Ace 250 problem?

[Stormrider51]

I have many years of detecting experience, most of it with Garrett products. I recently acquired a NIB Ace 250 and have been happy with it but yesterday something happened that I've never seen before. I pinpointed on a target and then set the detector down to dig. A few seconds later the 250 emitted a tone followed by another a few seconds after that. The machine was sitting on the ground stationary. The tones increased in number until the detector sounded like a pinball machine. I picked it up and the tones continued even with the coil in the air. Thinking that maybe there was a piece of aluminum foil stuck the coil, I checked both sides. Nope, clean. I checked to see if the cable was screwed on securely and it was. All this time the machine was beeping like it was possessed. I turned it off, waited a few seconds, and turned it back on again. Still possessed. I backed off on the sensitivity a couple of bars and the machine quieted down somewhat but still gave the occasional beep with the coil in the air. I went back to hunting and the thing eventually calmed down altogether and I was able to bump the sensitivity back up. I was hunting on my own rural property so I know there wasn't a buried cable or anything like that. The power line that runs from the road to my house was about 30 yards away but it would seem that interference from that wouldn't have gone away. There's a satellite dish for Hughes Net about 50 yards away but again I'd think the problem would be constant if that was the source. I took the 250 to an old church yard later in the afternoon and it was working perfectly. I'm left wondering if I had some sort of transient RF interference or does the machine have a problem? Of course, it if it continues to happen I'll know it's time to send it back to Garrett but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts as to possible causes. Am I missing something?

Thanks,
Storm

 

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[DenverDetector]

Storm,
I have encounteredt this issue a couple of times. However, in all cases I was within 50 yards of a power line so I chalked it up to RF interference.

DD

 

[ultraflight77]

Did you have a cell phone in your pocket? I have heard of others saying that may cause a detector to go crazy,I carry my cell phone while detecting but have never had any issues with my AT Pro going nuts.

 

[Sandman]

We live in a busier world now than we did years ago and there is lots more interference than overhead wires. Electrical Interference Essay by First Texas Lead Engineer Dave Johnson If you carry a cell phone it should be turned off. If someone needs to reach you they will call back when you activate it again like we did in years past. Your ACE 250 only has one freq. and you don't have the option of changing it like on some other MD's.

 

[Stormrider51]

I was wearing my cellphone but I always do and this was the first, and so far only, instance of the machine freaking out. I used it for a couple of hours yesterday and had no problems. One thing that occurred to me is that our place is under the flight path of commercial jets approaching/leaving Austin Bergstrom International Airport (depending on the wind direction). Maybe there was RF interference from an airborne radar or other aircraft electronic emission. Heck, maybe the spirit of someone who lived on this land before me was displeased with me for digging up their past. Don't know what they could be upset about though because all I've found is a ton of pull tabs and other trash! LOL! I may never know because if I'm lucky it will never happen again. I'll just have a good story about the time my detector went bonkers for no reason. My thanks to all who responded and for your information.

Storm

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Last year I actually thought my machin was about to crap out on me, because out of nowhere, The machine did the same thing, it was going thru all the tones and looked like it was skitzing out. And i tried to turn it off, and it wouldnt even turn off...I pretty much had to rip the batteries out, and it worked fine, its happened to me twice, in the last 3 years of use...so i figured it was just a glich

Garrett is more than happy to help with any problems with their machines..Ive never gotten the run around with them

 

[Stormrider51]

Thanks Diggin. The machine has worked fine up until I took it back to the same area of our property where it acted up the first time. The problem seems to happen on one area about 15 yards square. The machine started to give a single tone about every 20 seconds and always indicated "quarter" on the screen. It gets worse from there. It stops if I take it out of that one area. At this point I'm pretty sure it isn't the machine but some type of interference. It would be interesting to get a different machine operating on a different frequency out here and see if it is does the same thing.

Storm

 

[Hawgwild]

Since it does seem to be localized on one area there is bound to be some sort of underground cable, etc. I use to troubleshoot for DSL internet access. One customer would call about a problem at certain times. Seems his neighbor had installed one of those underground "electric" dog fences. Problem solved. Could also be a "leaking" phone line or other cable system "leaking" a signal.

Glad it wasn't your MD...never had a glitch with my 250

 

[doc801]

When I use the Ace 250 and ,my Bounty Hunter Pioneer 230 they chatter if both are on. You have to have at least 30 feet between them to make the stop or shut down one of them. Where I havebeen hunting for 3 years has High Voltage power lines. This will give me false beep. RF is a something to remember. Keep Hunting!!!

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Sounds like EMI. You can do a factory reset by turning it off, holding down the power button when turning it back on until you get multiple beeps. Also be sure the coil is screwed on tight . If you continue to have problems, Garrett turns them around in repair pretty quickly.

Wayne

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