Myers Depot Metal Detectors

False Readings

rgn87

rgn87

Full Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2013
Messages
201
Location
North Wilmington, DE
Hey I am pretty new to metal detecting and have a lot of questions but no one to ask. My buddy and I have done it probably 16-17 times in the past two months and we love it. Yesterday we were in a field behind my house and got a reading on both medium and deep depth. We dug down and inch and continued to get the readings. Then we went down another inch and got nothing. We skimmed over all the dirt we dug up and nary a sound. We ran over the hole and dirt with our pinpointer and nothing. Then we filled the hole, and for a laugh scanned over it again. Lo and behold the hole beeped. We pulled our plug back out and it beeped again, but we couldn't find anything. We don't want to dig an unnecessarily deep hole, but we are trying to find treasure. Are we getting false readings? If so what can cause the false reading? It happened twice yesterday and other times before that. Any suggestion would be appreciated, just don't be a jerk about it.
 
What type of machine are you using? That would help a great deal. Though I will tell you that it is not uncommon to pick up a very small piece of metal that then gets "lost" after it is moved.

I once spent 10 minutes looking for a signal that ended up being a half of a brad.
 
Sometimes electromagnetic interference can cause falsing, things like wires overhead or buried electrical or even phone or cable lines I hear can cause falsing. Or could be soil conditions (iron content and other factors). I know I've scratched my head over stuff like this too.
 
Another thing that can cause this is a halo from a piece of iron. The iron is gone now, but leaves it's halo & when you dig to find it, it disrupts the halo. With no halo now, there is no signal. Hope you find this helpful :yes:.
 
Thanks a lot guys I appreciate it. It always helps when people have the same experiences as us so we know we are not just messing up. I have a Bounty Hunter Quicksilver by the way. It has found a lot of choice items. I still am waiting for that old coin, war relic, or treasure chest full of doubloons.
:lol:
 
I have found enough cans to stock a soda machine. Our first find was a pull tab. We also find like a million rocks that set the metal detector off.
 
I went through that same thing last year with the Whites Coinmaster, I was on here griping all the time about it. I felt like Charlie Brown when he was trick or treating; "I got a quarter!" "I got a ring!" "I found a necklace!" "I got a rock.....".
I wish I knew what to tell you, I didn't really want to replace the detector after one season. One season detecting and I found $14 total, although it was a rather droughty year and hard to get too enthused about it. I bought a Fisher F4 and finally found a Mercury dime and a 1900 Barber half this year, and pretty fair amount of clad, I have yet to add it all up, but certainly multiple times more than 14 bucks i can tell ya that! last year I'd come home with amount on the order of 50 to 75 cents. This year it was no big deal tp come home with a couple bucks (my hunts normally are just a couple of hours long, not all day long)
So if you are really like the hobby so far, I would recommend considering some of the more main line detectors out there for begnners, for example a Fisher F2 or Garrett Ace 250 or 350, just to name a couple. Also consider getting a pinpointer like a Garrett ProPointer, these help a LOT.
 
Was at the beach 6 months ago with an Ace 250. Hit a VERY solid
dime signal. Dug and dug and dug and couldn't get a signal on my pinpointer but the dime signal stayed. Went down to 14-16" and knew in my heart I couldn't possibly be getting this depth with a 250. Filled the hole and left.
An hour later the signal was still there. At 23" I found that dime. Thought for sure it had to be very old. Nope. 2008 dime.
Never had that happen again and I generally will go 6-10" down but pull the plug at that point.
Good luck. Keep plugging away.
 
Been there - done that - got the T-shirt - and came back for more.........happens now and then. Seems to occur in wet grounds with my machine....some times its close to the top....try pin pointing the area before digging

GL & HH
 
rgn87 said:
Hey I am pretty new to metal detecting and have a lot of questions but no one to ask. My buddy and I have done it probably 16-17 times in the past two months and we love it. Yesterday we were in a field behind my house and got a reading on both medium and deep depth. We dug down and inch and continued to get the readings. Then we went down another inch and got nothing. We skimmed over all the dirt we dug up and nary a sound. We ran over the hole and dirt with our pinpointer and nothing. Then we filled the hole, and for a laugh scanned over it again. Lo and behold the hole beeped. We pulled our plug back out and it beeped again, but we couldn't find anything. We don't want to dig an unnecessarily deep hole, but we are trying to find treasure. Are we getting false readings? If so what can cause the false reading? It happened twice yesterday and other times before that. Any suggestion would be appreciated, just don't be a jerk about it.
Click to expand...

Steel toed boots or eyelets in your sneakers? (don't ask how I know that)
 
I had a huge signal once. Dug and found nothing. Upon closer examination I found a thin layer of rust. Since the signal was so large I assume it was an old metal window screen completely rusted away. and all that was left was a little rust and the halo.
 
I'll bet you anything it's a tin can. I got these all the time on my BHIV. The way you can tell is lift your coil above the area about 6-10 inches. If your still getting a signal it's an aluminum can. I swear those bounty hunters could find a can in china from here

Also small eyelets off of jackets/shoes that get dropped. They are super hard to find in the dirt and ring like a bell. If you put all your dirt on a towel this will help find those small objects. GL and HH.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thank you everyone. Your replies help and your stories of similar woe help put me at ease. If there is anyone in the DE area looking to go metal detecting I am always game.
 
rgn87, a few possibilities. The find is small and it is coming in and out of depth range? If it is a small coin it may on it's edge, which sometimes effects readings? You may have just missed centering the object and it is still below the earth outside the hole? Finally it is very small and although you have unearthed it you haven't managed to locate it? If I have similar problems I tend to change the angle of approach on the object i.e. move around 90 degrees and try again! :oldguy:
 
I hate those type of signals, probably the best way to solve is with the best
pin pointers available..could be often old carbon off a battery or fire pit etc.. I usually give up and go to next target.But it's a gamble both ways, once had that type
of signal and found a small fishscale(Canadian small nickel) hard as hens teeth to find.
 
Falsies

I user both a treasure master and a BH tk4
I don't get as many false signals with the tk4, it will tell you it's there. You can dig it or not
I'm still learning my treasure master so I've got a ways to go but I believe I've mastered the tk4 and know when to dig or not to.
That being said, I get several targets that should be dimes-quarters but using the on board pinpointer it mostly shows it as iron.
Swinging one way it hits, but there back swing gives no reading. I can say that when all the stars line up and it reads a dime at 3.5" or a quarter at 2", it's there. I really rely on my garrett pointer to narrow it down.
 
I have an Ace 250 and that happens to me quite often if I have the sensitivity as high as it will go. If I crank it down just a bit I don't get that. Then if I get a weak signal I take the sensitivity back up and work it a little bit. The second thing that has worked for me is that often times I get a signal going one direction with my swing, but not the other. More often than not, if I get that one way tone, it is either some very small bit of trash or a false signal. I do dig a lot of them anyway though, just because I am trying to get to know my detector better.

I will second the recommendation to get a pin pointer. I got the Garrett and it has made a huge difference in locating offending bits of metal. I used to detect an area where there used to be a lot of hunting, and a lead slug or especially a bird shot pellet can really play with you when you are trying to find what is setting off your detector in a pile of dirt you just dug up. Anyway, that is some observations from a guy who has learned a few things but is still trying to sort it all out.
 
knsmokey said:
Another thing that can cause this is a halo from a piece of iron. The iron is gone now, but leaves it's halo & when you dig to find it, it disrupts the halo. With no halo now, there is no signal. Hope you find this helpful :yes:.
Click to expand...
was for me
 
You pulled the plug out the second time and “it” beeped...the hole or the plug? If the plug beeped,it’s a VERY VERY small piece of metal VERY shallow(but still in the plug somewhere). If the hole beeped,then yes...much larger item very deep,if you’ve already gone beyond the range a coin sized item will read on your machine. Beach finds can apparently be quite deep,but normal turf won’t yield any “2 foot” coins.
 
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