Minelab Excalibur 1000
Street Price $1000 - Beach, water
Number of Reviews: 45
on 5 pages.
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At First I Hated It! Now I love It!
Minelab Owner in Michigan, USA -
The Minelab Excalibur 1000 is not for everyone. This machine is for the serious treasure seeker only.
When I first got my machine about 3 months ago, I was amazed at how easy it seemed to work. Then as the ground thawed and I started to hunt I soon became dissatisfied. It seemed to have poor depth and very unstable. The tone would bounce all over the place and I dug as many as 10 holes to 1 real target. I got to the place where I wanted my money back! I thought it was a piece of junk!
A friend who also owned the Excalibur convinced me to calm down and begin to learn the machine. I took his advice and made a "coin garden" and began studying how the detector responded to different targets. I then went into the field with the attitude to learn and not gripe.
Today after about 60 hours of practice I love the Minelab Excalibur 1000! It's a great land hunting machine, the best I've ever owned. And I've owned the best of other brands.
The secret to using any Minelab detector is to learn the machine. It does give a distinct tone for coins, jewelry, and artifacts. In fact, for the price, it's probably the best Civil War relic machine in the world. It's also a killer in high trash areas.
Now I just need to see how well it does at the beach.
Thank you Minelab!
May 24, 2005
25 Yes
2 No
Excalibur 800 & 1000
Darrell P. in Honolulu, HI -I bought my fist Excalibur 800 in 1996. I liked it so much that I got the 1000 a couple of years later. In 2001 I got my third Excalibur again the 800. The 1000 I found to heavy even in the water. The 800 is much easier to mover through the water with and much easier on the arm out of the water. I thought the 1000 would go deeper but that was not my experience. Service with Minelab has actually gotten cheaper (Out of warranty service.) My wife was using the Whites PI but now has adopted my first 800. The 1000 is back up if I have to send a unit in for service.
I prefer to search in the all metal mode and use the discriminate to use the Iron-Mask feature. My discriminate level is 0 otherwise. I prefer to dig everything. I've found that if you don't register nickels then you can't find platinum and that a diamond ring is seen as a pull tab.
I usually use auto sensitivity or lower it if I get a lot of interference. I prefer to tune my unit by first selecting discriminate and have a very slite sound and then turn it to all metal. The discriminate setting under good conditions has a very smooth threshold but if close to a radio station or if the Navy decides to play with their electronics it can get so erratic that all metal is your only choice. Even under these conditions you can use discriminate to check if the target is iron.
I've had a lot of detectors but I prefer the 800 over the rest.
Apr 14, 2005
34 Yes
0 No
Excalibur 1000
Gary Bear in Southern Cal. -I have owned mine for aabout 6 months now. Took some getting used to as I had a viewer on my previous machine. It takes some getting use to. The threshold does bounce between quiet and loud but I that is just the machine resetting the automatic threshold.
At first I thought I was not using it right. No major finds when others were finding stuff. I started checking their finds (while in ground) and sure enough, I heard each of them. Conclusion, if I move over it, I will hear it.
Only complaint, the knobs loosen.
Feb 15, 2005
7 Yes
0 No
Excalibur 1000
lee ivester in Mooresville, NC, USA -
I have problems with this detector maintaining a constant threshold tone. It continually changes from high background tone to low and in between. Although it hunts well on the beach it was a disappointment when hunting relics in nothern VA. Could not detect a Minie ball only a couple of inches in the ground. I returned the machine to Minelab and although they said they found nothing wrong with it they replaced the circuit board just to make me feel better about it (they are very nice people to deal with). I'm still not comfortable with it for relic hunting and will probably reserve it for the beach, relying on my Nautilus DMCII and Fisher 1266 for Civil War relic hunting. Would appreciate hearing from others on this machine.
Jan 10, 2005
11 Yes
2 No
minelab rocks!
johnny t in lincroft nj usa -Everyone has there own "OPINION" and thats ok but from my "REAL LIFE" experience the excalibur 800 is the best beach detector that i have used. AND remember before you can give an opinion on any detector you have to use it,some people talk bad about different brands without even using them and thats wrong.I love my excal 800 and proud of it. I also use a DFX and an ace 250 wich cant be beat for the price.
Jan 01, 2005
8 Yes
3 No
Minelab Excallibur 1000
Dave in At the BEACH ...silly. -I have owned this detector for 5 months now.
Took a little getting used to since my first had visual ID.
Used objects from previous finds to "fine tune" my ear before getting wet.
I hunt mostly in the salt water with this unit. So far have had NO problems. I've been wiped out by more than my share of waves and the Excalibur just keeps on finding the good stuff.
Has good depth, finds at 10 - 12 inches, and if you invest the time to learn the detector before rushing out expecting to find the big one, you'll be impressed.
Discrimination is great. Leaves the bobby pins(I can still hear them however)but finds the chains with a nice tone.
If your looking to the water, this is the unit. Spend some time ear training, knob adjusting to ID targets etc.
Treat it with a little TLC at the end of the day and it will reward you time and again.
Dec 16, 2004
16 Yes
0 No
Minelab Excalibur 1000
Mary in USA -
I bought my Minelab Excalibur 1000 approx. 2 years ago. Took it to Hawaii and after endless searches on the beach and in the water, I finally gave up. Every one around me was finding jewelry, and this unit just did not. I sent it to Minelab and they replaced the motherboard and some other things. and .....it still does not work. I am ready to get rid of the unit.
I will take it to Hawaii again, and if it does not perform in 1-2 days, I will look for a local metaldetecting store and buy something else. Not sure yet what it will be, but not a Minelab. It has been a totally frustrating experience. I had lots of static in the unit while in Hawaii, Oahu. The local dealer who I met on the beach told me that this happens frequently with the Minelab.
If you are looking forward to spend a nice vacation in Hawaii metal detecting on the beaches, it is very disappointing that the unit is just not performing what the ads tell you.
Oct 27, 2004
13 Yes
5 No
Minelab Excalibur 1000
Don in USA -I've had my EXC 800 for about 2 weeks now and I love it. I have owned several other brands. I've had the Surfmaster PI which worked very well but has no discrimination. You will dig a lot of small DEEP iron targets. I also have a CZ-70 which I love as well. But it won't go diving.
Something that most of you folks appear to be overlooking is that the Excalibur is designed as an underwater unit. I get the feeling you bought it as a beach unit. Yes, it's heavy. Try using a waterproof unit underwater and you will complain about it. Why? because it will float. The Surfmaster floated and was a pain to use underwater. The Minelab doesn't float. That's the way it should be. Yes, there is a problem with the wiring when you hipmount. However, I've seen the Fisher CZ-5 wiring break several times on the same unit after hipmounting. This problem isn't isolated to Minelab. The discrimination works very well. You don't need the pinpoint function. It pinpoints just fine in discriminate mode. I guess if you are digging ferrous material maybe the pinpoint mode would be helpful. The depth is fine by me. I've dug targets 12-14 inches deep. Battery life is good. I thinks folks are being critical here. I haven't run the batteries dead yet. Here's why. I charge it up each time I'm finished with it. Average time is around 10-15 hours. Come on folks, I doubt that there are many of you are out there swinging a detector for 10 to 15 hours non-stop. Price?? A little high but what isn't besides a Bounty hunter. You get what you pay for.
I would rate this Excalibur as a top of the line unit. That's just my opinion.
Aug 04, 2004
22 Yes
2 No
Excalibur 1000
Da Hunta in USA -This is my third machine I mostly do underwater metal detecting. My other detectors would sound off at every piece of iron that was in the water and I would have to continually adjust the discrimanation button. Which I believe costed me many rings or coins.
My new excaliber 1000 does a great job in the water and on the beach. It gives off a very loud signal on targets and goes deep. The only draw backs are the weight of the unit and the knobs on the equipment always comes lose. Also when you are recharging the battery it has no indication that it is on. Other than that it is a very reliable detector and works well in all types of soil. I am very happy with it.
May 25, 2004
15 Yes
0 No
Minelab 1000
Fred in USA -
Another Minelab piece of rubbish.
All tat and no performance!
May 01, 2004
1 Yes
32 No