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Explorer XS at the beach
- Thread starter Yankees
- Start date
bgscofield6
New member
What coil are you using on it? I've hunted in the water with my XS before and the stock 1050 coil. It worked great. The 15" WOT coil did get chattery though on the wet sand.
Have you tried turning your sensitivity down?
As for a beach program, leave your screen wide open and dig every signal that isn't iron.
Have you tried turning your sensitivity down?
As for a beach program, leave your screen wide open and dig every signal that isn't iron.
I agree with scofield. Sounds like you have your sens. too high the amout of minerals, wet, and salt. Drop down to about 15. Even lower if you're seeing metalic black/grey colored sand. And in extreme conditions you might have to go auto-mode. But if you do that, you're dropping to perhaps 4" deep on a coin 
Keep your coil slightly off the sand (so you're hovering a fraction of an inch), and move the coil very slowly so you can allow the machine time to react and process/balance to the cr*ppy minerals. As far as other settings, go ferrous, with the screen wide open, and dig anything that's not iron.
Keep your coil slightly off the sand (so you're hovering a fraction of an inch), and move the coil very slowly so you can allow the machine time to react and process/balance to the cr*ppy minerals. As far as other settings, go ferrous, with the screen wide open, and dig anything that's not iron.
Charles (Upstate NY)
Well-known member
What is your sens set to and more importantly what is your gain is set to? And eve more importantly be advised the stock XS coil is NOT waterproof. That shell is hollow inside, as soon as salt water gets a path to the coil shielding inside the shell the machine will false and be a royal pain in the ass. Repeated salt water exposure will ruin the coil, it corrodes the shield drain wire. I highly recommend you get either the solid epoxy SE coil or the newer SE Pro coil for the beach. Have I mentioned the SE Pro coil is the BEST beach coil!!!!!!!!!
That said I hunt the NJ shore all the time with an Explorer SE and a Pro coil. Here are some thoughts. I run my sens at 26 and my gain at 7, sometimes I drop my gain to 6, depends on falsing. With my sens at 26 the machine is NOT going to sound rock solid quiet like a Sovereign. But with these settings I can get tiny targets, and I mean tiny. I also get DEEEEP targets, I nearly had to call life flight to rescue me last night after digging 4 monsteriously deep holes. Deeper than you would want to dig more than twice in one hunt.
If I want more stability the first thing I will try is dropping my gain. Here's the thing about gain, gain boosts tiny signals and there are plenty of tiny false signals to be had on a NJ beach, a bit of seaweed, foam, tip your coil slightly on the wet sand, reverse direction at the end of your coil too fast, but these false signals compared to a real target like a coin and ring are puny. Out on the beach you get a much stronger signal than inland in the dirt. So what you can do is back off the gain, this won't make the false signals go away, but it will make them so quiet that they are easily ignored. Rings, coins, etc. will still sound off very loud in comparison. The only time I would not want to reduce my gain is when I'm hunting small gold chains but that is slow and tedious so I don't hunt them every time out.
The other thing you have to watch out for on the NJ shore, at least in Atlantic city south to Cape May is the jet black sand, its high mineral content will give the machine a fit. Either go slow and deal with it, or drop your sens, its a tough sand to hunt, its typically worse at the base of a dune after some erosion. I have seen it several inches thick.
That said I hunt the NJ shore all the time with an Explorer SE and a Pro coil. Here are some thoughts. I run my sens at 26 and my gain at 7, sometimes I drop my gain to 6, depends on falsing. With my sens at 26 the machine is NOT going to sound rock solid quiet like a Sovereign. But with these settings I can get tiny targets, and I mean tiny. I also get DEEEEP targets, I nearly had to call life flight to rescue me last night after digging 4 monsteriously deep holes. Deeper than you would want to dig more than twice in one hunt.
If I want more stability the first thing I will try is dropping my gain. Here's the thing about gain, gain boosts tiny signals and there are plenty of tiny false signals to be had on a NJ beach, a bit of seaweed, foam, tip your coil slightly on the wet sand, reverse direction at the end of your coil too fast, but these false signals compared to a real target like a coin and ring are puny. Out on the beach you get a much stronger signal than inland in the dirt. So what you can do is back off the gain, this won't make the false signals go away, but it will make them so quiet that they are easily ignored. Rings, coins, etc. will still sound off very loud in comparison. The only time I would not want to reduce my gain is when I'm hunting small gold chains but that is slow and tedious so I don't hunt them every time out.
The other thing you have to watch out for on the NJ shore, at least in Atlantic city south to Cape May is the jet black sand, its high mineral content will give the machine a fit. Either go slow and deal with it, or drop your sens, its a tough sand to hunt, its typically worse at the base of a dune after some erosion. I have seen it several inches thick.
bgscofield6
New member
I would probably listen to Charles about the stock coil on the XS not being waterproof. I only used it on a couple of occasions on a trip to Florida several years ago. It worked great for me and I had no falsing with it, but that's not to say that that wouldn't happen over time.
S
stoneshirt
Guest
Hmmmm.I've used my XS on half the Beachs in the World(Water to my Knees)for around 7 years and never had a Problem,what does that mean??
SteveP(NH)
New member
I have had an XS with the stock coil since 2001 and I have used it at the beach, submersing the stock coil frequently, and have never had a problem with it. I bought the machine used from someone who bought it new when it first hit the market so this coil is 10 years old now. This is the first time I have ever heard someone say it isn't waterproof. I was just at the beach yesterday and dunked the coil quite a few times without any issues. My XS has always been as stable as a rock at the beach unless I put the sens in manual and crank it up all the way. I usually set it to semi-auto and have that set at 24 or so and never have any issues.
I too wondered what the heck someone was talking about to say that ANY of the Explorer versions coils weren't waterproof. They all are, as they are on ANY detector sold nowadays. Ie: submersible up to the non-water-proof box anyhow.
I think the confusion is this: If you submerse the Explorer, and therefore have water droplets all over the shaft, coil, etc... Then lift the coil straight up into the air (as you might do when the ebbing water/waves comes rushing around you, and you momentarily can't detect), then the water droplets come DOWN the inside of the shaft, and enter in the non-water-proof box.
If you take apart the shaft assemblies, and un-hook the cables from the box, you will see what I mean. It's an accident waiting to happen. So when I am water hunting, and I go to lift my coil for any reason, I never lift it more than 90* straight out in front of me.
I think the confusion is this: If you submerse the Explorer, and therefore have water droplets all over the shaft, coil, etc... Then lift the coil straight up into the air (as you might do when the ebbing water/waves comes rushing around you, and you momentarily can't detect), then the water droplets come DOWN the inside of the shaft, and enter in the non-water-proof box.
If you take apart the shaft assemblies, and un-hook the cables from the box, you will see what I mean. It's an accident waiting to happen. So when I am water hunting, and I go to lift my coil for any reason, I never lift it more than 90* straight out in front of me.
paralelo27
New member
Dear Tom,
today I posted in the Safari/Quattro forum just on this subject.
You should read it and see the picture.
Looks like Charles is right.
today I posted in the Safari/Quattro forum just on this subject.
You should read it and see the picture.
Looks like Charles is right.
Dancin' Dave
New member
The stock coils are waterproof on all of the Explorer models up to the connector that fastens to the control box. MineLab states this in their user manuals. However, this is only true if the seals on the coil are in tact and the coil housing is undamaged (no cuts, cracks, or pin holes). It is always a good idea to carefully inspect your coil and cable before sticking it into the water. It's also not a good idea to take a coil that has been heated up by the sun or laying inside a hot car and stick it in cold water. This may create a vacuum inside the coil causing a few drops of water to be pulled inside around the seal where the cable goes in. A couple of quick dips in the water to allow the temperature to stabilize should prevent this from happening.
Tom has a good point about not lifting the coil. It's real easy for water to run down the inside of the shaft and get into the control box.
I agree with SteveP concerning using Semi-auto mode. The conductivity of beach sand can vary a lot due to salt and patches of black sand. I usually set my sensitivity to a manual setting when dirt hunting but the beach is one condition where Semi-auto can really help.
HH
DD
Tom has a good point about not lifting the coil. It's real easy for water to run down the inside of the shaft and get into the control box.
I agree with SteveP concerning using Semi-auto mode. The conductivity of beach sand can vary a lot due to salt and patches of black sand. I usually set my sensitivity to a manual setting when dirt hunting but the beach is one condition where Semi-auto can really help.
HH
DD
SteveP(NH)
New member
You seem to be making the assumption that a coil has to be epoxy filled in order to be waterproof. That is not correct. Many companies (Minelab included) make waterproof coils that are hollow. Another example is that all Garrett coils are waterproof whether they are epoxy or not.
Also just because your coil failed and started leaking at the cable connection doesn't mean that all will. My explorer XS coil is 10 years old and it doesn't leak. I get good depth at a salt water/black sand beach, in fact the biggest problem I run into is that sometimes I hit targets that are too deep to dig as the hole fills with water and caves in too fast to recover targets that are more then 10 or 12 inches (going by the explorer's depth indicator).
Perhaps the reason is that Minelab coils used to be manufactured to better standards in the past and so old coils are waterproof while newer (non epoxy) ones are not.
Also just because your coil failed and started leaking at the cable connection doesn't mean that all will. My explorer XS coil is 10 years old and it doesn't leak. I get good depth at a salt water/black sand beach, in fact the biggest problem I run into is that sometimes I hit targets that are too deep to dig as the hole fills with water and caves in too fast to recover targets that are more then 10 or 12 inches (going by the explorer's depth indicator).
Perhaps the reason is that Minelab coils used to be manufactured to better standards in the past and so old coils are waterproof while newer (non epoxy) ones are not.
Steve and Dave, thanx for chiming in. I agree with you that all coils are waterproof, at least up till they enter the box. I can not figure out what paralelo is saying. I've used my explorer XS on the beach, sticking my coil in-&-out of the water all the time, with no problems.
paralelo27
New member
I understand your point of view, but I here have to give you the Minelab position, in their words:
"The Quattro coils are not waterproof, as they are not epoxy filled. They can handle a small splash of water, or a light rain, but
have never been recommended to be used underwater. "
Then, I told them about Mr. Sabbisch's book, where at page 88 the coil is said to be as waterproof.
Today, I worked out to fix the coil, and found something else, as described in a reply to my own post in the other forum.
"The Quattro coils are not waterproof, as they are not epoxy filled. They can handle a small splash of water, or a light rain, but
have never been recommended to be used underwater. "
Then, I told them about Mr. Sabbisch's book, where at page 88 the coil is said to be as waterproof.
Today, I worked out to fix the coil, and found something else, as described in a reply to my own post in the other forum.
george decker
New member
I had no idea that the minelab coils were not waterproof, are u sure?