Industrial Detectors

[littlehugger]

I am aware of the existence of Industrial Detectors, and in fact, I happen to own one. The M66.
I have heard that these are allowed more power output than hobby versions, and these things do take 12 AA batteries.
Is this true?
I have very little use on mine. I picked it up used, and was not aware it had no head phone jack. I don't hear well enough to hunt without one, but I assume its adequate for its intended use.
Its probably weighted to prefer ferrous metals, but it seems it might make a dandy relic machine.
Anyone know anything?

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

....I have heard that these are allowed more power output than hobby versions, ...

That's got to be a wive's tale. Anyone off the street can buy those, as well hobbyist detectors. So there would be no difference.

 

[littlehugger]

So, why wouldn't anyone be able to buy them? I can walk in off the street and buy a race motor for my car. There are lots of industrial things that you can buy, and if its manufactured by a reputable maker, it must meet legal regs. Nor can I think of any reason why they would be illegal.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

So, why wouldn't anyone be able to buy them? I can walk in off the street and buy a race motor for my car. There are lots of industrial things that you can buy, and if its manufactured by a reputable maker, it must meet legal regs. Nor can I think of any reason why they would be illegal.

I think you mis read me. I said that anyone CAN buy them. There's nothing to stop Johnny-off-the-street from buying an industrial metal detector. Eg.: ones for pipe locating, or nails-in-logs, etc.... And there's nothing special about them.

There was even a thread once about military detectors. Some people think the military has "extra special secret" ones that are not available to the public, or are somehow better, etc... That notion was put to rest by some engineers who chimed in to the thread, and pointed out that the detectors were either simply the same super high powered pulse machines that hobbyist nugget hunters can get. Or if it was the imaging type ones, that they'd be of no use to hobbyist (ie.: are not going to tell you the difference of a tab shape vs a coin shape, etc.....).

Humorously, one guy continued to disagree (I guess the type persons who are bent on conspiracy theories, and assume that anything the military has, must of necessity be super secret advanced). The engineer finally told him to simply take a high powered nugget pulse machine, paint it camo green: And presto: you'd have a military mine detector

 

[littlehugger]

I think you mis read me. I said that anyone CAN buy them. There's nothing to stop Johnny-off-the-street from buying an industrial metal detector. Eg.: ones for pipe locating, or nails-in-logs, etc.... And there's nothing special about them.

There was even a thread once about military detectors. Some people think the military has "extra special secret" ones that are not available to the public, or are somehow better, etc... That notion was put to rest by some engineers who chimed in to the thread, and pointed out that the detectors were either simply the same super high powered pulse machines that hobbyist nugget hunters can get. Or if it was the imaging type ones, that they'd be of no use to hobbyist (ie.: are not going to tell you the difference of a tab shape vs a coin shape, etc.....).

Humorously, one guy continued to disagree (I guess the type persons who are bent on conspiracy theories, and assume that anything the military has, must of necessity be super secret advanced). The engineer finally told him to simply take a high powered nugget pulse machine, paint it camo green: And presto: you'd have a military mine detector

I have seen military detectors on Ebay, and they don't interest me. They look old and beat up, and military needs differ from hobbyists. I assume military detectors are programmed for ferrous metals, not jewelry. Just like airport detectors, that find those tiny luggage keys, but ignore my gold jewelry.
I got the idea when reading a websites industrial detector section. Something they wrote implied they had stronger output, in addition to being specially built for rougher use. It occurred to me, that there is no reason they could not be more powerful, and reasons they might be. After all, output is limited by law, and we have separate emissions laws for industrial vehicles and work trucks.
I think the industrial detectors also have their programming skewed towards ferrous, as they would be primarily for finding pipes. That would be negative to most detectorists, but cool for relics.
It just irks me not knowing.
Are pulse units more powerful? I always thought it was due to the pulse effect. Like AC vs DC.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... After all, output is limited by law,....

To whatever extent this is true, and to whatever extent it has any bearing on the ability of detectors (depth etc...) : It has been debated on other threads. Seems that opinion was: There could be no better/deeper , if it wasn't for the big bad govt. restrictions. I think that issue was pretty much put to rest as being baseless.

And if it was true that some output was disallowed for hobbyist machines, that's it's equally true that the same dis-allowance would be for industrial detectors too. (if you meant units available to industrial buyers). Otherwise: We'd all simply be going out and buying those industrial machines, instead of our hobby machines.

You can put TONS more power into a machine, but the same problem persists: The medium that the detectors see through is solid ground. And you can't exceed the laws of physics.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I bought an old Garrett 880 Industrial Bloodhound with around a 12 inch coil a while back, it takes four 9v batteries and I have no idea yet how deep it will detect. I'm sure if I had a battlefield nearby where I was looking for deep cannonballs it would be great, or if I was looking for a buried cache or big iron relics... What I've noticed though from the bit of testing I did with it, is that it's not much good for very small shallow targets (I had trouble getting a signal from a dime on the surface) and since it's got no disc I think you'd have a pretty hard time finding anything before the frustration of digging beer cans and hubcaps at 3 feet deep set in...

I guess if what you're looking for is deep big iron it would be perfect, but there are so many other machines that will do the same thing and do it better that I think it's not an ideal choice

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... it's not much good for very small shallow targets (I had trouble getting a signal from a dime on the surface) ....., but there are so many other machines that will do the same thing and do it better that I think it's not an ideal choice

Not sure about the Garrett Bloodhound 2-box, but the Whites TM 808 2-box will not get an object smaller than a domino size. And even THAT'S by super tuning , holding it low to the ground, and listening real hard. Realistically: Nothing smaller than a tennis ball or soda can sized object. But that actually DOES make it the "ideal choice" when cache hunting. Because then you have the perfect discriminator against all those pesky small objects you WEREN'T looking for. Eg. individual coins, nails, tabs, foil, etc.... Only sees large objects.

 

[littlehugger]

To whatever extent this is true, and to whatever extent it has any bearing on the ability of detectors (depth etc...) : It has been debated on other threads. Seems that opinion was: There could be no better/deeper , if it wasn't for the big bad govt. restrictions. I think that issue was pretty much put to rest as being baseless.

And if it was true that some output was disallowed for hobbyist machines, that's it's equally true that the same dis-allowance would be for industrial detectors too. (if you meant units available to industrial buyers). Otherwise: We'd all simply be going out and buying those industrial machines, instead of our hobby machines.



If you look hard enough, you can find almost anything online.
From what I read, power is limited more by physics, the law of diminishing returns.
First, to extend the field, the power required goes up squared. You cant ust double one milliwatt and get two feet of depth.
Second, the ground itself has magnetic/electric properties. A bigger detecting field means more noise. This easily gets louder than the small differences your detector measures from metal.
The main method used to get depths seem to be a bigger coil, as the field size is a function of coil size, and DD coils, which are said to be deeper. Their field shape also is said to enhance.
Minelabs Multi frequency may help, by giving the detector more signal difference to read. PI helps as AC helps transmit electricity. I also assume makers continue to upgrade their electronics allowing the electronics to detect and interpret ever fainter difference signals.
Also, the law has been re-written in recent years, to where it really is inapplicable to detectors. So, manufacturers are free to do as they please. You cant fry an egg on one yet, so I guess its OK.
Its odd that manufacturers never seem to discuss power, and many other tech questions. You think that one might come out and brag about power, or have a blog, or some sort of technical resource where curious hobbyists could acquire knowledge. Manufacturers are not limited on power, to a point, but power causes its own problems.

You can put TONS more power into a machine, but the same problem persists: The medium that the detectors see through is solid ground. And you can't exceed the laws of physics.

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[Ger324]

Does anybody use a southward voltage detector? I had a gift certificate from Lowe’s and I needed a detector, and I hope this is an appropriate detector for commercial and industrial work. Because recently I check Elta-Trade storage stock. And was very surprised by the variation of the industrial detectors there. https://eltra-trade.com/catalog/eltra

 

[ticndig]

Anybody use a southwire voltage detector? Had a gift certificate from Lowe’s and I needed a detector, and I hope this is an appropriate detector for commercial and industrial work.

stick with a brand name multi meter before you get electrocuted .