Garrett Infinium Forum Classroom

i have a question about the infinium. so far my experience has been a absolute nightmare after waiting 4 weeks for it to arrive, brand new out of the box the machine was shutting off when set to lock position. then it was shipped back to garrett for repairs...got it yesterday after another 4 weeks there! and to make it worse i also bought and paid for a 14/10 mono coil that was suppose to ship back with it, i got a paid receipt for the coil but NO coil in the box..wtf...but anyway my question is (stock dd coil on it) when following the instructions for ground balancing starting with fast...which it calms down after a few minutes...i can the switch to slow...sometimes the threshold will raise up loudly..then calm down after a few minutes...so when i go into lock now it also raises up again loudly...my question is....is this normal??? also i only hunt salt water beaches in nj. also checked frequency which was dead silence so i am assuming this is good...thanks in advance for any help

I suggest you go to the prospecting forum and ask Steve. He is most knowlegeable regarding the Infinium and has
a link on the Infinium... It could be the coil is being shipped in another box... Garrett will make it right.

It depends on how "Loudly" it raises , what threshold are U talking ? Also - I know of Nobody more knowledgeable than Fishers Ghost (Adrian ) ivanll & a couple of others . Anybody who has used it as their PRIMARY Detector knows it well. (Not occasionally with 5 others) . Finny is like ML use , have to spend time to Get it Tuned optimally. Ken~Digs

my threshold is usally between 4 and 5....(loudly sounds like almost max threshold) when switched into lock threshold will ramp loud but it will quiet down after a minute..i just dont know if this is normal..also now im in day 2 using the machine since it was shipped back, machine gave for beeps indicating full charge and died after 3.5 hours of hunting,thought maybe bad batterys so today i used my recharable bettery pack 4 beeps all good...well it died on me today after 3.5 hours! does this sound normal?

HI matt/nj.

There is nothing normal about your infinium.

The fault you have described could be caused by either the coil and cable, the control box or the batteries.

The detector switching off by itself could possibly be the batteries being flat or faulty or bad battery contact in the battery holder.

For starters:
Inspect the battery holder for bad or dirty contacts. Have a look in the control box battery compartment and make sure there is no sign of corrosion or damaged contacts.

Check the coil plugs and sockets for any evidence of damage of any type. Are the pins straight, Is the insulation damaged, Is the plug pushed fully home into the socket.

Next:
get rid of the rechargeables and install some good qual alkalines and try the detector again. Be sure to get the 4 battery check tones.
With the Disc control at zero, switch on straight through to LOCK, the threshold should settle after approx 3 or 4 seconds. If there is any elec interference you should be able to hear it with the threshold set to 5 or 6 and Disc at Zero. At this point the threshold should not be loud.
If the Disc is set above 4 you may hear some serious loud drawn out tones, this is normal.

If the detector is still going nuts as you described then you can rule out the batteries.

Switch the detector off and disconnect the coil and then switch on again as per in the first instance. The detector should give the 4 battery check tones and then you should hear some fairly loud somewhat drawn out irregular high and low tones that continue without settling to the normal threshold level. If these tones are the same in every way as the tones you discribed then you may have a faulty control box.

If there is a noticable change to the tones then possibly your 10 x 14 DD is a dud.

This is a very very rough check but it will give a clue as to whether the fault is in the coil or the control box.

In any case I suggest that you talk again to Garrett and send the coil and control box in for a check up.


,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 06:08AM by Fishers Ghost.

thanks for the info fishers ghost, i spoke with garrett tech support yesterday and they said the ramping up when switching into lock was normal??? but get this on a seperate note now im really extremely @#$%& off...my 14/10 mono arrived today and took it out to the beach, it wouldnt calm down at all it gave 4 beeps when turning on but when i tried to shut down and restart it would not beep anymore so once again i thought bad batterys...put new batterys in still ran uncontrolable...so i disconected the coil and the machine worked then i tested it with the dd coil which worked...so now first i get a brand new machine out of the box thats broke and now repaired maybe??? now i get a brand new coil bad!!!!! and i did check the pins and connections which are fine...now its 3 months since i paid for this piece of junk that i cant even use i feel like i got robbed for my money. it blows my mind that they can still be in business..so now i need to call them and send it in again! maybe i will get to use it next year

How sure are you that there is not strong electrical interference where you are trying the detector?
When you first switch on through to Lock the threshold will go high and then come down to a normal setting over a period of a few seconds. If there is elec interference the threshold may not settle down at all.
If there is significant external electrical interference then the threshold will be going loud and soft and changing between high and low tones in a random manner.
If you switch on and get the correct battery beeps and then switch off and on again straight away then you will not get the battery check tones, the detector will be working OK even though the battery check did not sound. If you wait a good 3 seconds or more and then switch on you will once again get the battery beeps.

It is beginning to sound as though the beach you are on has a lot of elec interference and the INF may not be usable there. Changing to the 8 inch mono or the 5 x 10 DD may be what you need to do at that particular location..

My Inf is unusable in my home location when fitted with the big DD or mono but runs reasonably well with the 5 x 10 DD

Matt,

I got a call yesterday from my friend Matt ( same name as you !) and he stated he met up with Steve and possibly you ( he stated you were there with an Infinium...I asked if you still had the Bliss and he said no. Guess that did not work out for you).

I hunt with my Infinium all the time and don't have these issues, so maybe we should meet up one day and compare how things are running. I strictly use the 10x14 mono on mine, and have found some really nice stuff with it.

If this is you, we met at the Minelab dinner in A.C...I was at your table.

The Infinum is going to take a while to learn, but we should make sure it's running right first.

John

A get together is a most sensible suggestion there should be more off it !................ her is to a good outcome

ivanll

yes john that is me! here is my update on the infinium, i tested it again today in the middle of nowhere, still running out of whack...called garrett after that and explained i didnt want it repaired (i dont believe a brand new unit should be repaired twice) there was no problem at all with their tech support understanding the situation i shipped back everything from shaft to the dvd...they are going to give me a brand new unit and 14/10mono coil...keeping my fingers crossed it will all work out fine and i can begin a serious hunt. i know this machine is capable of great things when working properly! and yes we should all get together and hunt sometime soon

I am getting ready for the Fall/Winter season and cant' wait to get out. Haven't been out in a long time.

Let me know when you guys are planning some trips and where, and hopefully I can get out there soon to join you.

Hopefully you get a stable and correct unit. Sounded like something was not right with the first one. I know the Infinium can be a bit 'chatty' in certain situations, but for the most part, if runs very stable in the wet sand. Key is run through the freq check procedure, then the Fast/Slow gb process , lock in and sweep slow. I am sure you did all that and it still did not seem right, so glad you packed it up and sent it back. Garrett will take care of you I am sure.

For most all of the beaches I have hunted with it, the discrim was in the 1-2 range, threshold 6-8 range. Some spots I did have to up the discrim to about 2.5 to smooth out the threshold, but it will still hit deep low conductive targets at that setting.

Out of all the coils ( I have used them all) I think the 10x14 mono is the best for our beaches. Matter of fact, I sold the DD and 8 inch mono I had, and only have the 10x14 mono on mine.

Hope to see you guys soon.

Quote
therover
I am getting ready for the Fall/Winter season and cant' wait to get out. Haven't been out in a long time.

Let me know when you guys are planning some trips and where, and hopefully I can get out there soon to join you.

Hopefully you get a stable and correct unit. Sounded like something was not right with the first one. I know the Infinium can be a bit 'chatty' in certain situations, but for the most part, if runs very stable in the wet sand. Key is run through the freq check procedure, then the Fast/Slow gb process , lock in and sweep slow. I am sure you did all that and it still did not seem right, so glad you packed it up and sent it back. Garrett will take care of you I am sure.

For most all of the beaches I have hunted with it, the discrim was in the 1-2 range, threshold 6-8 range. Some spots I did have to up the discrim to about 2.5 to smooth out the threshold, but it will still hit deep low conductive targets at that setting.

Out of all the coils ( I have used them all) I think the 10x14 mono is the best for our beaches. Matter of fact, I sold the DD and 8 inch mono I had, and only have the 10x14 mono on mine.

Hope to see you guys soon.

It's still refreshing to see such a "Great Bunch Of People & Help" available on these forums!!!

matt/nj & parrot , looks to me like about All the help You need has showed up at this Topic. Keep askin' & You'll keep getting good medicine , Ken~Digs

Mira at Garrett takes care of business just ask me or au / Ray we both got new 8" monos . . ..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2012 11:55PM by Ken~Digs.

Sounds to me like there could be several things going on with this Finny.These tones can come from having a target under the coil during boot-up especially aluminum. Also, they can come from EMI (ELECTRO MAGNETIC INTERFERENCE) and on a beach maybe highly mineralized wet salty sand that is hi in sulfides. The lack of battery check is no big deal. I think most Finny users have experienced this. Switching directly to lock when booting up, letting the Finny boot-up, then switch to fast or slow for GB is a possible solution for reducing noise. The battery check feature has a very narrow detent and when switching on it might be missed or only partially activated. Ignore it if you have an idea of battery freshness it's not critical. Patience with this machine will be the best solution. Even experienced swingers have a hard adjustment to this machine. If you master it you will find many goodies.

---

Ray Giroux

{ If you dig it out pack it back in }


Infinium LS
Garrett AT Gold
Vibra-probe 580 (PI technology, waterproof, bulletproof - one 9v batt last forever)
Lesche trowel ---

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't.