Newby with Garrett Euro Ace (350) and questions

[Andrew Kalinowski]

After years of looking after GPS section here, I decided to try my hands on metal detecting and got a Garret Euro Ace. It is the same as Ace 350 except it does not have US coin denominations showing and depth is shown in cm, not inches.
To learn, I use it with almost no discrimination and dutifully dig up everything making a bit of progress. Hardly any experience yet so, still more questions than could fit in a single post...
In any case; I had it, last weekend, on the beaches of Killbear provincial park, on the shores of Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada.
I found countless nails in the dry sand and many in the surf. Where the heck all these nails are coming from???!!!
Multitude of metal hair clips. Thay always rung on the lowest iron and I got really tired of them so, I discriminated these. Was I right doing so?
In the surf and up to 3 ft out into the water there were very few targets. It appears to me that most pull tabs were concentrated in the first couple of feet from the shore. Kind of logical - light stuff gets washed out closer to the shore but, what about have stuff??? By going a bit further where there is less trash, am I really missing my chance for "a big golden ring"? Should I be putting up with lots of trash knowing that I'm there for just an hour or so and may never or maybe in few years be hunting the same spot again? Or should I, just like I have done, move out in 2-3 ft of water where there is nice sand and almost blissful silence and occasional target not worth much but still a target worth digging?
And (to me) the most important question: What gives...??? Few times I got a very nice sound. Just like a bell. Target showing few inches down. Pinpointing - confident as to the spot to dig. Basket I use has 3/8 holes. I dig once, nothing, still rings there. Try again and sometimes again and again. Every time, before emptying the basket, swinging over the area to see / hear if it's still there. Finally, no ring over the target area, check the basket and nothing in here!!! Nothing in the area I emptied the basket. NOTHING around, nothing, NOTHING, not a sound but, a moment earlier, there was a clear, perfect sound of that 22K ring!!!! What gives????!!!!
Below is my take from what I can call my first real day of metal detecting. I'm happy with it and I'm hooked but, I need your insight!

 

[Guvner]

Keep at it... You'll get your gold... I like being in the water. It improves your odds just a bit as the guys with pure land machines are less likely to adventure. That being said be careful with yours.

Guvner..

 

[Andrew Kalinowski]

Oh, I am carefully with it. I know that the processor (?) part is not waterproof so, I keep it at least 6" above the surface and watch for any waves. I even drilled 2 additional sets of clip holes in the middle bar (closer to the ends of it) so I could get 4(?)" deeper without a risk of wrecking my baby.

3/8 holes in the basket... a pull tab shouldn't get through unless... I just hit it with the edge and it got up and floated... how far???? I mean, I'm in 2-3 ft of water and after loosing contact searched, inch by inch, at least 5 ft radius... can it really float that far???

 

[scubadetector]

You might have one or two problems. One is yes pull tabs and foil love to dance in the surf and you could be missing them. ANOTHER possibility is your target is small and it goes through the holes in your scoop like lead shot, shoe eyelets and other small items. The third possibility is you are missing the target however your close to it and you make it fall deeper in the hole out of the range of your detector.

I personally drowned not one but two land detectors. Sooner or later you will forget and either raise the coil above the control box and water runs down the shaft inside the detector OR you will dunk your detector. If your hooked I would get a watewrproof one OR look on the modification forum and put your detector in a waterproof box. Good luck and have fun.

The ring you found looks silver or white gold, Is it a good one?

 

[Andrew Kalinowski]

Thanks for the input. Pull tabs... Oh, I know the lovely sound but, my scoop has smaller than normal (it was made from a SS heat shield of an aircraft engine) have and no pull tab should get through. At least the round part of the pull tab shouldn't get through and that's the only part that gives the lovely be-ping sound. Flat part gives more of a ping or, at best ping-ping... just like a dreaded nails sitting upright do. Ace has a limited sound response so, maybe I'm fulling myself and just hearing things... I'm new to it and sometimes I just want to hear / see things... Should I add a smaller than 3/8 mesh to my scoop? BTW, I'm toying with idea of gluing a rare earth magnet to the bottom back of the scoop. Any thought on that?

For now, I'll just (try to) be carefully with what I have. I was thinking about removing the processor/reader part from the pole and chest mounting it but, the cable on the double D coil is to short to swing comfy with such set-up. Might make an extender cable but not this week... Hopefully, I'll do it before I forget and drown it... or get a real waterproof one.
Falling deeper into the hole... in pinpointing mode with sensitivity turned out to the max I would expect to hear it when I stick the coil into a hole and trust me, when I loose a target, I dig deep and wide enough to swing inside the hole!
Can a small (earing?), gold or silver target float far if just steered with the edge of the scoop? I know, basic questions but, I'm starting...
Might be white gold. Might be silver. Might be just silver plated junk. I'm not planing to find out - It's my very first one and that is it's real value to me. Now, the next one like that, I'll be checking the selling value of; after all I do need cash for batteries and a real detector Than again, up here, it's only short time when going into water is fun and NOT hypothermia

Fun? Oh, I have lots of it! Even laughed off the parking ticket - after all, I just found enough coins to pay for the postage to mail the fine

You might have one or two problems. One is yes pull tabs and foil love to dance in the surf and you could be missing them. ANOTHER possibility is your target is small and it goes through the holes in your scoop like lead shot, shoe eyelets and other small items. The third possibility is you are missing the target however your close to it and you make it fall deeper in the hole out of the range of your detector.

I personally drowned not one but two land detectors. Sooner or later you will forget and either raise the coil above the control box and water runs down the shaft inside the detector OR you will dunk your detector. If your hooked I would get a watewrproof one OR look on the modification forum and put your detector in a waterproof box. Good luck and have fun.

The ring you found looks silver or white gold, Is it a good one?

 

[bob.oz]

great first day ..congrats/ I should of read this post first..DUH...Know how u feel about the first ring,still got mine...Good Luck HH

 

[scubadetector]

I did forget oine other reason an underwater target dissapears and this one happens a lot. Iron that has been in the water a long time, especially in Lake Huron has a halo effect. You start digging the target and the halo dissapears. You know it was a piece of trash then. I dig plenty BUT I see them cause I dive in 3 foot of water. Small pieces of old rusty pop cans do the same.

Other water finds that sound GREAT and will fall through your scoop. Small brass washers, screws, and nuts (used a lot on boats) splitshot, buckshot, sinkers,, 22 bullets and cases, and of course small jewlery items like earrings, earring clasps, or charms off bracelets.

If your getting pull tabs you will find the gold. I have iron discriminated out on my machine. I have NO experience with your machine so you might want to get other advice from the Garrett Forum. I can help in the water though. 22 bullets and cases are a PAIN! Same with small earrings. To find a few CHEAP and maybe free magnets, go to your local computer shop and ask for any old or broken hard drives. They should give you a few or send you to the right place. Take them appart and and you will find some super magnets. Some people also put a smaller mesh screen in the back of their scoop. I don't scoop much so I only know what I read. I would NOT glue the magnets in, Zip ties would be better. Sooner or later they will be caked with iron filings and will have to be removed and cleaned off.

If you ever come close to Sarnia Ontario, I live in Port Huron across from the bridge. Willing to let you try my detector or help you if your interested. I go to the beaches there also.

Welcome to the forum and find that BIG gold ring to see for a water machine!!! We know the best places to sell them also.

 

[Hank68]

I had the ace350 before its a good machine but the DD coil the bottle caps ring in just like coins, the concentric coil does a better job on coin id.

 

[seeker41]

pull tabs can definitely float!!!! especially with any current or wave action. i am very experianced and sometimes have dificulty determining if a target was a floater or a deep target that has gone deeper!!!!!

 

[Andrew Kalinowski]

I did forget oine other reason an underwater target dissapears and this one happens a lot. Iron that has been in the water a long time, especially in Lake Huron has a halo effect. You start digging the target and the halo dissapears.
>>>>>>

Aha! This looks like what was happening to me. This plus maybe some pull tabs that floated further away than I expected.

Thanks for all the input and for the invite.

 

[deerman]

as for the nails you find remember lake huron was a logging lake that had ALOT of wood docks built and some went for miles so without iron discrimanated out you will find alot of nails

 

[Furious T]

It's easy to miscalculate the position of the tyarget when you are in water and trying to retrieve with a scoop. It is possible to hit the target with the leading ecge of the scoop and push the target too deep for the detector to pick it up. Remember that your scoop does not enter the sand (usually) at a 90 degree angle, so we need to make allowance for that when we pick the spot where the scoop enters the sand. This possibility varies with the depth of the target.