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Minelab 540 Searching Underwater


Jonnty

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Hello.  I'm new here.  😀

I have recently bought a new 540, after having had an Explorer for years.  Now that I'm back working from home instead of away, I have more time to use a detector, so I thought I'd invest in a good one. I have all kinds of places to go and search, but recently decided to try my luck in a small river nearby. I have never detected in water before, but my reasoning was that this stretch of water has been a ford for centuries, so surely there have been interesting things dropped at some point.

Anyway, I have found a strong signal at 40/41 and managed to pinpoint it in the water.  It's fast-flowing, but only about 8" deep, with smallish rocks and pebbles and gravel in the riverbed. I've managed to dam it up at bit at one side which has made the interesting area a bit shallower, but obviously I can't build a proper dam - it would be helpful, but I'd get into trouble!

If I were in a field, my instinct would obviously be some sort of coin, maybe even gold, but I'm not very scientifically-minded really, so I wondered if you guys might answer a couple of questions before I try to find a way of getting at the object.  (I do have a pinpointer too, which has also picked the signal up.  I don't think it's all that deep, but of course as soon as I move a rock or pebble the hole begins to fill up again.)

So, firstly, does the object being underwater affect the signals at all?  

Secondly, is there a good way of getting at things in water that you can recommend?  (I have thought of taking an old colander and using it as a sort of scoop!)

Looking forward to hearing about all sorts of things and learning some new things too.

Kind regards,  Jonnty

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Hi Jonnty and welcome to the forum.

The Vanquish TID tops out at 40. Generally, when you get a 40, its an large tin, iron, or aluminum object, like a large can lid.

Gold will have a lower TID, depending on size, Usually from 1-20.

Fresh water won't affect target numbers, but saltwater and mineralized and iron polluted soil can.

A beach scoop is always a good accessory when hunting in water, but it's always challenging to dig a target in moving water.

Watch some video of people metal detecting in the surf at beaches and creek or river detecting. That will give you a good idea how to handle those kind of problems.

Good Hunting!

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I can only echo what CPT said. If you are posting about the Vanquish 540....there is no target ID 41.

Also, from my experience a 40 on any Vanquish model is usually big iron or deeper iron, large or small that is falsing in the very highest target ID numbers....39/40. Try moving around the target and see how the target ID numbers react. Also, don't use any discrimination so that the iron numbers and tones will be seen and heard.

Any kind of shovel or sturdy scoop will work. Just shovel the dirt into a plastic bucket (5 gallon size in the USA) that is partially filled with water and has large rock in the bottom to keep it still in the stream. Once that target is in the bucket it should be easy to find if you can pour the contents on the bank of the stream.

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