Nugget finder v`s gold stalker

which do you find better and why
Just wanting to purchace one but not sure which one.
Its to be working on a 4500 in vic triangle

i have a N/F 14" mono coil and it's great but i can't say what it's like with the other coil as i have not used one... it will have to come down to what you think wich would be better for you...
cheers
stoppsy

Hi Steve.
Depth, sensitivity... all things being equal they are much of a muchness.. probably a pube wouldn't seperate two of the same size.

I've had both and my personal preference is Nugget Finder, mainly because they (to me) seem more robust than Coiltek and less touch sensitive.
Also, having the windings potted rather than just encased in foam I believe would make them more durable in the long run and less prone to having windings come lose from being squashed or trodden on as happens in the field.

Personally, I wish MineLab would increase thier range of coils as I'd prefer the commander series.

Cheers!

Steve

[
Personally, I wish MineLab would increase thier range of coils as I'd prefer the commander series.[/quote] spot on there madtuna there 8" monos and that are awesome. if they made every size mono coil i would buy them...
cheers
stoppsy

gday for what its worth, i have a gpx 5000 and have used the standard 11' commander mono which is a great coil. i tried the 18' round coiltek mono and as madtuna pointed out, touch sensitive. i then purchased and tried the 17' eliptical nf on my last trip and personally reckon that it was an awesome coil for me to use. to me the 17' was like using the 11' in the sense where it wasnt touch sensitive but i could cover more ground in faster time. i also found my biggest bit with it so far too and also gound the normal small bits that were very clear signals.

.

G'day Steve.

The Nugget Finder Advantage series are slightly more quieter to run on most ground conditions,than that of the Gold Stalkers of similar size.
Also the skid plates on the NF cover and seal on to the coil much better than what the skid plates do on the Gold stalkers.
As for Minelab,why aren't they paying attention to the needs of the people in terms of a greater variety in coil selection and doing something to compensate for their coil weight factor. Ahh Minelab,you make a bloody good robust coil,but at the same time you can be very unkind to the prospector.

Cheers kon61.

Gday


The main feature that I like about the nuggetfinder coils over the coiltek coils is the way that they are constructed, If you get the opportunity to have a look at the inside of each of these coils you will see that the nuggetfinders are made for durability with the windings potted in resin, the bracket securing pins go through the entire coil body, meaning that it will not flex on the mounting, also where the wire goes through the top of the coil there is an o ring to seal out moisture, also it is well documented that litz wire is more widely believed to be more responsive and stable than standard wire, one criticism that I do have is that the skid plates need to be made a bit thicker, but I know that thicker ones are available for some coils.

On the other hand the coiltek construction is quite flimsy in comparison, the internal windings are not potted and will start to move eventually with normal use, wire movement and flexing of the coil body will of course create falsing, they use standard type wire and not litz wire, considering that the cost of these is close to the price of the nuggetfinders then I think personally the nuggetfinders are the better option as they would possibly cost more to produce per unit than the coiltek coils.

I am not knocking the coiltek coils, they have been about for a long time and responsible for finding a lot of gold, and many people swear by them and will use nothing else, but when I outlay say $500 for a coil I want to get to use it free of any issues for as long as I need it, and dont want any issues with falsing and cracking of cases etc, better construction to me means higher quality and durability, my opinion only.

As far a minelab coils go they are a top quality coil and are robust and well made, most of these coils will provide you with many years of faithful service, but as previously mentioned they are heavy, I use the commander 11" mono a lot, and it has found plenty of gold, because its only a small coil the weight is negligible and I have tried similar sized coiltek monos that are lighter but I felt that they lacked performance up against the minelab, and have always gone back to the 11" minlab mono's, as far as there bigger coils go they offer great performance but are far too heavy for activities like patch hunting, I dont think minelab really want to compete with the after market coil makers and why would they,as they are a long way behind when it comes to the making of lightweight coils ,but their coils are reliable and only for the most part constructed for sale with their detectors, they are in the business of making detectors that is their mainline business so they wouldnt want to tie up resources to get into the fickle area of making lightweight coils when there are other businesses that are already doing this and have most of the basis covered already.


cheers

stayyerAU

stayyer

ya got me mate with that post, i'm now goin to strap on a minelab 11" mono for the first time since the 2200D
came out..
nice post.

Pete in WA

P.S if ONLY m/lab brought out a 14x9 mono ay

Pete, it's a good coil. nearly as good as the 12" NF adv mono IMHO.

Robert

Gday Pete/Robert


The minelab commander 11" mono is an excellent coil and delivers the goods on the 4500, another coil size you mention Pete is the 14x9, the 14x9 nuggetfinder is also extremely good on the 4500 as well, the only issue is that I found they are a bit twitchy and not as stable as the 14" round adv mono, the skid plates tend to wear a bit quick as well, but I think this is one of the models that a heavier skid plate is available for, and yes if minelab produced one I would consider getting one too.

Robert, I am also in the process of getting a 12" nuggetfinder advantage mono as well, as I have also heard some good things about them, I use the 14" advantage mono a lot of the time too and I have done well with it, sometimes its a bit big depending on the area I am working so I stick with the 11" minelab, but because I am always finding gold with it I tend to not want to take it off, whether there is any great difference in performance between it and the 12" nuggetfinder advantage is something I want to find out, and also as I have the 14" nuggetfinder I wasnt really sure if there was any advantage (pardon the pun) in it, now that my minelab 11" has done quite a lot of work, and looking a bit worse for wear, I thought that rather than get another one at the moment I would give the nf 12" a go.


cheers

stayyerAU

Hello stayyerAU

I have just gone through a change in coils...and the great thing is we do have a variety of coil sizes from various manufacturers that work well.Finding what suits your needs / style of detecting etc,and price can be a consideration as well.

I have gone for the small / medium / and large appproach which has been suggested by other helpful forum members.I have just purchased a 8 inch Commander coil on Saturday and tried it out in Talbot Victoria,well it found me a tiny 0.1 gram bit and punched deep on a 22 bullet at 8 inches giving a nice dig me signal
I have now decided on a 12 inch Nugget Finder also for the medium range.I ordered it before Christmas and am still waiting on it due to Nugget Finder making a new batch.

I have just changed over from a 16 inch Goldstalker round mono to a 18x12 Goldstalker.I did find a 2 gram bit with the 16 inch,but have found the 18x12 works well with good coverage also.The narrower shape is great for moving around shrubs and other obstacles.I have recently found a 1.7 gram / 0.4 gram / and 0.3 gram finds with it I think that i have now settled on three coils that will cover a variety of ground depths and nugget sizes,and that i have confidence will work well in the field..

Cheers Bill

Gday Bill


Your right there are many coil choices available now, and settling on just a few coils that you actually will use in the field is a case of trial and error, it occured to me some time back that out of the 5 or 6 coils that I used to take with me at least half of them were just along for the ride and didnt get used, some of these were dd coils and not really used on the 4500, so it was best to get rid of them and replace them with coils that would fill in the gaps.

So after careful selection I carry my basic coils, 8" minelab mono, 11" minelab mono, 14" nuggetfinder mono, and 18" nuggetfinder mono, I have also just added a 30x7 nuggetfinder patch finder as well, but want one of the 12" nuggetfinder mono's as well which may replace the minelab commander 11" mono depending on how it performs.

You will find the 8" minelab mono a great little coil, and if you have read any of my previous posts on it you will have read that I have done very well with this sized coil, dont think for a moment that they are not very capable depth wise because they are, and they have the added advantage of being compact and small enough to get into the spots that the bigger coils have missed, if you work over scrapes and creeks and dryblowings with this coil it will pay for itself over and over again, you can find them a little noisy in some places but once you learn whats what you will be glad that you got one.

Also if you come across an area such as a rubble strewn hillside where you cant get in close to the ground with a bigger coil, they are a great little patch finding coil in these conditions and you will soon get some gold if theres anything there, one thing to remember is that very often on a new patch there will be gold on or very near the surface so you need something small and manouverable to snag that critical first piece and the 8" mono is the perfect coil for that job.

cheers

stayyerAU

Hi

Am i to understand the NF's are all waterproof ? since their resin filled and sealed ???

Cheers

from http://www.nuggetsfromdownunder.com.au/ItemDetail.asp?ItemID=133

1. Fully Bonded Construction - All the components that make up a Nugget Finder Coil are bonded. This dramatically reduces false signals when the coil is bumped against rocks and bushes. A further advantage is a coil that is rigid and doesn’t flex or wobble. Even though the Advantage Series has more wire and a stronger design, weight remains roughly the same as the previous models. This was achieved through innovative design not by cutting corners!

2. Litz Wire – All Nugget Finder Coils are wound using Litz wire; a multi-strand wire in which every individual strand is insulated before being wrapped in a cotton or Rayon coating. The insulation prevents the windings from creating eddy currents and thereby “seeing themselves” and transmitting a false signal. Litz wire has an advantage over other wire because its’ high surface area gives it a greater transmission ability. Litz wire is more expensive to manufacture with, but the end result is a more powerful, energy efficient coil. In addition to Litz wire, Nugget Finder has also added modified shielding to the Advantage Series which offers better resistance to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Another benefit has been an increase in sensitivity and signal response on small gold, and improved stability; particularly on the GPX series.

3. Water Resistant – All Nugget Finder Advantage coils are a fully sealed. The new O-Ring design with sealed cable makes them water resistant. Now a person can detect puddles, and wet grass without fear of causing damage to the coil.

4. Potted Windings – The heart of any coil is the winding. It is vital for coil performance, stability and longevity that the windings be held firmly in place. Coils without potted windings will experience a higher level of “falsing” when the coil is bumped into obstacles while detecting. Nugget Finder overcomes this problem by encasing the entire winding in a super hard resin that allows absolutely no movement for the entire life of the coil.

5. Epoxy Reinforced Polyurethane Bracket – Unique to the Nugget Finder line are their super strong brackets or coil shaft mounts. All Nugget Finder brackets are actually anchored into the core of the coil itself and transfer any strain into a High Density Foam Center; making them the strongest on the market!

6. Experience & Goldfields Based Testing - With over 16 years manufacturing experience, a strong emphasis on Research & Development, and immediate access to some of the best and most highly mineralized goldfields in the world, Nugget Finder has the knowledge and resources for producing the highest quality of aftermarket products.

7. Full 2-Year Warranty – Nugget Finder Coils come with a full 2-Year warranty and protective skid plate!