Noob with a Garrett Ace 250 and questions

[fiat128]

Hi all. I'm sort of a newbie. I had a couple of detectors back in the 80s and did some TH-ing as a kid. I had a Compass Magnum 420 but when I went to use it recently I was unable to get it working again so I bought an ACE 250.

I've been at it for about a month or so since I got the detector. I've found quite a bit of scrap metal with it and some cans. I collect beer cans and a metal detector is essential for finding decent ones since anything laying on the surface is trashed.

The first photo shows four of the best condition cans I found. These are about 45-50 years old and straight out of the desert sand after rinsing off with soapy water. The cans range in value from about $3-$20. The Pearl, were it in mint condition, would be about a $45 can. As it is, it's about a $15-20 can. It's not easy finding them this nice but soaking them in oxalic acid (commonly called "wood bleach") removes much of the rust and improves the condition.

Here's a closeup of a 1958 quarter I found and one of the cans.

And finally a bunch of misc. junk I've dug that was interesting enough to keep. All the rest went into the scrap metal barrels to cash in later.

Anyhow, I have trouble sometimes with getting what seem to be phantom signals and with pinpointing. I'll try to use the pinpoint feature and it seems like the target moves or goes away. I end up digging big craters and wasting alot of time. Craters are OK in the sand but I don't want to do it in the park so I need to get better before I go looking in grassy areas. Other times I get a signal and when I try to swing over and find it again it disappears on me. Any tips from the Garrett crew?

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

Nice collection of beer cans.. Garrett is coming out with a new pin pointer this fall. Its suppose to be a good one meaning it'll pick up signals further than the competition..
The pin pointer should help you narrow down the finds in the hole you've dug to locate your target..
This would mean a smaller hole and not the crater you talked about.
I've used the pinpointer for as long as I've detected and that has speed ed finding the target quickly also much smaller hole.

 

[awhitster]

These are about 45-50 years old and straight out of the desert sand after rinsing off with soapy water. Other times I get a signal and when I try to swing over and find it again it disappears on me. Any tips from the Garrett crew?

Mineralized desert soil causes falsing. Try dropping the sens a notch.

 

[John-Edmonton]

Cool! First person I know of that collects beer cans using a detector. Why don't you do a nice writeup with photos and send it to Garrett. They just might want to use it in the fall issue of the "SEARCHER"

Click below for the link:

http://www.garrett.com/hobby/submitastory.htm

 

[slingshot]

Most of the beer cans (whole) read as quarters. Now that's aluminum and I don't know if the older ones would be the same. Nice post. Say! how about that Compass Coin Magnum! I had one and after you got used to the disc delay on targets it was really fun to use-except in high trash areas. It was the first time I'd ever heard a steady threshold tone while searching!

 

[Uncle Willy]

Nice collection. I've slurped all those brands at one time or another back when cans were made of steel. Try lowering your sensitivity
to about four bars and keeping youir coil off the ground. Make sure your coil cable is snug and ain't flopping around. I was a big Compass fan when Compass was the detector to own. One of my last was the Relic Magnum 7. Some time ago I did field test a Gold Scanner Pro for Steve Goss who was trying to keep the remnants of Compass alive.

Bill

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Your phantom signal could just be a piece of junk.
You may have already noticed, but when you pinpoint a target that is a can; if it is several plus inches deeper, then it will keep trying to hang onto the pinpoint signal once the coil has passed over it. If it is just under the surface, then the signal will drop off sharply, but by using the toe of the inner coil, you will be able to accurately trace around the target.
Mick Evans.

 

[fiat128]

Thanks for the tip on the sensitivity, that's most likely the fix for me. I saw it on the CD but forgot about it. I run in all metal mode and dig everything. Neat thing about the 250 is that most of the time on the old flattop cans I get a double ping, one iron and one quarter so I know what it is when I dig it. My nemisis is spent rifle shells. I have dug a pound or two so far and they sound just like a quarter. I keep em and throw them in a barrel I'm filling up with scrap brass but still annoying.

I'll write something up and send it to Garrett. Metal detectors have become common lately to hunt beer cans with. Back in the 70s and 80s you could find good cans on the surface but nowadays, if you want some decent one you have to dig. Development had destroyed many old dumps but it seem that campers had a habit of drinking up and burying the evidence and they survive pretty well. The cans in the photos are in pretty good shape, usually you need to treat them with the acid to remove rust.

I wish I could find someone to fix my old Compass. It was a great detector and the manual controls were tough to use but once you got it tuned right you could really rely on it. I'd like to fix it to use as a backup or loaner when someone goes with me.

Reading this site and another one I found has got me itching to go find some old coins.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Steve Goss ( a former Compass technician ) was running a repair facility for Compass detectors. Don't know if he still is but I'll try to locate his address or phone number for you.

Bill

 

[fiat128]

Steve Goss ( a former Compass technician ) was running a repair facility for Compass detectors. Don't know if he still is but I'll try to locate his address or phone number for you.

Bill

Thanks, you can send the info to fiat128@mindspring.com