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minelab e trac depth test

R

RyanLacy

New member
hi everybody, recently bought an e trac about three months ago and have put about 20 hours on it maybe more. I have found a few old coins but nothing deeper than a couple of inches. I went out on an excursion for about three consecutive days that I had off work to some old spots that I found on old aerial maps. I know the coins were there but I didn't pick anything up. after the third day I was so frustrated I took my pic axe and dug a hole at 5 or 6 inches and buried a copper penny. went over the penny in just about every setting the e trac has to offer and only one setting variation made a little scratch of a sound, it was conduct sound instead of ferrous. can anyone help me with this expensive piece of machinery before I give up and go back to my garrett at pro? this machine was supposed to go deeper than my pro but it doesn't. by the way the pro hits the penny everytime. I have buyers remorse. help!
 
Something is wacky ! First, read your manual, then try an air test with silver and copper coins with a wooden or plastic ruler to measure the test coin from the coil. If you are not able to get 6-9 inches with good loud sound , then I would call Minelab and make a doctors appointment !
 
All else try a master reset and start all over...I sold my at pro for the etrac and haven't looked back
 
Make sure FAST is on and DEEP is off. Don't ask why, but this seems to work the best. Also, what is your SENSITIVITY running? Run MANUAL sensitivity on 29 setting for a couple of minutes. It will make all kinds of chatter. After a couple of minutes, switch over to AUTO sensitivity +3. This tricks the machine into running at a higher auto sensitivity more quickly.
Good luck
 
I use Deep on and Fast off also Auto 3 plus. I use little more open on screen for deep coins! I test Mercury Dime at 8 inch deep in my garden is no problem.
 
You know, about once a month we get this thread topic or something similar.

No one here without personally testing the eTRAC in question and i might add the detectorist also, can tell for sure whats really going on. Its remotely possible the detector could have a problem i suppose.

I can say with this, with the stock factory settings the eTRAC fires up at for the first time, it probably would have issues detecting a freshly buried 6" coin depending on soil and other uncontrollable variables, especially with an eTRAC newbie behind the wheel.

Air tests and coin gardens are fine for ballpark reference testing. Thats all those are meant to be.
The real test is out in the field dedecting a dropped 100 year old 8" deep coin .
 
Take a look at Goes4Ever's settings on his site as that is close to what I have been using for a few years.
If you cant get deep coins with those settings something is wrong with your machine.
 
thanks everybody i appreciate your wisdom, work has my life for the next few days but then i will tear into some of this stuff. its nice to hear from people with this hobby as i know no one but myself that has the passion for this. i live in a little town called lindsay ca and i appreciate your info!
 
Welcome to the forum, Ryan! I don't know what's going on with your machine..........but I know I dig coins consistantly in the 6-12 " range. I wish there was an experienced E-Trac user in your area! Is the dealer you bought your machine from anywhere near you? If so, he should be able to help you.

Good Luck! I do know the E-Trac is the best silver machine I have ever had!
Iowa Dale
 
Ryan, definitely do that Master Reset from the Preferences menu. Try the stock coin mode and be sure to noise cancel when you start. Depending on mineralisation in your soil, with the stock coil you should see dime sized targets to 8 inches easy if they are flat, on edge maybe 6 inches. I have 91 hours on my E-Trac and am now using the NEL Sharpshooter 5x9 in TTF mode. In my soils at one site here I have pulled a dozen or more bullets from the bottom of the depth scale (12 inches). One of these bullets was a .17 caliber at 7 inches and it hit hard and solid with steady CO numbers - the FE bounced around a bit - and the depth scale was reading 8 inches.
 
Ryan , just out of curiosity , in Auto sensitivity what is the sensitivity setting the machine is running at?
It's logical to me that the lower the sensitivity , the tougher the soil is to penetrate.
I have frequently hunted with sens less than 10 in auto +3 and depth is never much.
 
I bet something is wrong with your machine. You should be hitting coins at 6 inches just in factory settings. The advice here was awesome, but I knew something was cooky with my machine and it was acting just like you're describing. I sent it in and they basically replaced the machine and it was under warranty. I had been using it for 2 and a half years, so I knew something was wrong. Sounds like the same issue. Runs perfect now. Des in Buffalo
 
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