Minelab Excalibur 1000
Approximate price: $1000
Number of Reviews: 57
on 6 pages.
Also in this price range:
Fisher CZ 20
Garrett Infinium LS
Whites Beach Hunter 300
Fisher CZ 21
Minelab excalibur 2
cacdean in new york -
I had a big problem with the knobs so I replaced them with generics with a set screw, a short while later the machine started giving me problems, I sent it back and very expensive to fix!!!!!!!! Wish they would fix the knob problem. Check before using replacement parts!!!
Dec 20, 2011
6 Yes
0 No
Minelab excal 800
Anonymous in caribbean -
I have been detecting now for roughly about 5 years and the only detector I have used and will ever use is a Minelab Excaliber. I have both the 800 and the 1000. I find that the 800 is fantastic at finding smaller items. With my 800 I have found from ear ring backs to Spanish 1/2 & 1 reales and loads of modern jewelry. My 1000 I find mostly rings and larger items but at much greater depths. I think to master this amazing machine you have to learn the different tones. Once you have accomplished this your finds will increase significantly!
Jun 01, 2011
41 Yes
1 No
The machine for the beach
Trent Nunley in Seymour Johnson AFB -I have had a couple of water detectors in the past and they were very noisy in the salt water which makes it harder to tell when you have a good target. While overseas I hit a local beach with the detector that I brought with me and it was pretty much unusable.
There were sparkler wires everywhere and lots of beach junk so I was digging holes everywhere.
I went to see a friend who had another machine for sale and I used it on the beach and it was noisy also. I told him I did not want it and he said well.. I guess I could sell you my excal since I have an etrac. To make a long story short ,as a favor to me he sold me his well used excal 1000 and gave me a quick class on it and off I went.
On my first hunt while learning my machine I found a nice heavy 14k ring, a knock off watch that still worked, a silver thimble and about 25 dollars in coins. I was amazed.
I hunted on the weekends during low tide for two months then I had orders home. In that time I found 28 gold rings, two working watches, an 18K brooch and several silver rings and items. This was overseas and not as many people hunt there so the pickings were good.
I only found one gold chain and that was a surface find. I had a blast, paid for the used excal bought an new etrac and paid for Christmas for the family with the gold that I sold (4700.00 worth)when I returned home.
The only negative about the excal is that it will not pick up small chains. No telling how many I walked over.. All these finds were posted on one of the treasure sites on the net. The excal is a fantastic beach hunter that I am going to keep forever.
May 20, 2011
38 Yes
0 No
minelab excaliber II
Chris in California -
What a shame. This great detector works so efficiently...when it works. I bought it new in November 2010, used it 4 times with great enthusiasm, enjoyed learning it's idiosychrasies, and just enjoying it immensely. The 5th time I used it, it quit altogether. After about 5 minutes of fooling with it I gave up. A little later, back at my car, I tried it again and it seemed to work. Off I went back to the beach where it quit again. Less than 2 months old and already trouble.
It took a month of communications with Minelab before I finally got shipping clearance for warranty work. A few weeks after I shipped it, I called for a progress report and was told 40-45 business days is typical. This translates to at LEAST 2 months including holidays. So far, it has been out of commission far longer than it has actually been usable. Still waiting. I sure hope they sort it out because I like it a great deal...when it works.
Mar 26, 2011
39 Yes
3 No
The one to have for fresh and salt water or on dry land
Steve from Ohio in Cleveland Ohio -I've owned all the top models of every brand of metal detector. I've been detecting for over 28 years so I'm pretty sure I know what I know and what I don't know about metal detecting.
A few years ago I decided to try water hunting. I checked all the names like White, Garrett, Tesoro and Minelab. Seems Minelab has a whole bunch of fans and even some haters. I did a survey of people on one of the metal detecting forum sites and the overall opinion was that the Minelab Excalibur is the machine to have if you do salt or fresh water hunting. So I bought a Minelab 800 that was used. At first I hated the ergonomics of the Excalibur till I got a straight shaft and then it was a joy. I found tons of rings in the water with the 800 but I really wanted the new Excalibur II 1000 so I sold the 800 and got a brand new 1000.
There is quite a difference in coverage from the 8 inch coil on the 800 to the 10 inch coil on the II 1000. The newer coil on the II 1000 is thinner than the older coils so it is very easy to move through the water. Even easier than the old 800's coil.
The Excalibur II 1000 is a sound only machine and requires a good ear to hear the different sounds that each target makes. After a while it becomes easy to know what is under your coil.
Since getting the Excalibur II 1000, my finds of gold and silver in the water has exploded. In the past I've owned other brands of water detectors but they just did not perform as the Excalibur detectors have for me. I now hunt water almost exclusively but every once in a while I take the Excalibur II 1000 land hunting and even there it really shines. The multiple frequencies of the Excalibur makes for one really hot detector.
If you are thinking of getting an Excalibur II, I would highly recommend getting a straight shaft and a knob guard. The straight shaft makes the Excalibur almost weightless and really easy to swing.
The Excalibur is a professional metal detector and is used by many treasure hunters. The Mel Fisher group uses them.
I highly recommend the Excalibur II 1000.
Jan 02, 2011
104 Yes
2 No
What a machine !!!!
Central Valley CA. in USA -I've been water hunting for 12 years and have tried about all the water nachines out there. I had an Excal II 800 several years ago and jumped the gun and got rid of it.... MISTAKE. I thought a PI machine was the ticket for me .... MISTAKE. Since then I just purchased another Excal 1000 and will never let it go.
The Excal has been the only machine that is stable in the waters I hunt. I thought I could get a deeper machine, but found out how unstable the others really are. I'm all for having the best machine for the conditions and found out the Excal is the one for me for depth and stability in fresh and salt.
Dec 08, 2010
14 Yes
0 No
Fisher & Minelab
JG in Fl -I have both a Fisher Coinstrike & the Excal 1000.
The Fisher loves rings which I use on dry land and the Excal is good in the water. They both do well against other detectors in similiar conditions.
So I take both to the beach in Fl.
It is important to get the correct settings for both to respond properly. Depending on ground or sand conditions, and settings they will provide good depth...and there is a tremendous amount of trash everywhere so you have to dig around it...
Aug 21, 2010
23 Yes
1 No
South fl excal
Matt in S. FL -I just got my excal 2 days ago I used it today on land and in ocean. I found a few coins a piece of junk earing and a matchbox car in the water. It seems to run smooth in water and on the sand, with minimal discrimination it toned out many bottle caps and foil, I dug a few up just to make sure it wasn't anything good and it wasn't.
I have only used it 1 day and there definitely are many tones to learn. It scares me to hear 2 outta 10 don't have problems, I think and hope mine is ok. I look forward to waking up early and going to use it 1st thing. I purchased it from kelly co, they were very nice. I also have a fisher f5, it always says a nickel when its a bottle cap. It doest seem like I have this problem with the excal. I hope.
I found alotta coins with the fisher and even a 14 k gold ring the 1st month I used it but it seemed very erratic and I almost didn't even dig the ring I found that day. I called fisher any they said the way it acts is normal, I don't know. I'd like to keep the fisher for an extra but if the excal holds up and keeps working good, I'll probably sell the fisher, any way I hope I got a good build on my excal and look foward to hopefully finding some nice jewelry to pay for it.
Thanks and happy hunting.
Aug 12, 2010
13 Yes
0 No
Excalibur user for 4 years now
Joe/Oldebeechnut in Baltimore Maryland -I own both the 800 & 1000 excaliburs, older models. Both have servered me well during this time, no problems. They do have there weird tones but in time you will learn and master them, if the treasure is there, the excal will give you the best chance to find it....The new excal II's seem to have issues at about 2 bads per 10 sold, mostly coil problems. I am going to buy excal II but I'm waiting for them to clear up there Quality control problems...I'm guessing 1 year plus. Here is the excal in action, few of my vid's on the excal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLGLzSfsEi4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQay_zerS1U
these will give ideas of what to expect using the excals, and the new excal II
Good Luck.....................Joe/Obn
Jul 31, 2010
27 Yes
0 No
Extremely Fun and Versatile All-Terrain Metal Detector
Jesse in Spokane, WA USA -I purchased a Minelab Excalibur II about a year ago and although I'm not a "pro" and I haven't had a chance to use it near the ocean yet, I can tell you it is the most fun I've had in a long time.
I caught onto the different tones it makes early on and how to manually configure the different settings to read deeper into the ground. What I did was setup a "garden" like you've probably read elsewhere and spent a few hours learning the tones and beeps. If you use jewelry in your garden make sure to tie a string around it to a piece of wood or something just in case.
You could probably find it again with the detector but you'd hate to lose your wedding ring or something. Not that I used my wedding ring...
Anyways, I have used this on fresh water lake beaches, sand, dirt, gravel and other terrain and it seems to just work everywhere. I love it. At this point my most interesting find was an old wheat back penny that had a bullet hole through it, probably shot with a .22 rifle or something. I used a magnify glass to read the date and what not.
Happy detecting!
Jul 21, 2010
18 Yes
0 No
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