Minelab Excalibur 1000

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

25 Yes
2 No

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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

18 Yes
0 No

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Minelab 1000

Fred in USA -
Another Minelab piece of rubbish.

All tat and no performance!

May 01, 2004

4 Yes
37 No

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Minelab Excalibur 1000

Raoul in Australia -
This is the fourth year that i have this detector,i have found it to be the best out of the ones that i had before, Whites & Garretts,goes deep, smooth threshold,hipmount is a must and as the other guys say the problem is in the control nobs they keep slipping,but apart from that briliant machine

Jan 17, 2004

10 Yes
0 No

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Excalibur 1000

Driveway in Connecticut -
I live approximately 5 miles from the ocean in CT. My town dates back to the 1600s. I have been using the Excal. for approx. 3-4 months constantly. It is definitely a water going detector that can also be used on dry sand, or even land. This machine has yielded nice jewelry and very old coins in both terrains. On wet sand, I?ll get depths anywhere from the surface to about 7-9 inches down, this is the same with the dry sand.

Having the BBS tech., when in all metal mode, will cancel out the threshold tone when passing over iron. Having the detector in all metal mode is automatically in pin pointer mode, and with the open faced coil you can know exactly where your target is located. A few problems that I have run across with this detector is with the knobs on the unit. After some use they either loosen, or the insides of them break. Customer service with Minelab was nice enough to give me new knobs free of charge. I have switched about 5 times, and have recently run out of back-up knobs. When detecting in shallow water or on the sand/dirt, a problem of weight occurs. The 10? coil is heavy, once in water the weight goes away. The height of the coil makes it difficult to detect in the breaks of the waves. When using the Excal. in the water, a deposit of sand will collect under the coil cover.

My only problem has been getting mixed signals. This can be avoided by removing the coil cover and rinsing it. The hip mount for this unit was not well thought out. It sits uncomfortably on your and the wire get tangled easily. But the good side is that you?re carrying a much lighter load.

Being a new metal detectorist, I thought it would take me a while to learn how to use this machine. That is not that case at all with this machine. I was out finding what I wanted to find in a few hours. Over the 3-4 months of detecting. I have found 1000?s of clad coins, and a fair amount of jewelry, the most exciting find being a 10k gold 6 diamond stone ring in the wet sand.

Jan 13, 2004

15 Yes
0 No

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Minelab Excalibur 1000

Ashley Martin in USA -
We purchased this machine one year ago believing the marketing that it could perform well in highly mineralized soil where we hunt for various ancient coins. Unfortunently the model has frequent problems with depth in our area due to mineralization, interference from the wires, poor battery life, and like some of the other reviews I have read seems to be a futuristic type toy instead of a professional machine.

The cost was high and in our area it is impossible to buy detectors so we became stuck with an exspensive machine that has no use as I said in highly mineralized soil areas.

Dec 24, 2003

8 Yes
3 No

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Minelab Excalibur 1000

Beach Bum in USA -
I have owned this detector for 4 years now. It works perfectly. It is a bit on the heavy side but by far the best underwater detector I've used. It gives loud clear signals on even deep targets.

The part I like best is the iron mask feature. I used a Fisher CZ 20 for along time and it just loved iron. I have read some bad reveiws on Minelabs but have yet to have any problems. Till Minelab makes something better I will keep using mine.

Mar 20, 2003

7 Yes
2 No

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Excalibur 1000

Francois C (Toto) in France -
I have one that I use as a back up unit. I had used the BBS technology (a sovereign) and liked the discrimination by the sound. Unfortunately, with the poor standard blue headphones they give, you loose 100% of the interest of the technology. This unit has a design problem. What a pity, the depth is so good. I think that it was designed in a pure "marketing " way, not considering the ease of use. They wanted to make a unit with a futuristic look able to justify the high price they sell it. It looks like a big child toy, and it is one. So be prepared to change everything because every item will break, link.
The coil cover for instance: it collects sand and will completely destroy your coil. The wires for the headphones are so thin. This unit is so heavy, it's incredible. Impossible to hunt in heavy surf with it you can not swing it. Poor battery life. NEVER hipmount it, the wires don't like it. Everything in it can and will break. That way there is a "parallel" market that has been developed: you can buy other headphones, other coils, change the wires, change the stem for a better balance of the weight.
If you want a good beach machine with the same depth and discrimation, buy a fischer CZ 20, they have a very good warranty.

Apr 15, 2002

29 Yes
10 No

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