2 so the software the machine is running makes it extremely sensitive. All in all an outstanding detector.

HH
Bob

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I took the F5 to an old Victorian resort area that's now abandoned (it's a huge area that accommodated 5000 people back in the Victorian era to the early 1920's). I had to put the F5 away, as the shallow target overload was a big problem. Unfortunately raising the coil for me does not resolve it, the screen stays blank in overload mode, and the machine doesn't read the target. Once it hits another deeper target it's fine, but this is a problem IMHO.

I guess I'll have to send it into Fisher, but I wonder if their "fix" will be to detune the machine, loosing depth ?

I tried Marks solution for it hitting rusty iron and ID'ing it as coins, and pumping the coil a few times over an iffy iron/coin target seems to work...the iron meter raises over iron and goes down over a non-iron target. So if I can just get this overload issue resolved, I think it'll be a good machine (especially if they ever come out with a smaller coil and a DD).

HH,
Brian

 

[Delaware Bill]

Reading this thread, it sounds exactly like the problem that I had with my F4, I tried everything, even sending it back to Fisher, they said that it was working correctly. I was at an impasse as what I was going to do with it as it was impossible to use. Then I needed a 9 volt battery for something and the only one 's I had were in my F4, so I used them and bought a different brand to put back in the F4 a few days later, guess what? The F4 works perfect, put the Duracell's back in and it goes nuts. I have tried Rayovac and Panasonic's, both brands work OK, it just don't like the Duracell's.

 

[Dude]

Reading this thread, it sounds exactly like the problem that I had with my F4, I tried everything, even sending it back to Fisher, they said that it was working correctly. I was at an impasse as what I was going to do with it as it was impossible to use. Then I needed a 9 volt battery for something and the only one 's I had were in my F4, so I used them and bought a different brand to put back in the F4 a few days later, guess what? The F4 works perfect, put the Duracell's back in and it goes nuts. I have tried Rayovac and Panasonic's, both brands work OK, it just don't like the Duracell's.

The front of the manual says Alkaline only.

You would think that as long as the voltage was right it wouldn't matter what you put in. I wonder what the reason would be.

 

[Mr.Bill]

where they were purchased from. I have noticed lately a lot of problem cropping up with "new" batteries. Purchasing them at discount warehouses is one of the causes of the problems. Yes, certain brand of batteries work poorer than others.

With one high current draw PI detector I sell, the copper top cells are the worse. Sometimes one can only get a hour or so out of them before the detector acts flunky.

A suggestion; If your having strange things all of a sudden popping up with your detector, go purchase a set of the freshest set of batteries you can locate, and install them in the unit. Do this before you sent your unit in for repairs.

 

[BarnacleBill]

I've noticed the same lately for various forums, whacky behavior related to batteries. As the manufacturing has moved off shore the consistency has dropped. I am also concerned that there is some counterfeiting going on. If the price of the batteries seems to be too good to be true, a red flag should go up.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[tony (Orlando FL)]

Dude, Its about current capacity, not voltage. Voltage is what pushes the current. Current is also known as Amp, ma etc. You USE current not voltage.

In your example above, try taking 8 AA batteries which = 12 and go out and jump start your car. Both batteries are delivering 12v, right?

Batteries are rated in current capacity. More capacity usually equals more cost which equals more run time.

To keep this short and precise, not all batteries are capable of supplying the required current that the electronic/electric device requires. When the requirement isnt met, anything but normal operation is to be expected.

 

[Mr.Bill]

n/t

 

[Cal_Cobra]

where they were purchased from. I have noticed lately a lot of problem cropping up with "new" batteries. Purchasing them at discount warehouses is one of the causes of the problems. Yes, certain brand of batteries work poorer than others.

With one high current draw PI detector I sell, the copper top cells are the worse. Sometimes one can only get a hour or so out of them before the detector acts flunky.

A suggestion; If your having strange things all of a sudden popping up with your detector, go purchase a set of the freshest set of batteries you can locate, and install them in the unit. Do this before you sent your unit in for repairs.

Great ideal Bill. I am on still the set of freebies from Fisher (come to think of it, they probably have about 35-40 hours on them by now), so I'll try some of my rechargeables just to mix it up and see if there's any difference in the shallow small target overload syndrome. I use them all the time on my F4 and Coinstrike and they work fine.

I'm also wondering if the way I'm ground balancing makes it too sensitive. Someone suggested the easiest way (and it's briefly mentioned in the owners manual) was simply GB by pumping the coil while holding the phase button and when the phase and GB numbers sync up your good too go. I've been doing this and it seems to work great, but maybe it's causing a positive GB thereby making small shallow targets seem larger to the machine. I'll try the manual GB they show in the manual and a different pair of 9V batteries and see if either variable solves the issue.

These detectors are still new to everyone, so I'm sure we'll uncover many new tricks and tips on how to make it work best. I like Marks idea using the fe04 meter to vet out iron junk and tabs, seems to work from the few times I've tried it.

HH,
Brian