Minelab Excalibur 1000
Price: $1000
Avg. Score: 
3.86
Based on 64 reviews
3.86Based on 64 reviews
Avg. Durability:
1.00
Avg. Ease of use:
1.80
The good and the bad
September 06, 2006
I have used the 1000 for about 4 years only on the beach and in the water
its a good alround machine but there are problems with it the knobs are of
poor quality and needed to be replaced after a short time i had to send it
back to minelab to get the cable replaced as this fractured inside and the
rechargerble batterys are hard to tell when they have been fully charged .
but as i said i used this machine everyday and these are the only problems
i have had (so far) its great on wet sand very deep better than the fisher 1280x which i also have
and its over all performance is good but its not a begginers machine at all you have to take time and learn the settings or you will find nothing i know it took me a few months to get used to it
Overall Rating
Mark benwell from
Weymouth england
210
BULKY- BUT A FRESH WATER RING KILLER
August 17, 2006
I HAVE BEEN DETECTING FOR 44 YRS. I CONSIDER MY SELF A PRO ON LAND AND IN
THE WATER..I HAVE WRITTEN 3 STORIES FOR WESTERN & EASTERN TREASURE MAG.. SO
I HOPE MY EXPERIENCE HELPS, HERE GOES: I USED A GARRETT XL 200 PULSE & XL
500 FOR MANY YEARS, DUG ALOT OF IRON , BOBBIE PINS , NUTS & BOLT DIGGING,
SO I BOUGHT & TRIED OUT THE EXCAL. 800..A KILLER IN FRESH WATER FOR RINGS,
BUT "VERY" BULKY & HEAVY ON DRY & WET SAND!! YOUR ARM SLIPS OUT OF THE ARM
REST AND THE HANDLE DESIGN IS JUST NOT GOOD, SO I TOOK OFF THE ARM REST OF
MY DFX AND PUT IT ON HER- MUCH BETTER BUT STILL HEAVY--THE BATTERY CHARGER
HAS NO LIGHT TO LET YOU KNOW IT'S WORKING- NOR IS THERE A VISUAL LIGHT OR
METER TO LET YOU KNOW IF YOUR BATTERIES TOOK THE CHARGE OR ARE LOW- YOU
ONLY HEAR A CRAZY SOUND FROM YOUR HEAD PHONES WHEN THEY ARE LOW AND
UNFORTUNATELY THIS MIGHT BE WHEN YOUR OUT HUNTING AT YOUR SPOT! I WISH THE
COMPANY WOULD HAVE THE HEAD PHONES SCREW OFF THE SET, MAN DO THEY GET
TWISTED UP AND ALSO SHORTEN UP THE LENGTH OF THE DISC CORD.. OTHER WISE
GREAT UNIT IF YOU HAVE A FRESH WATER SPOT.. THE 1000 UNIT THAT MY FRIEND
BOUGHT SEEMS TO BE VERY SENSITIVE, ALOT OF NOISES COME OUT OF THAT UNIT
COMPAIRED TO THE 800, MUCH MORE STABLE-- HOPE THIS HELPS YOU .. THANKSOverall Rating
ROBERT S. from
EDISON, NJ. USA
217
Excalibur spends much time in shop for repair
May 09, 2006
I own 2 CZ 20's, 2 White's Surfmasters, have had a Minelabs Excalibur 800,
Garrett Sea Hunter, Garrett Infinity and a Minelabs Excalibur 1000.The Excalibur 1000 is only a fair machine. I find it to be my choice only for a first hunt in trashy areas if there is no outside radio frequency interferance. It seems to be greatly affected by the presence of outside sources of RF.
It frequently just begins making squawking noise and the only thing to do is shut it off.
I find it's ability to locate deep targets dissapointing. It is a very clumbsey unit to handle in the surf or current. The lower shaft is not durable and a spare is necessary to have on hand.
The knobs on my unit were of poor quality as the insert in them were made of common steel. One trip to the ocean left them crusted in rust. Very poor for a machine advertised as a salt water item. Minelabs did replace them with better knobs with brass inserts.
It has quit working on me a couple times and I have had to send it in for repair. Turn around time was way too long if you only have one machine and enjoy hunting.
I personally would not trust it on a travel trip without a back-up machine.
The rechargable battery only last a few months and need to be replaced. It's ability to hold a charge was poor and after only a few uses would not run for a long day of hunting. Poorest and most expensive battery I have ever found on any piece of electronic equipment. I swaped to a battery pack that uses 8 AA cells. These will only run the machine about 6 to 8 hours so have a change handy.
It will give a good indication of an iron target but goes crazy if much mineralization is in the ground. It works just OK in clean sand of Florida but performs poorly over hot rock areas unless sensitivity is reduced till it will find very little of anything.
I have owned it for over five years, used it for hours but still prefer the CZ 20 to 1 over the Excal 1000. I do find the 800 to be a little more proficient and stable. Some folks report having good faith and luck with the machine but that was not my experience. I have used metal detectors for over 26 years.
Overall Rating
Ken from
Currently in Hawaii
7510
Excalibur 800 & 1000 are fine for diving.
May 07, 2006
Excal 800 an 1000 work well diving or wading a beach. I hip mount it for
wading. Diving it has been stable for me and all the different tones help
give target Identification and it is accurate. It is also very deep and I
prefer it over any PI I have tried as they have little discrimination.
Overall Rating
Sandman from
USA
191
Poor performance while diving
March 24, 2006
I bought a excalibur 1000 last august 2005.On land it is a super detector, but while scuba-diving
the sound run off and you can do nothing about it.
For two times I have sent it back to Ireland,
and asked for repair, but I get it back with the same problem.
You only can search in the Pin-point mode while diving,
so you will find tons of iron trash.
If I had known before I would have bought a fisher or a tigershark...
Overall Rating
Alberto@tiscali.nl from
Netherlands
212
Beach sweep
February 16, 2006
i love my excal it finds me a lot of gold i have a wot coil on it and this
thing goes deeep. "tip #1" get out of auto sens i run mine at 10 o clock
and i run my disc at 1. "tip #2" get a big beach scoop and be prepared to
dig deep for all that gold at the beach. good luck keep m swinging.
Overall Rating
Beach sweep from
Redbank usa
201
Dont know what all the hype is about this detector!
February 03, 2006
I've used the excal 1000 on the beach and scuba diving all over the world.
the headphones are flimsy and fall off your head way too easily when used
for scuba. i've heard that using a homemade strap around your chin to the
phones may help. I also find this machine to be kind of noisy & unstable.
the tones are mainly indescernable and whispy. I prefer to use my
beachunter ID, which is more simple and has distinct seperate tones.
Overall Rating
Peter from
Long Island, NY
133
Great Beach Detector
August 11, 2005
I live close to the beach in Florida (East Coast) and have been detecting
on and off for 10 years.I have owned several Garretts and since I only do
beach hunting I was dissapointed with the Garretts false signals in the wet
sand or shallow wading.I took the $$ plunge and invested in the Minelab
Excalibur 1000 and WOW what a difference!!I have found SO many rings,coins
and other jewelry with the Excalibur that I could never have found with the
Garrett Detectors.The Excalibur made me feel like,, what was I doing with
those other "toy" detectors.I highly recommend the balanced shaft to
displace the weight of the Excalibur.I'm NOT saying that Garrett or other
brand of detectors are junk but if you are a serious beach hunter you cant
go wrong with the Excalibur.
Overall Rating
Wayne from
Florida
785
Excalibur 800/1000
August 04, 2005
Probably the best surf detector available. The 800 has an 8 inch coil and
the 1000 has a 10 inch coil and reads 20% deeper. No matter what- "Go with
the 10 inch coil!" The coils are hard wired and the units are not designed
for interchanging coils unless you send it to Minelab.The standard shaft supplied with this unit is poorly designed by mounting the head unit below the grip and above the shaft. It is recommended that you get the upgraded "Balanced Shaft" with the "Lightweight Aluminum Guard" that protects the knobs. This mounts the head unit under your forearm making it much lighter and easier to swing. The extra cost is about $130. I would seriously recommend this shaft and getting a "hip mount kit" to anyone who plans on using this in the surf or lakes.
Those who complain about the weight of this unit are probably using the factory shaft. Your gripes are understandable but if weight is an issue for you, consider that a 6 x 12 sand scoop full of wet sand almost weighs 20 lbs and the waves usually break right where the good finds are. Surf hunters must be able to take a beating from the waves, at times, and develop the ability to pinpoint and scoop their target blindfolded while standing in one spot of turbulent water.
Sound like fun doesn't it? It is!
Overall Rating
Steven Goodman from
Virginia
373
At First I Hated It! Now I love It!
May 24, 2005
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!
Overall Rating
Minelab Owner from
Michigan, USA
302