Is the Explorer XS supposed to be this noisy?

[laselva]

Hi all. Great forum you have here. Hope someone can help answer this question I have about the Explorer XS.

I picked one up the other day for just over $200. It thought that was a pretty good deal? Everything works and it is in nice condition however, there was a problem with the coil cable. This had worn through down by the bottom of the stem and the previous owner had repaired it. I tested it when I went to pick it up and it seemed to work fine. However I was on the beach last night and It was almost unusable. I couldn't go a few steps without it sounding off. My wife was there with her Vanquish and it was quiet over the same areas. Which to me points to a reaction from the XS to mineralization? Maybe because of the coil wire issue?

I am not new to detecting by the way. Been doing this for over 40 years but I am new to the Explorer XS. I also have a Vanquish, NOX 600, Quest Q30 and a few older machines. The Vanquish, Nox and even the Q30 are pretty much silent on the beach until I hit a target. Surely it can't be the case that the XS just chatters away over everything?

I had the machine in the standard preset Quick Start and Smart Find with sensitivity on 16. So am I just not doing something right, could it be the coil or is this just the way they are?

 

[IDXMonster]

In a word...no. If you noise cancel the Equinox in a certain spot and it’s quiet and you do the same with the XS and it goes berserk....you undoubtedly have a shorted coil cable. What does the machine do if you UNHOOK the cable from the machine and then turn it on?
Another point.....Explorers HATE other machines running in close proximity, noise cancel or not. Turn off ALL other machines, your phone, your camera, your coffee pot...you get the idea. Isolation will reveal your problem.

 

[laselva]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't realise they were so susceptible to interference. I thought that was what the noise cancel was for. However, one thing I didn't consider was the mobile phone! I usually have it in my back pocket and I did used to turn it off but had forgotten to try that. We have to pay for parking almost everywhere here so the phone keeps tabs on when the time will run out and I can top up the fee from there if need be.

I will try the things you suggested. I am also trying to get hold of a used coil at the moment, one without any repairs to the cable! Failing that I will buy a smaller NEL or Detech.

 

[laselva]

Ok so did some testing and it is not any sort of electrical interference. The machine doesn't pick up the mobile unless I actually wave it in front of the coil and even then it is only detecting it as a target not any sort of output from the phone. I tried it in the house with two computers and an iPad within 1 meter and again it was silent until I passed a target in front of the coil.

The noise I was getting on the beach was like chatter from mineralization. The sort of thing you would get if you went onto the wet sand with something like a Garrett Ace or other single frequency machine not designed for salt wet sand. I am probably not explaining it very well. It was like every swing would produce a sound although often not repeatable. I am wondering if it was in fact picking up targets that other machines were simply ignoring?

Maybe I am just not used to the machine? I have searched this same stretch of beach with the Nox, Vanquish and Q30 and it is silent until I hit a definite repeatable target. Must admit I am a bit confused with this one.

 

[IDXMonster]

Laselva...what happens when you apply a lot of discrimination? Does it get less noisy? Is this noise happening WITHOUT THE COIL MOVING? If you just let the coil sit on the ground, will it become quiet with a stable threshold?

 

[laselva]

If not moving the coil it is fine, no sound at all apart from threshold which I have on 7 so it is just about audible.

Did some more testing at home. I also use a wireless bluetooth system so wanted to make sure that was not causing any problems but it is fine. Machine was perfectly quiet even surrounded by all the electrics in the house. Did some target tests and it is picking up everything apart from our UK 1p and 2p. These are iron core clads and my other machines tend to also ignore them "in air" but pick them up in the sand.

If I wave the coil around in the house it is still quiet unless I come near something metallic. I tried moving the coil wire around in case there was a fault in the repair but that was fine and didn't trigger any signals.

So now I am thinking perhaps sensitivity (gain) was too high? But I only had it at 16. I will head back to the beach over the next day or so and bring another machine with me. My wife always takes her Vanquish 440 so we have that to compare with too. I should also have the Ace Apex sometime next week and as far as we know that is using an updated version of FBS so that will be an interesting comparison.