Vaquero problems

[DigDugNY]

Then the battery, can you test with a load.. Sometimes new batteries are not cutting it...I ran my "air depths" with a yard stick. Thresh maxed, sensitivity at 10, actually slightly under..Batteries in about a year, running 12V in a battery pack

I don't understand this statement...the Vaquero only takes a 9v battery and doesn't have a battery pack

 

[atomicscott]

Then the battery, can you test with a load.. Sometimes new batteries are not cutting it...I ran my "air depths" with a yard stick. Thresh maxed, sensitivity at 10, actually slightly under..Batteries in about a year, running 12V in a battery pack

I don't understand this statement...the Vaquero only takes a 9v battery and doesn't have a battery pack

Bobby, I believe at one time there was a battery pack available for the Vaquero that uses 8 AA batteries which would total 12V. Maybe it was a euro only option or something?

 

[DigDugNY]

Then the battery, can you test with a load.. Sometimes new batteries are not cutting it...I ran my "air depths" with a yard stick. Thresh maxed, sensitivity at 10, actually slightly under..Batteries in about a year, running 12V in a battery pack

I don't understand this statement...the Vaquero only takes a 9v battery and doesn't have a battery pack

Bobby, I believe at one time there was a battery pack available for the Vaquero that uses 8 AA batteries which would total 12V. Maybe it was a euro only option or something?

Must be, cuz I never heard of it

 

[TimNC]

Just finished air testing my V.

Settings: Battery Good
Mode: Disc.
Sens: Full
Threshold: Fully clockwise

Man's gold wedding ring: 10.5
Heavy sterling ring (925): 10
Dime (Silver or Clad) 8.5
Quarter (Silver or Clad) 9
Nickel 9.5
Wheatie 9

These tests were repeated numerous times adjusting the GB is small increments with each test. Measurements remained the same. GB had no effect.

 

[KVM2]

Battery pack is a Garrett green 12v battery pack that goes under the rod at the back, I am going to put in some dummy batteries to conduct only and reduce total voltage to nine volts..However still gives plenty of mass to keep on ticking.. Adds weight, but makes the balance oh so fine, even with a clean sweep. In fact if you are planning running a C/S coil, this it the mod you need next.. The dummy batteries are dowels , a screw at each end , connected with a piece of wire.. This was done up by Jabbo, who sold me the detector..Und, the Docktor Sven put in a ten turn pot..With that to nail ground balance, and The Monte Deep Tune, , a Clean sweep coil gets into Chinese territory...However, as I said in the past , the "V" will play games...One comment on a ten turn,is that when you go radically different in ground mineralization you can have fun trying to make things settle down.. Example, Ohio soil to washed sand volley ball court.I crank back to start, then five turns up and say,"Go"...I'll post a photo tomorrow......

 

[foxhunter]

TimNC hit it on the head.....I get the same results...Seems to me the (V) has changed over the years..My first (V)... 4 years ago was HOT!! The last 4 I've owned have had poor air test results....Over the years alot of people said the (V) was as deep as Tejon.....Not the last 4 (V)'s Iv'e owned..There's no comparison to my Tejon..Maybe the (V) has been tamed down a bit so the sale's would increase on the Tejon??

 

[DigDugNY]

TimNC hit it on the head.....I get the same results...Seems to me the (V) has changed over the years..My first (V)... 4 years ago was HOT!! The last 4 I've owned have had poor air test results....Over the years alot of people said the (V) was as deep as Tejon.....Not the last 4 (V)'s Iv'e owned..There's no comparison to my Tejon..Maybe the (V) has been tamed down a bit so the sale's would increase on the Tejon??

That doesn't sound promising...I really hope that wouldn't be the case, but I have noticed the differences between owners of a few years ago and owners now. I fall in the newer owner category, but I don't have many complaints about the machine. Only thing is that it's wicked deep on iron, not as much on coins and it usually won't DISC out for me and sounds like a good signal

 

[TimNC]

It does love iron! I had a CZ 5 years ago that loved small iron. Would give a perfect dime signal on nails. Fooled me most of the time. The V is doing the same thing. This detector seems to me to be in a class by itself among other Tesoros I have owned.Though I'm not as fond of the V as the others, as I've said already, I intend to give it time and learn it.

t

 

[atomicscott]

Just finished air testing my V.

Settings: Battery Good
Mode: Disc.
Sens: Full
Threshold: Fully clockwise

Man's gold wedding ring: 10.5
Heavy sterling ring (925): 10
Dime (Silver or Clad) 8.5
Quarter (Silver or Clad) 9
Nickel 9.5
Wheatie 9

These tests were repeated numerous times adjusting the GB is small increments with each test. Measurements remained the same. GB had no effect.

Ok, that is great info! Thank you for that! Some people were saying 12" or more on a quarter when supertuned, 9" without supertuning.

 

[DigDugNY]

It does love iron! I had a CZ 5 years ago that loved small iron. Would give a perfect dime signal on nails. Fooled me most of the time. The V is doing the same thing. This detector seems to me to be in a class by itself among other Tesoros I have owned.Though I'm not as fond of the V as the others, as I've said already, I intend to give it time and learn it.

t

That's the thing...it should DISC a little better on iron,, that's why it's there. I kno that you have to really listen to the tone, but iron never really breaks up for me, it gives a good clear reading like you said. It confuses me because people never really seemed to have these issues when the Vaquero first came out, but now it seems to be the case in a lot of the posts I read. I love the machine don't get me wrong, but there's some things that seem different about it

 

[The Bat]

I have a vaq and I love it, but I was very interested when I saw this post.
Have had mine for 4 or 5 years, have yet to find one silver coin with it. Have found my share of everything else, including an area that gave up three Indian Heads and numerous Wheaties and a very, very small General Electric lapel pin made of 14k Gold that the Vaq hit on very hard. Now, while I would be the first to tell you I am no pro and in fact probably do not learn as fast as others, it seems there certainly must be something to this issue. I do find it very interesting. I'm thinking probably a freq. range issue. I ordered a Silver u max and it was delivered today. Just couldn't wait and took it out in my yard in an area I have hunted hard with the V and got a good signal. Ground is frozen here (Kentucky) so I marked it. Will dig it maybe tomorrow, will keep the forum posted.

 

[tabman]

Since the question of problems with the V has come up I have one that baffles me (along with the mystery metal I recently posted). My V loves iron. This is my 6th Tesoro in the last 10 years and the only one that hits on iron like the old CZ5 used to. It will ring on a cut nail like a quarter and in most instances it will fool me. I am determined to give it some more time but it does get frustrating. Also, another thread on this forum complained of the V's insensitivity to silver. I have found one 1926 dime at about 4 inches in very mild soil that was a very faint signal. The only reason I dug it was it was repeatable. The battery was new, the gb was correct and it was supertuned. What's interesting is air tests on the same dime are about 7 inches with a much better signal.

t

My Vaquero is a silver hound. http://www.findmall.com/read.php?17,1569304

tabman

 

[DigDugNY]

Since the question of problems with the V has come up I have one that baffles me (along with the mystery metal I recently posted). My V loves iron. This is my 6th Tesoro in the last 10 years and the only one that hits on iron like the old CZ5 used to. It will ring on a cut nail like a quarter and in most instances it will fool me. I am determined to give it some more time but it does get frustrating. Also, another thread on this forum complained of the V's insensitivity to silver. I have found one 1926 dime at about 4 inches in very mild soil that was a very faint signal. The only reason I dug it was it was repeatable. The battery was new, the gb was correct and it was supertuned. What's interesting is air tests on the same dime are about 7 inches with a much better signal.

t

My Vaquero is a silver hound. http://www.findmall.com/read.php?17,1569304

tabman

Sure it can find silver that's 3-4" down, especially if it's that's big a coin...I found a walking liberty myself at around that depth with my vaquero...I also found a silver ring that was about 2" down, but any machine should be able to do that. When I'm hunting an area, my goal isn't to find that one silver coin that's shallow enough to pick up while somebody else is getting all the rest. It's a sucky feeling wondering what you might be missing. I'd like to be a little more confident, but now that I'm seeing a lot more people having trouble with theirs, it's a cause for concern. I'm not tryin to complain or anything, but I've come to the conclusion that I just need to send mine in

 

[KVM2]

Not trying to be funny,but you are not hunting in tall grass, and have the coil an inch above the surface, or are wearing out your scuff pad? The thing to do, and this is for me as well, since we fall into bad habits, is ask your buddy to keep an eye on your technique, and is what you are doing ,something that could be improved upon...It is too easy to raise the coil as you hunt...Indians do not mean that silver is there, only that the possibility exists for silver to be there..... A 50% loss in depth,from air distance, I think, is a little worse than mild soil...I watch some of the field hunters,( especially English videos) and it amazes me that they actually find anything swinging the coil 4 to 5 inches above the ground...Why do Minelabbers find the deep stuff? They go slow and scrub the ground...Sometimes I think that Tesoro made a mistake making such light machines...We swing them like we are dancing to swan Lake.. Remember, the detector is only ten percent of the equation.Where you go, how you search, etc is the other 90%..Get that in order before you blame the detector..........

 

[DigDugNY]

Not trying to be funny,but you are not hunting in tall grass, and have the coil an inch above the surface, or are wearing out your scuff pad? The thing to do, and this is for me as well, since we fall into bad habits, is ask your buddy to keep an eye on your technique, and is what you are doing ,something that could be improved upon...It is too easy to raise the coil as you hunt...Indians do not mean that silver is there, only that the possibility exists for silver to be there..... A 50% loss in depth,from air distance, I think, is a little worse than mild soil...I watch some of the field hunters,( especially English videos) and it amazes me that they actually find anything swinging the coil 4 to 5 inches above the ground...Why do Minelabbers find the deep stuff? They go slow and scrub the ground...Sometimes I think that Tesoro made a mistake making such light machines...We swing them like we are dancing to swan Lake.. Remember, the detector is only ten percent of the equation.Where you go, how you search, etc is the other 90%..Get that in order before you blame the detector..........

I've had mine for almost 2 years...I've done my research and tried out many different techniques and there's not much else I can do, results are the same. All the posts ive seen lately, people are having the same problems. I'm not trying to blame the detector, but as with all technology, "no two vaqueros are going to be the same"...yours is different than mine and mine is different than somebody else's...but that's why I enjoy the lifetime warranty, because I can send it in for a check up and see if there is something off with it. I know what it can do and my plan is to really get out there this year

 

[atomicscott]

It does love iron! I had a CZ 5 years ago that loved small iron. Would give a perfect dime signal on nails. Fooled me most of the time. The V is doing the same thing. This detector seems to me to be in a class by itself among other Tesoros I have owned.Though I'm not as fond of the V as the others, as I've said already, I intend to give it time and learn it.

t

That's the thing...it should DISC a little better on iron,, that's why it's there. I kno that you have to really listen to the tone, but iron never really breaks up for me, it gives a good clear reading like you said. It confuses me because people never really seemed to have these issues when the Vaquero first came out, but now it seems to be the case in a lot of the posts I read. I love the machine don't get me wrong, but there's some things that seem different about it

I know Bobby, sometimes I like to run the Compadre in real rusty trashy areas as it seems the Comp will disc out larger pieces of iron that the Vaq still hits on. I can disc out nails or ferrous bottle caps, but a large bolt or quarter sized rusty slug, no way! I've only had my V for about 1 year and have nearly 100 hours on it (actually, it's probably closer to 80) I still have alot of learning to do so I can't say its not partially my own fault. I feel ya buddy, hang in there!

 

[DigDugNY]

It does love iron! I had a CZ 5 years ago that loved small iron. Would give a perfect dime signal on nails. Fooled me most of the time. The V is doing the same thing. This detector seems to me to be in a class by itself among other Tesoros I have owned.Though I'm not as fond of the V as the others, as I've said already, I intend to give it time and learn it.

t

That's the thing...it should DISC a little better on iron,, that's why it's there. I kno that you have to really listen to the tone, but iron never really breaks up for me, it gives a good clear reading like you said. It confuses me because people never really seemed to have these issues when the Vaquero first came out, but now it seems to be the case in a lot of the posts I read. I love the machine don't get me wrong, but there's some things that seem different about it

I know Bobby, sometimes I like to run the Compadre in real rusty trashy areas as it seems the Comp will disc out larger pieces of iron that the Vaq still hits on. I can disc out nails or ferrous bottle caps, but a large bolt or quarter sized rusty slug, no way! I've only had my V for about 1 year and have nearly 100 hours on it (actually, it's probably closer to 80) I still have alot of learning to do so I can't say its not partially my own fault. I feel ya buddy, hang in there!

Thanks man, I appreciate it. I've had mine for almost two and I'm still trying hard to master it. I've had some good finds, it's just that I get the feeling in the back of my mind sometimes that I might be missing so much more and I would really like to be more confident.

 

[TC-NM]

Bobby s,

It also depends in what part of the country your in and the soil conditions too.

Good Luck,

TC-NM

 

[SpiritRelic]

For hunting deep coins i would have all the confidence in the world with a Vaquero.Look at 53 silvers comparison between the minelab and the Vaquero.The vaq hit everything the minelab did,with depth to spare.I found a mercury dime in a hole with the vaquero that a minelab sov could not even hear a peep.I was hunting with the minelab one morning and hit a wheat penny.The next morning i went over the hole with the vaq and get a signal in the hole i had the minelab over.I said,what is going on,and out pops a mercury dime.And the minelab sov is top rated for deep minelabs.After that day i got full confidence in a vaquero. :-D

 

[KVM2]

One last item, contact cleaner on the coil wire contacts. Some oxidation can build up, and cause poor conductivity..