Black Sand Beach Shut My Machine Down

[Critterhunter]

Yesterday I went to a beach that had suffered winter erosion. Previously at this beach I noticed that I didn't get as good of depth as other beaches due to the somewhat rust colored sand due to iron. When I got there I noticed large patches of black sand from the erosion. Tried to hunt over this stuff and was getting false coin hits all over the place due to it. Even tried running in Auto with no luck. This was the first time I've ever had my GT not be able to handle the ground, where as I've had no problem hunting over black sand with it at places in the past. I think there is microscopic iron mixed in the black sand making it 10 times worse than normal black sand. My friend with his Etrac said that he also wasn't able to hunt that beach in those areas. This is a first for me. First time the GT couldn't compensate for the ground conditions.

 

[GunnarMN]

THATS WHAT THE ALL METAL IS FOR you just walked away from a gold ring , da gon it

 

[calibil]

Well out here in some cali beaches there are places that have some emi and then its time to break out the tdi. Always good to have a plan B detector. My sov or excal works 90% of the time out here.
Could always be that dang H.A.A.R.P machine cranked up again.

 

[Critterhunter]

I've tried hunting in all metal at the beach but being freshwater there are just too many iron signals to be messing with it.

 

[dbsmokey]

Welcome to the "normal" soil conditions in Oregon; this is why my Sov is long gone! The soils shut down the Sov on a frequent basis, enough that md was no longer enjoyable for me (well the tangle of cords and weight also played a part, admittedly.) I am using a much more stable, "inferior" machine now. I have loved my excal on land, but because of communication/customer support issues, am abandoning the Minelab brand for others that are superior in this regard.

 

[Critterhunter]

What machine have you found that will handle bad ground better than a Minelab? Never heard anybody ever say they left Minelab because another machine was able to handle bad ground better....Unless it was a PI.

 

[dbsmokey]

What machine have you found that will handle bad ground better than a Minelab? Never heard anybody ever say they left Minelab because another machine was able to handle bad ground better....Unless it was a PI.

Perhaps I should have toned my response down a bit. I don't think I am allowed to compare brands. I apologize. PM me and I can tell you what I use; or, you can read my signature....

In my experience, which admittedly is far less than others, I have found greater enjoyment metal detecting without constant nulling from iron-laden soils (irrespective of an iron mask switch setting or swing speed), soils of which are nearly inescapable in Oregon; having found more nice items without this nulling, constant tangle of cords and unnecessary machine weight. Now, had I tried a smaller-than-stock coil, I might have met a different result. However, I had several other beefs with the Sov, some of which seemed unsolvable and, for me, trying other machines has rekindled the enjoyment of metal detecting.

I am confident that the Sov is an outstanding machine in certain soils; maybe even superior to others, given the right circumstances. I am merely claiming it didn't suit my needs and I have found alternatives that make me much happier. I have heard from engineers (who don't work for the manufacturers of the brand(s) I use) echo my opinions.

 

[Critterhunter]

Don't feel like you have to keep your opinions held back. Always like to hear the pros and cons of various machines in people's view.

 

[nagov]

Critter, I've hunted some fresh water black sand with the GT and have had it null out over the sand but I continue to hunt it but with a slower swing. I've made some pretty old coin finds in the black sand and now on purpose head for it when I find it. My thought on it is that most detectors don't work well over it so the potential is there to make some good finds. Now when I hit a coin in the black sand the detector does not sound off like a coin in cleaner sand, it sounds more like a grunt. That is when I really slow down to isolate the signal and dig. Last old coins were buffalo nickles, one of which was a silver war nickle. What does sound different to me is the "getting false coin hits all over the place" comment, It would be interesting to get together with you to see how my GT reacts to the same spot.

Cliff

 

[Critterhunter]

I didn't even have to move the coil. The machine was going off like crazy and was giving me coin IDs without even moving the coil. Even trying Auto didn't help. It was like you were over a large piece of metal or something. I've been able to hunt black sand before with no real issues except for turning down sensitivity. Like I said, I think this stuff also had microscopic rust mixed in with it because this beach doesn't give me as good of depth as other beaches and I've noticed rust tint to the sand here and there before.

 

[Suncoast Kid]

That was what I was thinking, a smaller coil, might be enough to where you could at least hunt.

 

[Critterhunter]

Good idea. Smaller coils can see through really bad ground better and get more depth and better IDs in some situations. Just saw that the other day where my S-5 coil was able to hunt at full sensitivity without nulling in an area that had some gravel hot rocks here and there mixed into the soil, while the 12x10 was nulling a lot even at low sensitivity settings due to seeing too many of the hot rocks at the same time under the coil. I also remember on my QXT Pro that there were a few spots where the 9.5" coil got lousy depth and bad IDs, while the 5 or 6" coil was able to get more depth and better IDs on targets. These spots were either very mineralized soil or had black sand mixed in it. I don't see this problem as much on Minelabs, but it still exists to some extent.

I remember Crazyman saying that in his very mineralized soil he got more depth with his 8" coil than the 10" Tornado. I have a feeling that there are some types of ground where that will very well be the case. Read of guys getting coins 9 to 12" deep with an 8" coil on the Sovereign. Have to wonder if some larger coils would struggle to get that kind of depth in some of the same soils if they were bad.

Seen something related with the 15x12 coil in my soil. Seemed to get it's best depth at around 1:30 to 3PM on the dial even if say 9 or 10PM was stable. I think higher sensitivity settings were lighting up too much of the ground matrix glare and causing targets to null or degrade.