Equinox 800 missing silver

[CTbadbilly]

The 800 is my 4th detector in 45 years. In a year of very frequent detecting outings I have only found five silver coins. I have found several colonial coppers, large cents, Indian cents, and wheat cents as usual but hardly any silver. I tried all of the preset programs, park 1 and 2, field 1and 2, beach, etc. sensitivity set at 10,15,20,25. Makes no difference.
I started reading on line about people having the same problem, some recommended turning off ground tracking-no difference.
Finally I dug up a patch of ground and planted a silver dime, a silver quarter, and a large cent. Only 3-4 inches deep in wet soil. The dime was not detected in any mode, the quarter was barely detected, jumping around from 20 to 31 to 14 to 22 etc. no good solid response. The large cent showed a good target but still iffy. Not a good clear signal like my other detectors would show. Even my first detector, a radio shack Micron ,($39.00) would have clearly seen these targets.
I got in touch with the company and they told me to send it in for service. Does this mean it will be as good as new? I hope not. It wasn’t any good new.
Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[stetam]

Nope. Silver screams in my Nox's

Steve

 

[bottlecap4u]

Still learning my 800, like you not entirely happy with finding silvers thus far. Recently been adjusting the Accept/Reject as high as 10, was in a old soil trashy site today, set it for 0 as I was intentionally digging anything deep with repeatable tones for relics and who knows...gold? For me on silver, think it performs better adjusting the accept/reject, screening out iron, nails and other crap which might be masking. Pennies still can come up like silver dimes though, 26-30 bouncy, had a few today like that, but doing a 360 I get a few lower tones mixed in, closer to clad dime or penny tones, so I know then its not silver. Love to hear from others on their tips for silver.

 

[yatahaze323]

I have a 600, most of the places I detect have been hunted hard so there's not much silver left. But when I did hit silver it sounded good. Even when using the factory presets you should have been able to easily detected all of those coins.

 

[metaladdict]

First off, recovery speed affects depth. I run mine at 5, so it goes deep!
F2 also will help or hinder finding silver in iron. Mine is at 7(for the beach)
I noticed recovery speed at 8 or 9 has little depth and I don't run it that fast.

 

[jl1252]

Try a factory reset. Then either do an Auto GB or leave it at Zero. Nose Cancel. Set sensitivity at 20 in Park 1 and see what happens. If setup correctly, the Nox will hit deep silver in the 8+ inch range even in highly mineralized soil.

Have you tried air testing? Is the coil cable clean and securely screwed on? Have you tried updating the SW or reinstalling the current version. The Nox is a fantastic detector, either you have adjusted it out of spec or there is something wrong. Its weird youve been able to find other high conductors like coppers w/o any problems.

 

[jmaclen]

My Nox 800 hits silver coins, clad dimes, clad quarters, copper Memorial and Wheat pennies really hard and with very predictable target ID numbers and tones. Zinc Memorial and Shield Pennies can have a wide target ID spread due to corrosion. As long as I use Park or Field multi 1 or 2 with conservative settings, I’m good. 10” depth on one of those coins is very doable where I detect.

 

[markinswpa]

The 800 is my 4th detector in 45 years. In a year of very frequent detecting outings I have only found five silver coins. I have found several colonial coppers, large cents, Indian cents, and wheat cents as usual but hardly any silver. I tried all of the preset programs, park 1 and 2, field 1and 2, beach, etc. sensitivity set at 10,15,20,25. Makes no difference.
I started reading on line about people having the same problem, some recommended turning off ground tracking-no difference.
Finally I dug up a patch of ground and planted a silver dime, a silver quarter, and a large cent. Only 3-4 inches deep in wet soil. The dime was not detected in any mode, the quarter was barely detected, jumping around from 20 to 31 to 14 to 22 etc. no good solid response. The large cent showed a good target but still iffy. Not a good clear signal like my other detectors would show. Even my first detector, a radio shack Micron ,($39.00) would have clearly seen these targets.
I got in touch with the company and they told me to send it in for service. Does this mean it will be as good as new? I hope not. It wasn’t any good new.
Has anyone else had this problem?

I've had an 800 since they were released. Performance wise its a fantastic detector. It will hit coins hard and deep depending on coil and soil conditions. Being its this time of year I wouldn't hesitate to send the machine back to Minelab if a factory reset and or connections check doesn't solve your problem. Keep in mind Minelab doesn't repair, they will replace it, if faulty which will give you a new machine with a fresh warranty.
Sounds like you have been at it a long time. What other machines have you used ? How much time do you have with the 800 ?
There are two schools of thought on using ground tracking, I never use it, mainly because the manual stated to leave it off unless you had drastically changing ground conditions. Also it stated when on there was the possibility of tracking out masked small non-ferrous targets. So I just don't use it. In almost 5 years I think I've done pretty well with over 300 silvers to its credit. Good luck. Mark

 

[EmuDetector]

I love my ML detectors. But a bunch of people (including me) had issues with the manticores missing silvers. Faulty coils, if you're within 30 days full replacement

 

[markinswpa]

Still learning my 800, like you not entirely happy with finding silvers thus far. Recently been adjusting the Accept/Reject as high as 10, was in a old soil trashy site today, set it for 0 as I was intentionally digging anything deep with repeatable tones for relics and who knows...gold? For me on silver, think it performs better adjusting the accept/reject, screening out iron, nails and other crap which might be masking. Pennies still can come up like silver dimes though, 26-30 bouncy, had a few today like that, but doing a 360 I get a few lower tones mixed in, closer to clad dime or penny tones, so I know then its not silver. Love to hear from others on their tips for silver.

In case you haven't read this a hundred times. # 1 tip for finding silver, location, location, location. Doesn't matter what machine you have, if there is no silver there you ain't going to find any. A Binford 5000 won't get you any.
As far as the bouncy numbers it seems pretty much all SMF detectors have a problem distinguishing a penny from a dime. Add different types of soil and it can only get more confusing. That was my main gripe when the 800 first came out. I had hope with the newer versions of SMF would remedy this but this not to be In the tests I've seen with the D ll and Manticore and in my experience with the 900 and Legend. And again different types of soil play a part as does target orientation.. In my soil I get severe upaveraging (in the high 30s ) on copper pennies whether they are Ihps, wheats or memorials. Then other times a 25-26-27 could be a dime or a penny, you just don't know. I have learned to live with it because the 800 IMO is that good. One thing I did notice, if you massage a signal the numbers will hit their respective air test numbers once or twice. If they hold within 2 numbers on all passes good chance of accurate id and good target. What part of the country you located in ? Good luck. Mark

 

[bottlecap4u]

What part of the country you located in ? Good luck. Mark

Michigan. lately been doing ok, my buddy and his deus have been camping all summer on a hot spot at the local park, he's pulled his 100th silver recently, with many in the hot spot area, even this past week, found 2 silvers he's missed including a goofy ring. Amazing how you can still find stuff. I call it the boxing clown ring.

 

[IDXMonster]

Yeah something is WAY off. Either there’s iron in that hole you dug(can be above, below, off to the side) and you have iron rejected so the targets are masked or the sensitivity is way down or I don’t know what else. Those findings are not typical of what the 800 will come close to doing. I’ve had 2 of them. Recovery speed will directly affect depth, as stated above, but not to that degree on those shallow test coins. Air test it, that will show you the depth POTENTIAL of the coil. It doesn’t mean coins will always be seen that deep, but with 45 years under your belt you’ll know this. If you set up an air test with Recovery at 3 and a Sensitivity of 20 with NO discrimination and you can’t hit a 9” silver dime with the stock coil there’s an issue.

 

[Beachhunt1]

I got in touch with the company and they told me to send it in for service. Does this mean it will be as good as new? I hope not. It wasn’t any good new.
Has anyone else had this problem?

Check your coil cover and make sure it is clean. Make sure you have the current update. Keep us posted.

 

[Kansashunter]

I used Park 1 for many years and never complained about finding silver.

 

[DIG5050]

Bottlecap4u, the “boxing clown” ring is a Brownie Girl Scout ring. It’s quite a nice find.

 

[longbow62]

The Equinox 800 is a great silver detector. The CTX and Etrac are the only 2 detectors I might say were better in some situations. I can't even say the Manticore in a non-EMI situation is any better than the 800 on turf. I love the Manticore. It stifles all but the very worst EMI. It tells you more and has a lot more features than the 800 does, but if there is no bad EMI I would would not feel under gunned with an 800. I found a good bit of silver and I have been very happy with my 800. In my opinion the 800 is one of those detectors that changed detecting. If there ever was a detector hall of fame the 800 earned it's spot in it.

 

[CTbadbilly]

Thanks for all of your replies and advice. I live in Connecticut. My first detector in 1980 was a $39.00 Radio Shack Micron. I found a lot of great coins. I upgraded to a Garrett Freedom 1. Again, lots of incredible finds. My town was founded in 1639. Colonial coppers are non rare.
Upgraded to Whites MXT Pro. Again, lots of great coins. All three had significant silver mixed in. I mean lots of Barber, standing liberty, etc. the whites started mechanically falling apart so I went for the Nox 800. Lots of coppers, wheats, indian heads. Maybe three silver dimes, one or two silver quarters, that’s it.
I air test every time I start a site with penny, nickel, dime, quarter, large cent. Always strong signals. I use park 1 most of
The time. Have experimented with many adjustments since I realized what was going on. Still no silver. I’m sending it back. I’ve had it for 1-1/2 years. Still under warranty..

 

[jl1252]

Thanks for all of your replies and advice. I live in Connecticut. My first detector in 1980 was a $39.00 Radio Shack Micron. I found a lot of great coins. I upgraded to a Garrett Freedom 1. Again, lots of incredible finds. My town was founded in 1639. Colonial coppers are non rare.
Upgraded to Whites MXT Pro. Again, lots of great coins. All three had significant silver mixed in. I mean lots of Barber, standing liberty, etc. the whites started mechanically falling apart so I went for the Nox 800. Lots of coppers, wheats, indian heads. Maybe three silver dimes, one or two silver quarters, that’s it.
I air test every time I start a site with penny, nickel, dime, quarter, large cent. Always strong signals. I use park 1 most of
The time. Have experimented with many adjustments since I realized what was going on. Still no silver. I’m sending it back. I’ve had it for 1-1/2 years. Still under warranty..

Ok, have you tried anything that was suggested, like a factory reset? SW update/install? You also stated that you airtest with Penny, nickel, dime, quarter and large cent....and? Is it detecting those items at a decent distance before you start hunting? Just because you haven't found a significant amount of silver with it doesn't mean there's something wrong with the machine. It's amazing what a factory reset can do...

 

[CTbadbilly]

Ok, have you tried anything that was suggested, like a factory reset? SW update/install? You also stated th hunting? Just because you haven't found a significant amount of silver with it doesn't mean there's something wrong with the machine. It's amazing what a factory reset can do...

Yes, first things I did, factory reset, s/w update. I wouldn’t continue to hunt if the air tests weren’t strong clear signals.
The was my old detectors did with burried coins.
I’ve done this long enough to know that if I find an old site with no signs of having been searched and I find six wheats, two Indian heads, two large cents, and not one silver coin, there might be a problem. Or if I have searched twenty sites finding lots of brass hardware, 12-15 Indian heads, three colonial coppers, four large cents, many wheat cents, and one silver dime (right on the surface), then there might be a problem. That’s what has happened since this summer.
I send in the machine. If they say they didn’t find anything wrong with it then they can keep it. I’m not wasting any more time using that detector.

 

[Valley Hunter]

If there is no silver in that ground .. That means no other detector can find them also .. I have been detecting for over 15 years with many different detectors .. I have found a couple dimes NO quarters I have found my share of clad coins

If it is not in the ground you will not find it