Bottle Caps

Can we have some opinions as to the best detector/coil combo for "handling" those pesky steel bottle caps (crown caps)?----Some of the old sites I hunt are just "infested" with them (in certain areas) and I know there are good targets in there if I can just get around these things.----I use mainly DD coils which certainly doesn't help with the b.c. issue but I use two or three tricks in I.D.ing the b.c.'s with the DD's that helps (some).------Was just wanting to try & find out what others are using for a detector/coil combo that is most effective in this regard.----------Thanks, Del

We run into whole ones, bent ones, flattened ones and some are just different mettalic composition...Many will register as a coin but usually cover more area than a coin and would use a concentric coil as DD coils are really bad in most cases...

Best detector I have ever used that can distinguish caps and eliminate most iron/steel ones and still hit gold jewelry as well as deep coins is my Discovery Baron Coin Trax II. When you set it up correctly, and with the ability to set a break point in all metal for a stacatto type sound vs clean tone on those pesky things, it can't be beat. In discriminate mode, you totally eliminate most of them, while others will be such a crappy sounding hit, mostly one way ( where they end up disappearing when sweeping from different angles), that you can tell it's a cap. And the discrimination level to knock them out is pretty low, so gold jewelry and lower conductive targets still hit hard.

When dry sand hunting with the 10 inch coil ( concentric) on the CTII, in areas loaded with them, I can pick off coins and jewelry with nearly none in my pouch. When using other units, especially ones with DD coils, I dig lots of them. I was told and read some posts where they stated DD coils just like caps better than concentric coils. I know my GB SE likes em !

The aluminum caps though, are a b--tch no matter what detector. But for the iron/steel and rusty ones, the CTII is superb at knocking them out. It's just an excellent, underrated unit that can stand toe to toe with the top of the line models today.

Like Dan stated though, caps are made differently, so you may not pick up any Miller Lites, but tons of Heinekens !

The older single-freq (concentric coil equipped) Fisher 12XX series were fairly good at handling steel bottlecaps. Problem with these steel caps is.....they are usually zinc or nickel plated............and eddy currents (electrons) flow on the outter surface 'skin' of the cap..........causing mis-ID's.

Thanks guys for your responses.---------Tom, is there a particular detector in the 1200 series that you would recommend over the rest (in that series) for i.d.ing steel b.c.'s?------------Thanks, Del

Hey D&P-OR. Hope this is permissable. This link is to an article written by Dave Johnson, a Fisher engineer. He wrote this for users of the new Gold Bug Pro. I don't know the man but he is very well respected by lots of folks. I think he was one of the main folks behind the T-2s and the GB Pros. Hope this helps. Like yourself, I am REALLY tired of Corona, Heinikens, and other screw tops. This may help with the older, rusted crown caps. John
[www.findmall.com]

Thanks John, good info.-----I have the G2 and I know the Greek series coils are inter-changable with the G2/GBSE coils (at least the DD coils for those detectors are).----For those b.c. infested areas, I wonder if the 10" concentric coil (Omega stock coil) mounted on the G2 would work well on the G2 and if so be an aid in b.c. identification as well.----I'm not sure if that concentric coil would work on the G2 or not (as far as adequate depth, b.c. i.d., etc.)----gotta find out I guess.-------Del



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2011 07:27AM by D&P-OR.

I found with the "grunt" method on the GBSE it would ID a bottle cap 80% of the time correctly. I did find I was missing some wheats though when I set up a test on it. Depth wasnt a help as I was finding BC's even at 3" in the areas Im hunting. I dig unless under a time restrant. Clearing an area helps get to the masked targets.IMHO

The 1236X and 1266X......come to mind.

Dave Johnson has his design hands in on about 60%-70% of all metal detectors in the world (except Minelab......of which.....is Bruce Candy). Chances are...............what ever detector you are using..........Dave Johnson had 'something' to do with its platform design.

Thanks again everybody for your input, appreciate it.-----------Del

Ok, I'm probably going to get pounced on for this post but here goes. The best detector I have found to distinguish between crown caps, screw caps, & quarters is the Whites V3i. The unit has three frequencies - 22.5 kHz, 7.5 kHz, & 2.5 kHz (which are color coded blue, red, & green respectively). They run simultaneously. The advantage of three frequencies is the target will hit a specific frequency harder, Example: While detecting in three frequency "Best Data" mode and pin-pointing your target, a crown cap will show a stronger signal on the 22.5 kHz frequency, a screw cap will show the 7.5 kHz frequency, and a quarter will show the 2.5 kHz frequency as the strongest. All three will read in the quarter range on the VDI (83) with the same tone. I have used this unit at a fairground parking lot and dug all signals and after approximately 50 of each of the junk targets can say it did not fail me once. Will it fail elsewhere? Probably. It isn't a perfect world out there.

Another nice feature using the three frequencies is that if you get an "iffy" signal, you can pin-point your target and "bump" your coil over by 1/4" and find a target that would have been masked by trash. The frequency of the adjacent trash target will switch from 22.5 or 7.5 kHz to 2.5 kHz as you move the coil a 1/4" at a time. The tone will stay the same but the display will change. I have found many dimes like this and even dug a silver quarter next to a screw cap. It gave a trash tone with a slight high tone chirp at the end. I would think this only applies to coins as relics would fall all over the VDI range. That has been my experience on IDing crown caps, screw caps, and quarters with the V3i.

"Happy hunting" - Schultzie

That's some darn good info Schultzie.

I second that -- IMPRESSIVE sharing of info, Schultzie...

Steve

Hi, Personally I don't have any problems with bottle caps using a DD or Concentric coils....I don't rely on the VDI's etc. I listen to the audio. Bottle caps seem to have a different sound even rusty washers,screw caps etc. do too... The big trouble with the Fisher 1200 series is they tend to discriminate an item out so many inches then they start picking up the the discriminated item again....I modified my 1270 now it's good to go...It don't matter the distance from the coil the item stays discriminated out....The machines I run are a Fisher 3D,1270,Minelab Musketeer,Tesoro Tejon,Garrett AT Pro plus numerous older Garrett metal detectors....I give Tom the credit for tuning my 3D it's accurate and locks on targets great..I scored a Large Cent the first day out....Tom don't you think George Payne deserves a lot of recognition? I think he kinda revolutionize the metal detectors we all have come to know today....JJ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/20/2011 04:26AM by jimmyjiver.

Schultzie.....good report.

Yes, George Payne is in MANY designs/platforms also. More than most would think.

I agree with schultzie...out of all my machines, the V3 is able to to "out" the bottlecaps better than the rest.

Very interesting report Schultzie.----------Del

Hey Schultzie, thanks for the report. I would very much like to hear on going reports about the V3i if you would.
On this forum you don't get pounced on unless the subject turns to politics or religion, then the gloves come off.

ozzie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Schultzie, thanks for the report. I would very
> much like to hear on going reports about the V3i
> if you would.
> On this forum you don't get pounced on unless the
> subject turns to politics or religion, then the
> gloves come off.


When the Vision/V3/V3i first came out with its colored screen, many had the opinion it was just a sales gimmick, and who needs a color screen to detect. For some reason the machine was perceived as not a credible unit. I'm not sure why. That's why I figured I'd get pounced on. I am no scientist and do not possess the ability to break things down as Tom does (thank you Tom) but I try to be methodical with what I do and eliminate as many variables as I can.

For us Oldsters..................color TV was a perceived gimmick when it was introduced............lol

Ahhh terradigger you said the same thing when they invented the wheel,,, I heard ya. :]

I truly LOL'd when I read your post