Pioneer 505 Help ????

[jayarbaugh]

I have a pioneer 505 that I purchesed about a year ago. At first it worked flawlessly, now not so much ? The last time I went out I Kept having to hit the auto Disc button.i also tried adjusting the disc in all metals mode (with a little better success). I was able to find somethings but what was showing up as silver coins was actually steel and aluminum. I'm not real experienced at detecting and I'm still trying to get used to the 505, (my other detector is a Pioneer 202). I've read the owners manual and watched the video a dozen or so times. I'm wondering if the false readings I have been getting are due to user error or a malfunction. My 505 has to my knowledge never been dropped or knocked over, I clean it after every use and I try to use fresh batteries every time I go out. Plus i don't store with the batteries in it. I still find coins and other relics, but its kind of aggravating when everything (at times) show up as silver . Can anyone help PLEASE ????

 

[Ed in SoDak]

How do you clean? Is it a damp rag, if so, how damp? Too much moisture in the wrong place will harm more than help. Coils are supposed to be waterproof, but I don't take all such claims for granted. Do you wash the coil under running water and work the cable around? I think you can see what I'm getting at. A coil with trapped moisture won't work right till it dries out inside, but usually it should be fine after drying.

Then there's the coil connector itself. Is it secure?

If you use it in water or mud where it really needs cleaning afterwards, we may be onto something. I don't baby my BH machines and they have fallen over while stood in a corner, or rolled some when II set it down to dig. I wipe off dust with a dry rag or just slightly damp, but I don't fuss over cleanliness. Cleaning it should be fine, unless there's a chance a drip or more happened to get forced inside where it shouldn't be.

If the 505 has a "click switch" for power and sensitivity like my Landstar, the batteries don't need to be removed after every use. Only if it's going to sit for several weeks or months. There is no current drain when off. There's also no real advantage in having the freshest batteries installed. My tests show my several BH detectors exhibit little, if any, loss of performance till the batteries are well on their way down.

My Time Ranger has a constant and slight battery draw even when "off." This is presumably due to some small current provided to the "soft-touch" switches. So on that model, I unhook just one side of the battery terminals. I don't remove them, just swing the battery clips to one side, leaving one post still connected. But even that was hard on the battery wires, so I installed my own power switch.

That should not be an issue with the 505, when it's off, it's off. But my thinking is that all this clipping and unclipping of batteries may be causing undue wear and tear to the clips and wires.

These should be things you can investigate a bit yourself. Beyond these suggestions, it might not hurt to contact BH to see what they think.

Good luck!

-Ed

 

[deliveryboy]

Well the target ID 's are not 100% accurate and as far as I know aluminum will ID similar to Silver and coins. Unfortunately to discriminate aluminum will most likely void other valuable finds, pulltabs for instance fall into similar gold target areas. I prefer minor discrimination and dig most targets, I realize this can make the hobby boring but i also feel this will bring you the most rewarding treasures. i have given up on visual target ID machines for the most part and let my ears and brain do the work. I feel they give you the tendency to possibly overlook good targets. The bounty hunter I really enjoyed overall was the Tracker 4. Anyhow the 505 is a great machine, just keep practicing, I don't feel from your description anything is wrong with it, but IDK

 

[BH505Man]

Unfortunately iron and aluminum are a coinshooter's biggest pain in the ---. Especially round shaped things made of steel and aluminum that often sound off in the dime to dollar range. You can often tell it's junk if the TID jumps around anywhere from dime to dollar or if the depth don't remain constant.