Frustrated W/ New Ace 250

[leelo]

WELCOME TO TQ, AND NICE FINDS> GOOD LUCK>

[zaxfire69]

Rich, I have had my 250 for a few months. As far as the depth meter. I don't pay much attention to it. The main thing I focus on is the location of the hit. If I get a hit, say a coin signal. I pinpoint the spot, put that spot in the center of my plug. Cut my plug, flip the plug over. Look at the plug, look in the hole to see if what i pinpointed was in either of the 2 and the target is where I can see it. IF it isn't I take my detector and scan the plug, then scan the hole to see if it is still in the ground. Then I dig until I find it. Use your detector like a pinpointer. Or you can do like I did and go and get yourself a pinpointer and use it along with your detector. Once you get good at digging targets it becomes second nature and you fall in love with your detector all over again...

I've also found when I have one of those wierd readings like you spoke of where the signal seems to disappear, the target is really shallow.

[leesumm]

Welcome, I am sure there are some here more experienced with the Ace than me but I will let my 2 cents be known.These are my experiences and what I have learned on mine maybe this will help or give you a few ideas

Do watch the video and read the booklet is has a wealth of information particularly the video .
Use All metal mode untill you get used to the different sounds low, medium and high. Or practice with metals you know untill you recognize the different tones
Be carefull with your shoes and how you swing the coil. Keep it flat on the ground dont let it swing upwards when you get to the side keep it about an inch off the ground and swing roughly 2 feet a second side to side.
The reason I said wath the shoes is that the Ace is sensitive to pick up the eyelets if your too close or some do wear western boots and the more expensive ones has metal pegs in the arch, and dont wear metal toe shoes, either way the Ace is sensitive enough to pick either up
Start with a low sensitivity such as 3 bars , my factory setting is 4 bars and I always back down one bar.
Soil and soil conditions affect the Ace greatly , along with moisture content,cell phones, over head power lines any magnetic force field in the ground such as maybe a tv cable, phone line burried cable etc can cause you interference along with some mineralization of the soil. Where I live there are some rocks that will give me a sound. I too have dug and dug on a signal to find nothing and then started inspecting handfuls in front of the coil only to find a rock was giving the signal. Plus if your married dont inspect a handfull of soil with your left hand in front of the coil LOL.
The pinpointer. Mine always shows deeper than it actually is. But, When pinpointing , the highest signal on the scale is the location of whatever it is .BUT!!! I have noticed that once in a great while I get repeated tones and showing a relative deep signal on the scale. But when placeing the coil on the highest pinpoint spot and not moving the Ace begins to play a very excited tune to me. I have always at that time found a coin , etc. on top or just below grass root depth.
I dont know if any of this helps or not but its my expereinces with the Ace 250 and what I have learned from it in the last few months of use .

[Graw]

Hello
My wife and I travel and I metal detecting everywhere. and the ace 250 has a learning requirement it will take time to learn the 250 voice. and when you do things will be better. ---- Graw

[Havilah]

Dear Ricch and all,

Welcome to the group.

I copied the following pin-pointing tip from somewhere. So sorry I have no earthly idea where. (What did you say my name was?)

"I spoke to Mr. Garrett about the issue some have had with pinpointing with the Ace 250. He showed me a bench test and how accurate the pinpointer is. It was dead center of the inside hole. He DID say he left out a tip for pinpointing that will be added to new CD. After you have it pretty well pin-pointed by xing, lift the detector a few inches off the ground and very, very quickly release and then pushdown the pinpointer button. It narrows it even further to a very fine pinpoint. Every time he did it, the coin was dead center of the inner ring. Maybe that will help somebody."

I believe the best YouTube video on pinpointing with the Ace 250 is here:

YouTube - Garrett Ace 250 metal detector. How to pinpoint a target.

An awesome Garrett Ace 250 video: FYI-ACE 150, ACE 250, GTAX 550, GTI 1500 & GTI 2500 Instruction Videos

Hope this helps!

[schoser]

thanks, Havilah. very useful..i'll try that too!

[INDY]

I know exactly what you are talking about. I have been using my ace for two years now, and what you have described , happens to me too all the time!!! I hunt mostly in coin mode or the custom mode, in the middle sensitive bar.

The Next time it happens, after you rescan everything and then the signal just stops sounding as if there was no metal at all in the dirt, look at your digital display and notice that it will be showing in the junk area or it may be jumping around between foil and pull tab..but there is no longer a sound.................My guess is , that even though it was making a good tone sound, and you dig down and then nothing, The ace has a better idea that the target is junk and not a coin or relic. And even if you put the plug back it will sound off again, more then likely it is junk. I have chased a signal like that a few times before and it usually ends up being a small peice of foil or some kind of really small flake of metal.
I hope this helps some, and I feel your pain,,,,,,,But just keep at it, you will find alot of nice treasures with your ace!
Welcome to TQ

[icewater]

I am getting a new detector tomorrow 6/10 and I do everything to extremes I walked 5 miles this morning and biked 27.8 miles this is my first real detector ( I had one when I was 11 thirty years ago from Radio shack $30.00) and I am willing to learn from what I can see everyone says to keep at it so KEEP AT IT you will do fine and read the book and watch the DVD or Video that came with the detector this seem to be what everyone says to do.

[drver]

Yep just like most everything else in life, the more you do it the better you get at it. Most anyone can drive a car or ride a bike but to be really good at it takes allot of doing it.
Don't be afraid of experimenting with the settings, you can't hurt anything, and don't be afraid to ask questions either. The only dumb question is the one that didn't get asked.

[Havilah]

Quite a few people have said that you need to tape the cable from the coil up the shaft at least 12 inches, as a loose cable will interfere with your detector's readings. And then from there up to the machine, don't coil it TOO tight, as it will cause problems in the connector.