Garrett Apex Superfly Air Test

[Mike305]

If you don't hunt the beach, maybe the 'glitch' (if it exists) won't be an issue for you.  I'm going to hold off on buying my second one until I know more.  Hopefully Regton and/or NEL will respond with more info.

I bought the Super Fly in hopes of resolving a silver-on-edge issue...and it did that.  I later bought the Raider coil and it also handles silver-on-edge without issue.  Regarding depth....I haven't done any head-to-head testing, but believe the Super Fly probably has the advantage.  It has also proven to be very stable and well-built.  And, for a beach hunter, it offers something no one else does...a coil cover that fits the coil so well it takes on almost no sand. All my other stock coil covers seem designed to do the opposite.

[phrunt]

I had some large silver to iron wrap around on my Gold Bug Pro using the Nel Snake coil, It worked fine on all silver coins found here except the very large UK silver half crowns, I adjusted an internal pot in the detector to remedy it, it needed the ever most slightest of turn so I guess this is entirely possible with the Superfly too, I'm not sure if its a problem with the detector or the coil so it could be random detectors have this problem and others don't.

Here was the problem. 

And this was after I fixed it.

 

[Mike305]

According to Nigel Ingram at Regton only the "first batch" of Super Fly for the Apex have this issue.  He wasn't able to provide a date or serial number range...or additional info about the issue.  Still waiting to hear back from NEL...

[karlchick]

Thanks for feeding back Mike, I wonder if the Nel coils they have in stock are from this "first batch"... the Superfly has been available over 2 years now... still very tempted to get the superfly for £90...

[Mike305]

I'm assuming they're what he called 'first batch' coils due to the warning and discount, but best to check with him.

[karlchick]

@Mike305 I had a good chat with Darren from Regtons about the issue. He says that the issue exists for ALL NEL coils for Garret ACE Apex.

The issue does not exist for NEL coils for any other detector, just the Apex NEL coils. The issue is that when using a NEL coil on the Garret ACE Apex in MS mode - it will not detect sterling silver / aluminium (or similar metals of same VDI range) at all. This is only applicable in MS mode, in all other modes like MF and single frequency it works fine.

Given that you normally would only use MS mode to detect on the wet beach, this may not be an issue for most people. For me, I detect 30-40% of time on the beach, and do like to search the wet sand areas (away from the dreaded BBQ zones) where people tend to play in the waves/shallows.

Darren said that the issue wasn't spotted during the initial UK trials with early samples provided by NEL (Regtons are based nowhere near the beach in the Midlands), but later a beach based tester spotted the issue and when Regtons checked MS mode with air tests confirmed the issue on all the NEL coils and fed the issue back to NEL. 

Given that NEL are based in Ukraine and the war with Russia, I suspect it will be quite a long time until they are in a position to develop/update/release an new design that resolves this issue. So if MS mode is important to you, probably best to look to other manufacturers.

Personally I'm still attracted to the NEL, having to accept that I can't use a NEL on wet beach areas, but otherwise having a great coil of similar effective radius (11.47") compared to the Reaper (12.23") for almost half the price (£90 with a 10% discount code) and a lot lighter to swing - 420gm vs 555gm, so 25% lighter! 

I'm also weighing up if the Reaper coil (being heavier and slightly larger) will:

1. give me arm ache after a whole day detecting!
2. be as good as the NEL superfly at finding small coins at depth.

Failing that, I'm wondering how much better the Superfly is over the Raider coil... if at all (I suspect it will be better).

[kac]

Raider coils depth isn't much more than the vipers depth. Viper coil is a very good general purpose coil. Ultimate 9 is a little better than the viper on silvers but has less separation. I use the 9 for woods hunting where there is a lot of underbrush and the round coil is easier to work in those conditions.

I would choose the Reaper over the Superfly as it is more robust and probably edges it out a little on depth but has a little more coverage. Good choice for the wide open areas. As for weight the Reaper isn't that bad and you can always shorten the shaft up a bit.

I had a Superfly fail on my Multi Kruzer at the connector. The connector is plastic and works itself loose. ended up resoldering and sealing it but not that confident in the coil anymore.

I also had a Nel Big fail internally as well as a Mars Tiger fail internally. The cables don't show any signs of damage. Putting pressure from end to end on them does not give them a spark of life. Both those failed on the Rx side. My guess is they have a cap inside on a board that died.

Lastly the Reaper has Garretts warranty behind it so any issues can be quickly resolved.

[Mike305]

6 hours ago, karlchick said:

He says that the issue exists for ALL NEL coils for Garret ACE Apex.  

The issue is that when using a NEL coil on the Garret ACE Apex in MS mode - it will not detect sterling silver / aluminium (or similar metals of same VDI range) at all.

Ah...I didn't realize until now Regton has this warning on all of the NEL coils for the Apex.  So, did they actually test every model?  My Super Fly doesn't have this issue...so it can't be all of them.  I have been using my Super Fly for more than two years and it loves silver in MS mode.  I have air-tested my coil and hunted extensively in the wet sand with excellent results.  I doubt my coil is an anomaly.  NEL is still operating and shipping coils for the Apex.  Still waiting on their response though...

[karlchick]

6 hours ago, Mike305 said:

Still waiting on their response though...

The city of Kharkiv in Ukraine where NEL is based has been under sustained Russian attack since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, so I wouldn't be surprised if they are not responding quickly.

[Mike305]

I'm aware of the situation in Ukraine and wasn't suggesting they're taking too long...if it sounded that way.  I have previously been in touch with them during this time and they've been responsive/helpful.  I'll post here when I hear back.