Coil noise in the wet

HI all,

I would just like to ask anyone about detecting out in the rain or on saturated ground after heavy rain. I spent the morning out at castlemaine making the most of the (once public holiday) Melbourne show day that our work so graciously still gives us off. While starting out with a bigger coil all was well and minimal noise but when i threw on the 8" after 20 min or so an area i hit was just sending the thing stupid. It was like hitting mineralization but seemed to be atmospheric though not like EMI. After another 20 min's and 1 gram later that i arssed out from under a tree root, I give it the flick and put the Nugget finder back on. The coil is usually always on my detector and never have a problem with it but I guess I haven't really ventured out in such weather before as today. Any feedback would be much appreciated..

Cheers,
Paul

Hi Silwane
Yes the wet does interfere with the performance of the machine but keep an eye out for power lines as well.
I had similar problems in the area then got out of the thick scrub and saw the power poles and lines nearby.
Had me puzzled as I was searching so hard I did not look up for while so did not see the problem.
May also be other possible explanations but troubleshoot your equipment if problem persists.
cheers vasilis

Thanks Vasilis,

The area is a spot i have regularly worked without a problem and is quite far from any powerlines above ground or bellow. But just finished going over some old posts and there are a few possible explanations. Though one about water penetrating the coil cover and causing the coil to play up sounds possible and hopefully wont cause any damage to it. Guess I'll have to wait to get back out there this weekend and see if it can work some of its magic again.

Long live the 8"!

HMMM fair enough paul. I make sure not to go out in the rain. I just put another coffee on and sit out the bad weather.
Good luck with it and keep us posted as to what was the cause of the noise. I am very curious indeed.
vasilis

Silvane, are you running a 4500 as they can play up after heavy rain, I think its probably because they were developed during drought years. I have had problems after heavy rain but gone back when the ground had dried up a bit and not a problem.
JMP333

Hi, Silvane. Im running a 4500 with a 11" mono. I detected at Waanyarra a couple of times last year in the winter and on one occasion it was so wet i had to scrape the mud off my jeans with an old bread and butter knife from kneeling on the ground. My detector ran nice and quiet and i managed to find about 7 pieces for around 3gms not too far from the camp. I think i must be lucky and have a detector that always runs quiet. I have met a few other people with 4500's and some are noisy on ground where mine is quiet. There seems to be a quality issue with some 4500's. Cheers Grumpy.

Hi Silvane, I always find that the couple of days after a heavy rain up here in the pilbara i get a lot of false signals where the ground is dry on the surface but still wet about a foot down, used to drive me nuts with my 4500 havent been out with the 5000 in those conditions so not sure if i will get the same issue.

Cheers Marty

Hi there,

Thanks for the feedback fella's, I went out over the weekend and the 8" ran pretty much as usual. Though was still pretty wet and was in an area of Whipstick that seemed pretty mineralized. I think maybe had some water penetrate the coil on that bad day. The coil still picked me up a half a dozen bits, So all is well and I can't really say I will ever know what the hell went on that day in the wet...

Cheers,
Paul