Which should i get please help

[huntsman53]

Nice set up and thanks for the help. Now my choice is between an excal II for 600 with the big coil, it's a little beat up but seems to work fine on dry land, or the older blue excal with the small coil for for 725. I'm a little worried about the small coil since it won't cover as much ground. But the old blue excal was sent into Minelab last year to have a pot replaced and Minelab water tested it, and it has not been used since. I was gonna buy the old blue one yesterday but we could not get it to work, then this guy came in today and sold the excal II to the shop, so the shop owner hooked up the battery pack from the excal II to old blue and old blue worked fine. Beleive it or not the battery pack we used on old blue the other day when it would not work was brand new, I watched him unseal it from the Minelab factory packaging. Who could of ever thought it was bad, but it was. Old blue work worked fine when we hooked it up to the excal II battery pack. Any opinions on which one I should get would be greatly appreciated.

From everything I have read in reviews of the two, hands down, the old blue Excaliber 1000 is the better metal detector! These are the ones that sell the best and bring the most in used but excellent working condition on eBay and elsewhere. Before you bite on either, it would be a good idea to call Minelab to insure that they still work on the old blue Excaliber 1000's as well as the Excalibur II's as you would want to be able to get repairs done, if ever needed.


Frank

 

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[trsrseeker]

The coil choice is an important one and may be more important than the choice of machine between the two options you listed. The smaller coil is really very useful when it comes to target separation in trashy or iron infested areas. I have used the smaller coil to go into iron infested areas behind experienced hunters using top of the line machines and pull out small, light gold rings with stones surrounded by iron that they just could not see with standard or larger coils. On the other hand it takes a lot more time to cover the same area thoroughly with the small coil than it does with the standard 10 inch coil, which is what I use on wide open beaches with fewer targets. The ten inch coil on the Excal 11 is a great combination and still has excellent target separation. Ultimately you may want both but the choice as to which to purchase first really depends upon the conditions you are currently hunting. Trashy? Iron infested? Wide open? Of course if you are diving with the machine the chances are the newer machine will be serviced by minelab further into the future than the older model.

 

[Vikingblood]

I know I want the one with the bigger coil but the other one was just serviced by Minelab. If I had more vas right now I would just get both. I hear the smaller coil is easier to swing under water and that sounds good since I'm already having shoulder problems. Thanks for the input.

 

[huntsman53]

I know I want the one with the bigger coil but the other one was just serviced by Minelab. If I had more vas right now I would just get both. I hear the smaller coil is easier to swing under water and that sounds good since I'm already having shoulder problems. Thanks for the input.

Look at it this way. No matter which one you decide to purchase, save up the money and purchase a larger or smaller coil when you have the money. However, if you make some great and fairly valuable to valuable finds, then sell what you have to to get the extra coil you want.


Frank

 

[Vikingblood]

Will do thanks

 

[Vikingblood]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who offered their help in choosing a good salt water detector. I got the excal 800 for 725, it works great and most importantly it runs stable. I have already found one wheat penny an earring with a bunch of fake diamonds, and the biggest blood worm I have ever seen. Now I just gotta figure out how to dig with waves breaking on me. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to erase a bill board with a number 2 pencil with that 8 inch coil. This machine just speaks to me. I can tell this is the start of a great relationship betwixt man and machine.

Thanks again, you guys are great.

Vikingblood.

 

[Octopulse]

Disagree. Sand Shark has hardwired sealed connections, Garrett has jacks that will eventually leak. Maybe thats why you only get a 1 year warranty with the Garrett (lifetime with the Sand Shark). The only plus with the Garrett is its discrimination capability, which is basically useless to me because I dig everything. I also compared the two side-by-side on the beach - Sand Shark goes much deeper (silver dime, wet sand, Sea Hunter 4", Sand Shark 12").

Your SeaHunter is broke....big time.

 

[Fletch88]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who offered their help in choosing a good salt water detector. I got the excal 800 for 725, it works great and most importantly it runs stable. I have already found one wheat penny an earring with a bunch of fake diamonds, and the biggest blood worm I have ever seen. Now I just gotta figure out how to dig with waves breaking on me. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to erase a bill board with a number 2 pencil with that 8 inch coil. This machine just speaks to me. I can tell this is the start of a great relationship betwixt man and machine. Thanks again, you guys are great. Vikingblood.

Congratulations on your new machine! A rear mount or, to a lesser degree, a O/U mount shaft makes the balance a whole lot better setup when detecting out of the water!