ACE 250 gone haywire! Help please!

[MountainFan]

I was trying my Ace 250 around an 1800s homesite over the weekend. I'm still very much a newbie and trying to get used to the machine. As I was digging my 3rd target (the first 2 were just old nails ) I set the machine down beside me. After a few seconds, it started going nuts! It was beeping and bouncing around like I had stuck the coil into a recycling bin! I thought maybe the batteries were the culprit, so I changed to a new set of (cheap!) batteries. Still no better. Took the coil cover off to see if a piece of metal was touching the coil. Nothing there. I turned it off, took the batteries out, and unhooked the coil wire. Put it back together, held the coil up in the air, and turned it back on. Same craziness. Any ideas what might be going on? Could it still be a battery issue?? Granted, it has sat around the house unused for about a year, but it was working fine to start the day.

BTW, it only went nuts when the sensitivity was at 3 or higher. Dropping below 3 sensitivity would quiet the machine, but it still shouldn't require that with the coil up in the air and not near anything...

 

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[savant365]

Try pressing and holding the pwr button for 5 seconds (or until it beeps), this should reset it to factory settings. If that doesn't work check your connections between the coil and the control box. I have read on here a few times that folks have got faulty coils from the factory and they have had to replace them. Good luck getting it going again.

HH Charlie

 

[baylorhall]

I had the same problem one time when I was around some big power lines. I turned it off then held down the power button until it double beeped and it worked fine. I have to do that every once in awhile. Good luck!

 

[Iron Patch]

Does it do the same thing now that you're home?

 

[Tank69]

sounds like its time to throw it away an upgrade .

 

[MountainFan]

It acts the same way at home. I tried holding the power button down to return it to factory settings, but it didn't help. The connection between the coil wire and control box is tight and looks clean as can be. The detector has seen VERY light use over the past year or so (maybe 5 times out in the back yard?) and hasn't been exposed to the weather. No reason for it to mess up that I can see. Plus, it was working fine at the start of the outing and went haywire when nothing was touching it. I tried to call Garrett last night but their office was already closed. I'll try again today. Don't know if they could help or not. Upgrading isn't really an option financially at this point no more than I've used it...

Sandman mentioned in another thread that it could be a broken solder connection inside that will require it to be sent in. Can anyone give me an idea of cost to have this done?

 

[Iron Patch]

I assume the Ace 250 uses one of these holders.

Back when I had a GTI every so often a battery would lose connection and the detector would go nuts. The best way I can describe it, is it was like the detector being locked up and sounding off like someone had pulled a fire alarm. Try turning the batteries in the holder to maybe get a better connection, and try more factory resets. Your detector might just be locked up and will snap out of it if you keep trying.

 

[WishfulThinker]

If you can, stretch the spring ends of the battery pack holder out a bit to make better contact. Make sure there is no corrosion (black or green color).

Try pushing in on the wires to the battery connector, to make better contact, and see if problem goes away; may be a broken lead wire going to the connector, especially if you just changed batteries and machine was working fine before. Wire does not stretch, broken wires in plastic jacketing DO.

Note: This is a common problem, pulling on the wires when connecting/disconnecting battery or pack, can result in broken wire strands or poor connection to the individual snap connectors. Also, try one at a time, each single snap connection and if it is loose; if so, bend slightly with pliers until connection is proper. Radio Shack sells battery tester, about $7, well worth the money in long run.
Rechargable batteries, DO GO BAD, and have to be replaced. Especially if they have been discharged for an extended period of time.

Due to the extremely high gain and stabilized triggering circuits for discrimination and balance, all of the metal detector circuits are sensitive to battery voltage problems of any kind. Digital even worse, due to feeding signals to processor.

Additionally, try rotating all controls fully, minimum to maximum including switching on/off, ==> twenty times <==. You are trying to clean the surface of the wiper pad of the control to the actual carbon film bar. If possible, spray control with contact cleaner/lubricant (Radio Shack or electronics parts store), especially if unit is over 5 years old; may just be a noisy control. I assume most units are going to have better electronic components and will require factory repair for replacing bad controls. Real possibility, especially if detector has been setting up for a while.

 

[MountainFan]

The Ace 250 doesn't use a battery pack. Just 4 AA batteries inserted parrallel. I haven't noticed any loose springs or corrosion, but I'll recheck this evening. When the problem started, the batteries had not been touched.

Thank you to all for the suggestions! I'm also still going to try to call Garrett this afternoon and see if they have any ideas. If it needs to be sent to them to be fixed, does anyone have any idea on potential cost? Also, how long should it take to get the machine back if it needs to be sent for repair? I'm chomping at the bit to search this property. It's a 200 acre farm with family connections to a well known historical figure. Visible cut stone foundation from a house dating to about 1800. Has had a few people detect a little before, but very limited access to property. What a time for the detector to quit!

 

[MountainFan]

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who tried to help diagnose a finicky detector. Your suggestions were greatly appreciated! Unfortunately, nothing seemed to help the erratic behavior. When I checked over everything and gave up, I put it down and left it alone.

HOWEVER...

When I picked it up yesterday afternoon, it was working fine! Nothing had been changed. I really don't understand what might have caused the problem. And since it's decided to work now, I guess all I can do is wait for it to happen again before sending it off for repair work. If anyone has had something similar happen, let me know what the culprit was! Again, this newbie thanks you all for your help!!!

 

[warsawdaddy]

If it acts up again,I would throw the batteries away and put new ones in(major brand).The ACE usually or at least use to,come with batteries installed,so no telling when they were put in and set at a dealer for who knows how long.

 

[doverturtle]

I had the same problem last week with my Tesoro Tejon. Every so often it would just go crazy with beeping no matter where I set the sensitivity. I finally ended up replacing the Panasonic batteries that came with the detector with Duracell batteries and the problem went away. I would say the problem is either with the batteries themselves or with the battery connections.