Compass

My friend has a 900 and uses it on the wet sand where I typically use my TDI BeachHunter. I believe that his 900 performs better on the beach than my 800 did. He seems to get better depth and can work in the black sand easier than I used to with the 800. However, yes, he seems to struggle with some wacky TID's and winds up digging a lot more trash than he should.

I was dealing with the authorized PA repair facility and not directly with Minelab so maybe that was the reason. Also, I was out of warranty and maybe that makes a difference when it comes to customer service.

My heart told me not to give Minelab any more of my money but my brain said that it was better to get the new pod and new 3 year warranty. I do have other detectors but in certain environments the 800 is my best option. I, especially, like the 800 when I'm hunting fresh water swimming areas. My Fisher Aquanaut and Excalibur are okay for that type of hunting but won't detect the medium sized gold chains like the 800 can.

Thanks Jerry, Yes, I hunt this area a lot since it is the closest beach to me. This has allowed me to learn more about this beach than I know about other beaches. It gets hunted pretty hard and when I found the ring (at 3:30 am) there was another hunter about 50 yards away. PM sent.

So I bit the bullet and bought a new 800 control box to replace my out of warranty, water-damaged one. Can't say that I am crazy about the $350 price tag but, at least, the new controls come with a 3 year warranty. Rather than shying away from water hunting I plan on getting this "new" detector wet early and often during the next 3 years and if it fails again, so be it. Hopefully, Minelab has addressed this waterproofing issue that they have not acknowledged (as far as I know). I called the repair facility in PA to see if they would be returning my old detector (it is mine BTW) and they said no. I could understand if this was a warranty issue but I had to buy a new unit. What I really needed were the screws that attach the control box to the shaft bracket. For anyone needing to replace the 4 screws they are corrosion resistant, M4 x 16mm machine screws available at many places such as Home Depot and Lowes. BTW, the new control box also does not come with the screen protectors.

Thanks VL, Good observation and you are spot on. The engagement and wedding ring are soldered together and whoever did the work did a great job. Yes, I was wondering the same thing - does this find count as 2 rings or 1? 😄

One of my favorite sayings is: "The early bird catches the worm but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese." I try to be the early bird but sometimes I wind up being mouse #2. 🙂

Thanks M, It's always good to know the rules of a particular beach. I'm the world's worst fisherman but I think it's great that you have a backup plan when the detecting is slow.

Finding gold at night definitely has a different vibe than in natural daylight. At night I don't usually get that instant gratification of seeing gold in the scoop but the feeling is often a bit more magical and surreal. The downside is that it is so much easier to get fooled at night when costume jewelry can look so good.

Thank you midalake, Not the most valuable ring but pretty eye-catching and fun to find.

Thanks school, I couldn't agree more with this: "You have to keep taking what you can while the beach lets you." When the heavy targets start making an appearance, that is the time to hit it hard. 🙂

Thanks o.g., The insides of the soldered together rings are hollowed out so they are not as heavy as they look - 3.7 grams total. The ring is also very small - between size 4 and 5.

Thanks, Sometimes I can almost feel that I'm getting closer to the gold - this was NOT one of those times. 😄

I don't know about you guys but, more often than not, my better finds seem to be near the end of my hunts rather than at the beginning. During my most recent hunt I had only found 3 zinc pennies and not much else during the first 2 hours of lugging my TDI BH around. Adding insult to injury I was, politely, told that I had to leave this particular beach by the beach patrol (3am) . However, the officer was very cool about it and even hinted of some nearby beach locations that he did not check on. I continued the hunt at one of these other areas and still not finding much until I heard a promising target about mid slope in the wet sand. I kicked the target out and saw a small glimmering arc in the moonlight which I first thought was an earring. When I picked the target up I realized that it was a ring that felt smooth and heavy enough to be gold and when I got home I was able to verify that it was 10k. I don't live that close to the beach so it's always nice to find enough to cover gas money. For a while it didn't look like it was going to happen this time but you just never know what the next target will be.

I can't help with identification but I have to say congrats on that beautiful find Joe!

Thank you School, Maybe they will be soon. A year ago we had another hurricane swell which coincided with extreme tides and that was an epic week of detecting.

Thanks CPT, Apparently, there weren't that many productive beaches despite all the hoopla around Hilary so I feel very fortunate.

Thanks midalake, It only feels like work when I'm not finding anything. 😄

Thanks VL, I will take another look but In certain spots on the bracelet it looks like the base metal is showing. 😐 Yes, the ring in the last picture is stamped "18k" and passed the acid test but the inside of the ring looks a little suspect to me. Needs further evaluation.

With Hilary's immense power, I was expecting to hear about some epic hunts from other areas, especially, those south of me. I would have thought that the San Diego beaches would have been really hit hard. For all the targets I dug in 3 days I think that I only had about 6 lead sinkers but maybe 50 zinc pennies - a bad ratio of heavy to lightweight targets - not usually a good sign. Like you said, Hilary was a weird storm

Wow Joe! I didn't know that but Hilary WAS unusual. I would have thought that other beaches south of where I hunted would have seen more power from Hilary but like you said the angle of the beaches may have been the difference. I remember my surf forecast saying that beaches that could work a southeast swell would see the biggest surf.

Hilary was a very unusual hurricane/storm. Not only was her path and intensity rare for this time of the year, the impact she had on some southern California beaches was somewhat bizarre. I drove to 6 different beaches in 3 days of detecting but did find one particularly productive area while nearby spots made me question whether or not my detector was working properly. The first hunt was before Hilary's heavy rains arrived but her swell was starting to build. I found no cuts but a gentle slope produced a small, beautifully colored, 10k, rose gold band. The second hunt came as Hilary was exiting the area. Where I found the rose gold ring the day before, the gentle slope was now replaced by a 3-4 foot cut but the targets were few and far between. After an hour of wandering up and down the beach I found the "hot spot" and proceeded to find more jewelry than I ever have in a short amount of time. After 12 rings, a like number of earrings, bracelets, neck chains, pendants and coins I was thinking that this could be the best hunt ever. However, when I got back to my car and took a closer look, many of my finds were not as good as I had thought. The biggest disappointment was the heavy (1 ounce) gold bracelet that I was sure was going to be one of the biggest pieces of gold jewelry that I had ever found. The clasp was stamped "14k g.f." for "gold filled". It looked and felt so awesome coming out of the wet sand and was nicely engraved with a name and a date from over 50 years ago. After metal detecting for many years I thought that I was pretty good at identifying gold, especially yellow gold, when I find it but this hobby can certainly be humbling at times. The third hunt was a bust! In only one tide cycle the hot spot was sanding back in. I went from finding over 100 coins on hunt #2 to finding 8 coins on hunt #3. Hilary was a quick hitter and as fast as she flipped some beaches from sanded in to being productive they reverted right back as soon as she passed through. It seems like most other storms that I have experienced leave the beaches in good enough conditions to hunt for days afterwards but not Hilary. All in all it was a fun and memorable 3 days of detecting. As after almost every hunt, I learned a few more things about beach detecting that should be very helpful in the future. GL&HH!

I still plan on trying it out. Might go tonight before the heavy wind/rain and certainly afterwards. It won't be any worse than my last 2 hunts! 😄

I'm really curious to see what actually takes place on the coast this weekend. The swell looks impressive but the tides, swell direction and wind direction all seem to be working against a big beach erosion event. I think the biggest danger will be flooding and wind damage but more so in inland areas but, I agree, stay safe people!

Wow...what an interesting find - congrats!!! Yep - box of chocolates. 😄 Really excited to see what Hillary does for us.