Battery life heads up

[nagov]

I once had a Ford Mustang and you seemed to be able to go forever on gas UNTIL the gas gauge dropped below the "F".... from that point on you needed to be looking for a gas station.... Well, it appears that my ATX is quite like that Mustang, once it gets to 3 beeps, you don't have long to go.

I went out today for my second hunt with the ATX, when I turned on the unit, I got the 4 beeps so I figured that I was good to go for most of the day since the total hours on the batteries that came inside the unit were 5 hours of hunting and maybe a half hour of bench/air testing. I'm sure Garrett has the batteries inside the machine when you get it because they run tests on them, how long I don't know or care, the whole reason for this post is to let everyone know that you need to carry your spare battery packs, don't get caught up with the thinking "I'm good to go, I got 4 beeps".... I got just under 2 hours before the low battery LED came on and was shortly followed by the low battery alarm every minute or so.....

So just be forewarned, count your hours on fresh batteries to find out how long you can go per set..... and carry your spare batteries when you are getting close to the end of battery life especially if you are going to be far from the vehicle.

Cliff

 

[John-Edmonton]

Once that waning light with the beeps starts, it's time to change the batteries. I noticed that too. So, I usually run rechargeables in mine, so I always recharge them before my hunt and always carry an extra set with me in the field.

 

[frog21]

I have changed batteries a few times on my machine now and so far I am getting about 8 hours on fresh alkalines and 7 hours on freshly charged rechargables . That was with heavy use of the iron check and a lot of pinpointing while learning the machine. I was using Gray Ghost headphones.

 

[nagov]

I have changed batteries a few times on my machine now and so far I am getting about 8 hours on fresh alkalines and 7 hours on freshly charged rechargables . That was with heavy use of the iron check and a lot of pinpointing while learning the machine. I was using Gray Ghost headphones.

Well, that would be about what I got out of my first set of batteries, right around 8 hours... always had the headphones on, did a lot of pinpointing and iron checking...I'm all set up now with two complete sets of rechargeables.

I guess one can assume....(I hate using that word) that if you are running it with a higher sensitivity that may shorten the battery life also?


Cliff

 

[steve herschbach]

Just ran two days in a row on a freshly recharged set of rechargeables, about 5 hours day before yesterday, and about 6 hours yesterday. No headphones, max gain. Never got low battery warning but I must be close. The batteries have cycled a few times now.