V3i Hot & Cold

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I posted this on another forum and got some opinions there, but I am interested in getting as many ideas or suggestions as possible. I know there is spillover in membership between here and other forums so if you've chimed in at the other place you can ignore this post. Thanks in advance for any and all ideas or suggestions. Here is my original question/statement;

I had a problem with my original V3i which required an exchange. No problems there. The replacement machine works 100x better than the first one. I'm pretty happy with the finds but I have that sneaking suspicion that I'm not seeing everything that I should. So today I decided to do a comparison and go over some previously hunted ground with three different machines. A BH 505, an ATP and of course the V3i. I ran the other machines first and noted where there was a report.

Surprisingly, ( And I mean SURPRISINGLY!) the BH actually had a solid hit and showed it to be a nickel at 4 to 6 inches. The ATP showed the same result showing 6" on the meter. The V3i unfortunately couldn't find any signal . I dug the target and was pleasantly surprised to pull pull a 1943 War Nickel (my second this year) from 5 1/2". I reburied it and repeated the test. This time the V3i had an intermittent report but the Polar Array was indicating a poor target ( I know that Polar array is limited in the depth that it is effective). What bothers me is that the V3i should be Killing a nickel at 5 to 6 inches. Yes, I ground balanced before I tested. I wasn't running an inordinately low RXG (10) and my Filter was 5Hz. I was running the tweaked C&J program that has worked for me quite well and then changed over to the stock C&J and even went so far as to try Deep Silver (also ground balancing for each mode).

I'm wondering if I have a marginal 10"dd. I suppose that the next test I should to is to rebury the coin and try my 950 and my 4x6 shooter and see if they perform any better.

I guess that I feel as though for what this machine costs, it should be the clear winner over a low end detector and a mid range one. I can see if one of my custom programs wasn't quite up to snuff, or that I had a setting incorrect, but even so, in decent dirt the V3i should be killing it. My soil VDI is -91 and the mineralization percentage is only 2%. As I said, I tried the 5Hz 7.5Hz and the 10Hz filters and none made a difference as far as actually detecting the target.

I'm baffled and really want to love this machine, It really DOES have amazing features, but I'm now getting the feeling that I'm leaving a lot in the ground when I hunt.

 

[Mike Hillis]

How does the nickel air test at your settings?

So you are saying that you didn't get a response on the nickel on the spectragraph at all until you dug it up and reburied it?

Did you try other programs, like the prospector program, or the relic program?


I'd recommend you take your three machines out again and find another target that your V3 isn't hitting well on and then run through the stock programs until you find one that does. Then compare settings and find out why that one does and the others don't.

I have found that the best way to get the best performance out of the V3 is to use all the stock programs on targets until you find one that performs close to what you want. Then use that program as the basic base program and build on or tweak on that one.

What I'm saying is find your basic program that meets your performance expectations and then tune it to your needs. I find the stock coin and jewelry programs need too much tweaking.

HH
Mike

 

[Trashfinder]

I am having similar results, i have yet to find a nickel with my v3i , i love the machine and i dug two 32 cal bullets with the brass casings intact they were never fired at a depth over my orange garrett pin pointer i have pics. Found a few wheats too but i kept feeling like i was missing something. I was hunting in a backyard of a house. It is about 60 feet by 30 ft square area. I was using the 4.5 x 7 coil for better separation. I felt like i was missing something so i pulled out my F75 with nel sharpshooter coil and went back over the area. I pulled a very loud and clear 43 merc at 6.5 inches, a gold chain bracelet that was at 3 inches, a couple of tokens , 64 rosie dime, and a few other things. I was very careful and slow spent about 2.5 hours with the v3i and i was in a hurry with the F75. Okay so maybe i missed a target but i feel like that is a lot to miss especially the two silvers. I do not know that to think about it, unless maybe it is using the 3 freq at one time. I think next time i hunt i might just switch the v3i to a single freq and see if i miss a lot that way. But then again is it worth keeping the machine as a single freq machine, guess it could still have some advantages in being able to switch freq when i wanted and the machine has a lot of ways to set it up. I do dig all pull tab range signals. I was running the coins program on the v3i. no mods.

 

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In the air the V3i will see the nickel at about 8" and report it at a solid +19. That's with TXB OFF. Sensitivity at 13.

I noticed that there was quite a bit of EMI where I had located my Test Site and used the filters and gain to quiet it down. I tried some well known "HOT" programs and they were so noisy and hit or miss that I went back to the stock program (Coin & Jewelry and Coin). I tried the Mixed Mode and found it was actually pretty easy to pick out a good target, but programs like Deep Silver aren't hitting ANY of the buried coins with any sort of consistency. These coins are all buried at 6" or less so there is literally no reason that this machine can't find them unless I have another defective one. But that seems to not be the case as it passes the RXG15 test and even will pass it with TX Boost ON. I've run my sensitivity up and down and used offset and eventually got the stock C&J to at least report on the coins buried, but the VDI numbers are all over the place. I am going to go to an open field and do the tests there with as little EMI as I can find and see if this machine will report correctly. When I first got it, it was spot on, now it's very inconsistent, so much so that I wound up doing a factory reset and started from scratch.

I've run salt subtraction and single frequency as well and in this section, I'm just not having any luck with ID's and detection. You're the first person to tell me that you think the C&J and Coin programs need too much tweaking. What stock program do you recommend starting with?

I should also add that when I was checking the known coins with the Polar Plot, it was NOT reporting accurately. Where I was expecting a solid straight line in the 2.5Khz I was getting squiggles like there was iron masking the target (there isn't) and on another nickel at 5", I was getting a Flat line rather than the angled line... Perhaps this soil is just too polluted with masking, but I'd be surprised if that was the case because my other detectors have no problem finding these targets...

 

[Mike Hillis]

Forgot something. Lock your ground balance. Ground balance and then lock it.

I use the Prospecting program as my base. I like the response. Give that one a try.

HH
Mike

 

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Thanks Mike:

I often run in AUTOTRACK but lately have been running LOCKTRACK. Not enough time with it to see if there is a notable difference. I have been experimenting with the Mixed Mode Pro which works very well if you have earphones on. The good signal is in one ear and the bad ones are in the left (or vice versa if you turn the headphones around!).. Makes it almost automatic to hear and react to a good target.
I have to say that I've found more nickels with my AT Pro than my V3i although when there is a good clean +19 it is 100% of the time (for me) a nickel. I did find a lot fo EMI in my back yard and have been working with some filters and offsets and gains to eliminate or drastically reduce the effects.

 

[SC Dirt Fisher]

Great discussion guys! If I might add, having done some air test comparisons of the V3i and DFX is to Turn off Salt Compensate unless necessary to stabilize the V3i while hunting in bad ground or EMI. It will dramatically lessen your depth capability otherwise. I hunt salt beaches and originally bought the DFX for that. A lesser known fact about is that it is ALWAYS in Salt Compensate mode.(Except when in All Metal.) Air test comparisons indicate a 2 to 2-1/2" advantage for the V3i for a copper penny, dime, and quarter coins in most programs, both detectors fitted with the same Eclispe 950 coil.
I will test a nickel today to see what happens.

 

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Just as an update, I had put the V3i down for a time as I was getting burned out with the constant issues. But I decided to give it another go and had made up my mind that if it found just one coin, I'd keep it, if not, it was going to a new home... Well as I have often theorized, machines have a soul and know when you're happy or sad (like santa claus).. Evidently the V3i didn't want to be shipped off so it managed to locate a nice coin spill (6 quarters and a nickel) about 5 minutes BEFORE I was going to call it a day LOL!. So I say to myself, "Ahh, All is good!" and now I'm all happy with the machine...

.....................................two days later, the 10"D2 coil goes bad....(Verified by my dealer)...

So it's down again. Coil is off to WHITE'S for replacement and I'm wondering why I every bought a WHITE'S machine in the first place.

 

[5900_XL-1]

Just as an update, I had put the V3i down for a time as I was getting burned out with the constant issues. But I decided to give it another go and had made up my mind that if it found just one coin, I'd keep it, if not, it was going to a new home... Well as I have often theorized, machines have a soul and know when you're happy or sad (like santa claus).. Evidently the V3i didn't want to be shipped off so it managed to locate a nice coin spill (6 quarters and a nickel) about 5 minutes BEFORE I was going to call it a day LOL!. So I say to myself, "Ahh, All is good!" and now I'm all happy with the machine...

.....................................two days later, the 10"D2 coil goes bad....(Verified by my dealer)...

So it's down again. Coil is off to WHITE'S for replacement and I'm wondering why I every bought a WHITE'S machine in the first place.

Sooner you put the D2 in mothballs, the better. I still ask myself that same question about "why I bought the Whites" after nearly 6 years. Stubborn I guess. My M6 is a great detector though.

SEF coils dominate with me, ESPECIALLY against the D2 OEM. The D2 never danced at all.

 

[Elton]

I just could not get many good finds with the Two I owned.
Not sure why either. Others claim to make great finds.. ?????????????????????????

 

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Sooner you put the D2 in mothballs, the better. I still ask myself that same question about "why I bought the Whites" after nearly 6 years. Stubborn I guess. My M6 is a great detector though.

SEF coils dominate with me, ESPECIALLY against the D2 OEM. The D2 never danced at all.

I hear that alot. the question is after spending nearly 2ooo.oo on a metal detector, which CLEARLY puts it into the "HIGH END" category for most people, WHY DO I HAVE TO BUY AN AFTERMARKET COIL TO MAKE THE MACHINE FUNCTIONAL? There is a problem with WHITE'S that hasn't been addressed other than a good warranty and pretty quick turn around. But why should there be ANY Turnaround on a 2 month or less old machine? This is my First Whites Machine (actually my second, first one went belly up after less than a month), and I can guarantee you it is my last. White's you lost a customer.

 

[5900_XL-1]

Sooner you put the D2 in mothballs, the better. I still ask myself that same question about "why I bought the Whites" after nearly 6 years. Stubborn I guess. My M6 is a great detector though.

SEF coils dominate with me, ESPECIALLY against the D2 OEM. The D2 never danced at all.

I hear that alot. the question is after spending nearly 2ooo.oo on a metal detector, which CLEARLY puts it into the "HIGH END" category for most people, WHY DO I HAVE TO BUY AN AFTERMARKET COIL TO MAKE THE MACHINE FUNCTIONAL? There is a problem with WHITE'S that hasn't been addressed other than a good warranty and pretty quick turn around. But why should there be ANY Turnaround on a 2 month or less old machine? This is my First Whites Machine (actually my second, first one went belly up after less than a month), and I can guarantee you it is my last. White's you lost a customer.

I feel it's specifically the V3i/Vx3 line which is "experimental." The M-series Whites detectors are solid. I've heard that Whites TDI machines work instantly better than than ehr V-machines. As far as Whites great turnaround time...it's always taken me 2 weeks here in Texas. They buy the longest shipping methods in returns, while I paid for expedited shipping on my end getting the machine there in Oregon.

IMO sincere opinion...any defect that isn't fixed in the first return to Whites, should give the owner an RMA from Whites for no-cost on all returns until it's fixed right. It ain't cheap mailing these off with insurance added. Honestly? I don't give a lot of praise for any manufacturers flagship machines. They all seem to be experimental and we are the guinea pigs. Whites' V machines too. Why else would even the gurus at Whites keep saying nobody has learned everything about the V3i? And, why don't we still see tectors who owned them in 2010-2013...still reporting about theirs? I think we know why.

 

[Trashfinder]

I got rid of my D2 coil immediately! I run mostly the detech 4.5 x 7 coil now. I found two bullets deeper than my garrett carrot last weekend. But i missed a couple of mercury dimes and a bracelet and token that i found with the F75 going behind the v3i... Did i just not swing the coil in the exact right spot? Did i have the settings a little skewed? I really do not know, but i just cannot seem to sell the thing i feel like maybe i need more time with it.

 

[5900_XL-1]

I got rid of my D2 coil immediately! I run mostly the detech 4.5 x 7 coil now. I found two bullets deeper than my garrett carrot last weekend. But i missed a couple of mercury dimes and a bracelet and token that i found with the F75 going behind the v3i... Did i just not swing the coil in the exact right spot? Did i have the settings a little skewed? I really do not know, but i just cannot seem to sell the thing i feel like maybe i need more time with it.

"But i missed a couple of mercury dimes and a bracelet and token that i found with the F75 going behind the v3i"

People seem to always follow me and find missed targets of mine, and I'm talking about fairly shallow targets. IMO, the V3i has a weak CPU for all the data it receives. Whites says the V3i has extra horsepower, not weak power in processing. Well, people following the V and finding missed quarters at 4 inches, and them using machines costing a mere fraction ov the V,,,gets super old, super fast.

 

[hrefab]

I feel it's specifically the V3i/Vx3 line which is "experimental." The M-series Whites detectors are solid. I've heard that Whites TDI machines work instantly better than than ehr V-machines. As far as Whites great turnaround time...it's always taken me 2 weeks here in Texas. They buy the longest shipping methods in returns, while I paid for expedited shipping on my end getting the machine there in Oregon.

IMO sincere opinion...any defect that isn't fixed in the first return to Whites, should give the owner an RMA from Whites for no-cost on all returns until it's fixed right. It ain't cheap mailing these off with insurance added. Honestly? I don't give a lot of praise for any manufacturers flagship machines. They all seem to be experimental and we are the guinea pigs. Whites' V machines too. Why else would even the gurus at Whites keep saying nobody has learned everything about the V3i? And, why don't we still see tectors who owned them in 2010-2013...still reporting about theirs? I think we know why.

I think you may have a point there. but honestly, after so many years out there with so many people reporting the SAME issue (that and the dreaded "shuts off by itself" problem) you would think that the engineers at WHITES would have a handle on what the screw up is. I LOVE the multi Frequency. I LOVE the Screen, but honestly, my AT Pro detects just as well as the V3i in head to head tests and my new Makro Racer 2 edges it out in a lot of areas. They made a machine that's heavy and chock full of interesting adjustements, just not one that's reliable. My dealer sent it back to WHITES, but he's going to charge me shipping, and why shouldn't he? He's got to make a living too. But the larger question is why did I have to get it shipped out in the first place. I've heard a lot of the fanboys say "Well, coils can go bad" or "Sometimes they have defective components".. Are you KIDDING ME? I can't even respond to such stupidity. At the end of the day, I just have to take a deep breath and not stress over it. If it comes back and works, I'm happy. If it screws up again, I'm done with it. I'm sure some WHITES Acolyte will pay me for a pristine V3i with 3 coils and a DX-1 probe.. then I'll go buy a detector that works.

I'm not trying to bash WHITES but they really need to take a close look at what the hell is going on.