Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Garrett Pin Pointer-AT Battery Drain

OleSarge

OleSarge

Elite Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2013
Messages
1,698
Location
Western Washington
I've been using my GPP-AT for couple of months now and the jury is in.
I have decided that the old, more basic, GPP is far more to my liking than the overly endowed GPP-AT and it sells for a slightly lesser price,
The fellow I have partnered up with to dig uses the GPP-II and if not exactly the same as my GPP-AT, his GPP-II actually seems to have a little more depth than mine.
If the problem of keeping a charged battery in my GPP-AT persists I'm going to contact Garrett and find out what's going on.
I can put a brand new Energizer or Duracell 9 volt battery in my GPP-AT and it will start beeping (low battery warning) before its been in use two short searching days.
I carry a battery tester and these things are fully charged when placed in the GPP-AT and will show weak by the end of the second days use.
Is this a problem particular to my pin pointer or has anyone else experienced unreasonably short battery life with their GPP-AT:?:?
I use the light, buzzer and vibrator and, as I write this I should probably advise myself to turn off the light....but again, there's so many button pushes for so many things it really stops being fun after a while if it takes 5 minutes just to turn the thing on:twisted:.

AT Pro/GPP-AT/GPP/Fiskars Diggers
 
Are you leaving it on while hunting? I only turn mine on to get the target, one press on, then turn it back off after found, just one long press. One press and it turns on full sens, light, sound and vibrate automatically. Then one long press and it shuts down. There's only a few targets that have needed another press near the target to notch down and locate if smaller, but then once again, long push down on button for off and the next time it turns back on it is at default of full features again. One 600 mAh 9 volt last about 10-2 hour hunts this way before needing a charge.
 
MrNovice said:
Are you leaving it on while hunting? I only turn mine on to get the target, one press on, then turn it back off after found, just one long press. One press and it turns on full sens, light, sound and vibrate automatically. Then one long press and it shuts down. There's only a few targets that have needed another press near the target to notch down and locate if smaller, but then once again, long push down on button for off and the next time it turns back on it is at default of full features again. One 600 mAh 9 volt last about 10-2 hour hunts this way before needing a charge.
Click to expand...

The pin Pointer is turned off immediately after each target and the 16-20 hour battery life sounds about right.
There is a option, by repeatedly pushing the switch button, to turn off the sound and maybe the light.
It is a little quirky with button pushes because any beeps after a single beep is one thing, any beep after three beeps is another and any beeps after three beeps is something else.
I never use the button for sensitivity setting so it is either off or on with no ruffles or flourishes.
Have you made any comparison regarding any depth advantage over the GPP or GPP-II?

AT Pro/GPP-AT/GPP/Fiskars Diggers
 
OleSarge said:
The pin Pointer is turned off immediately after each target and the 16-20 hour battery life sounds about right.
There is a option, by repeatedly pushing the switch button, to turn off the sound and maybe the light.
It is a little quirky with button pushes because any beeps after a single beep is one thing, any beep after three beeps is another and any beeps after three beeps is something else.
I never use the button for sensitivity setting so it is either off or on with no ruffles or flourishes.
Have you made any comparison regarding any depth advantage over the GPP or GPP-II?

AT Pro/GPP-AT/GPP/Fiskars Diggers
Click to expand...

Yeah, there are many settings that can be adjusted by pushing the button in sequences from the instruction manual, and I think it remembers those settings on startup. I don't have a way to compare the two (the black or orange), I just went for the waterproof one just for added protection. Are you using rechargables? The EBL 600 mAh 9 volts I have are pretty heavy capacity compared to normal 9 volts. I think normal ones are around 280 mAh. If you're getting 20 hours worth, that's about right though.

If you change the settings, like you don't need the light or tone and just use vibrate, it should help save a little battery life.
 
Use a normal 9v battery first not a rechargeable one. Sometime rechargeable will show they are full but have no power mAh or die on load. Batteries tester unless load tester are really useless specially for ones that use them regularly


TexasCTX3030 - Mario (NetHunter)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
NetHunter said:
Use a normal 9v battery first not a rechargeable one. Sometime rechargeable will show they are full but have no power mAh or die on load. Batteries tester unless load tester are really useless specially for ones that use them regularly
Click to expand...

My attempt at using 9v rechargeables was a failure. I have a bunch of test equipment in my electronics shop that use 9v for power so I have a bunch of different brands and chargers for them.

They just don't seem to want to work well in my Garrett Pro Pointer (std) for some reason. I have had falseing issues, short run times and other erratic problems.

I have good luck with dollar store cheap alkylynes.
 
OP: That is too short of lifespan... I would contact Garrett.

I have 2, 9V "recharge" brand batteries that perform just fine in the carrot.

I do flip them upside down when finished hunting, until the next trip.
 
I've never tried the 9V rechargeable batteries but I've gone through a mountain of AA's with my AT Pro.
Sad to say I've moved on from the rechargeable batteries because they seem to go bad too quickly to justify the cost and, as they get older they won't take a full charge.
And I would refuse a whole truck load of Harbor Freight AA's and 9V's if you offered to pay me to take them. They're just no good right out of the chute.
I'm going to keep a written record of the exact times I'm using the GPP-AT and having to change the batteries.
Maybe I'm expecting too much from it, or maybe a call to Garrett is in order.
Thanks for all the comments:good:...GL and HH!

AT Pro/GPP-AT/Fiskars Diggers
 
I use Rayovac for my AT Pro, and Charge them every two weeks (just as they get below half-way). I'm sure I get a solid 25+ hours of detecting before I decide to recharge (I don't fully drain them).

These are NIMH.

My 9V rechargable I simply toss on the charger at the same time as my AA's... I've NEVER had a problem with batteries or recharges. Two weeks, on schedule, after final hunt of the end of week two, they just go on the charger. I thought about enloops, but couldn't figure out why I'd need them if I have a pattern and the cheaper Rayovacs work.

As with most modern rechargables, full drain doesn't gain you anything, and partial drain works just fine. Unlike the NiCD batteries of the past (which REQUIRED full drain), the NIMH do not...and lifespan is a bit better when you don't.

So... there you have it. It's what I do, and I've never had a battery failure problem in the field since making the switch, excepting the ONE time I forgot to put the batteries on the charger on week 2... at the end of week three, my AT Pro died in the field. I simply walked back to the truck and tossed in the spare Alkalines I keep there. No probs.
 
I get excellent battery life with my Garrett AT pinpointer. A new battery last me for a minimum of two months. That is detecting an average of twice a week for 5 to six hours each time. I let the depth of the target tell me which setting to use.

I get slightly used 9v batteries for free and they some times last two or three outings and sometimes up to a couple months. I have had mine since jan last year an really like the ability to adjust the sensitivity.
 
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