SDC 2300 On Large deep Gold??

I am using 4500mah batteries.
Which batts give good running time in this detector?
What running time do good qual alkalines give?

adrian ss wrote:I am using 4500mah batteries.
Which batts give good running time in this detector?
What running time do good qual alkalines give?

G'day Adrian

I think the original rechargables that come with the detector are 5000mah and last all day, so I guess your 4500mah will last ok as well, even if you use Duracell alkaline I don't think you will get a lot more that a days run time, just a big drain on your pocket.

If you want something in a battery system that is way better than the standard rechargables, then try this https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t24071-18650-battery-system


When the rechargables are fully charged they barely reach 6volts, when the 18650's are flat they are still just over 6volts, and start of around 8 volts when charged, you get about 2 days run time from this system.

If you already have some 18650's and a good charger then all you need is the adaptor sleeve to take the 18650's which 2 x replace the 4 x c cell rechargables.

cheers dave

Thanks for that info Dave.

Yes I do have a couple of those batts in a high power torch. just need the adapters. I will stay with what I have for a while until I have got this detector totally figured out.
I guess the extra voltage has not toasted anybodies 2300...Yet??
I notice that there are 10,000mah c cells available now.

hi all , yes i have found it is a good idea to change the standard battery after half a days use ,
as it dose lose performance as the day goes on ,
so yes im looking forward to the new battery system to be come available here in vic ,
cheers red , ps sdc 2300 is the best detector ive had for finds

I will probably stay with the NiMh and alkaline batteries  because they are readily available and now that there are 7000 & 10,000 mah on the market I will give them a try out as well.
    The first set of batts that I used were 2150mah and the detector performance was weakening after just a couple of hours with these batteries and so now i have the 4500 mah fitted.
    I noticed that my safari also showed a drop in performance after only a few hours work on 8 AA x 2400mah NiMh.
Both of these detectors definitely run better with 1.5 volt sells fitted.
     So yes it is necessary to keep the NiMh batteries topped up.

Where the lithium ion batteries are concerned I think they should not be allowed to run flat between charges?

The SDC, like the GPX's and also I think the GP series, is internally regulated. There is no benefit from changing batteries during the day other than getting more detecting time. Performance isn't affected from fresh battery/s through to the flat battery alarm. I've even found gold heading back to the truck on low battery.
Likewise extra voltage won't increase performance. If anything the detector should cut out at some point once too high of a voltage is attached to it. Either that or magic smoke might escape  
P.s be wary of claims of over 5000mah on C cell batteries Adrian. Some of the 10,000mah were tested at well under that. Can't remember exactly what they were but there was no reason to change from 5000's from memory. Even some cheap 5000mah batteries would most likely fail to meet the claim.
The ones that I found to last a full day or longer were the supplied Powerizers, although they need tape to stop disconnecting, and Tenergy premium c cell 5000mah rechargeables. Have also heard the Accupower 6000mah are good too. I used disposable alkalines only twice. Think they were Duracell but not 100% sure now. Whatever brand they failed to last a full day but I still carried a set for emergency spares.

Had a word to battery world today and they suggested to steer clear of the 10,000 mah types.
The 6000 s are fine.
Yes the detectors ccts are voltage regulated but it takes a set of 1.5v batts to bring the full battery charge indicator up. Even full NiMh batteries only display half charge on the 2300 but if these batteries have a high enough mah rating then the detector should run for a good length of time.

Yes page 7 of the SDC manual says that fully charged rechargeable batteries will only indicate half charge while alkalines will indicate full? Don't know why they did it like that but at the end of the day it won't affect performance at all and in my experience the rechargeables will outlast the higher voltage 1.5v alkalines. They must be regulated to run optimally at around 3.5>4.5 volts?

G'day HomeRulez

I am not so sure that the 2300 is internally regulated, (the early SD's weren't') if the are internally regulated, then why does the extra voltage make them run much better, smoother and find targets a bit deeper??? it maybe my imagination or maybe not!

I don't think Finders Keepers in Kalgoorlie would be selling them if they were going to do any damage to the machine, I know they had them tested for quite awhile before they put the word out about them.

I know the GP and GPX are internally regulated so extra volts makes no difference.

cheers dave

I'm pretty sure that they are internally regulated if you can believe the info Minelab passed onto a dealer of theirs? Maybe contact them directly yourself if unsure?
My letting the smoke out comment was in jest hence the   If you exceed the input voltage the machine should just shutdown as should GP's and GPX's. I've used aftermarket batteries, including higher than recommended voltage and lipo's, on the SD, GP and GPX series without issue or even shutdown but haven't pushed the boundaries too much either. You know just in case.  
No doubt anyone selling aftermarket batteries would have tested them to ensure no adverse effects or backlash if machines start failing. They may even be privvy to information on the max input voltage. I don't know. I do know that yes I believe on some older machines there has been noticeable improvement with aftermarket batteries. It could be imagination on regulated machines but then it could also be that a more constantly high input voltage is beneficial too? Again I don't know the mechanics behind it.
My information above was more about the rechargeables lasting longer than alkalines and not being lesser performers otherwise. It wasn't meant to discredit the aftermarket battery some of you are using. In fact I never even mentioned them at all.
They were not available when I had a SDC so never tried higher voltage on it. I do know that I could not pick any performance drop from fresh batteries right through to the SDC shutting down on the rechargeables or alkalines.

No worries HomeRulez, all info is good info, and likewise I don't know for sure about internal regulator on the 2300, it was just from using it and it "seemed" to be noticeable.

Maybe someone like Ismael or Mechanic would know, I doubt if Minelab will say one way or the other.

cheers dave

Most detectors made today,are internally voltage regulated or they'd not only drain the batteries fast,but an unregulated voltage detector,will lose power/performance strength,as it's battery dies down. This is the reason why most hand held detectors today,are not only internally voltage regulated,but have a low battery voltage warning prior to cutting out,maintaining the detectors full power capabilities,prior to the batteries going flat & the detector shutting down.

Cheers Kon.

Here's something from this forum:
https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t21331-sdc2300-power#207144
The poster appears to be a member that may know going by his posts. Funny bugger too
P.s. the info from Kon and Narrawa is the same as I was given by a dealer. He said that it came from Minelab but it was a verbal communication so I can't link to anything documented.
I guess it's what you find works best for yourself in the end?

Yep I forgot about that topic.

Dozer wrote:So you have either 6 volts or 4.8 volts being presented to the regulator. And that is how it came out of the factory.
Before doing anything else to the power supply, ponder that conundrum and see if it clarifies your thinking.
The regulator will be set somewhere below 4.8 volts.

That's for the low shutoff at maybe around 4.8volts going by the volts remaining in the rechargeable c size supplied batteries.

It seems to me that the higher shutoff must be over 8.4volts because when the 18650's are fully charged they are around 4.2v each which gives 8.4v this drops off soon after being removed from the charger to more like 4 volts each giving in effect about 8 volts when the 2300 is turned on.

The 7000 and the 4000/4500/5000 both can accept 8.4 volts on a freshly charged battery.

cheers dave

adrian ss wrote:Had a word to battery world today and they suggested to steer clear of the 10,000 mah types.
The 6000 s are fine.
Yes the detectors ccts are voltage regulated but it takes a set of 1.5v batts to bring the full battery charge indicator up. Even full NiMh batteries only display half charge on the 2300 but if these batteries have a high enough mah rating then the detector should run for a good length of time.

Adrian, have a look also at Eneloop's...they seem to get a good wrap from users.

Gypsy

hi all , homerulez is right about the post from narrawa ,
but all the same i prefer fully charged battery every three to four hours of use ,
i know there is a drop off in depth and loss of volume after awhile ,
(i know this as im going deaf,)
even though the battery indicator reads batteries are half charged
do yourself a favor and do a test and find what works best for you
i like he sound of the 18650 mah,
plenty of punch for all day prospecting with max power , yeh
cheers red

One thing that bothers me a bit is that I can not see how the headphone and socket connection can be water proof??
I cannot see any seal and the connection is loose when conected although the HPs work fine.

You need the waterproof headphones and you may find the connection is a waterproof fit??? although I can't find any pictures of the plug end on the waterproof headphones for the 2300.

cheers dave

The manual states that the supplied HPs are not Wp but the connector is......It clearly is not.

Well there ya go, I don't know anyone that's tried it under water yet with or without the water proof headphones, Adrian you can give it a try ay.

If the manual says the plug fitting and cable end is water proof then who are we to say it's not.

cheers dave

.
Took the 2300 to the beach today and yep it works very well in the salt mode and the noise cancel works great. The detector even performed fine in the Normal mode positions although while groaning and moaning a bit in this mode over the wet sand the tecta still found targets  at good depth. 
      Found very old 5cent pieces at approx 12 to 16 inches  and other coins that I found could have been found with almost any detector.
I actually thought that my pinpointing ability was off a bit on the 5 cents but it was simply that the signal strength was strong enough that I though they were shallow targets and it took a smidgen longer to find them because they were deeper than I thought.
        Bloody bottle caps were located at near on two foot.
All of the coins were long lost jobs and had severe corrosion.
       There was zero problems with ground noise  over wet or dry sand in the salt Mode.
The detector goes deep and has great sensitivity to small bits of wire, fish hooks and bleeding bobby pins.

If you want to spend more than you need to then the 2300 is a nifty beach metal detector but gold detecting is the better use for this machine.
     As a beach detector I think it is an over kill. You can get a Gold Bug Pro with an 11 inch coil  for a hell of a lot less dollars that will find everything that the 2300 will find on salt water beaches plus the GB has great disc abilities and display..

Will I be using the SDC 2300 at the beaches again? Hell yes, I do not need Disc, I dig everything.  My 2300 was  purchased at a very doable  price and I reckon it is a little ripper
      Is it better than My Infinium??.......On small stuff ( Small gold chain) yes. On big deep stuff, Nup.

adrian ss wrote:
      Is it better than My Infinium??.......On small stuff ( Small gold chain) yes. On big deep stuff, Nup.

Not really apples to apples though eh Adrian...put a smaller coil on the Infinium and see how they test side by side...

All up, a good review and thanks for sharing....funny though, i don't recall a beach in Canberra

Ahhhhh Adrian
I see you are starting to fall for your sdc2300  
Knew you would.  

Thanks for your honest review
You say its over kill as a beach detector, for its price.. But does it give you a confidence boost? Compared to the other machines?

Now start finding gold coins, so you can put the money back in the bank  
Five cent pieces take to long..  

If you can get out on some goldfields and find the right spot, you would do very well with it.

Worst part i have found with it, is..... Getting up and down from all the sounds it finds.
But i am not complaining much,  most of it has been golden
Love getting onto a small patch of gold

I dont think i would like to submerge it into water up to the plug
Maybe just the coil a little bit.

GypsyGoldAu wrote:

adrian ss wrote:
      Is it better than My Infinium??.......On small stuff ( Small gold chain) yes. On big deep stuff, Nup.

Not really apples to apples though eh Adrian...put a smaller coil on the Infinium and see how they test side by side...

All up, a good review and thanks for sharing....funny though, i don't recall a beach in Canberra  

I agree that comparing the 2300 to the Inf where beach and small target detection is concerned is almost pointless. The INF can be used almost anywhere and is WP to 200ft.
I was comparing the INF with an eight inch mono. Fitting the small DDs makes no diff to the size of gold that the Finny can detect but does make the tones sharper and more noticable.

OK, OK so I wuz at Batemans Bay, Surf beach n Broulee.

Jen58 wrote:Ahhhhh Adrian
I see you are starting to fall for your sdc2300  
Knew you would.  

Thanks for your honest review
You say its over kill as a beach detector, for its price.. But does it give you a confidence boost? Compared to the other machines?

Now start finding gold coins, so you can put the money back in the bank  
Five cent pieces take to long..  

If you can get out on some goldfields and find the right spot, you would do very well with it.

Worst part i have found with it, is..... Getting up and down from all the sounds it finds.
But i am not complaining much,  most of it has been golden
Love getting onto a small patch of gold

I dont think i would like to submerge it into water up to the plug
Maybe just the coil a little bit.

Yes the 23 is a goodun and it does make you feel as though there will be a target with every sweep of the coil.
The manual does state that the detector is WP and can be submerged.

There is no way I would allow the HP connector on my 2300 to go underwater.......Maybe it is a misprint and it is only the WP headphones connector that can be dunked in the water?

I have a Back Pack for it now so I am good ta go.

adrian ss wrote:
I was comparing the INF with an eight inch mono. Fitting the small DDs makes no diff to the size of gold that the Finny can detect but does make the tones sharper and more noticable.

OK, OK so I wuz at Batemans Bay, Surf beach n Broulee.

Thanks for clarifying your testing... is what happens when i ASS..ume outcomes lol.

Re; BB....i figured as much hence the ...been a few years now since i was up that way (lived there for 20 odd years) but when you said beach and it was the weekend, i had an idea where you were..

Gypsy

Be careful of that headphone connection as it is piss weak , my one has worked groves into the detector side and now doesn't lock in place at all .

adrian ss wrote:

The groove on the plug shown in this photo is the beginning .

I

adrian ss wrote:

GypsyGoldAu wrote:

adrian ss wrote:
      Is it better than My Infinium??.......On small stuff ( Small gold chain) yes. On big deep stuff, Nup.

Not really apples to apples though eh Adrian...put a smaller coil on the Infinium and see how they test side by side...

All up, a good review and thanks for sharing....funny though, i don't recall a beach in Canberra  

I agree that comparing the 2300 to the Inf where beach and small target detection is concerned is almost pointless. The INF can be used almost anywhere and is WP to 200ft.
I was comparing the INF with an eight inch mono. Fitting the small DDs makes no diff to the size of gold that the Finny can detect but does make the tones sharper and more noticable.

OK, OK so I wuz at Batemans Bay, Surf beach n Broulee.

Ha HA. Living around the corner from one of those beaches I hit them on a regular basis...mostly with the excalibur...infinium with an 8 inch mono coil and the 2300 just to clean up on the small chains. My take is that the infinium with an 8 inch mono just because of its water tightness (but the 2300 is way more sensitive on chains and small gold) and thats only after my excal has cleaned up the easy stuff.

Happy Jack