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Whites XLT battery charging

Whites Metal Detectors,

The Whites XLT instructions say go for 22 hours for the initial charge (ie completely uncharged batteries), but it doesn’t say how long for subsequent charges.  So how long do you do it?

After your initial charge, there is no need to fully discharge your battery as it wont develop a memory. I have had mine 3 and a half years, and although my battery does not last as long as it used to, I still get 4 – 6 hours out of it depending on the settings used.

This is so long as whites have not changed the batteries that are supplied along with the detector

As for re-charging the battery. This will depend on how flat it is. If mine is quite low I put it on charge the night before I am going detecting (10pm) and leave it till the morning. But sometimes I might only need to top it up for an hour or two.

Advice for new Whites XLT owners?

Whites Metal Detectors,

So you’ve just picked up a Whites XLT metal detector and are eager to start making your first finds?

Start studying the Whites XLT manual and Bob Bailey’s program book.

I use bobs programmes 1,2 & 3 (the most sensitive being 1, as you can probably guess by the settings) all on farm land.  Theres very little to adjust on field after you loaded one of these in, just pre-amp gain and AC sensitivity if the machine is a little unstable (the book tells you what to look for).  Remember to ground balance after changing these.

A friend of mine also has just got a Whites XLT he had a morning on the standard relic programme, and changed to BASIC3 for the afternoon and noticed a much better finds rate. Its a fiver well spent.

I cant vouch for the beach programmes as I havnt been on the beach. Also if you detect on parks I guess you may want to add a bit more discrimination to bobs programmes.

My advice would be to start using BASIC3 or BASIC4, if you end up on clubs sites that have been searched a lot move to BASIC1 and BASIC2.

If You Could Only Choose One Detector…

Metal Detecting Tips

Someone once asked me “If you could have only one detector and $1000 was your upper limit, which one would you buy and why?”

How long is a piece of string? Seriously this is such a personal question.  Some of the detectors I would like to use are so heavy that you would need to be in the prime and work out regularly to use them!

Those that give the sharpest signals on small (very small) targets have little or no depth penetration.

If you go to rallies up down the country you soon notice that certain machines are more popular in one area than another, now the manufacturers all claim their machine is a go anywhere machine but I have my doubts.

I once recommended my favourite machine to a couple of friends who lived in another county, sadly they took my advice and had no luck at all. Thinking they didn’t know how to use the machine I went out with them and found I had the same problems, my trusty old friend was just not suited to their soil conditions.

It all depends where you want to search.

I have a Whites XLT metal detector and it is reasonably good because it is very adaptable. However, I have found that in certain ground conditions cheaper detectors can give better performance than my trustworthy XLT.

With regards to the Whites XLT, in the usual ground conditions round here, it does a reasonable job at IDing things correctly when they are less than four or five inches deep. Any deeper and it will just ID them as ferrous or non ferrous (with approx. 70% probability of being correct).

I personally like the combined all metal/discrimination mode of this machine, which I use if there is little trash or iron contamination.  It will detect deeper than many machines, but remembering that it will not ID the deep targets.

The Laser Rapier, as well as being really easy to use, is also very lightweight – it only uses a single transistor battery – OK it won’t last as long but it’s easy to carry a spare battery in your pocket.

If it had been available when I first started, I would almost certainly have gone for it. Otherwise, if you go for a heavier machine, you may find that one which allows you to belt-mount it is easier on the arm. The only problem with belt mount is that the unit can get in your way when you bend down to dig, also it can be less easy to read if it has a meter or display. I now chest-mount my Laser B1 Hi Power using an excellent harness made specially for the purpose which came from Joan Allen. This may or may not be suitable for you.

The Lasers are good machines, although you have to be a bit patient for the first few months in learning to “read” the signal, since they’re sound only. However, I believe that the simpler the machine, the more time you’ll spend searching and the less time fiddling about with the adjustments. The lasers are excellent at discriminating out small iron – nails, etc, however the signal from large, deep iron – horseshoes, ploughshares etc can sound like a good signal.

The only way to learns is to dig every signal at first until your ear is tuned in. The XLT will potentially give you a lot more info, if you’re prepared to spend time fiddling with different programs.

If you haven’t already done so, make sure you go to dealer and try several machines out for size before finally deciding.

Another thing, don’t forget the accessories.

If you’re going to spend that much on a detector you may as well get some decent headphones too, I just bought a pair for under $100 and the difference is unbelievable.  They practically stop any outside noises and all you have to concentrate on is the signals coming from your detector.

Definitely worth it, so make sure you put enough aside for the headphones too, you may already have a pair but I was using the ones I use for the CD system, these new ones are amazingly clearer.

At the end of the day you cant beat going to one of the detector shops, trying all the machines until you find one that you think does the job you want, has the right sound and a good recovery speed after it’s passed over a piece of iron (That’s the time before it will pick up a coin after going over the iron) and suits your height and weight.

Then once you have bought it, get to know everything about, don’t just use it, learn all it’s in and outs, sounds and meter response. After that just remember you cant find what isn’t there to start with!

Good luck and “Good hunting”