Minelab Excalibur II
Price: $1200
Avg. Score: 
3.8
Based on 25 reviews
3.8Based on 25 reviews
Avg. Durability:
2.78
Avg. Ease of use:
3.11
The Excall II
March 20, 2009
(You did not post my 1st. Post about this Excal II.)So maybe if I don't tell them there are some really good book out there on the excal II and that the books can help them learn how to use their Excal II better. And not tell you the name of the books and don't give you a web site where you can go buy it. They might post this one but check ebay anyway.
Ok all in all the Excal is the best one out there. I have two of the now one with the 10" coil the other one with the 8" coil. They both have their place to be used. The 10" will go deeper then the 8" but if you get into a place were there is a lot of trash the 8" will work better for you as the Excal likes to null when you go over trash (And let me tell you the 10" is alot bigger then the 8" ALOT Bigger.
If you are looking for coins and rings that may not of been lost for along time and you think they are in the top 8” or so you can run you Excal II in the dis mod. It will tell you all you need to know about what is there and if you don't want to dig all the coins you don't have to. You will get to know the gold sound soon. After all what you really want to find is lost gold rings anyway right. As you just spent over $1,200.00 for your Excal II So find some gold and pay for your excal II or buy a 2nd one.
So if you are out there all day and you can't get a hit run your Excal II in the all-metal mod. It will go alot deep & when you find a deep hit check it in the dis mod. And if it does not null out when you go over it (in the Dis mod) move some sand away with you foot and check it again in dis mod. Most of the time it's a good target But. If it nulls out I move on & I don't dig it . And some times if it sounds like a coin some times I still don't dig it I'm looking for gold. Let the other guy dig it.
In the all metal you can get down some 6" deeper then in dis mod.
You are going over a lot of good deep targets when you are in the dis mod and you don't even know it. It is a little more work this way but you will find some more deep gold ring this way. And remember you don't have to dig all them deep coins sounds if you don't want to. With the Excal you will get to know what gold sounds like
Tom
Overall Rating
Tom//MI. from
Mi.
1064
Pleased So Far
January 02, 2009
I got my Excal 10" from Kellyco about a week ago. I consider myself a rank
amatuer in detecting since I have not owned one since I was a kid some 30
some odd years ago.I read a lot a great reviews and some bad reviews about this detector and I was afraid I may have made the wrong pruchase.
I do not understand the battery problems many are having. I have flown RC since a kid (17) and have a lot of experience in the care of rechargeable batteries so I immediately cycled the batteries and don't anticipate any NiMH battery problems.
Anyway, our (me and my 10 yr old son) first two days out at the beach (S. Florida)were pretty productive. We were able to discern the different tones for the different materials and amoung the things we found (lots of coins) was a melted titanium glob (assumed to be from the Challenger disaster) at about 6", and a fragment from a silver spoon from the 1715 fleet (Colored Beach Site) at about 10". We also found a fish hook at about a foot and I presume the nickel plate was the only thing that triggered the detector since we were discriminating other iron objects.
So far so good
Overall Rating
Jerry in S FL from
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
561
Loose knobs? EASY FIX!!!
October 06, 2008
I want to make an ammendment to my previous review. I called Minelab, and
for all those out there with the control knobs that spin on the knob shaft
here is a really easy fix. Minelab said that you simply pry off the yellow
button on top of each knob, and there is a tiny 1/4" nut. Give it half a
turn and presto, problem fixed! He said for some reason this was not
printed in the user manual. I tried it on mine, and it totally fixed the
problem. Again, want the best? forget the rest and buy an Excalibur II.
Overall Rating
Gerry from
Florence, OR.
814
Excalibur II goes to Hawaii
October 05, 2008
I did alot of homework before deciding to buy the Excalibur II. I first was
leaning towards a Whites PI or the new PI Dual Field, but after trying to
pinch pennys and buy a used one on ebay...and ending up with two dead
machines, I went all in and bought the Excalibur II. I found a bunch of
good reviews on Kellyco's website, where I eventually bought mine from.
The detector arrived about 3 weeks before I went on my trip, and setup was a snap. After charging the NiMH pack overnight I tested the machine on several coins and a couple different types of jewlery. The Excal II has a tone differential for different types of targets. For example a penny will sound different than a quarter or a gold ring. Or a pull tab to a quarter etc.
Upon arriving in Kauai, I hit a couple of snorkling sites and due to not having an air supply and a weight belt, I was limited to about 5 feet of water. However I did find a cell phone sim card in about 1 inch of underwater sand. I left the water and hit the beaches, and thats where this thing really started to shine.
I was soon finding qurters, dimes and nickels anywhere from a few inches to over a foot in the sand.
My crowning glory however came at Poipu beach one morning when I got a signal that sounded like a quarter (nice solid and loud!) I dug down until I had a hole around a foot deep, when I no longer had a signal in the hole. I then took handfulls of sand and passed it under the coil, and soon had that monster tone. To my amazement, there staring back at me was a real heavy mens wedding band! It was solid 14K white/yellow gold. First gold ring I have ever found! I was totally stoked. I never found another piece of jewlery the entire trip, however the Excalibur II did net me an additional $5 in change. Not bad for 5 hrs of detecting over the course of a week and a half.
The Only complaint I have with this machine is that after going in and out of the water several times I did have the "Disc/Pinpoint" knob slip on the knob shaft. Apparently this is a common issue, albeit minor I wish with a detector in this price range Minelab would get their act together and fix the problem. There is a fix that an owner can do (and I will likely do), kind of lame that after spending that kind of money you have a mickey mouse issue like that pop up.
Another thing I had read about that many new owners didnt like was the fact that there is no charging indicator light on the charger or the machine to alert you to a fully charged battery pack. Big whoop! I charged mine when I initially got it, and never had to charge it the entire trip. In fact, the manual says that one charge is good for 14-19 hrs of detecting. I dont know about you, but not many guys I know detect for more than about 5-6 hrs at a stretch, so the charge light is not an issue for me. Charge it overnight and youre good to go.
If considering an underwater/beach machine, I would definetely recommend the Excalibur II. If youre going to spend $900 on a new machine anyway, why not spend a few hundred more and buy the best. Read the reviews, when your ready to buy, give Kellyco a call. You'll be glad you did, I know I am!
Overall Rating
Gerry from
Florence, OR.
673
Maiden Voyage
June 23, 2008
Well my first time out with My Excal II (other than my yard) on the beach
and was very pleased with the results. I knew before hand about a concern
and was able to handle that situation.On dry sand and in the shallow surf all went well. Set it up with a slight threshold hum. On iron, threshold nulled, telling me it was iron, and when it came back(SOMETIMES)would buzz (above concern)until I swing past my scoop to return it to a normal threshold. (this is the thing I knew about before purchase that I was told these units are famous for, which did not bother me a bit, threshold can be turned down and avoid this also). As for hitting targets, on clad (which other than junk was all I found this trip)it sounded out nice and loud. No trouble telling the difference after awhile in clad and was picking them up well and deep.
So I give it a 5 star rating and am so far very happy with it results. Joe
Overall Rating
Joe L. from
North East USA
6416