When your metal detector starts beeping you should feel certainly excited for what’s underneath the ground! However, if it is doing so continually for no apparent reason, then here where things can get a little bit frustrating …
… In this short Post, I breakdown the different reason when your beloved machine could keep beeping abnormally and how to, properly, deal with those situations!
Let’s dive in.
Why does Your Metal Detector keep beeping?
There are so many reasons why you can find yourself in such a confusing situation …
1. Dealing with Conductive Soil
Yes, the notorious mineralized soil could be the reason! Indeed, the iron and/or mineral particles that such a ground has will certainly confuse your machine …
… In other words, it will pick up false signals coming from these particles which will obviously confuse you.
A great way to deal with that is by simply using a machine that has a reliable ground balance capability!
In simple words, this mean the ability of your machine to understand and adapt to the ground it is used on so it won’t be fouled by its nature rich in these particles.
The Garrett AT Pro (Check it Here at Amazon) has a very solid Ground Balance that can deal with conductive soil very easily.
2. Not adapted footwear!
Sometimes you can wear shoes that are steel-toed or there are eyelets in the shoelaces! In this case, it is very likely that your machine could pick up those as a signal if you are swinging close enough to your shoes …
… And this could be really confusing at time! The Solution?
Just pick one of these metal detecting friendly shoes. Or at least have a look at them so you will get an idea on what you need to wear.
3. Other Stuff you are wearing …
If you wear jewelry, watches or rings, then your detector can pick those signals too … This is less likely, yet possible.
Just, make sure to not wear those if possible during your hunts.
4. Not swinging properly
Improper swinging can also give a false signal, such as bumping the ground!
Try to position your coil as close to the ground as possible without scraping the coil. Swinging your coil back and forth like a pendulum can also give false signals.
5. Detecting in Groups!
If you go out with your buddies for a hunt then you should space yourself from them by at least 2 to 3 meters …
… Otherwise your detector might be picking up each other’s signals
6. Double check the sensitivity levels
Indeed, you might have your machine set on very high sensitivity levels! This could be good at times, especially if you are expecting very small targets …
… However, this would push your device to overreact all the time. Just make sure to start with the lower sensitivity levels at first and then increase that incrementally when needed.
7. Check your User Manuel
I hate to say that, but many hobbyists who buy a given detector never ever check the user manual! That’s a HUGE MISTAKE …
… In fact, you will find there all the data, settings, parts purposes, troubleshooting info you need to learn your machine faster.
Anyway, each Manual Guide should have a troubleshooting section, usually at the end! There you should find some common reasons why your machine might behave awkwardly like beeping for no apparent reason.
For each one of those you should have the exact reason why and how to deal with it. So check it out!
8. Other reasons …
Below few other reasons that could push your beloved machine to keep beeping in a confusing way:
- Moisture present in the control box of the detector can also give false signals.
- Loose cable connections can also lead to false beeping. You have to make sure that your cable is securely screwed onto the control box housing.
- This also happens if you are detecting close to power lines. Electromagnetic interference can also be coming from buried power lines. Such interference can disturb a detector’s ability to distinguish a metal object.
If none of these reasons has helped you, then you might need to have a look at this easy to read guide on metal detector troubleshooting. You will find it really useful …
How to avoid that a Metal Detector keep beeping with no reason
The best way, of course, is to make sure that you check all the common reasons behind the false signals and fix those issues. For example, avoid wearing any footwear that contains metal. Remove all metallic jewelry that can give false signals.
If your detector has a manual ground-balance adjustment, you can tune out false signals. Sometimes you may need to ground tune frequently if the mineralization of the soil changes suddenly as you are moving from one place to another.
If there is excessive ground mineralization where you are detecting, then turning down your detector’s sensitivity may be the only solution.
Final Thoughts …
Hope those few reasons were a little bit eye opening so you will be able to figure out what’s going on with your beloved machine …
… For more tips, I highly encourage you to check these metal detecting hacks! You will learn a lot.