Wizard Vib-Probe II

[Bearamacudda]

Does anyone know about this probe? Good or bad?

The Wizard Vib-Probe II

[Dug D]

I just got one, still need to use it in the field. It has more controls than I expected, trigger for the light only, nuraled switch to turn on and adjust sensitivity, a separate switch for vibration/audio, and a small screw to adjust master sensitivity in case the on/off switch adjustment can't cover it.

The vibration seems to have a large motor and weight, more than necessary which I think will drain battery fast. I am going to get a lot of time in Saturday I will know a lot more after a day.

[Bearamacudda]

Thanks for posting. Let me know how it works out for you.

[Titan Man]

Originally Posted by Dug D

I just got one, still need to use it in the field. It has more controls than I expected, trigger for the light only, nuraled switch to turn on and adjust sensitivity, a separate switch for vibration/audio, and a small screw to adjust master sensitivity in case the on/off switch adjustment can't cover it.

The vibration seems to have a large motor and weight, more than necessary which I think will drain battery fast. I am going to get a lot of time in Saturday I will know a lot more after a day.

I have the VIB Probe and have been using it a Lot. It works fine and the battery seems to be holding up just fine. I think for the money it can't be beat. It has located a lot of finds that I normaly would miss because some of the coins are the same color as the dirt. The side of the probe vibrates or signals the find within 2 inches. The point will detect the find at about an inch.

Titan Man

[Xray]

I've had 3 of them ... And that tells the story right there. I like them, but they are cheaply built.
1st one I broke was my fault I guess, it is tempting to aggressively probe with the long tip. Snapped the PVC neck on the second day. I used to JB weld to patch it back together and it worked well for a couple months then basically fell apart.
Got another one and I was more careful about probing with it. It ran into some problem where it alerted all of the time, by metal or not. Had to pop it open, don't know exactly what I did but the problem stopped, only to start again a week or so later.
Got frustrated and threw it against a wall.
#3 worked well for a couple months, then the sound went out ... Unfortunate since I like the beep alert.
Tried to replace the speaker but it is a tiny pizeo speaker which is molded into the grip, basically impossible to replace.
So I used it with just vibrate for a while until it started acting just like the 2nd one, it would alert if it was by metal or not, which obviously makes it useless.
Probed around its innards again with no luck, threw that one against a wall also, so thats it for me. I feel there is definetly quality control issues with these things, all I can say is save your receipt cause its likely to fry within the claimed 1 year warrantee ... Unless you are like me and tend to destroy things that don't work.
Some may say I am harsh with little patience, but take my word, these things are crap and are in no way, shape or form suited to going out in the field.

So yeah, the features are great on this thing, adjustable sensitivity, vibrate/tone alert. The little LED comes in handy for lighting those dark holes ... And I found it will alert a coin sized object from about an inch away, perfect. Less than that it wouldn't be very useful, more than that it would defeat its purpose.

Besides its cheap made in China frame and poor quality control, the only drawbacks I found were:

* 9 Volt battery is a pain to replace, there is just no good way to get the battery out besides banging the bottom on something and hoping the battery jiggles out before the pinpointer itself breaks. Wires to the battery clip break off easy. Battery life as I recall were pretty good, but it starts behaving real flaky when the charge gets low.
* The thumbwheel sensitivity adjuster, which is also an on/off switch, will always work itself loose, happened on all 3 of mine.
When this happens, you have no way to turn it on or off [unless you yank the battery, which itself is a royal pain].
This will force you to open it up, and hope that the tiny little screw which holds it in is still in there somewhere. If its not you may need t go to a watch shop to get another one, I mean this screw is tiny.
* Gun shape causes some looks of concern at times, especially at tot lots.

I found a much, much better one, its not one of the more common ones.
They are very hard to find I had to order mine from Europe, but it cost about the same as this vib-probe and it is very sturdy, had it for over 2 years with no problems at all.
I'll post info on it if I remember, right now I can't even recall its name, made by some German outfit.