Search the Community

I am an avid metal detector user and I like always being at it. Just because there is no gold prospecting for me in a given time frame is no reason to not go metal detecting for gold. There are a lot more ways to find gold than prospecting, and so jewelry detecting is very high on my list. If you like finding a gold nugget, I do not see how you could not also be excited about digging up a gold ring. Jewelry detecting and nugget detecting share many common traits, not least being the hunt for gold. Both also require a high tolerance for digging trash items, and both are best done with detectors made for the purpose. It just so happens that the detectors best used for nugget detecting are often the best to use for jewelry detecting. In other words, a lot of you guys are already outfitted for this! There are two general ways to hunt for jewelry - on dry land, or in and around water. Let's leave the dry land for another article and focus on the water detecting for now, since I am gearing up for a water hunt myself right now. Almost any detector, with the remarkable exception of the most expensive one you can buy, comes with waterproof coils and can be submerged to the control box. Minelab PI stock coils are not warranted waterproof but only water resistant so it takes aftermarket coils to get them up to speed. But they are a poor choice for wading as there is probably no machine I would like dropping in the water less than a Minelab GPX 5000 with high amp battery attached. Detectors that can be hip or chest mounted offer even more flexibility for wading applications. Few nugget detectors are fully submersible, but there are some, most notably the Garrett AT Gold, Infinium and ATX, all waterproof models. Jan 2019 note: see also Makro Gold Kruzer and Equinox 800. Water detecting can be broken down into fresh water and salt water detecting. Fresh water detecting is pretty straight forward since fresh water is invisible to your detector. The tuning and operation of the detector is similar to what you do on dry land. All you have to worry about is keeping the electronics dry, and recovering targets underwater. Fresh water swimming holes are great for jewelry detecting, and there are many fresh water stream and river opportunities for gold prospectors. Any good gold prospecting detector also works well for freshwater beach hunting. The Garrett AT Gold has an obvious edge for being waterproof. The Tesoro Lobo gets special mention for being convertible to hip or chest mount. In fresh water VLF detectors usually have an edge due to large amounts of trash often being present but PI detectors do have their place in fresh water detecting. The only way to know is to just give it a go and see how much trash there is. The nice thing about beaches though is the digging is easy compared to what nugget hunters often face. Salt water adds a whole new dimension. Salt water is conductive, and therefore a hot metal detector can actually get a signal from salt water or wet salt sand. Many prospectors already know the issues surrounding salt and alkali flats. Detectors that are used in salt water need some way to tune out the salt signal. The problem is even worse on beaches that have mineral content, classic black sand beaches. A white beach composed of broken down coral and shells is no problem at all, but add volcanic material and the issues compound. Most prospectors would not be surprised to hear that pulse induction (PI) detectors have an edge in dealing with salt water scenarios. There is an unsolvable conundrum however. The signal for salt water and small gold items, like post earrings or thin gold chains, actually overlaps. When you tune out the salt water, you tune out these items also. There is no solution to this problem with existing metal detectors because of the way they work. It is possible to find these items at the beach using a hot detector, like a White’s Goldmaster or Fisher Gold Bug 2, but you must be on bone dry sand. Any attempt to get near wet salt sand with these units will result in the sand acting like one giant target. Most mid-frequency gold machines handle salt water beaches to varying degrees. They will generally have no problem until you get on sand currently seeing wave action or actually in the water. The higher the frequency, the less able to handle wet salt sand. The Fisher Gold Bug Pro at 19 kHz and Garrett AT Gold at 18 kHz are not happy on wet salt sand. They can be made to function but only by losing a lot of depth. The Tesoro Lobo has an alkali setting and White’s MX Sport a salt setting specifically designed to handle wet salt sand. In general though these detectors will all work better higher on the beach and have an edge on small rings, earrings, and chains that other beach hunting machines tend to miss. The Minelab Eureka Gold and X-Terra 705 have low frequency options that make them well suited for beach hunting. The Eureka can be hip or chest mounted, but be aware the stock coil is another that Minelab does not warranty as waterproof. The PI detectors fare better, the Garrett Infinium and new ATX having an edge again for being waterproof designs. The White’s TDI and Minelab series do well but must be kept dry. The TDI models except the TDI SL have an advantage in being convertible to hip or chest mount. Be aware that turning off or not using a ground balance system can often add extra depth with a PI on white sand beaches. The TDI and GPX 5000 can turn off the ground balance setting, and the factory default on the ATX before ground balancing offer possibilities on low mineral beaches. For 2019 see the new White's TDI BeachHunter. For serious salt water beach detecting hunters turn to detectors not normally used for prospecting. Ironically, this is because the general lack of sensitivity that makes prospectors eschew these models makes them ideal for salt water. Multi-frequency VLF detectors are not very good prospecting machines but they excel in salt water. Two detectors that vie neck and neck in the salt water VLF market are the Fisher CZ-21 and Minelab Excalibur. On the PI side the Garrett Sea Hunter, Tesoro Sand Shark and White’s Surf PI are the three popular models. Minelab Excalibur II waterproof metal detector There are lots of options but if you ever want a specialized waterproof detector for both fresh and salt water and want to make a safe choice, get a Minelab Excalibur. It is probably the most popular water detector made and for good reason. It gets the job done with minimum fuss and will work well anywhere. I am a PI guy myself however. I have used the Garrett Infinium extensively trying to deal with salt water and volcanic sand and hot rock conditions in Hawaii. I have had success with the model but it is difficult to deal with, suffering from an inability to ground balance into the salt range and susceptibility to EMI interference. Huge numbers of posts exist on how to try and get an Infinium to behave in salt water. The new ATX has taken steps to address these issues but the jury is out there yet. I will be giving the ATX a good go in Hawaii soon. My latest water detector is a White's Surf PI Dual Field to back up the ATX. I have had good luck in the past with the White's Surf PI models and recommend them for people interested in a waterproof beach PI. Again, a simple unit that gets the job done, and at a bargain price. Where to hunt can fill a book, but really boils down to two things. The first is that the best finds will be made where people who wear quality jewelry congregate and engage in some kind of physical activity. On fresh water beaches where items get dropped is generally where they stay. The second item comes into play more often on salt water beaches. The waves and seasons concentrate items on layers, much like placer deposits. They sometimes bury the items too deep to find, and at other times expose them for easy recovery. Beach watching can teach you a lot. There is the towel line, where people set up shop for the day. Lots of items get lost here. Then there are the places where people tend to play beach sports, like Frisbee or volleyball. Best of all, are areas in the water where people congregate, with areas where people can actually stand on the bottom being best. Items dropped in sand obviously sink over time, but hard sand will resist this longest and keep the targets close to the surface longer. Extremely soft sand swallows items quickly and is not a good place to hunt. Areas where the sand tapers into a hard rock or coral bottom can be very good when the overlying sand is shallow enough to reach that hard layer with a detector. Beach detecting is very popular, but beach hunters have on tremendous advantage over prospectors. The finds are being constantly replenished. There is no beach, no matter how heavily hunted, that does not have the potential for finds. The more activity there is the more items are lost in a given period of time. The finds made by beach hunters can rival the best made by prospectors, as not many gold nuggets come with diamonds attached. I know for many prospectors it is about getting out into the middle of nowhere and away from the crowds. Beach hunting is not for everyone. But you can hunt early in the morning or even on rainy days, when people are few and far between. As more and more areas accessible to prospectors get hunted out, it is possible other places are near to you where gold may be easier to find. If you have a detector already you certainly have nothing to lose by giving it a go. Hopefully this post has at least made you consider the possibility. As always, volumes more information can be found just by Googling “beach detecting forum”. Here is an example of a hunt at White's Surf PI Pro and Platinum Rings in Hawaii I got four platinum and three gold rings over a couple week period. One of the gold rings is white gold so it looks like only two gold. All fairly plain men's bands reflecting the rough surf area I was hunting. There is a picture of everything I dug at the link including the junk. All the platinum I have ever found was rings, and when platinum peaked at over $2000 an ounce I cashed in over two ounces of platinum. Another very successful hunt was Detecting Gold in Hawaii with the Garrett Infinium Please note that unlike my prospecting outings I do not spend every hour of every day in Hawaii detecting. These finds are being made hunting on an average of two or three hours a day. I am not one to just sit around so detecting keeps me busy. And a good vacation can be paid for in finds or at least subsidized with some hard work and a little bit of luck. Waterproof VLF Detector Comparison Guide Some gold and platinum finds made by Steve in Hawaii

What about this Steve? http://www.vallon.de/

Looks like Dilek has two kids machines in the works, not just one. Mini and Midi. They are waterproof to boot.

Started like a boring session this morning... Everything ready to do another underwater footage of mine but as usual, almost nothing can be done right as we want. Camera's battery dried up after 3 hours...Coins and garbage at some serious depth with the Tdi...After five hours, leaving the beach really destroyed, the last signal heard with died battery on the machine was the wedding band buried in few sand but too old to be a fresh drop.🤔...Clueless find even today.. So this is the only picture to show...

So I got a good deal on the cz20 as I’ve been looking to start diving and swinging. I only have a few questions. Some of my research has said the pinpoint button has leaking issues? In your opinion is something to be concerned about? If so, should I silicone over it or do a seal refurb? I started at 13 years old with the M scope 1235x and loved it. I saw this purchase as a way to grab a hold of that old magic. I remember seeing this unit in the brochure and thinking how much I’d like to try that high dollar beast! Now thanks to a good seller on here I’ll have that chance! Any other tips, tricks, or general aspects I should entertain would be greatly appreciated! Glad to be back in the Fisher club!

Had a fair season going, too bad it got cut short. Easter is usually one of my best times! Gold is in the front row with the rings on paper clips, silver is in the back and the clumped up picture is other metals zinc, stainless,,,etc Thanks for L@@king.

Some of us want waterproof detectors but others like me that don’t plan to get their feet wet say no to it . I make a statement on another post that I’d buy back into the Nox 800 but don’t need it Waterproof. I don’t want something less of a detector than the 800 is now. The battery could be in the handle that would make it easy to replace. I said too I’d like to have this at the 600 price. I had the MX Sport and had good luck detecting with it and it too was waterproof. The trouble with the Sport it carried a lot of weight for a older guy. Then Whites came out with the MX7 that had all the Sport offered but just not waterproof. The problem for me it only lost a half pound. I find if I stay three pounds are less I just last longer in the field. I’d like to see Whites come out with a battery system like Minelab and others to cut down the weight. This way us 39 and holding guys would buy back into their top end detectors. I’ve got my Simplex + if I want to get wet . Chuck

Fisher CZ21 or Equinox? Thanks.

I’ve been doing some freshwater hunting with the Excalibur lately but I’m finding that the old girl nulls quite a bit due to the lake floor being quite mineralised...it is a clay base. I can turn the Sens into Auto but that really dumbs the unit down and depth really suffers. I have been thinking of getting the Tiger Shark but not sure if the GB will be effective enough and whether it can handle the minerals. The Excalibur in PP is quite effective but there is too much iron junk to contend with. Any thoughts out there....... Thanks Tony

Just found this report online.. it's by the US Department of Homeland Security.. Handheld Underwater Metal Detector Assessment Report (2014)

Greetings everyone If you take diving depth out of the equation and happy to stick to snorkel depths, what are the pros and cons of the pi Sea Hunter versus something like the Equinox 600 for salt water and beach? Cheers

Hello all Has anyone come up with a decent design for a coil/loop stabilizer bracket for the Excalibur coil? Because the coil ears are flush with the side of the coil, the standard design doesn’t work (typical Whites style of loop stabilizer) Love the detector but the thin loop bolt provides very little tightness and I’m not going to ruin my coil but over tightening which is futile anyway. Can’t find much on the net which is surprising for such a popular machine. Thanks in advance for any ideas or pictures (even better). Tony

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts and as much as I love my TDIBH........the coil at 12” diameter is just too big in my generally rough ocean conditions....the swell and waves knock it around too much and with zero visibility due to stirred up sand and white water.......anyhow I have managed to secure myself an unused (outdoors) Whites’s Surf Pi Pro that a very nice person called Eric Foster currently owns. It’s had a few changes too by Eric. The unit will be outfitted with a recently hand made coil by Eric......a 10” centre mount / 3 spoke coil (Full epoxy fill so no buoyancy problems) with an inline waterproof connector to be able to swap out coils if needed. The coil is in the style of the old Aquastar detector. Centre mount coils are awesome and are very physically stable. I think the AQ will have such a coil. Eric has tweaked the internals of the detector for better gold response.....I think similar to the mods done by Mr. Bill on the Surf Pi Pro. It will be powered by a 10 cell NiMH battery pack or a 3 cell Lithium pack. I’m not going crazy with extra voltage such as the TDIBH so the standard 12v nominal will be more than adequate. I plan to keep the headphones stock.....I’ve always liked White’s 🎧 Pictures will be added as soon as possible. I was thinking if the Surf Pi Pro is good enough for Steve in Hawaiian conditions then its good enough for me 👍 Tony

Started my water training today...

cuál es mejor para el agua salada? "which one is better for salt water?"

For the last 3 days I have been taking a friend's grandson detecting along the Atlantic ocean. He is 11 and was having some difficulty using my Minelab Equinox. It was my lightest detector. He seems really excited to hunt but I can tell the swinging and the digging in wet sand is a bit too much for him. Is there any lighter, cheaper detectors that will still perform well along the surf? He only goes in ankle deep water and mostly hunts the wet & dry sand. Thank you.

Here is a quick comparison chart for the most common VLF waterproof detectors (not including PI detectors in this) that are currently being manufactured or on the way. Updated 10/1/2018. Click for larger version. Follow up posts in this thread have the details on each model. Waterproof VLF metal detector comparison chart - updated 10/1/2018 Waterproof Pulse Induction (PI) Metal Detectors Compared

I posted this last month on an old thread in the Metal Detector Advice about the Vallon mine detectors. The consensus was that as nugget hunters they might not be so great. While I have no data on that, I suspect that they might be pretty good except on extreme OZ ground - probably equal to or Better than a TDI. As a beach machine however, they present a really interesting possibility. I have now checked out the 2 I bought on eBay from Poland and they both work fine. Here’s what I posted, followed by a bit of an update....They are a good bit lighter than an ATX - about like a TDI. 3 D cells, but you can use AA to D adapters and lighten that up - the power consumption is quite low and so that works, but get the ones which take 2 AA’s pr adapter so you can use 4 or 5 for longer run time, the machine runs on 3 - 4.5 volts - pretty remarkable engineering for a PI. Blast from the past on this 2 year old thread.  I just ordered two of them from Poland. I took the plunge after tracking the ongoing (67 pages now) thread on Geotec. The thread was started by Eric Foster - noted PI detector designer - and is clearly showing that the Vallon VHM3CS is a very capable and interesting beach and relic machine - and may be useful for native gold as well. http://www.geotech1.com/forums/showthread.php?23169-Vallon-VMH3CS-Mine-Detector - the pics below are from Eric. The top ones shows a transformer box for conventional headset - see below. So, now I have them, I have done some simple functional checks. They detect a nickel buried in a wash here in AZ 13” down - about what a TDI will do. The interesting news is the the Vallon agent in the US will update the software to the latest version - free. If the units are sent postpaid both ways! So $199 on eBay, $67 shipping, and you have a useful non-discriminating beach PI for under $300. They come with the case which is really nice, heavy-duty canvas with shoulder straps and a “one-ear” headset. The headset connector is a milspec item but the wiring diagram is published and the mating plug is $8 surplus online - Piezo phones only unless you build a transformer in the circuit. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Army-metal-detector-VALLON-VMH3CS-Working-condition-BROKEN-ARMREST/282998790673?hash=item41e40ada11%3Ag%3AOqoAAOSwAnhbGTdX&LH_BIN=1

Hi Guys New to the forum and metal detecting. Trying to make a decision between the 3 detectors mentioned above. I'm going to be doing most of my detecting on the Northwest beaches. I will also be doing some park hunting and then once a year prospecting in Arizona. I may try a little prospecting in the Northwest too if I find extra time. Initially thought the Excalibur was the way to go, but then after reading posts on several forums I'm starting to have doubts about its durability. I'm leaning towards the ATX at this point, but would like to get some final input on these 3 machines before I make a final decision. Any thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated.

Hey all, I’ve recently picked up and old blue Excalibur 1000 from eBay that I plan to dive with. My only problem is the headphones aren’t the “blowing my ears off” kind of loud. It’s got the original blue headphones on it and I was wondering since I know the Excalibur 2 is incredibly loud it it just how the blue headphones are or if it’s not working 100%, They are easily audible out of water though. Thank you!