Still cant get the 8" mono to quiet down

[NathanW]

I was having problems with the original 8" I ordered with the Infinium. Along with some other issues that caused the box to be sent back and replaced, Garrett sent a new 8". As with both coils, it is very hard to GB but I can get it to quiet down. The problem is once I start detecting, anything I touch with the 8 causes the unit to high tone. Doesn't matter what it is, grass,sticks,rock,water or my shoe, the unit sounds off like I have found a beer can.
It is connected properly and as soon as I change to the 10x14, all is good.
No amount of frequency adjust/GB helps.
I really need to be running the 8 and would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions before I contact Garrett again.
Thank you for your reply

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Is the 8 inch fitted with a black cable or a grey cable?

 

[au79]

[attachment 237281 goldfromcrack.JPG]So, the 8 mono strikes again! I really think the 8 mono is the perfect coil for the Infinium - BUT! those darned false signals. My box and both 10x14 DD and the 8 mono are at Garrett right now. Shipped it out 17 days ago and am waiting patiently. My problem was a false signal from the coil wire connection at the box. Also, my 8 mono would false if bumped but it would ground balance just fine. I know because I hunted in a very high mineral brook and found these small pickers in a bed rock crack while looking for lead (the gold in this brook is small fine gold) in order to find the fine gold. The falsing got so bad I had to send it in for repair and I hope, above all hopes, it comes back purring smoothly!!! Sorry to hear about your ongoing problem - I'm hoping for the best.

 

[OLD FART]

Try turning your disc up to 1, if that does not help, then turn it up to 2. Don't go beyond 3 disc as it may cost you a little depth. Let me know if that helps.

 

[OLD FART]

What people don't understand is that the infinium is a very sensitive machine. I sent my coils and machine back several times and probably drove poor Garrett crazy. It took me awhile to learn the machine. If you have a vlf that chatters and falses on hot ground, you turn down the sesitivity until it runs smooth. You get much better performance that way. The infinium is the same way. Only it does not have a control marked sensivity. You use the disc control. I believe it changes the pulse delay a small amount and usually enough to smooth out the machine. I have never had to turn the disc above 3 on any ground with any coil. I hope this helps.

 

[Ken~Digs]

That's good dope Old Fart , Ken~Digs

 

[au79]

Old Fart - what some people don't understand or don't want to accept is "some" of the coils are bad! I spoke with Garrett yesterday about it and they told me the 8 mono I sent them had problems. I was told Garrett is going to start building more of these coils next week as they are all out right now.(that should tell us something)
We should not have to turn the disc up to quiet this machine. It doesn't make sense to reduce the sensitivity thro raising the disc level when hunting for small nuggets. Auto ground balance - auto ground track - manual ground balance (fast or slow) and then ground balance lock. If we set the machine up properly before the hunt we should not have to put up with a noisy threshold from a machine with these features. The Infinium is not that complicated of a machine to use and is advertised as a "turn on and hunt" machine - they should purr like a kitten with a nice smooth threshold.
My Infinium is supposed to be shipped out to me today so I should be seeing it the middle of next week. I am hoping for the best.

 

[OLD FART]

Keep us informed of your progress. I am curious to see if Garrett made it any better. I have not noticed much difference between slow track and fast track. I usually try both and if it will not balance out then I use disc. I would like to see Garrett have one of their people spend several hundred hours running the infinium and give us some advice on setting up the machine. I would also like to see some tests done on small nuggetts and see how much 1 or 2 disc points affect depth and sensitivity to small nuggetts. It would be interesting to see the results. Also it sounds like Garrett has some real quality control issues. Worries me though as it seems they don't care much about getting the infinium to work better. I do think that all metal detector companies have some sort of quality control problems. I bought another brand, to line gold detector and the first time I put the coil in the water, bingo dead coil. Also had trouble with the lunch box series coils being bad. I think all these companies have too many bean counters working for them trying to save money on production. After all, if you can save $5 on each unit, look at all the money the company will make. Of course, the end product will suffer and you always be sending it back for repairs.. Would not happen if they got rid of the bean counters and concentrated on real quality control. Just my two bits worth.

 

[NathanW]

Is the 8 inch fitted with a black cable or a grey cable?

It has the new black cable. It is the heavier version meaning you cannot see the wires inside it.

 

[NathanW]

My box and both 10x14 DD and the 8 mono are at Garrett right now. Shipped it out 17 days ago and am waiting patiently. quote]

Thats the problem with Garrett's repair department. When I sent my first box back in for repair it took 5 weeks to get it back. They told me they only have one tech that works on the Infinium and the tech was pretty backlogged. Ultimately, they ended up sending me a new box.

 

[NathanW]

Try turning your disc up to 1, if that does not help, then turn it up to 2. Don't go beyond 3 disc as it may cost you a little depth. Let me know if that helps.

I have tried disc up past 3 many times and it doesnt help. Anything the coil touches makes it false.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Try turning your disc up to 1, if that does not help, then turn it up to 2. Don't go beyond 3 disc as it may cost you a little depth. Let me know if that helps.

I have tried disc up past 3 many times and it doesnt help. Anything the coil touches makes it false.

You can turn the disc up until the cows come home; This has no effect on the stability of the coil in regards to touching grass or bumping the coil.

All of the coils will sound off if you bump them sharply.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

Is the 8 inch fitted with a black cable or a grey cable?

It has the new black cable. It is the heavier version meaning you cannot see the wires inside it.

Th reason I asked re the coil cable is that if you put an Sea Hunter coil on the Infinium it will not work correctly and the only ID marking between these coils is the small lable stating Infinium coil and the grey cable on the Sea Hunter coils.

So if you have an modern Infinium control box set up for both mono and DD ( original infinium was DD only) and if the unit works well with the 10 x 14 mono then it would seem that you have another dud 8 inch mono.

 

[NathanW]

.[/quote]

You can turn the disc up until the cows come home; This has no effect on the stability of the coil in regards to touching grass or bumping the coil.

All of the coils will sound off if you bump them sharply.[/quote]

The falsing comes as a result of simply touching anything. No sharp bump involved. Just the act of sweeping the coil over the ground and brushing over a blade of grass or anything else causes it. Based on previous replys, sounds like Garrett has had an issue with the 8 and since this the 2nd one from them that does the same thing, I am guessing it is time to talk to Garrett again.

 

[NathanW]

Is the 8 inch fitted with a black cable or a grey cable?

It has the new black cable. It is the heavier version meaning you cannot see the wires inside it.

Th reason I asked re the coil cable is that if you put an Sea Hunter coil on the Infinium it will not work correctly and the only ID marking between these coils is the small lable stating Infinium coil and the grey cable on the Sea Hunter coils.

So if you have an modern Infinium control box set up for both mono and DD ( original infinium was DD only) and if the unit works well with the 10 x 14 mono then it would seem that you have another dud 8 inch mono.

I agree, time to talk to Garrett again.
thanks for the reply

 

[Fishers Ghost]

I have not heard of any past issues with the 8 inch mono's

If the machine is working fine with the 10 x 14( I assume you mean mono) then it is possible that the detector is simply not ground balanced.
When you have been detecting in a high mineralised area and then go to a low mineral area the Gb can be quite slow to tune down to the low mineral ground and can take up to a minute or so of the GB procedure before the GB adjusts to the new ground.

With the coil resting on the ground, carry out a Frequency Adjust.
Switch on, listen for good battery check, Select LOCK, Set Disc to Zero, Select Frequency Adjust and listen for any elec interference and adust for the quietest interference position.
If interference is extreme you may have to find a quiter area because when you carry out the GB adjust the GB may track the interference and the machine will never quiet down.

Select Fast Track, Set Disc to Zero (BEFORE and EVERY TIME YOU DO A GB SET DISC TO ZERO)and threshold to around 5 or clearly audible.

Pump the coil up and down 8 or 10 times a few inches above the ground and then rest the coil on the ground and select LOCK. Lift the coil a foot of the ground and if the tone changes select Fast and lower the coil to the ground and wait for the tone to settle to a steady threshold and then select LOCK and lift the coil off the ground and if there is a tone change repeate this procedure until there is little or no change in the tone when the coil is lifted off the ground after you have selected LOCK. This is not as per the Inst manual but I have found it to work when the Ground balance is a long way out of adjustment and when I am changing between DD and mono coils.

If the detector cannot be settled down after this set up then maybe you do have another dud coil.

.

 

[NathanW]

I have not heard of any past issues with the 8 inch mono's

If the machine is working fine with the 10 x 14( I assume you mean mono) then it is possible that the detector is simply not ground balanced.
When you have been detecting in a high mineralised area and then go to a low mineral area the Gb can be quite slow to tune down to the low mineral ground and can take up to a minute or so of the GB procedure before the GB adjusts to the new ground.

With the coil resting on the ground, carry out a Frequency Adjust.
Switch on, listen for good battery check, Select LOCK, Set Disc to Zero, Select Frequency Adjust and listen for any elec interference and adust for the quietest interference position.
If interference is extreme you may have to find a quiter area because when you carry out the GB adjust the GB may track the interference and the machine will never quiet down.

Select Fast Track, Set Disc to Zero (BEFORE and EVERY TIME YOU DO A GB SET DISC TO ZERO)and threshold to around 5 or clearly audible.

Pump the coil up and down 8 or 10 times a few inches above the ground and then rest the coil on the ground and select LOCK. Lift the coil a foot of the ground and if the tone changes select Fast and lower the coil to the ground and wait for the tone to settle to a steady threshold and then select LOCK and lift the coil off the ground and if there is a tone change repeate this procedure until there is little or no change in the tone when the coil is lifted off the ground after you have selected LOCK. This is not as per the Inst manual but I have found it to work when the Ground balance is a long way out of adjustment and when I am changing between DD and mono coils.

If the detector cannot be settled down after this set up then maybe you do have another dud coil.

.

I have seen your method of gb before and actually printed it out and take it with me when in the field as a reminder. I use it and find it a better way to gb than the manual. I dont usually need a freq adj as I am in gold ground with no power for miles and have not found that I need to. That being said, I gb the 8 with your method till it is quiet. As soon as I brush against anything is when the coil starts falsing. As long as I dont touch anything, it runs smooth and quiet. After checking gb numerous times, I get frustrated and switch to the large mono. Once on, check gb. No adjustment needed and I am off and running. It is as smooth as can be. I hate to think I got 2 bad coils as most of what I read about them is a smooth runner. That is why I post is to get the feedback to see if there is something I am not doing correctly. I find this forum to be a group of honest instructors and appreciate your reply.

 

[Fishers Ghost]

OK so you seem to be doing everything correct as far as set up is concerned and still it works fine with the 10 x 14 Mono and the GB seems to be comming in OK with the 8 Inch but the noise starts when the coil touches the ground or whatever; This indicates a possible problem with the coil shielding.
If the shielding is faulty in some way then the coil may build up a static charge between the ground and the coil or anything else and that when the coil contacts another item that is in some way in contact with the ground the charge will dissipate to ground in the form of a small elec current which could produce the noises you have mentioned. Also the electrical capacitance between the coil and ground will have a greater effect if the coil shielding is inefficient and this will also creat noise similar to electrical interference.
It is a bit unusual but I guess it is possible that you have another dodgy coil.
You will have to talk to garrett some more.

 

[HumblePie]

Adrian... I've experienced the same problem with two successive 8" mono coils for the Infinium. Garrett replaced the first coil no question asked. When the second coil came I put it on and it worked just fine. A half-year later I headed north to the silverfields and it behaved exactly as the first coil. Not wanting to complain again, I discarded it and bought another 8" mono coil. It works fine.

The 8" mono is a superb prospecting coil with good sensitivity / depth over a wide range of nugget sizes. I also use the 14" elliptical mono for a bit of extra depth and improved coverage... it too is an excellent coil for prospecting silver ores.

Nathan... send it back for a replacement. Once you have a good 8" mono on your unit this inconvenience will quickly fade to a distant memory. Good luck and HH...

Jim H. in Canada

 

[Fishers Ghost]

G/Day Jim,
Long time we no speakie.
Sounds Iike you are still getting along well with the Infinium and silver. Your story in AGG&T was pretty impressive.
You are right on the money re the mono's, they are the only coils I use and have not had any problems yet, "Touch Wood".

Nathan you will have to explain it all to Garrett again; It's a bit of a pain but they will see that your machine is made right.