Sovereign GT broken?

Steve · Mar 2, 2014

Hey guys... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I have a new Sovereign GT with Gray Ghost headphones.
I have taken the unit to the "field" a couple of times and just can't get any depth whatsoever... Its to the point where I'm sure something is wrong with the unit. I can put a 15g 24k gold ring on the ground and the coil must be within 4" to detect it. I have tried every combination with the controls possible. 0 notch/disc. Sensitivity; auto, just out of auto, minimum. Silent mode, etc etc etc. If its in discr mode it must be within 4" to detect a huge ring. I have tried with and without the headphones.

Also when it does detect it it won't make a sound until at least 1 or 2 seconds after passing over the target. How do you dig up a target that you passed over a couple of feet before? The all metal mode is a bit better with well over 12" depth.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a bit of eye candy. Its what I'm testing with.
View attachment 261071
Ring was found with the DF. It was in the 15" range or a bit deeper. The type of beach it was.... you could step into the hole and have a dry foot.... so depth is pretty accurate.

Crumble · Mar 2, 2014

Something is wrong with the unit or coil...

I would say to exchange it for a new one, but... I doubt the dealer has another one.

If you have access to another BBS coil, try that, otherwise you need to send it to Minelab.

Targets should signal as the coil passes over, no 2 second delay. A 15g gold ring should hit at like 12"...

Steve · Mar 2, 2014

Yes. When I shake the control box it has what sounds like a small part rolling around. But when I connect the coil the sound disappears.
Here are some stats:
big silver earring; 14"+
silver ring; appx 8"
coin; 14"+
ss ring; 12"+
huge 24k ring; 4"
And yes the ring is gold and not iron covered in gold......
Stats just don't make any sense to me. Maybe the GT has a hard time detecting 24k gold? :?:

Slimpickuns · Mar 2, 2014

If you jiggle the coil cable connector does it make any sounds? The coil connector and coil cable seem to be the most common problem with the Sov. Like Crumble said, try another coil, hopefully It's not a problem with your control box.

scoper · Mar 2, 2014

Definately a problem somewhere.It sounds like a problem in the control box to me,if you are getting good depth in all metal mode this means that the disc circuit has a fault.

itsaring! · Mar 2, 2014

Try it with something other than pure gold. Be a real low conductor pure. You can pass several machines over some high grade stainless and not understand why a detector doesn't sound off on it. It's more sensitive in pinpoint. PI is always gonna find deeper gold. Gold chains, cracked gold, pure gold, not the best to test for depth. If it doesn't see 14k, quarters, etc.. it's broke. 24k weird design might be what I call a stealth ring.

Jim53 · Mar 2, 2014

IMO I think your detector sees that huge gold ring as a broken ring.
broken rings do not detect well, try a 14k solid band or any solid ring.
Jim

Steve · Mar 2, 2014

14k is unheard of here. That's almost metal mixed with gold :laughing:

Waiting for the Ultimate 13" in the mail. Will give that a try and see if it changes at all. Still waiting to hear from Minelab.
If the detector sees that ring as a broken ring, then I definetly have problems :jawdrop:

itsaring! · Mar 2, 2014

stephenscool said:
14k is unheard of here. That's almost metal mixed with gold
Waiting for the Ultimate 13" in the mail. Will give that a try and see if it changes at all. Still waiting to hear from Minelab.
If the detector sees that ring as a broken ring, then I definetly have problems

Bigger coils are usually worse at seeing the gold. Hard to detect gold we've run 8" and 10" coils over it. The 8" see's it. But the 10" doesn't. Be interesting to see you post about the 13" ultimate. if it sounds off for you, i'll be buying one too!

Cfmct · Mar 2, 2014

stephenscool said:
14k is unheard of here. That's almost metal mixed with gold
Waiting for the Ultimate 13" in the mail. Will give that a try and see if it changes at all. Still waiting to hear from Minelab.
If the detector sees that ring as a broken ring, then I definetly have problems

Minelab machines have an issue with broken rings... most broken rings I have found sounded like junk a broken, scratchy signal.

itsaring! · Mar 2, 2014

Cfmct said:
Minelab machines have an issue with broken rings... most broken rings I have found sounded like junk a broken, scratchy signal.

Agree! started out I skipped those signals. found zero cracked rings. started digging and found most my ring finds are cracked. likely passed by someone who is doing like I "WAS" doing! :lol:

Steve · Mar 2, 2014

itsaring! said:
Agree! started out I skipped those signals. found zero cracked rings. started digging and found most my ring finds are cracked. likely passed by someone who is doing like I "WAS" doing!

It was coming out as a scratchy signal in the 4"-8" range. 1"-4" was a blaring "bottle cap" sound. Anything past that and forget it.
%70 of the rings I find are shaped like this. I bought the GT to cover a lot of ground...... looks like I might be burnt

itsaring! · Mar 2, 2014

stephenscool said:
It was coming out as a scratchy signal in the 4"-8" range. 1"-4" was a blaring "bottle cap" sound. Anything past that and forget it.
%70 of the rings I find are shaped like this. I bought the GT to cover a lot of ground...... looks like I might be burnt

Hunting for 24k I'd stick with a PI. I found one gold coin so far. And even they aren't 24k :lol:

Cfmct · Mar 2, 2014

stephenscool said:
It was coming out as a scratchy signal in the 4"-8" range. 1"-4" was a blaring "bottle cap" sound. Anything past that and forget it.
%70 of the rings I find are shaped like this. I bought the GT to cover a lot of ground...... looks like I might be burnt

A GT is not a machine to cover a lot of ground fast... I use a slow sweep scrubbing the ground as I go and overlap my sweeps taking baby steps... you want to cover a lot of ground get a faster machine with a faster processor...FBS or a PI...

Steve · Mar 2, 2014

itsaring! said:
Hunting for 24k I'd stick with a PI. I found one gold coin so far. And even they aren't 24k

%85 is 24k. %15 is 18k. Have a dual field and a sand shark already. The dual field is bigger and much deeper. The sand shark, if run at preset, will knock out flip tops and bottle caps are sometimes easy to hear.. I still end up with a pouch full of !!!! (drinking is legal on the beach and they sell bottles and cans of it on the dry sand)...... Was really hoping the GT was going to be a break through for me..... Hopefully the Ultimate 13" helps or there will be a brand new GT with a !!!! load of accessories posted in the classifieds

imalookin2 · Mar 2, 2014

Your test target may be the issue. It does not look connected by solder. An open or broken ring is tough for any machine. How about coins? Drop some on the sand and see. They should hit loud and directly over the coin. If not, call ML and get a return number and send it in. If you did not already register the machine then DON'T. Call your dealer and ask them to exchange it.

Surf Master · Mar 2, 2014

mmmmmmmmm

24k :laughing:

even if that ring was 24k :shock:

it wouldn't have a bubble gum machine shank , never had a problem with my Gt , maybe the last of the Gts were made to take a crapper, for more visits to the shop :shock:

Steve · Mar 2, 2014

Its 999.9 gold. The ring actually isn't broken..... Its size adjustable. If I wanted to I could pull it open or make it smaller.

Steve · Mar 2, 2014

imalookin2 said:
Your test target may be the issue. It does not look connected by solder. An open or broken ring is tough for any machine. How about coins? Drop some on the sand and see. They should hit loud and directly over the coin. If not, call ML and get a return number and send it in. If you did not already register the machine then DON'T. Call your dealer and ask them to exchange it.

Already registered the unit. There is no way to switch units regardless. The international shipping fees would set me back several hundred.

Crumble · Mar 2, 2014

stephenscool said:
Its 999.9 gold. The ring actually isn't broken..... Its size adjustable. If I wanted to I could pull it open or make it smaller.

That could be the problem though... the way the eddy currents travel around a ring, if there is a gap in the ring it severely effects how long the eddy currents can stay alive in the ring, thus decreasing depth by a lot. I'm thinking that is your problem...

What does your machine air test a us nickel at?

Sovereign GT broken?

Steve

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