Nox Series 10x5 Instability

[Wh1sk3y]

Hi all long time lurker this my first post. I bought a used 800 with 3 coils, 6 inch 10x5 coiltek and the stock 11 inch. I'm having problems getting the 10x5 to settle down in gold mode, it constantly throws 1 and 2 id numbers. This only happens in multi and 40 kHz. 20 l kHz is smooth as can be. Do I need to turn the sensitivity down? At 17 it'll kind of behave but I feel I'm losing depth and sensitivity. Any tips or tricks?

[openseas]

My experience thus far with the 10x5 coil is that it is very sensitive. I usually use it in multi and have not tried it in 20 or 40hz as yet. I am by no means an expert here but while I was experimenting with it I found that you have to turn the sensitivity down to like 15 or lower to quiet it down. It also depends on the ground you are using it in. Here in Nevada the ground is highly mineralized thus the lower sensitivity. Also turn your recovery speed down to like 4 or 5 and go low and slow on the ground. All this must have confused you a bit and as a novice with this coil I apologize. I mainly use the 6" coil as I have found more gold with it. Hope any of this helps.

[Valens Legacy]

 

 

On 8/21/2023 at 6:50 PM, Wh1sk3y said:

Any tips or tricks?

When changing coils always do a factory reset after putting the new coil on.

I run my 10x5 on my 800 at a point between 15 to 18 on the sensitivity depending on the ground. I always turn off the cell phone as it has caused me problems with it in the past.

I have used the factory settings and have not had many problems with the 800 doing what it is designed to do.

Hope this helps and good hunting.

[phrunt]

It to me sounds like you're in quite mineralised ground, the bigger the coil the more ground it sees hence the need for lower sensitivity so you're more than likely able to run the 6" a bit hotter, how does the 11" perform in the same scenario? Can you run it higher sensitivity than you can the 10x5"? 

If the 11" behaves at the sensitivity level the 10x5" doesn't I'd be concerned something is wrong with the 10x5".  It's a good idea to manually ground balance also.  Also, ensure the coil cover for the 10x5" is clean underneath, a build-up of dirt and black sand can cause havoc.   I haven't heard of any faulty 10x5" Coiltek's but anything is possible.

In theory a factory reset when changing coils may help on some older detectors however the Equinox is a "smart" detector and have a chip in the coil to identify the coil so it shouldn't overly matter but can't hurt. 

1 and 2 are the common small gold numbers so I can see your frustration.  

Make sure your coil is done up tight on the connections, very likely not the problem but if not done up causes' issues.

If you swing the coil in the air, does it do the same 1 and 2 ID's randomly, if you tap it with a stick o something while in the air does it do it? Or does it only do it when on the ground? 

[Jeff McClendon]

If your 10X5 Coiltek is "smooth as can be" at 20 kHz and noisy at 40 kHz and in Multi using Gold 1 and Gold 2, then your coil is probably fine. Do the other coils behave similarly when changing frequencies in Gold 1 and Gold 2?

The VCO audio and the way Gold 1 and Gold 2 were designed, make them extremely sensitive to any small targets including EMI and ground noise from mineralization especially when using Multi.

Sometimes I can run an Equinox 800 in Gold 1 or Gold 2 Multi at sensitivity around 20 in my area where magnetite mineralization is pretty bad. That is as high as I can go. When EMI or ground noise starts to cause random audio and VDI numbers, I just have to back off sensitivity a bit. I can usually run recovery speed around 4 or 5. Going any lower will help with EMI but it will make ground noise much worse.

[Wh1sk3y]

The 11 inch coil is butter smooth as is the 6 inch. The 10x5 chatters even in the air and is very touch sensitive. Most of my ground balances between 1 to 4 and the mineralized stuff is usually 24 or 25. I usually run 20-21 sens will the minelab coils. Thank you for the replies. Just frustrated as I bought the machine for the 10x5

[Wh1sk3y]

When I first got the 800 I thought the 10x5 was bad so I contacted coiltek and they sent me a new one. It does the same exact thing though. Maybe my detector is not recognizing the coil? I have one year left on minelab warranty. Could it be the nox? It works incredibly well with the minelab coils. I like it so much I sold my gold monster.

[phrunt]

That sure is a puzzle, the likelihood of two faulty 10x5" with the same fault when nobody I've ever heard of has ever had that fault is extremely slim, I would think.  And if it works perfectly with the Minelab coils then that increases the puzzle as it means the detector is OK, the detector is recognising the coil or it would shut down with a coil error.

Unfortunately, I think the only way you'll know is if someone near you has another Nox and you can compare their detector to yours and how it works with the Coiltek coil, see if the results vary to try narrow it down.

 

[Wh1sk3y]

Ya I will try turning the sens down to 15 this weekend and try it again. In the other modes it works very well. Coil of choice for parks and such. Thank you all for the advice. 

[Jeff McClendon]

2 hours ago, Wh1sk3y said:

The 11 inch coil is butter smooth as is the 6 inch. The 10x5 chatters even in the air and is very touch sensitive. Most of my ground balances between 1 to 4 and the mineralized stuff is usually 24 or 25. I usually run 20-21 sens will the minelab coils. Thank you for the replies. Just frustrated as I bought the machine for the 10x5

I have the Equinox 800 with Minelab 6", Minelab 11" and Coiltek 10X5".

If there is any EMI in the area all three behave like this in Gold 1 and Gold 2: Multi is very chatty the higher I turn up sensitivity especially above 20, 40 kHz has less chatter, 20 kHz is the most consistently quiet. In areas with EMI and high iron mineralization, Multi is about the same and handles the ground mineralization the best, 20 kHz reacts more to the ground and 40 kHz is more stable than 20 kHz.

Most of the places I gold prospect in Colorado will ground balance between -2 and + 8. That ground has high levels of magnetite and will max out any VLF detector's Fe3O4 mineralization meter. So your ground balancing at +1 to +4 sounds to me like there is a lot of magnetite in your area.