Infinium LS 101 (A post from the past at another Forum)

[Cupajo]

My first Infinium LS was sent back in a few days as unable to work with the 8" loop at all and not stable with the stock DD loop. The second is much better however I spend much too much time trying to stabilize the signals to an acceptable level. I've followed every suggestion found in every forum from every expert on Infinium to no avail.

Two days ago I found the water calm and the tide low and waded out 10' from the beach to the usual hash of signals. I finally got the beast to settle down a bit as I moved from the uneven cobblestone bottom where I prefer to hunt, onto a sandy bottom with about 4-6" of sand. For the first time in about 20-25 hours of misery I was able to get a stable threshold tone and spent over an hour telling myself, you finally got it mate!!!

As I moved back to the cobble stone bottom the signal started to get lousy again and stayed that way until I moved on to deep sand 2-3' and deeper water (chest deep). The signal eased a bit but I still got odd bursts of tone that had no logical source and were not repeatable (as in a target signal). I still managed to tolerate the signal hash enough to retrieve a few coins and some small brass snaps etc. I was constantly working at re-ground balancing, and making every adjustment I've ever heard of from the afore mentioned sources (plus reps at Garrett home port) with no noticeable change.

Yesterday early I hit the water at the beginning of the last hour before dead low tide expecting a nice search as my aim was to go for the 3-6" sand and the stable signals I had rejoiced in the day before. I could not find a stable signal anywhere. I noticed that as the slow swells came in the tone was rising with the water level and falling as the depth fell!!! I am going to try the beast on dry land with the 8" loop I've been using and the DD loop too for coin shooting and if I once again find the perfect day I may try to find that elusive stable threshold tone, but I am not going to waste another good day of hunting trying to unscramble the signal hash or stabilize it.

Should I find that I'm unable to get an acceptable degree of satisfaction from other pursuits I will send the beast back to Garrett and request a Sea Hunter as replacement or perhaps a full refund. Life is too short for this waste of time and good tides!!!!

HH. Friends,
Cupajo

(No one gets 'em all, but I'm workin on it!!!)

PS: Thanks Mr. Bill!!!

 

[diggindirt]

Cupajo,

Please add all your 101 posts here as it shows the progress you made with the machine!!!

 

[Cupajo]

Re: Infinium LS 101 update
Posted by: diggindirt [ Send a PM ]
Date: May 28, 2008 09:53PM Registered: 2 years ago
Posts: 414

Cupajo,

sorry to hear you're having a difficult time with your new machine. It sure sounds like something is wrong with either the detector or the coil.

When you sent the machine back to Garrett were the coils replaced too?


Thanks!


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Re: Infinium LS 101 update
Posted by: steve herschbach [ Send a PM ]
Date: May 29, 2008 01:24AM Registered: 2 years ago
Posts: 561

Hi Cupajo,

I may be one of the first Infinium fans, but I always had issues with false signals. Word is new units are better, but I tried one recently, and while it may have been better the issue was not put to rest as far as I am concerned. The Infinium is a fine unit as far as it goes, but for many people nagging interference issues remain. I think some can persevere and succeed despite these issues. I did. But at the end of the day I've learned to be cautious recommending the unit because it seems it is rock solid one place and erratic another. If it works great it is one of the best, but if it is as in your case, it can be frustrating. The Infinium is a machine that is hard to predict. No offense, but some of it may be user related. I've never been able to figure out myself if that is the case or not from one report to the other.

Black Davy is as good as they get with the Infinium. If he can't figure out what is going on with your unit I doubt I can so I'll defer to him.

Steve Herschbach


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Re: Infinium LS 101 update
Posted by: Cupajo [ Send a PM ]
Date: May 29, 2008 06:54AM Registered: 6 weeks ago
Posts: 85

Gentlemen,

Thanks for your input and kind words. After years of successful hunting with my XL500s I was looking for a better machine. After reading posts available on all the wonderful forums about how to use the Infinium I was convinced that I had found my "TREASURE MACHINE". With the XLs I would need to adjust for water depth/salt concentration sensitivity and nothing else. I still use them and they are 25years old and have never been in for repairs. I rebuilt the battery packs myself and repaired the occasional connector problem too. The primary features of any machine are stability in threshold and repeatability of signals. With the old XLs when I hear a signal, no matter how faint, I can rely on it as real when I get a repeat signal on the second and subsequent passes. The exceptions are in a really hot rock area. I've learned to use the machines in their proven environment.

The LS has been used successfully by many hunters in all sorts of environments according to posts. I witnessed a hunter using one successfully in my hunting grounds and was prompted by this experience and the posts to try the LS for myself. I'm a patient man 67 years experienced with life and I have a lifetime of experience with electro-mechanical devices, therefore I didn't hesitate when I read about the "LS learning curve".

I have a complete understanding of ground balancing and the need for it. I can appreciate the ability of the LS to tune out the local electrical radiation interference and understand that as well. What I have a hard time dealing with is the inability to repeat the perfect performance in the same area a second day with only a slight increase in wave action. I can understand that my unit is perhaps very sensitive to these slight environmental shifts and I can appreciate that as being a liability I will have to allow for if I want to continue to use the LS. In all fairness, I know that no machine is perfect for all uses and I am looking forward to trying wet/dry sand hunting for comparison sake altho my preference is water hunting. I also want to try hunting an old farm I've access to.

After impatiently waiting for delivery, the need to return a new machine for replacement complete with new coils was a total disappointment. However, I must complement Garrett for their immediate response and the courteous treatment I received during my phone conversations with their reps. I still have not heard from the tech about what he found wrong with the original unit. I wanted a report so that I could add that to my knowledge of the machine for future reference. I do have his name and number so I guess I'll have to call him. I'm sure he is too busy to break routine long enough to supply the report and altho irritating, it's OK.

Finally, when all systems performed as advertised, I got rock solid threshold tone and complete reliability on repeatability of faint signals with recovery of deep targets and total satisfaction!!! I find not being able to consistently repeat that perfect performance a great disappointment and a total waste of my time and patience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (If it can do it once why not every time???)

Thanks again for your attention and when I have the time to give the LS another workout, in a different environment I'll let you know the results.

HH Friends,

Cupajo

(No one finds 'em all ,but I'm workin on it!!!)

 

[nugget]

I don't understand why the LS screams when the waves come in? I've read posts from some very proficient operators, they say to plunge the control box under water. That's OK if you are getting into deeper water, but I like hunting the shallows as well. How can the control box act like this? This is the only complaint I have about the LS, otherwise it's a real sweety on the goldfields and in most other detecting situations. It's beautiful to scuba with too!!! HH regards Nugget.

 

[Cupajo]

Hi nugget,

I'm not sure why the machine falses due to wave action either. It's not constant. Some days in more gentle water flow the signal is rock solid without even the "end of swing" tones. (usually Hi on one end of the swing and Lo on the other!!)

I found that by fitting dense rubber gasket material in my earphones (as recommended by a couple of Friends) the ear shattering signals are reduced in volume to a level where I can concentrate on signal fluctuations. I've learned to mostly ignore the falsing and listen for those signals that mean it's time to dig.

All of the gold rings were Hi/Lo responses, but each ring had a different response in volume, although I didn't notice much difference in depth. Some of the tones were odd ( a bit unstable) more so with the broken ring and it probably was due to the mass of gold as a couple were small or perhaps the way they positioned (flat or on edge).

They were all repeatable signals though telling me there was definitely something there!!!

I hope you readers find this information of value. The turning point for me has been taming the volume to a level where it isn't painful allowing me to concentrate on what the machine iss telling me!!

GL&HH Friends,

Cupajo