Greetings. My normally smooth threshold has been "spiking up" to a high tone for no reason. First couple times it happened I thought I had a very shallow target- nope. The meter does not spike to a positive number. It may or may not move from it's normal negative number to another negative number then back to where it stays. Lasts about 1 second then returns to normal threshold. This happens on multiple coils, so I have ruled out a problem with a coil. (Unless I have two bad coils). This occurs with and without my S-1 in line. Has anyone had this problem or know what's causing it? It's more of a nuisance than anything else. I try to ignore it but I feel I shouldn't have to. I miss my smooth threshold. The spiking happens once every 30-45 seconds. It happens regardless of where my sensitivity is set- auto or manual. Thank you for your time and consideration. HH. Matt
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Threshold Spikes Up???
- Thread starter matthias
- Start date
Check your battery as this is what happens when the battery is low as it will give a high tone spike and then back to normal threshold as it is the low battery alert. If you have the factory rechargeable pack I would charge it up a bit or try the alkaline pack with some good alkaline, but do not put rechargeable in the alkaline pack as it only holds 8 and you need 10 like the factory pack to get the voltage you need.
Rick(ND) said:Check your battery as this is what happens when the battery is low as it will give a high tone spike and then back to normal threshold as it is the low battery alert. If you have the factory rechargeable pack I would charge it up a bit or try the alkaline pack with some good alkaline, but do not put rechargeable in the alkaline pack as it only holds 8 and you need 10 like the factory pack to get the voltage you need.
Sorry to disagree but my sov gt runs longer on 8 2800mah rechargables than on the stock 1000mah pack, maybe that was true with the older nicads but not anymore
Yes some say it seems to work for them, but you still don't have the voltage you need. I know there is a voltage regulator so it don't need all the 12 volts the 10 cells produce, but don't you think if 8 cells work work correctly they would come that way from Minelab as it would cut cost and weight. I seen too many on the forums with problems with their Sovereigns only to find out they were using 8 rechargeable in the alkaline pack. Maybe the GTs are a little different as some have been using them in the alkaline pack and haven't heard of a problem yet with the GT, but at this time I will not take a chance on my Sovereign not performing to full potential.
Maybe I am old school, but when I know something works excellent and designed by experts that know more that i do I do not mess with it. Maybe that is why I am married to the same person for 38 years as she works good so I do not mess with something that works so good and gives me so much pleasure and enjoys detecting as much as I do.
Like to hear other opinions too and glad to hear how others use there Sovereigns too as they are quite the detectors, the only other one I like using is the E-Trac for my serious detecting.
Rick
Maybe I am old school, but when I know something works excellent and designed by experts that know more that i do I do not mess with it. Maybe that is why I am married to the same person for 38 years as she works good so I do not mess with something that works so good and gives me so much pleasure and enjoys detecting as much as I do.
Like to hear other opinions too and glad to hear how others use there Sovereigns too as they are quite the detectors, the only other one I like using is the E-Trac for my serious detecting.
Rick
The first time it happened to me in 1997 I was worried my Sovereign had something wrong with it, but with the help we had on this fourm I was told it was a low battery alert and once you heard it you seem to always remember that sound and knew your detecting was done in a short while unless you had a spare battery with you.
Good Luck
Rick
Good Luck
Rick
I think if we go back to when the Elite first came out and then the GT, what you say was true but battery technology was not what it is today, much smaller size in mah than today too, another problem that occurs is that most people tend to clean their detectors and recharge their batteries after a Sunday hunt ready for the next week, if they don't get out it stays that way, in the case of rechargables especially the nimh they lose some charge as they stand doing nothing and self discharge(+/- 1% daily) a lot more quicker rate than the older nicads so its best to charge the night before for best results.
Nearly all my rechargables have over 1.4 volts when fully charged thats more than alkalines after a short use, with a high mah(capacity) they stay that way for a long time in use.
Some interesting info here although not all in favour of rechargables.
I have tested quite a few new alkalines and not all have the full 1.5v(no load) when new and i'm talking supposed good makes, ie Duracell, Energiser....... They also self discharge on the shelf but at a much lesser rate
I've recently changed over to lipos on the XS2a and GT but still carry 1.2v rechargables just in case as i also have them in the etrac alkaline caddy thats always with me.
As a side note over the years i must have saved enough money not buying alkalines to purchase a new detector, especially as i'm usually out 3-5 days a week
Nearly all my rechargables have over 1.4 volts when fully charged thats more than alkalines after a short use, with a high mah(capacity) they stay that way for a long time in use.
Some interesting info here although not all in favour of rechargables.
I have tested quite a few new alkalines and not all have the full 1.5v(no load) when new and i'm talking supposed good makes, ie Duracell, Energiser....... They also self discharge on the shelf but at a much lesser rate
I've recently changed over to lipos on the XS2a and GT but still carry 1.2v rechargables just in case as i also have them in the etrac alkaline caddy thats always with me.
As a side note over the years i must have saved enough money not buying alkalines to purchase a new detector, especially as i'm usually out 3-5 days a week
Critterhunter
New member
Kered, totally agree with all you've said. I believe the reason why Minelab puts 10 Sub A cells in the Elite/GT is because they are old Sub A nimhs. While Sub A cells are still used a lot in RC these days, 1000ma isn't that high of capacity. Had they provided good 2500ma or higher cells then I would suspect they could have got away with using 8. With that low of capacity the source voltage will drop fairly rapidly, so I think they used 10 to keep it above the LVC (low voltage cut off) for a longer period of time.
Like you said, most of my high quality nimh or nicad cells charge to and hold a much higher voltage than 1.2V per cell. I believe that is more of an industry standard or average in terms of designing products to run on them. I've got 2500ma Energizer 8AA nimhs in my RC radio and it constantly displays the pack voltage in big numbers on the computer screen while flying. So long as I peak them before heading out they stay well above 11V just about all day long. Since I gather the GT's voltage regulator cuts out at around 10.5V or so, a freshly peaked high quality/high capacity pack should probably run the machine for a long day's hunt without issues. As you also said, non-rechargeable store batteries don't offer nearly this much capacity, and as a result the source voltage derived from them will soon be well below that of a high capacity nimh or nicad pack.
In terms of lipos as another example, a 3 cell series pack is often referred to as 11.V volts. In truth they charge to 12.6V. The other neat thing about lipos is they hold their voltage very high all the way until the end. In that respect they can often run a product longer than a higher capacity nimh or nicad because the lipo won't hit LVC until right near the end of it's discharge. For that reason a 1000ma lipo can possibly run a device longer than say a 1500ma nimh or nicad pack, because those cells will hit LVC quicker due to the more constant voltage drop as they discharge. The other perk about lipos is they don't discharge while sitting on the shelf. Charge a pack fully and one year later it's still for the most part fully charged. That's not a good idea, though. If they aren't going to be used for months then put them to a sleep voltage and throw them in the refrigerator. It protects the capacity of the pack over long periods of time of non use.
Like you said, most of my high quality nimh or nicad cells charge to and hold a much higher voltage than 1.2V per cell. I believe that is more of an industry standard or average in terms of designing products to run on them. I've got 2500ma Energizer 8AA nimhs in my RC radio and it constantly displays the pack voltage in big numbers on the computer screen while flying. So long as I peak them before heading out they stay well above 11V just about all day long. Since I gather the GT's voltage regulator cuts out at around 10.5V or so, a freshly peaked high quality/high capacity pack should probably run the machine for a long day's hunt without issues. As you also said, non-rechargeable store batteries don't offer nearly this much capacity, and as a result the source voltage derived from them will soon be well below that of a high capacity nimh or nicad pack.
In terms of lipos as another example, a 3 cell series pack is often referred to as 11.V volts. In truth they charge to 12.6V. The other neat thing about lipos is they hold their voltage very high all the way until the end. In that respect they can often run a product longer than a higher capacity nimh or nicad because the lipo won't hit LVC until right near the end of it's discharge. For that reason a 1000ma lipo can possibly run a device longer than say a 1500ma nimh or nicad pack, because those cells will hit LVC quicker due to the more constant voltage drop as they discharge. The other perk about lipos is they don't discharge while sitting on the shelf. Charge a pack fully and one year later it's still for the most part fully charged. That's not a good idea, though. If they aren't going to be used for months then put them to a sleep voltage and throw them in the refrigerator. It protects the capacity of the pack over long periods of time of non use.
I think too that those who don't have good battery chargers may not be getting a full charge ......My Eneloops do not run on higher current for very long, but when they drop down a mark on my E Trac , they stay there for a LONG time ..... I totally agree with charging and using right away ....The Eneloops are suppose to hold a charge longer than most batteries ,but they STILL drop in power pretty quickly ..... Since you guys turned me onto Lipo's , I don't even bother with the AA's anymore ....I now have a BUNCH of rechargable AA's for use with items around the house !!.....Jim