Trying to decide on a water machine.

[Greg (E.Tn)]

I've been wanting to get a U/W detector but up to now could not afford one. What I end up getting will be used mostly in lakes and streams, with maybe a trip or two to the ocean. I know there are several good machines on the market today, and would like some input on what U/W detectors you like, and why.

Thanks,

Greg

 

[Macaco]

If you're going to be diving I'd recommend either the Excalibur or one of the PI machines.

If you are going to be wading then whatever land machine you have may work just fine (as long as you keep the electronics dry).

I use an Excalibur for water work and it's a great machine. It'll choke on black sand though so if you're going to be working areas with black sand you may want to go with a PI machine.

 

[Kyle in Sac]

I'm a newbie to water hunting but I've had my excalibur for about three weeks and I'm getting more gold then my Explorer XS did in 6 months. I never used a PI machine though. I haven't experienced a black sand problem with mine but the quality of the excal. is lacking in my opinion as far as the way it's built. I use my machines but I expect them to not have knobs coming off and paint/stickers bubbling off. I noticed today my coil on the bottom is coming apart at the seams but so far it's working good. I found two rings and a watch today at the beach.
I hear the PI machines are nice too though, the one with the electronics in the headset caught my eye when I was looking for a water machine a month ago and I liked it. I had a Minelab before though so I figured I stick with them. I was told it had a harder learning curve but could out depth the Excal., personally I don't think digging 12" holes while chest deep in the tide is very fun myself though. The Excal. is more than enough for ocean IMO.
Whatever you get find a machine that you like cause you're the one who has to swing it.

 

[Bobbie]

Or you do not understand it. You have a coil cover on the bottom of your coil that must be removed for cleaning......is this the seam you are talking about???? Your knobs other than the on/off knob, are suppose to be tight and not constantly fiddled with. This is a set, turn on and go machine. As far as the paint bubbling, sounds like you left it sitting in the hot sun for a while.

 

[Freduscf]

My first choice would be a Tesoro Tiger Shark. Super sensitive to gold and with a lifetime warranty. Every water machine will eventually need servicing. Second choice is a Headhunter Wader.

 

[diggindirt]

I have a Beach Hunter ID and Surf-PI Pro and really like the machines. The Beach Hunter ID is my all around machine with solid build quality. It gets nice depth, fast sweep speed, fast recovery in trash, balanced nicely and can swing for hours, you can chest or hip mount as these options are included with the machine, can dive to 25' and with this machine you can hunt in all metal for super depth and still have the target id lights to help you decide what to dig. I do lots of lake hunting too and have found real nice targets with the BHID. The PI Pro gets super depth and very nice with small gold targets. The thing I like with a PI is when the sand is high and few targets are being found, you can just get into the range of jewelry as I've pulled deep missed targets from wet sand! Good luck with any machine you decide to get! HH

 

[Greg (E.Tn)]

I will be using the machine mostly while diving, probably at depths less than 25', but perhaps deeper than that on occasion.

Again, thanks for the posts. You advice gives me a lot to think about.

 

[captRobert]

HH PI ..bag a ring, jewelry on almost every hunt...light as a feather, and nothing beats the detecting depth for the price..good to 100' into the blue...I was hesitant to buy a PI machine but boy am i glad it did!

 

[alton]

Hi Greg

I live in the same area you live and hunt the same areas you will. In addition, the Excal is not too shabby with relics.

In the water, it does a great job eliminating most iron. On land for some reason, it seems to false on iron more, but still holds it's own.

Since Memorial Day I've found over 30 rings, and 9 gold items in our area with the Excal. I now have two of them.

Just my two cents.

Alton

 

[Kyle in Sac]

Don't use the coil cover as the machine falses if too much sand is trapped between cover and the coil.

The knobs are still tight it's the yellow top of the knob that fell off already.

I never leave it in the sun ever and I wash it after every use in fresh water.

In all I've probably got less than 15 hours on the machine in 3 1/2 weeks I've owned it.