We review this Pulse Induction Treasure Hunting Machine!
In this Review we cover all the features with plenty of insight and we discuss the Pro's and Con's of this Professional Class Metal detector!
Must Know Infinium LS Detector Summary:
- Strongest Feature – Pulse Induction Design means it excels at finding gold in mineralized conditions even black Sand! It is almost unbeatable on the beach and surf!
- Excellent Water and Surface Metal Detector – Water proof to 200 Feet!
- Ease of Use - Best in Class – BUT you have to learn its unique low high, high low tone sounds so air practice!!
- Technical Specs – Excellent
- Field Results – Excellent – for heavy mineralized applications. It looses its edge in normal soil.
- Biggest Negative – No LCD Screen – Nothing telling you what you may have found, no depth gage etc.
- Second biggest negative – weight. A Little heavy and the shaft is wobbly
Some of the earlier models were unstable but they upgraded the cable and that seems to have solved the problem.
What is the Infiniums BEST feature? – Ease of Use!
To quote Charlie sheen on a bender – Winner!
If you are tired of Metal Detectors that take an engineering degree to operate and a Harvard education to get thru the owners manual then you will love the Garrett Infinium LS Metal Detector. It goes deep, woks great and the Garrett Infinium has basically 3 controls!
NOTE: Easy does not mean turn it on and go and never adjust anything. This machine has to be frequency adjusted IF the tone is unstable both due to EMI and/or on hot ground to get an absolutely smooth threshold.
Here are the control instructions straight from the owners manual:
Power
Used to turn on the detector and to choose slow, lock or fast Automatic Ground Track. A battery check
occurs automatically each time the power is switched on.
Audio Threshold Adjustment
Used to set the base audio level according to an individual's hearing requirements. The Threshold
Adjustment may also be used to help mask outside noise. Typically, the sound is set no louder than
necessary; just above silent is recommended. (Figure
Discrimination Adjustment
Used to set the desired level of discrimination.
Thats it!
Here is a picture of the actual Control Unit
And there is No 3 dimensional LCD screen, no programming, heck no LCD screen at all> So if you feel you have to tinker and program to get a detector to work the way its supposed to then stop right here. Maybe Check out a Whites MXT instead (not bashing Whites, I love their detectors, but they do allow you to adjust everything and anything and they are complex – to me anyhow).
There are 30 pages in the owners manual but they could have cut it down to 10. Half of it is the easy nuts and bolts assembly
High end feature that sets it apart – Pulse Induction
First off this is a Pulse Induction Metal detector – Wikipedia has the best definition of a Pulse Induction Metal Detector that I could find:
"the pulse induction machine simply fired a high-voltage pulse of signal into the ground. In the absence of metal, the pulse decayed at a uniform rate, and the time it took to fall to zero volts could be accurately measured. However, if metal was present when the machine fired, a small current would flow in the metal, and the time for the voltage to drop to zero would be increased. These time differences were minute, but the improvement in electronics made it possible to measure them accurately and identify the presence of metal at a reasonable distance. These new machines had one major advantage: they were completely impervious to the effects of mineralization, and rings and other jewelry could now be located even under highly-mineralized"
If you do not have mineralized soil conditions you loose some of the benefits of this detector.
Garrett Infinium LS – Key Features
- Best For - Relic Hunting, Cache Hunting, Prospecting, Surf Hunting, Treasure Diving
- Ease of Use
- Deep detecting and GREAT mineralization handling capabilities!
- Waterproof down to 200 feet!!
- Salt Elimination Aid: eliminate interference of salt mineralization at beach
- Hip Mount Battery Pack: reduces detector weight for long searches
- Dual Battery packs included – Rechargeable and Alkaline
- Circuit type: Advanced Pulse Induction technology for automatic
cancelation of salt/ground mineralization - Audio Threshold, Adjustable: adjust to user's preference
- User-adjustable Discrimination with Quick Iron Check
- User-adjustable Frequency: adjust to reduce interference
- Automatic Ground Track with 3 settings:
- Slow—Use over slowly changing ground mineralization.
- Lock—Locks ground track setting; use for most ground conditions
and offers maximum depth. - Fast—Use over extreme or quickly changing ground mineralization.
- Battery Life: Alkaline (included), 10-15 hours. Battery recharger for AC and
automobile included. Rechargeable (included), 7-10 hours.
Search Modes:
- Motion All Metal with adjustable PI discrimination
Specifications
| Multiple Frequency Technology |
| 96 frequencies (when most detectors brag if they have 2 or more) |
| Circuit Type |
| Advanced Pulse Induction |
| Discrimination |
| Full Range (PI) |
| Search Modes |
| Motion, All Metal Deep seeking |
| Detection Frequency |
| 730 pulses per second, adjustable |
| Submersion Depth |
| 200 feet (65m); (underwater |
| Standard Search coil |
| 10"x14" PROformance DD – with many other options available |
| Standard Land Headphones |
| Included; weight 16 oz. (.45 kgs.) |
| Length (Adjustable) |
| 28" to 52" (.71m – 1.32m) |
| Total Weight |
| 5.5 lbs. (2.5 kgs.) stem-mounted, |
| Control Housing |
| 31 oz. (.88 kgs.) |
| Detector Buoyancy |
| Near neutral |
| Batteries |
| 8 AA (included); rechargeable included |
| Warranty |
| 2 Year, Limited Parts/Labor |
Garrett Infinium LS Metal Detector Review – Wrap up
Our recommendation -
1) Great for Nugget hunting and relic hunting in mineralized soil conditions.
2) Get something like the Garrett Sea Hunter for salt water if thats all you want to do – its a little easier and more stable in the surf .
3) If you want BOTH Surf AND Nugget or relic then get the Infinium!
4) For normal Soil conditions Choose a regular (high quality) VLF detector.
5) For Beginner start inexpensive and easy – the Garrett ACE 350
6) If you want a machine you can Program and configure and has a GREAT LCD screen – click on this link to read our review of the Whites V3i!
You can click on this link to go to our main page for more great articles like this Garrett Infinium LS Metal Detector Review
Treasure Found! – There is a lot to learn from Greg Brooks who claims to have found a 71-ton shipment of platinum ingots worth $3 billion at the bottom of the ocean in the hold of a sunken British merchant ship, Port Nicholson, which was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1942. The approximate location of this WW2 wreck has been known for a long time but no one really wanted it bad enough due to its depth and a risky cargo that might include amunition. But there is a parallel here for metal detecting. Most of the people I know who metal detect go to all the same places, the parks, the yards, the beach. But very few want to do the research and the work to take on the hard locations like the woods where there used to be a town 100 years ago or to research old revolutionary war camps or sites that are not protected battlefields. Heck i recall a friends dad pointing out a site on the hudsonm river one time and saying that was where they loades ships during the revolutionary war. WOW I thought i bet there are some finds there. But I never went. The bank was a little steep and muddy and hard to get to…Sound familiar? The point is if you want to find the good stuff, the really valuable stuff then you have to be like Brooks and do the research and go where others are unwilling to go!! Mark