Garrett Infinium LS Reviews, Price and Specifications

Water/Land Pulse Induction (PI) Metal Detector

Retail Price: $1,250

Available Reviews: 4

Avg. Rating (3.5 Stars)

Specifications:

• Frequency: 730 pulses per second
• Garrett's Exclusive Advanced Pulse Induction (API)
• Automatic cancellation of salt/ground mineralization
• Waterproof design for land and sea detecting
• Easy operation with 3 controls
• Discrimination Dial (discrimination for nearly 100% of detection depth)
• Tone ID (identifies targets via distinct audio tones)
• Reverse Discrimination capability (assists in identifying most iron)
• Adjustable operating frequency minimizes electrical interference
• Automatic Ground Track with lock (slow and fast settings to master changing soil conditions)
• Audio Threshhold adjustment
• Rugged go-anywhere design
• Battery: 8 AA batteries
• Battery life: 10-15 hours
• Choice of 4 different control housing configurations: hip-mount, under the cuff, above or below the stem
• Complete line of new Infinium LS searchcoils: 10" x 14" Power DD, 10" x 14" Mono; 8" Mono
• Submersion depth: Up to 200 feet (65 meters)
• Control housing weight: 1.94 lbs

Reviews:

Air-wave problems cured

by Steve Johnson, Prof. Geologist in Chicago, IL, USA -

My machine would not stabilize. Called Garrett and they said drive 5 miles away and try again. OK... I lived near lots visible overhead lines. I found a spot where the few nearby lines appeared much thinner. The machine stabilized. A mile away in a Home Depot lot, I saw many cell towers and was on line for Ohare air traffic with big blue light towers. I held the unit and coil overhead. It would not stabilize at all! Skywave EMI. I went back home and tried detecting in yard at night that day. The machine was MUCH more stable than during daytime. Cooler air temp, likely less AC use, local electrical power demand weaker, lower overhead wire current and so weaker EMI/magnetic fields, plus no solar EMI. This machine is sensitive to "skywaves". Manual totally silent regarding skywave issues. Many complaints may be explained by EMI. Took mine to beach on Lake Michigan today. Thick black sands, but I found a few new coins. Interference from 40-50% "black sand" zones was controllable using 'Fast Track'. Underwater use was fine but difficult with 1-1.5 ft waves. New Garret Pro-pointer worked fine.

Aug 15, 2015

No Guarantee

by Guest in Southern Africa -

My detector was faulty from the day of delivery. Appears that it has a change of mind each time it is switched on - on some occasions it works, other times it is all over the place.
When I reported this to the Garret agent in RSA whilst the unit was under guarantee, I was fobbed off completely (I purchased the unit elsewhere.) Later, when I complained to Garret directly, I was again fobbed off, as they claimed that it was no longer under guarantee! This, even though they admitted that their agent should have repaired the unit when it was first reported.
The detector now no longer works, and lies abandoned in my cupboard. I have never had a single useful day's work out of this detector - a complete waste of money, and the Garret backup service is appalling.

Dec 30, 2010

The Infinium LS... is NOT for Kids!

by Steve A. in Midwestern, United States -

If you are expecting this PI machine to open the earth and give you a prize, you have another thing coming. Cars, TV's, and even metal Detectors can have production flaws many due to the people who build them, not the people who design them. If you have a problem with any item you purchase, then you would get it fixed. There should be no difference with a metal detector. It's a very sensitive and complexed machine which, if built right and in the hands of a very skilled operator, will produce what it is intended to do. This machine is not a toy, it's a scientific instrument designed to send 730 electrical Impulses a second into the earth, and it measures the current which enters a metal object ignoring mineralization at the same time. Get a toy to do that! I have only owned my Infinium for three months. I have found over thirty rings, half with gold and diamonds in this short time. Knowing how it works makes the difference. Knowing how to use it is the challenge that anyone can overcome if you one is a Treasure Hunter, not a weekend stick swinger. To have a machine with so many features, land, sea, and prospecting - all in one, is amazing also. Put the time into this machine, read, practice, get info from others first before downgrading it. If it is not working properly, get it fixed or get your money back. If you like a certain brand name then so be it. I have owned Fishers for 10 years, the Infinium has its place, and so does Fisher and Whites in our hobby. Get your mind made up to learn, and you will be rewarded! This is a great machine for those who want to be Real Treasure Hunters.

Aug 25, 2009

Infinium - I Would Not Do It Again

by Rob in USA -

I use mine in the Atlantic ocean in Florida and was having similar problems; posted the same questions here and on other forums only to find most owners have had some type of problems with the machine. Here is what I have learned after a year of owning the Infinium. It has been sent in twice for repairs that included the DD coil being replaced both times (shielding problems), a loose connection on the circuit board and recalibration on the second trip. The folks at Garrett were great: they fielded my questions and made the repairs at no charge as they were covered under warranty. Once I got my Infinium back, I read posts where users did everything from turning the threshold all the way past max and back to running the unit with the threshold at zero, and a ton of other things. I decided to conduct my own test so I took my Infinium with the DD coil to my local beach, dug two six inch deep holes in the dry sand, tied a strings to a 14K ring and 10K ring buried each in a separate hole, ground balanced the machine, set the threshold at 4 and listened (the "4" setting on my unit is just above silent). I was able to run the discrimination at zero. As I increased the discrimination, the obvious happened: past setting "4", the unit began to give erratic signals and could not identify the rings. With setting below 4, the unit had no problem giving the HI/LO, but as I decreased the threshold to zero, the unit had a harder time identifying the rings and the tone seemed to give off echos. I then moved to wet sand and conducted the same experiment there. I had similar results, but to get the unit relatively quite, I had to move the discrimination to 1. That being said, the detector still gave the HI/LO. Until the discrimination was turned past "4", the results were the same as the dry sand... I have never been able to get the unit really quite in the surf, but the machine began performing better since the last trip in for repairs. Here are some tones my machine makes on certain items: zinc pennies give an echo as the coil comes to the end of the swing. Bottle caps give a HI/LO but the LO tone seems drawn out or longer. Bobby pins have their own distinct sound. Clad coins LO/HI. These sounds are what I have found on my unit it may or may not be that way for others. MOST IMPORTANTLY - SLOOOOOW DOWN THE SWING!!!!!!! I have used a Whites Pi for twenty years and could swing it much faster than the Infinium. I found out that slowing down the coil swing has allowed me to find deeper items I was missing before. As the coil approaches a target, you will start to hear a tonal change even if you don't get a solid signal( HI/LO or LO/HI). If this happens, I stop and then go over the area extremely slow to check for a solid signal. My opinion of the Infinium: it is a deep PI machine, but I can't say it is any deeper than my Whites PI, with the DD coil it is heavy. It's not a machine for beginners. Garrett's customer service was great. Over all, in spite of the problems, I have found clad coins, silver jewelery (the machine really seems to like silver) and a nice 3 gram 10K gold medallion, plus the expected ton of junk from using a PI machine. If I had to do it again, I would have purchased the White's dual field, but that's just me....

Aug 23, 2009