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Vanquish 540 Problem


George1971

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Hello everyone, I am a Minelab Vanquish 540 owner and I have the following problem, when I detect on the beach the detector runs normal. But when I am in the fields or in the mountains there is a lot and constant noise. What it’s wrong? I would like your opinion.

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Where are you hunting inland? Is the ground fairly mineralized? What are the sounds like and when do they happen.

Vanquish 540 and all of the Vanquish models have no user adjustable ground balance feature. Ground balance is done internally. Some say it is totally fixed. I think it has a slightly variable range since it is using at least 2 simultaneous frequencies that are responding to ground changes. When the ground balance value is outside that "range" the Vanquish will sound like it is out of ground balance by making very low or medium low sounds as the coil approaches and leaves the ground and at the outward end of swings. If that is the sound you are talking about you may be able to silence it by rejecting -9,-8, -7...etc and create a custom program.

If that is not the sound you are hearing.....who knows. The Vanquish models usually do not have EMI issues, they don't have a threshold tone and usually run very quietly.

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Thanks for your answers, I am disappointed with Vanquish performance and I do not want to try all the time to find out what is going on with the detector. I want a detector to do what it’s says. I forgot to mention that iron bias setting is terrible. Do this experiment: take a small jar and fill it with coins, then in every mode you want sweep the coil over it and see the results. With low iron bias you have to dig everything and with high iron bias you will lose a lot of good stuff. The iron rejection or discrimination it’s not good especially with alloys. I have lost coins and jewelry because of that.

Vanquish is a good detector for the beach (dry sand), medium for wet sand, and nothing else. I would say it is too automatic for me.

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I beg to differ.

Your jar of coins experiment is interesting, out of interest have you tried it with other detectors? Coins can be made up of a lot of different metals and a bunch of random coins together like that is an odd target.

A video of what you're experiencing when you're detecting in the mountains and fields you speak of might be beneficial for other Vanquish users to help you with what is going on.

 

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So, those of us that have responded are Vanquish owners. We are willing to help you but now you don't seem to want any help. Your Vanquish should still be under warranty if there is an internal problem. Also, you wouldn't want to sell a possibly defective detector. So........

If you are willing, just describe the problem as best you can.  

No matter what do a factory reset if you haven't done one already.

Hold the power button down for around 7 seconds until you see FP on the screen, then release the power button and let your 540 start up. Try to do this away from any major sources of EMI.

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It appears that while GB on Vanquish may be 'fixed', it is not fixed equally between modes: in addition to other differences between Vanquish modes (recovery time, default notching, and low/mid tone break), in the Coin and Jewelry modes the GB seems to be set more towards reducing more ferrous type of ground signal (toward magnetite) and in Relic mode the GB seems to be set more towards eliminating more conductive ground signal (toward salt). 

If the actual ground type differ from the one assumed in a Mode, insufficiently reduced ground signal may creep in when the coil is moved over mounds and depressions or when the ground type changes over short distances, I gather.

While I'm still working on convincing myself that the above is the case (to perhaps take an advantage of it once I understand it better), perhaps playing with the Vanquish modes in different ground types could quiet the machine (if the GB is the culprit)?

 

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12 minutes ago, mcjtom said:

It appears that while GB on Vanquish may be 'fixed', it is not fixed equally between modes: in addition to other differences between Vanquish modes (recovery time, default nothing, and low/mid tone break), in the Coin and Jewelry modes the GB seems to be set more towards reducing more ferrous type of ground signal (toward magnetite) and in Relic mode the GB seems to be set more towards eliminating more conductive ground signal (toward salt). 

If the actual ground type differ from the one assumed in a Mode, insufficiently reduced ground signal may creep in when the coil is moved over mounds and depressions or when the ground type changes over short distances, I gather.

While I'm still working on convincing myself that the above is the case (to perhaps take an advantage of it once I understand it better), perhaps playing with the Vanquish modes in different ground types could quiet the machine (if the GB is the culprit)?

 

This variation in the ground balance between modes was noticed early on after the Vanquish was released. The inability of Vanquish to handle iron mineralized ground and the resulting positive and negative audio when moving the coil in any way other than perfectly level over the ground was reported directly to Minelab USA and Minelab Headquarters. We were told that our detectors were functioning correctly which means they know about this behavior and it is simply part of owning an entry level detector. To "fix" this problem is not worth it. I just notch out the lowest iron numbers and don't use the horseshoe button except to check for a possible ferrous target when I am detecting ground that is outside the fixed ground balance range of the Vanquish.

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7 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

when I am detecting ground that is outside the fixed ground balance range of the Vanquish.

Would knowing which direction the ground balance is fixed in different Vanquish modes help you any in different grounds?

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  • The title was changed to Vanquish 540 Problem

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