SD2100 - is it still a good detector?

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post . Ok, I'm starting to get back into gold (yes, it never leaves, just goes into remission). I've got an SD2100 that I purchased in the late 90's when I used to panning/detecting/sluicing in my youth. Obviously the battery is gone.... I contacted Minelab who suggested I contact Bendigo Gold (I assume that is Miners Den Bendigo??) to get it checked out (I'm in western suburbs Melbourne), which I'm happy to do.

So.... having been out of it for so long and not keeping up with the new detectors that have come out over the years, should I stick with this detector or *must* I upgrade? I know it was a good detector in the days, but is it a good/ok detector now? Don't want to buy the latest and greatest, but is the SD good enough?

Looked at some of the posts about the SD2000/2100/2200, and they went quiet a few years ago (after all, they are old). I'll continue doing research and posting any findings as I go.

Some of the posts talked about 'modding' the SD's..... I need to get my head around what that means too.

Happy to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

Andrew
(AK49)

G'day Andrew and Welcome to the forum, yes the SD2100 is/was a great detector, but like most things in life better/newer technology is coming out all the time. Today there is much less accessible gold in the ground as compared to the days when the SD2100 was first released. So therefore you maybe better off to look into the newer/later models such as the GPX range for a start, but all depends on your financial situation of course. Just MHO.

Cheers.

Mike.

Hi AK47
The battery can easily be replaced,try Jaycar they keep some for a reasonable price.The 2100 was a really good detector and will still work well.The newer detectors handle the hot ground well so a lot of gold has been found since.Your detector is still viable but won't compete on the small/specimen gold which is most common now.You will also dig a lot more false signals.
If your serious about taking it up again for the best value for money you can't go past a GPX4500 or SDC2300.

Hi Mike and deutran,

Thanks for your replies. I suspected as much - I could see at the time I bought the detector that they were getting better (i.e. ground balance/noise, depth, picking up finer nuggets) and better at discriminating.

I'll still get the SD checked out (and buy a battery if both aren't too expensive).... and look in to the newer models.

Thanks for your replies - much appreciated

Andrew

gday ak47
don,t be taken back with these new tecters there is still good gold out there in the fields,
its a big country out there ya just gotta walk over it,
I had some good times with my 2100 using a 18 '' dust bin lid coil .
you would be surprised how small of a nugget these coils picked up.

good scratchin

cheers the speciman

Andrew AK49
T have found that most up dates are usually minor improvements. If you can spare the money so what grab the latest and the best it might give you a boost against a beginner. How ever where you detect has more effect on what you find, my last major outing 15 or so sunbakers were there for me.

hey mate I found my first nugget with a SD2000 about 6 years ago if the gold is there and your detector is running fine theres no reason why you whould not find a percentage of it!!! the nugget I found was 1.84gm at 4ish inches, the GPX detectors are the ducks nuts for hot ground so what I was told when in the market for a detector was buy the best you can afford to give yourself the best chance to find the good stuff, cheers joe.

G’day AK47.

I bought a second hand SD2000 in 2014 and had a lot of success with it, especially using the 8” mono coil. I modified mine and also replaced all the major capacitors because I was going to modify it and run it at a higher voltage. The 8” mono was fantastic but in hindsight the 8” DD would have been a better choice with this detector because the mineralisation in extremely hot ground played havoc with it, but there weren’t too many areas I had trouble.

Check the unit yourself for starters. Remove the end cap from the power end of the control box, not the end where the coil plugs into it. Remove the screws and let the cap drop so you can shine a torch inside the control box. There are 5 big capacitors inside, those large round components if you don’t know what a capacitor is. Look at the tops of them. If they are flat then they are OK, if they are looking a little rounded on the top then they are beginning to expand and should still work but for how long is anyone’s guess.

If you’re only going to use it with a 6 volt battery then just go out there and use it, don’t bother getting it checked out you’re just wasting money that could be better spent on a new battery. If you have a device that also uses a 12 volt sealed lead acid battery then I would suggest buying one of those and then building an adjustable voltage regulator so if the detector dies and cannot be repaired then you can use the battery in the other device. The only person I know of who might be able to repair your detector if it doesn’t work is Mechanic, a member of this forum.

Information from Ismael Jones and Woody is that the SD series detectors can take a voltage up to 10 volts but is most stable under 8 volts. I bought a 12 volt battery and built the adjustable voltage regulator and ran my SD2000 at about 7.4 volts and found a lot of gold with that. There are 2 or 3 must have modifications you can do that will improve your chances of finding gold with the 2100. If you are handy with a soldering iron and want to do the modifications then I can help you with this. The minimum tools you will need are a soldering iron and a multimeter.

If you can afford a new detector then my suggestion would be the new 4500 that Minelab re-released last year. Excellent value for money and more than capable.

Regards Axtyr.

Hi AK47,
Still believe the SD2100 was one of the best detectors Minelab ever produced, had mine for 10 years.
Don't waste you money on upgrades the only recommendation is to go 12V stepped down to 7.2V? (May stand corrected here) It was a long time ago.
Here are some instructions I posted. All I ever ran on my machine was the 18"mono, and lost count of the amount of prospectors I ran into who told me I couldn't run a mono? I even offered to try the machine and they were amazed how quiet it ran.
Here you go;
For those of you who still swing the 2100 the method below is tried and proven to get the best from your machine.

Tuning your Minelab SD 2100:
Firstly you probably HAVE missed many nuggets with your SD "warbling" in your earphones. When I now get the slightest variation in the "hum" I scrape off the top layer of rocks, grass etc and if the signal has improved it is usually a small target, hopefully a nugget.
Getting back to tuning:
With the machine turned on and holding it at waist height with base of coil vertical, rotate 180deg, noting which direction the warbling is greatest.
Lay the detector and coil on the ground with the coil tilted up at about 45/60 deg and facing direction of strongest interference.
Place one hand on the box to keep it steady so there are not any false signals (as you can well imagine the 1 & 2 balance positions are not ultimately tuned at this stage) with your other hand using the small screwdriver, rotate the tuning screw clockwise. (At this point it may be easier to remove your back pack and lay it next to the detector) If you haven't achieved any improvement after say 20 rotations clockwise, rotate anticlockwise for 20 rotations (back to starting point) then keep rotating anticlockwise for another 20 rotations. (This pot does not have a "stop" so it may take time.)
You may feel like a bit of a dork out in the middle of nowhere down on all fours with your butt in the air but believe me it is worth the effort.
If you persevere eventually the threshold will become a steady Hummmm! You will only need to readjust if you move to complete new mineralised ground or your machine again becomes unsteady. After you have your machine humming steadily stand up and go through the 1-2 positions of balancing your machine.
At this point it is advisable to select the “Tone” that most suits your hearing.
Using a small target (shotgun pellet is ideal) scrape a small hole and place target in the hole. Now swing your coil across the target, vary the tone until you get the clearest/ sharpest signal that suits your hearing.
LOW and SLOW and ALWAYS investigate any change in tone no matter how slight, those little grammers soon add up.
Pinpointing your signal:
When a signal is targeted, draw a line through where you think the target is, now step around 90deg and again swing and again draw a line through where you think the target is. Where the two lines cross will be approximately where your target is laying. (After you become confident you will find only imaginary lines are required.)
Coils:
Mono coils have a different target centre to your DD coils, practice with both using previous pinpointing method until you are confident. If the ground is highly mineralised and your machine continually chatters you may need to use your DD coil only.
Tip:
If your signal varies considerably while using the pinpointing method it is quite possible your target is ground noise. (Scrape of the top layer of dirt, the signal should increase if it is a target.)
Good luck on your next visit to the goldfields, and yes, I would be interested in hearing from you whether this advice helped in any way.

Posted Sunday 29-04-2007, 09:33 in Minelab Related Information

Hi Andrew welcome to the forum. I agree with the sentiments that people have posted on your topic. My comment is that if you intend to do more then say 30 days detecting a year I believe it would pay you to sell the 2100 with the document saying it was serviced and a new battery....and buy a 4500. The 4500 is the best bang for your bucks at the moment, and it is immune to most ground noise, and it will hopefully find you enough gold to make it worthwhile. Resale value on the 4500 will recoup some money back if you want to upgrade down the track. Getting a small sadie coil or similar for the 4500 will allow you to crumb for small gold if you will be near mullock heaps/small gold. cheers Tributer

Hi All,

Boy, there is a lot to think about Big thanks to everyone who took the time to respond - much appreciated!

I must admit I know nothing about the innards and voltage etc...... though I understand the concept on how the detector works. I'm assuming here that increasing the voltage increases the ground penetration (aka the strength of the signal can travel a greater length)?

Axtyr and Nightjar - I'll check what came with the detector re battery (I do recall the think was heavy and I cursed many times when out in the bush!)..... I'll let you know how I go.

Again, thanks everybody

Andrew
AK47

Hi Axtyr,

Pulled the box apart as suggested - looks good on the inside. No bubbling of the capacitors

Looking at the battery, it is a 6V lead-acid. Logically I should get a replacement battery and see if it still works before considering the changing to higher voltage - agreed?
(I need to do some more research - I've looked at previous posts but still need to get my head around exactly what it does). I'm fairly certain the detector will still be good - I was always careful with it (after all, I spent a whole summer internship paying for it!). However that does not mean 10+ years sitting in a cupboard hasn't done anything.

Tributer - not sure how many days detecting I'll be doing, but I agree with you, if I do decide to go out often, then an upgrade makes sense. As it stands, if I can get this beast running, then I can get some experience under my belt and then decide which way I want to go.

Andrew
(AK47)

Andrew.

Email me: axtyr@hotmail.com

I have a 6V battery that is just going to waste. If you live close to Epping I can drop it off at my daughter's home and you can pick it up from there. It's pretty old but should at least get the unit working to test. It should last a while.

Regards Axtyr.

Thanks Axtyr,


I'll send you a message.

Andrew
AK47

Hi Everybody,

Just to provide an update - Axatyr was kind enough to provide me his old battery (thanks! I bow before the master!). I caught up with him more than a few weeks ago and had a good chin wag to boot. Top bloke.

So.... to get the old battery off, I had to buy a soldering iron. Off to Bunnings - tick. Had some time off during school holidays and on the good old list was to get the detector up and running. First week house repairs - nope no work on detector. Second week, run around visiting family and Easter. Will I get to it?? As things were looking, not likely. Crap, have to get the detector going otherwise I'm going to blow a gasket!

Anyway... right at the end of the break, told the wife and kid to leave me alone for a few hours.... and eventually got the battery soldered on. Hooked up the detector, turned it on, then..... the good ol' sound of success. The detector is working!!!! Yippeeeee!!!!!

Ok... well, you know what that means... I gotsa test it in the field. So, after a few weeks managed to get in touch with an old friend in the 'rat (Ballarat) I hadn't seen in yonks. What the hey, lets make it a day trip. Took the family out (I grabbed the pans - thought we might get a chance to pan a bit) and went for a drive. Found a quiet spot to test.... pulled it out and had a go. Yep, it was definitely working. Sounded exactly like I remembered it. Double Yippee with cherries on top! Now the hard part begins.... finding my first nugget!

So, happy ending. The detector after all this time was still working. Phew.

Again, got to say a bit thanks again to Axatyr - I really appreciate the battery but more importantly the generosity of your offer. I remain in your debt.

Andrew
AK47

Don't be in too much of a hurry to find your first nugget. Take your time, detect with full concentration and you will find it. Best of LUCK.