HELP - 2hrs since my first Metal detector

[Zerch17]

Hello guys, plain and simple, I spent perhaps two hours looking at youtube tutorials on how to use a metal detector AND THEN I went and bought a low cost one. I purchased the Quest X5. I went to my backyard and 5 minutes after I got a 98 signal 7+ inches deep.
I started digging and after almost 2ft it still says 98 7+. The question is... should I keep digging?. If anyone is interested in helping me and advicing me I will upload pictures or videos or whatever you guys need. Note, I am 100% sure there is no electric cable, piping or anything in that area. It should be all dirt until the core of the earth
Thank you!

 

[Valley Hunter]

What are wearing for shoes any Iron like steel toes lace loops .. I got a 98 signal 7+ inches deep. ... The coil signal can also go side ways
Maybe invest in a pin pointer

 

[ucnegold?]

Keep digging and you will have learned your first important lesson of metal detecting.

 

[Zerch17]

Keep digging and you will have learned your first important lesson of metal detecting.

Well, thank you for replying

Extra info: I did the scan from different angles (all 360 in scans of 90). Since I posted this I took the time to bury a gold ring, a silver ring and a coin to get familiar with my reading numbers.
Gold is 67
Silver is 81
Coin is 11

 

[Zerch17]

What are wearing for shoes any Iron like steel toes lace loops .. I got a 98 signal 7+ inches deep. ... The coil signal can also go side ways
Maybe invest in a pin pointer

No metal in my feet. Oddly enough I get the same reading in a 2ft radious around the hole, if I scan the "sides" of the hole I get nothing, If I scan in an angle looking down I do get the reading.

Honestly I am not expecting a big chest of silver coins, I am just curious of what might be, perhaps a big metal door?

 

[ucnegold?]

I would say if possible (I don't know anything about the X5), try to turn down the sensitivity and begin by trying to find shallow targets. You will be surprised how deep and how large some "big iron" will be. Its best to start out shallow and learn your machine. Best of luck to you!

 

[Diga]

Could be some sort of falsing, or a very large piece of metal. I've got 2 of those large pieces of metal in my backyard, that give almost maximum ID. They're down about 1 to 2 feet deep. Maybe an old well cap.

Do you have a pinpointer?

 

[Zerch17]

I would say if possible (I don't know anything about the X5), try to turn down the sensitivity and begin by trying to find shallow targets. You will be surprised how deep and how large some "big iron" will be. Its best to start out shallow and learn your machine. Best of luck to you!

Thank you. To be honest I will not stop thinking about the "what was it"?. But after this discovery I will do as you say and get the sensitivity way down (its currently at 70 ).

 

[Zerch17]

Could be some sort of falsing, or a very large piece of metal. I've got 2 of those large pieces of metal in my backyard, that give almost maximum ID. They're down about 1 to 2 feet deep. Maybe an old well cap.

Do you have a pinpointer?

I did not buy a pinpointer, I am starting to regret it. Perhaps tomorrow I will go and buy one. Well, if It is a big piece of metal hopefully will be worth a couple of bucks lol.

 

[Zerch17]

Got it to coin mode and get the same reading??? Is my brand new device malfunctioning?

 

[Diga]

I did not buy a pinpointer, I am starting to regret it. Perhaps tomorrow I will go and buy one. Well, if It is a big piece of metal hopefully will be worth a couple of bucks lol.

With the size of the hole, you also might want to pick up some sod

 

[Diga]

Got it to coin mode and get the same reading??? Is my brand new device malfunctioning?

Probably not.

 

[Zerch17]

Probably not.

Thank you.

I will go afk and keep digging. Will reply later.

 

[Diga]

Before more digging, try probing with a screwdriver or something similar.

 

[GroundSweeper]

Any time I'm digging and digging and digging, and still nothing, I call it quits and fill it back in and say to myself, "I'm not digging to China today." and move on.

 

[Beachhunt1]

I purchased the Quest X5.

Well, the Quest is not a real detector.

 

[jmaclen]

Why don't you start over with just some coins with sensitivity set low (around 50) and check to see if you get some repeatable target ID numbers and tones on those coins. Just wave them about 2" from the top or bottom of the coil and see what happens. If your ground isn't frozen, you could then bury some of the coins 2 or 3" deep or get some dirt and a container a little wider than your coil and test some coins and small trash targets buried in 4" or so of dirt. It can be potting soil, top soil or just sand from a store that sells bags of dirt/sand.

The X5 with 9X5 DD coil should have an effective depth of around 7" on coin sized targets depending on your ground conditions. If you are getting a 98 (usually an iron overload or false response or a weird ground response) on a target and you have already dug 2 feet deep, I would expect that target to be really big iron, really big aluminum, really big chrome (like a bumper) or ground noise unless you suspect or know that someone buried a car or pickup in your backyard.

 

[Martin_V3i]

I've found 2 septic tank lids with signals like yours, mine and my brothers.

 

[Cupajo]

Steel rod reinforced concrete well covers are common in some places too. A metal rod probe can some times, in less rocky soil, enable you to determine depth and size/shape of such covers. As a repair plumber I have located and uncovered these at depths of inches and dawn to several feet (almost 4 feet being the deepest so far!)

Good luck to Ya,

CJ

 

[TheFrood]

I would try widening the hole... In the situations for me that were like that it usually was me misreading where I should dig in the first place, and it turns out I'm digging down right beside the target which is why the signal is still there even though I've got a hole deep enough to worry about hitting oil.