Garrett AT Pro coil problems..

[willy]

I just got my AT Pro and was informed (after I bought it) that the coil exhibited some problems. Anyway, I put the detector together, turned it on and, sure 'nuff, holding the coil up a bit and twisting it from side to side made the coil false like crazy! Oh noes! Well, I decided to try something out and ground balanced it. Verdict? ..NO NOISE! It came from Texas and, it seems, the ground there is pretty mild. The ground here is totally opposite and has me wondering if there's a geographical distribution to the reports of troublesome coils? Might be that, in exceedingly low mineralisation, the GB might be so outta whack that the coil is picking up extraneous noise. I dunno, but it sounds like a reasonable bit of BS. Will still have to try it on grass to see if it falses, but the weather is lousy right now. Maybe some of the 'problems' people seem to be encountering could be solved by adjusting the GB. Just a thought. ..Willy.

 

[Jason in TN]

Mine falses when twisted back and forth but is fine when hunting I do not really see it as a problem as I do not twist it back and forth when hunting.
Say yours quit after ground balancing? That is interesting.

Jason

 

[Southwind]

Same here Jason. Mine gives a false signal when I twist my wrist, but I have yet to have any problems why actually hunting.

 

[Woodchuck]

Everybody has heard about that problem. But why twist it back in forth like that to begin with? its not like you search for items that way . To me its a no brainer,thats being pounded into the ground,taking away from the detectors good points,along with other nit picking IMHO

 

[willy]

Well, there are situations where that exact motion, and orientation, would be used. When I nugget hunt I often detect cut-banks and steep embankments.. the detector being near horizontal and using the twisting motion while drawing back to pinpoint. ..Willy.

 

[JOE in MD]

Mine does the same thing. I tried it when I heard about the issue. Went out into the woods held it up and moved it back and forth. Falsing. Put it on the ground to detect and it works perfect. Thats good enough for me.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Of all of the detectors I have owned (3 none have evere falsed when the coil had slight twisting force applied, Including tha K Mart and Dick Smith specials and the coils I made myself. So if the AT Pro coils false then there is a bit of a design problem in regards to the rigidity of the coil winding/housing. or maybe the unit is simply estremely sensitive.

 

[willy]

I would say sensitive because it only seemed to false when horizontal (with me that is). When held in the air it would make for a better antenna. ..Willy.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Tis a thought Willy and worth a try.

Bill

 

[willy]

Well, it's just something I noticed and, if I remember correctly, GB'ing a detector is kinda like adding a bit of disc. That nit of disc. might also cancel out some extremely weak interference, be it only that produced by the earth itself (magnetic). If a detector has the sensitivity really jacked up, it might just sound of and orientation might also be a factor; kinda like what PI's are supposed to do at times. It's kinda suspicious, to my mind, that this 'problem' seems to go away when the coil is either lowered to the ground or GB'd. I also wonder if Dankowski, with his infamous 'coil falsing' due to inadequate shielding report, was hunting in low/no mineralisation and if he bothered to adjust the GB to see if there was any difference. ..Willy.

 

[John LA]

My coil acted the same way. I put tape on the lower shaft so that the coil didn't wobble so much. The noise is mostly gone now.

 

[willy]

How 'bout isolating that all-important first winding? One advantage of camlocks is that the shaft is prevented from twisting and thus loosening the coil cord windings. ..Willy.

 

[Paul (Ca)]

Same here Willy,

Out in the field have no issues with coil falsing, Can run sens at max sometimes or minus one bar the AT Pro operates smooth.

AT Pro owners, Don't let the indoor falsing or coil wire wigging falsing alarm you out in the field the AT Pro reacts different. Plus, In addition to a proper GB use the Frequency Adjustment to obtain the highest sensitivity it sure clams her down selecting the proper freq. setting.

I've never seen a detector smooth out so quickly using the Frequency Adjustment as the AT Pro does, Clams her down in the snap of a finger.

Paul (Ca)

 

[khouse]

I you go to the big auction site and search for "garrett shaft lock" you'll see what some of us are using. Works great.

 

[synthnut]

I have had coil issues from day one ....I contacted Garrett about it , and they claim that the coil will false when twisted in the air is "normal " and that DD coils are more prone to this situation, and there are other coils that do the same thing ......... This being said , the coil will also false when stopped abruptly to change direction .....It will also false when bumped into any sapplings or such when woods hunting ...... IN their defense , they offered to let me send the machine back to them , but since everyone elses machine is acting pretty much like mine is , I opted NOT to have the machine sent back .... Since they are saying that this coil falsing like it does is "NORMAL ", I saw no sense in sending it back ...... Every machine I have owned ( and there have been a few of them ) that have DD coils have NEVER exibitted this kind of problem .....Many of them are cheaper machines, and many are more expensive mechines , but NONE of them have exhibitted this problem ..... When there is ANY problem with noise in a coil whether it be EFI conditions or a short , or any other problem , the noise will get louder as the Sensitivity is turned up ...... If you hit a target , the target will come in loud and clear ....If you have a short or any other problem , as the sensitivity is turned up , it will also become LOUDER !!.... You will not hear the coil false when twisting the coil , or bumping sapplings , or bumping the coil on the ground , or stopping it short to change direction , if you turn the Sensitivity down ...... Turn the sensitivity up , and you hear the problem loud and clear ...... All this is saying is that the problem is there, and it will get louder as the Sensitivity is turned up ....... There are a couple of theories that are going around by reputable people in the industry who have seen and heard of this problme before ...... I don't think that anything will ever be done about this as Garrett considers this as "Normal " behaviour ......The coil still finds good targets , so people accept this behaviour as NORMAL, so everyone will continue to live with this situation ... ..... I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for any fixes , and will wait for other proven theories to show themselves over time ....... For now , I will hunt with my AT Pro and deal with the falsing, and will continue to find good targets .....Other issues with the arm cuff being too short , and the lower rod wobble , will be addressed when I build a straignt shaft setup for the AT PRo ..... Im already use to the coil and headphone connectors , so that's not an isse anymore ....Some don't like the headphones , but I have not had any problems with them ......Take away that falsing issue , and I'm a happy camper ....This machine is growing on me !!..... Jim

 

[Uncle Willy]

Have any of you tried taping the cable straight up the shaft for about afoot or so? Garrett coils will pick up the slightest movement of that cable.

Bill

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Of all of the detectors I have owned (3 none have evere falsed when the coil had slight twisting force applied, Including tha K Mart and Dick Smith specials and the coils I made myself. So if the AT Pro coils false then there is a bit of a design problem in regards to the rigidity of the coil winding/housing. or maybe the unit is simply estremely sensitive.

Where the smiley is in my previous post should read Thirty eight. Not sure how the smiley got there. I didn't put it there, so how secure are these posts?

Fishers Ghost

 

[synthnut]

U. Willy,
That was the first thing I did .....I have the coil wire off of the control box for now as I am transferring things over to my straight shaft that will not have the AT Pro "wobble" in it .....It's a very tight fit .......This is the reason you see a more relaxed cable ( a little bit of slack ) above the white nylon ties .... Normally the wire is tight to the shaft to make sure there is no movement in the coil wire .... I'm trying everything short of building my own coil to eliminate this darn falsing .......Jim

 

[jbow]

if someone changed your post they should, I think, have notified you and given you a reason why. If there is a reason for someone to think they need to change it then obviously you need to know what you did wrong so you will know not to do it again. I cannot imagine why anyone would object to you saying how many detectors you have owned. Over sensitivity always makes me wonder if there really is something wrong.

Things like this really put me off.. I have a bithday coming up and had added an AT to my list (I have a wonderful wife) but now I am unsure again.. it seems dishonest. I certainly don't blame Garrett but if someone changed your post over something like the number of detectors you have owned... it stinks. You should have gotten a note explaining.

Now, i've probably said too much.

J

 

[hsjrev]

Typing a 8 and a ) right next to each other makes a smiley with glasses. Just like typing a colon : and a ) together makes a regular smiley Nobody changed the post, it just had a combination of figures that shows up as one of the various smiley faces. I don't think the Garret corporation is going on forums and changing the number of detectors that people have owned.