Are any of you using at pro in saltwater?

[Booty Hunter]

I have a beach nearby that has lots/too much iron in it to use my ATX. I was wondering how stable your AT pro runs in saltwater. Also, how well do you like it for dry and wet sand in saltwater environments? I'm debating on buying one but I'm not sure I'd be using it much. Especially is it can't handle heavy minerals and salt. Would love to hear feedback from those who work the beaches.

 

[dtsoutdoors]

I love my AT Pro but would not recommend it as a first choice for salt water (except the dry sand beaches). I've found that when I turn the sensitivity low enough to eliminate all the chatter, I have very shallow depth of detection. There have to better machines for salt water (but I think they are much more expensive than the AT Pros... just IMHO
HH
dts

 

[WaterWalker]

When using the ATX, if there is just too much iron to use the iron check button, dig it all, clean out the iron, there must be good items there unless the area has been well worked over with an Excalibur.

The ATPro works just fine in salt water, BUT depth does suffer greatly compared to a PI or BBS detector. Set GB to 15-18, lower the sensitivity to eliminate most of the falsing. On salt water beaches the DRY sand and the ARPro is a fabulous combination but drops to just OK over the wet sand. It will find targets in the wet salt sand and in the salt water, just not as deep as other detectors.

A used Excalibur might be a better way to go, especially if you do not plan to go dirt digging with the ATPro also. The choice of detector always is determined by the environment, conditions and type of target you are searching for. No one detector does it all.

 

[Leslie(nova scotia)]

Don't take my pro near any water! When doing salt water the way to go is a pulse induction machine...Seahunter MK11 my choice!

 

[Booty Hunter]

Thanks for the feedback. I have been thinking of trying out dirt digging, but not sure how well I'd like it. Tried it once with my ATX and found lots of iron. Would hate to buy an at pro and find out that I hate the dirt and can't use it anywhere else.

This particular beach is very rocky and near boats. So, it is hard to dig and full of boat trash/iron. I have seen an excal going over it, so my intent would be looking for fresh drops while avoiding the iron.

I also have a seahunter mark 2 but it cannot handle the hot rocks like the ATX can.

I do like the thought of hitting the dry sand with the AT Pro. Not much dry sand nearby but there is plenty 2 hours away. If I could disc. the iron I would try the dry sand. I spend 99% of my time now in the water. Also, the at pro would be much lighter than the ATX. Even though I chest mount the ATX, it still is very heavy to carry around. Not really sure how much good stuff is in the dry sand, but there must be some gold in there. At least that is what they say.

 

[Dancer]

Booty, I would bet there are some off beach sites that are ripe with coins, some gold, Silver rings. I'm talking parks, sport fields, school lots. Or have you already tried them. An At Pro, or a Ace250 thrive in these areas. If the locals have neglected these areas around you, could be a field day. As far as your iron infested beach, there's got to be a lot of masking going on. Pull tabs, aluminum slaw, nails, bolts etc. Never know until it's cleaned up. You can bet the easy stuff is gone.

 

[sandman256]

The ATP sucks in salt water it being only a one freq. detector. It'll work fine in the dry sand however. You can lower sensitivity when in the wet sand but lose a lot Of depth. But remember not all beaches are the same for salt content or black sand. The guys that claim their AT Pro works fine in wet saltwater sand don't have the experience to hunt allover.

 

[Leslie(nova scotia)]

Glad you found something that works for you. Thinking out side the box since my Seahunter is on the fritz...old and got my use out of it. send it back to Garrett or go ..Lord forbid to Minelab the folding pulse machine...cost is high and hard to find whatthe weight is.

Pro coil coming later next week and using the Freedom cdc and freedom 3 plus...............not sure if the new machines add up to those old beasts. Good luck me son!

 

[hrefab]

If I had a dollar for everyone who tells me that the AT Pro doesn't work in Salt Water, I'd buy a CTX3030 and have money left over for the tolls. I took my ATP to the south shore of Long Island (The Atlantic Ocean) and it works just fine on dry sand, Wet Sand, and in the water up to the control box (I didn't go any deeper as it was freezing out.). I didn't have to lower my sensitivity at all. I ground balanced with no problem and it had excellent depth. I took a gas cap out of 12" wet sand and a pull tab from about 9" in the water (I figure 3 scoops is about 9" when you factor in the sand collapse effect). Solid signals and as long as I wasn't banging the coil against the ocean floor, quite stable too.

So I say, if you have one, give it a try. Conditions are different all over so perhaps some places don't lend themselves to the ATP in Salt Water. I can tell you that Mine works as it should.

 

[tarajudy]

Mine also works ok in salt wates.

 

[Booty Hunter]

Well, I have convinced myself that dirt digging is worth a try. Just ordered the AT pro and the garrett carrot. Plus 2 quality digging tools, a Lesche T-Handle Serrated Shovel and Lesche Digging Tool Right Side Serrated. I will report back to this thread when I give the pro a shot at the iron infested beach. I'll still be running my ATX out in the water everywhere else though. Now, just need to find a handful of gold rings to justify the buy to my wife.

 

[hrefab]

Well, I have convinced myself that dirt digging is worth a try. Just ordered the AT pro and the garrett carrot. Plus 2 quality digging tools, a Lesche T-Handle Serrated Shovel and Lesche Digging Tool Right Side Serrated. I will report back to this thread when I give the pro a shot at the iron infested beach. I'll still be running my ATX out in the water everywhere else though. Now, just need to find a handful of gold rings to justify the buy to my wife.

You can't find the rings if you don't have the machine!

 

[Willee - Texas]

I have used my AT Pro at the beaches here in Corpus Christi Texas and in the water up to my waist.
It works fine.
Not as stable and deep as a Minelab Excalibur or Fisher CZ-20/21 but as good or better than some other single freq detectors.

You should look at the Fisher CZ-21 if you hunt 99% in the water.

 

[lasergod]

I recently started using a Tesoro SandShark. I have tried the At pro at the beach here in Cal.
It seems to work better in the park for me.

 

[mtdoramike]

Yes, I have used my AT pro in salt water and it works great as long as you ground balance it in the water. I have also found that if the surf is strong with a bit of wave action, the AT will tend to false a little, but you will still hit strong on targets. But if you choose to use your AT pro in salt water remember these rules:

1. Never, never submerge a hot or warm detector in water salt or fresh water. Wait until the control box cools off or else it could leak on you.
2. Always check the "O" rings on the connectors to make sure they are tight and not loose, if loose, replace them.
3. Use silicone grease on the connectors for the coil and headphones to ensure a nice tight proper seal with no crimping of the o rings.
4. Once finished with salt water hunting, rinse the control box and both connectors off immediately with fresh water to minimize corrosion.
5. Soak the water headphones in a bucket of fresh water for and hour to get the salt out of them and then hang them up to dry if they were submerged in salt water while hunting.

mike

 

[njdigger]

Bootý,
I just started hunting jersey saltwater beaches and was really surprised at how stable the at pro was. I am using the stock coil for the beach. I have to gb when I hit dry sand, then gb when in wet sand, then when actually in the water I gb again. I also run full sensitivity. This runs very stable for me. I've used the at pro for 3 yrs now and it performs well in most situations. I am very happy with its saltwater capabilities. I am glad I bought it. I gb at 13 when in saltwater. 35 in wet sand. Run pro custom, 30 disc, full sensitivity, iron audio on til my head can't take it any more. This machine has paid for itself twice over

 

[Eternity 79]

A friend of mine has the AT Pro and was having a great time in the ocean for around 45 minutes, then his detector flooded. I have personally found that my AT Pro and Gold have both started "lipping" on the front top of the control box. When speaking with Garrett about this I was told that I had left them in the sun. How does one get to where one wants to go without carrying them in the car. I go to the trouble of using old towels to protect all my detectors not only from the sun but also vibration etc.
I personally think the ABS plastic is not thick enough on the control box. Any other opinions would be greatly appreciated. Regards and as always a safe and productive hunt to all.
This is my first post. I like the setup of this site.

 

[tarajudy]

NEVER NEVER use a coil cover on the coil when using AT PRO in salt water. Salt and sand gets between the cover and coil and gives you more problems. I use mine mostly in fresh water75% and salt water beaches another 20% and land 5% with great results.
I do have a PI detector that I will use when staying down at the ocean Va. beach. Know what type of detecting you will be doing most of the time and BUY A DETECTOR FOR THAT USE.