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View Full Version : Swingin' around town - love, clad, grumpy Garrett, and a wicked toasty button 8/23



Trooper Bri
08-23-2014, 06:33 PM
Got a late start today, as planned.
Mr. Weatherman said this morning was supposed to be lousy, then clearing, but apparently he was wrong. So, by the time I got my Sunday chores done, I didn't get on the dirt until 1:30. Cool, breezy, and overcast. Awesome!

Plan was to try the other school in the oldest section of town. It's also got an old field that was granted to it 1/2 dozen years ago, wanted to check that out, but the area I first hit was polluted enough to keep me occupied for most of my time.
Wasn't swinging for more than a minute before the soil showed me some love. A heart shaped pendant filled with hearts. Awwwww! After that it was clad, crunk, pull tabs, and a fantastic amount of little wads of tin foil. The ones hitting a solid 4 I finally learned to ignore. The 4's bouncing up to a 5 (nickel on my 350) got dug as they turned out to be a nickel once in a while. Glad I kept digging them, because one wicked toasty button showed itself. Packed it in dirt, and kept going. Wandered a bit more, built up the clad reserves, and called it a day @ 4:30.

My 3 month old ProPointer started acting up a month ago (never dropped or banged). Pinpoint something occasionally, pull the pinpointer away, and it's still beeping. Or turn it on once in a while and it's beeping. Tap on the tip and it stops beeping. Today it was just grumpy, quite annoying. I hope Garrett sends me a loaner, or new exchange. I'm not going without a pinpointer for 2 weeks. I'll buy a 2'nd one if it comes to that.

And on with the pics. No Post-It note this week. :lol:

The button I thought was completely gone actually had some markings left on it. Looks to be about 1" in diameter, from measuring what little edge is left. You can see a thin circle that went around the edge, and inside is some sort of design. I can see groups of dots here and there, and in the eye loop, looks like what might be a leaf design near the side with the most edge left.

41715

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OxShoeDrew
08-23-2014, 07:52 PM
Hey Brian, my propointer started doing the same thing after about a year. I put some paper between the cap and the battery. That helped for a while, but now it's worse than ever. Hey you got a lesche shovel? Nice huh?
Lots of good signals in that hunt.:yes:

Trooper Bri
08-23-2014, 08:51 PM
Suppose I can try that Drew, but I'm not keen on a device getting flaky 2 months after I bought it. Especially one made in the US. It'll be Garrett's problem once Labor Day weekend is over. I've got most of next week off, so ol' Grumpy and me will have some extra time together hopefully.
I bought the Lesche right after I met you and Dan for my 1'st hunt. Remember that red trenching shovel I brought? Banned... :hystericallaugh: I had to use a hand trowel that day. It's a sweet tool, glad I bought it. I'll order the Lesche hand digger once I liquidate a piece of ice fishing gear. My $10 Fiskars garden knife is doing a fine job for now.

MangoAve
08-24-2014, 12:27 AM
Took me a while to realize what that thing is next to the eraser. For some reason there's a lot if weaving inside that cap. A fair amount of clad. Prob like what u got at the school I took you to. That button is sure toasty. I was out swinging too but omg was there iron galore. I mean it was prob equal to 10x of George hunts but in one area. Foundations were in incredible shape but maybe picked clean. Maybe time to put it in full gear.

coinnut
08-24-2014, 07:32 PM
That button almost looks military :shocked04: Hopefully not. Guessing it's pewter from the amount of flaking on it.

aloldstuff
08-25-2014, 08:43 AM
Brian, that button is sure toasty and as coinnut stated hope its NOT military. My Garrett PP started acting up and I put a piece of rubber between the battery and the screw top, helped a lot.

MangoAve
08-25-2014, 09:58 AM
Happy I went with the Vibra-probe. Bri, since yours is under warranty obvi let Garrett handle it. What, did they save 1/4" on overall length with design by using terminals like what you see in a smoke alarm? Those who owned it longer, if there is a way to open it or if you have a tiny hook almost like a dental pick you can try to bend the terminals outward so they make better contact and elminate the need for a spacer. You can get those sticky foam spacers at HD. But I think anything you do, short of adding a small spring for reinforcement under the terminal, will just be a band-aid.

del
08-25-2014, 07:28 PM
Brian , the button to me looks like an anchor is the design

Trooper Bri
08-25-2014, 08:50 PM
I'll take your word for it Dan, and that's good word. All those little dots look more pronounced than the pic shows. Maybe I'll pour through some button sites and look for buttons with them.

Looked up the Propointer falsing issue, and the wedge trick is everywhere (I shimmed with a couple thin plastic discs). But it's one of several possibilities.
I had changed the battery in it a week or so ago just in case low voltage was an issue. That wedge trick is likely due to the cheap Neveready battery being a wee bit taller than a Energizer or Duracell 9V. I still have the battery, and side by side is taller than what I replaced it with.
My personal issue is the lack of contact area of the positive terminal of the batt to the tab on the pointer. The tab slants down at an angle, so only the faintest edge of the circular battery terminal hits it. That's not good for electrical connections. It's a point of resistance for the circuit. But not completely critical since there's little current draw with a device like this.

The other issue is one pointed out in a YouTube vid. 2 of the wires for the sensor appear to be bare and epoxy coated like you'd see in motor windings. They're right against a bare circuit board when assembled, and if contacting and chafing, can certainly cause issues. Older pointers more likely than newer ones, but I suppose it depends on how each one winds up after assembly.

MangoAve
08-26-2014, 06:10 AM
Anchor....Maybe it's a button from an old navy sweater. :lol: