Can I come in & play? :)

[Bill Ladd]

Just got me a used Infinium. I had always been curious about one, having seen relic hunters do really well with them in the red clays of Virginia for Civil War relics. That iron oxide clay is nasty, and some detectors won't even hear a bullet on top of the ground......but the guys with Infiniums clean up.
Having just been certified to dive, & going to VA twice a year, getting an Infinium seemed like the logical choice for land & sea. This one came with the underwater phones, & the also the adaptor for my favorite land phones as well......
So, my first question would be about the coils. I have been reading all the old Infinium posts & reviews I can find online. Several mention getting new, more stable coils from garrett. Is there a way to tell the difference? This used unit came with the 8" mono, and also the stock DD. Would giving Garrett the serial # or something be the give away on how old the coils are? Or is some type of wiggling the coil cable the way to see if they are bad?
Also, the rechargeable batt. pack kinda sticks inside, but the sticker is still on it. Removing that sticker is OK right?
I'm sure I'll have many more questions as we go, so please bear with me (this is my first PI., & already the "long" tones are very different to my ears) I'm going to run a bunch of different items under the coil today to airtest sounds.
I'm also going to invite some of the VA relic hunters who use them over here to post as well as I think not many know this forum exisits yet....
thanks in advance,
Bill

 

[diggindirt]

Bill, nice to have you over here!!!

I've heard some were using the Infinium for relic hunting in your area, It does make sense that with all the coils available the Infinium would work well as described.

As far as the serial numbers go, yes Garrett made some upgrades over the years to make the machine run better. You should contact them to make sure all the latest changes apply to your detector.
The newest coils have been improved and many find them more stable than the older ones out there.

As soon as I get some time, I'll cut & paste some older posts with great tips and tricks I've read on various forums (many good tips on settings for beach hunting).

Thanks!!!

 

[John-Edmonton]

To he best of my knowledge, there were no improvements to the coils recently. The 8" mono is my favorite all around coil due to its depth and easy center pinpointing capabilities. The large "DD" gets nice depth and of course greater coverage. The mono is best for busy bodies of water, the large "DD" works well in quieter places. Now I have tried the 8" mono in the woods relic hunting, and it was just too trashy. Go figure, my VLF would run too quiet in zero disc, yet the 8" mono got too confusing, as there were too many targets. PI's just don't work well in trashy areas, as the coils tend to also pick up metal targets 4-5" from the coil. I had much better success using the 3" x 5" "DD" coil, which run much quieter and still got good depth. Go figure, the first hunt in the woods got me a gold plated ring containing a tigers eye. I also used it at a park I frequent with my daughter, which has a river going through it. I was just digging low-high signals in the waters edge gravel, and pulling out pennies and other modern clad.

You can date the machine with the serial number. Just call Garrett and the receptionist can plug that information into the computer and give you a DOM. Go ahead, remove the sticker. It helps. My buddy removed some of the plastic on the battery holder, which helped. usually, when they are warm after a charge, the have expanded and are the most difficult to work with. I have made a little thingy with a hard wire loop at the end. I just insert it into that center hole and out it comes.

I think you will like the machine once it starts making some sense to you. Have fun! And get a large shovel for land and a monster scoop for water. You will need it.

 

[Bill Ladd]

I was hoping someone had a tips/tricks type page somewhere.....

 

[Black Davy]

Bill,

The coils were updated a few years ago, I received coils from Garrett under warranty along with some other users. There really is no bad or good coil per say, if a coil is old and it works fine it is good. I use to belt mount my housing and the wire would constantly move and probably was the reason for the failure. When I did wiggle the cable at the housing connection it would give off false tones that was my sign to get help.