Metal Detector
43149
Set up anD operating inStructionS
Distributed exclusively by Harbor Freight tools®.
3491 Mission Oaks Blvd., Camarillo, CA 93011
read this material before using this product.
Failure to do so can result in serious injury.
SaVe tHiS Manual.
Copyright© 2000 by Harbor Freight Tools®. All rights reserved. No portion of this manual
or any artwork contained herein may be reproduced in any shape or form without the
express written consent of Harbor Freight Tools. Diagrams within this manual may not be
drawn proportionally. Due to continuing improvements, actual product may differ slightly
from the product described herein. Tools required for assembly and service may not be
included.
For technical questions or replacement parts, please call 1-800-444-3353.
Manual revised 09c
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8. check for damaged parts. Before
using any tool, any part that ap-
defects or other reproductive harm.
Wash hands after handling.
(California Health & Safety Code §
25249.5, et seq.)
pears damaged should be carefully
checked to determine that it will oper-
ate properly and perform its intended
function. Check for alignment and
binding of moving parts; any broken
parts or mounting fixtures; and any
other condition that may affect proper
operation. Any part that is damaged
should be properly repaired or re-
placed by a qualified technician. Do
not use the tool if any switch does not
turn On and Off properly.
14. Warning: the warnings, cautions,
and instructions discussed in this
instruction manual cannot cover
all possible conditions and situ-
ations that may occur. it must be
understood by the operator that
common sense and caution are
factors which cannot be built into
this product, but must be supplied
by the operator.
9. replacement parts and acces-
sories. When servicing, use only
identical replacement parts. Use of
any other parts will void the warranty.
Only use accessories intended for
use with this tool. Approved accesso-
ries are available from Harbor Freight
Tools.
unpacKing
When unpacking, check to make
sure all parts shown on the Parts Diagram
and Parts Lists are present. If any parts
are missing or broken, please call Harbor
Freight Tools at 1-800-444-3353.
10. Do not operate tool if under the in-
fluence of alcohol or drugs. Read
warning labels on prescriptions to
determine if your judgment or reflex-
es are impaired while taking drugs. If
there is any doubt, do not operate the
tool.
preparing to operate
assembly
11. Maintenance. For your safety, main-
tenance should be performed regu-
larly by a qualified technician.
12. People with pacemakers should con-
sult their physician(s) before using
this product. Electromagnetic fields
in close proximity to a heart pace-
maker could cause interference to, or
failure of, the pacemaker.
Figure 1
Figure 2
1. Turn the lock nut on the stem clock-
wise to loosen (see Figure 1).
2. Adjust the length of the stem so that
when you stand upright with the tool
held in your hand, the search coil is
level with and about 1/2 to 2 inches
above the ground (see Figure 2).
13. WARNING: Handling the cord on
this product will expose you to lead,
a chemical known to the State of
California to cause cancer, and birth
reV 07f; 09c
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3. Turn the stem’s lock nut counter-
clockwise to lock it in place.
7. Loosen the knob at the search coil’s
end, then adjust the search coil’s end,
then adjust the search coil to the de-
sired angle. The search coil should
be parallel with the ground. Tighten
the knob enough to keep the search
coil from rotating or wobbling.
4. Unscrew the knob on the search coil
and take off the knobs and connector.
Insert the stem and align the holes on
the search coil bracket and the stem.
Push the connector through the holes
and tighten the knob.
Figure 5
8. To insert the arm support (see Figure
5), loosen the knob at the base of the
handle. Insert the arm support and
tighten the knob to hold the arm sup-
port in place.
Figure 3
5. Wind the search coil cable around the
stem. Make sure you leave enough
slack in the cable to allow for adjust-
ment when you are using the Tool on
uneven ground (see Figure 3).
Battery installation
The Tool is powered by three, 9 Volt
batteries. Battery installation is described
below:
Figure 4
6. Plug in the search coil’s plug into the
search coil jack on the Tool’s control
panel. Make sure that the pins on the
plug align with the holes in the jack
(see Figure 4).
Figure 6
1. If the Tool is on, turn MODE to OFF
(see Figure 6).
2. Press the right battery compartment
cover’s tab and slide
note: The search coil’s plug fits into the
connector only one way. Never force
the plug; the plug could become dam-
aged. To disconnect the plug, never
pull on the cable; always take hold of
the plug and pull it out of the connec-
tor.
the cover in the direc-
tion of the arrow (see
Figure 7).
3. Place one 9 Volt bat-
tery into the battery
compartment on top
of the ribbon. Place
Figure 7
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the battery so that it matches the
polarity symbols (+ and -) that are
marked inside the compartment.
Set the MoDe to VlF (very low
frequency). To test the
batteries in the left battery
compartment, set Batt
teSt to B1. To test the
battery in the right battery
compartment, set Batt
teSt to B2 (see Figure 9).
4. Replace the right battery compart-
ment cover.
5. Press the left battery compartment
cover’s tab and slide
Figure 9
the cover off in the
direction of the arrow
(see Figure 8).
6. Place two 9 Volt bat-
teries into the bat-
tery compartment on
top of the ribbons,
Figure 10
Figure 8
matching the polarity symbols (+ and
-) marked. Replace the left battery
compartment cover.
If the pointer on the viewmeter is
within the Batt scale’s green area, the
batteries have enough power. If the point-
er is not within the green area, the batter-
ies need to be replaced (see Figure 10).
note: The life of the batteries can be
extended by using headphones (not
included), which require less power
than the built-in speaker. See the
section on headphones below.
Meter adjustment
caution! Always remove old or weak
batteries; old batteries can leak
chemicals that can damage electronic
parts. If you do not plan to use the
Tool for a week or more, remove the
batteries. Use only fresh batteries
of the required size. Do not mix old
and new batteries or different types of
batteries.
Figure 11
Set MoDe to oFF. Using a screw-
driver, adjust the alignment control until the
pointer lines up with o on the scale (see
Figure 11).
testing Batteries
Test the battery power when the Tool
does not turn on, or has weak volume, or
will not tune properly or operates errati-
cally.
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earphone use
Basic operation
1. Set the Batt teSt to operate.
2. Hold the detector comfortably, then
as shown in Figure 13,
rotate MoDe to the
desired position.
Figure 12
• Set it to VlF to test
the battery power
and adjust tune and
grounD (see direc-
tions below and on
page 8).
Stereo earphones (not included) can
be connected to the Tool. Using ear-
phones saves battery power and makes
it easier to identify changes in the sound
patterns. Earphones are connected to the
ear jack on the side of the Control Housing
(see Figure 12).
Figure 13
• Set it to tr1 to de-
tect extreme differences in metals,
such as between gold and iron. The
difference shows on the meter (iron
as a ferrous metal, gold as a non-
ferrous metal).
When using earphones, protect your
hearing by:
a. Set the volume to the lowest setting
before you begin listening. Adjust
the volume to a comfortable level.
• Set it to tr2 to detect finer distinc-
tions between metals. For example,
between aluminum and gold.
b. Never listen at extremely high vol-
ume levels; permanent hearing loss
can result.
tuning
c. Once the volume is set, do not
increase it. Over time, your ears
adapt to the volume level, so a
volume level that does not cause
discomfort might still damage your
hearing.
tune fine tunes the balance be-
tween the tool’s receiver and the transmit-
ter circuitry, to provide consistent pointer
and tone indications.
operation
This tool distinguishes between fer-
rous and non-ferrous metals. Ferrous
metals contain iron. Non-ferrous metals
do not (examples: gold, silver, copper,
platinum, aluminum, lead, and zinc).
When the Tool senses a metallic object,
the meter reading changes and the de-
tector might sound a tone. The reaction
depends on what metal is detected.
Figure 14
Figure 15
To Tune, do the following and see Figure
14 and 15, above:
1. Rotate VoluMe to the 10 o’clock
position.
2. Set MoDe to VlF.
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3. Set grounD, DiScriMination,
and SenSitiVity to mid-range.
the flat part faces upward (see Figure
17).
note: Never test on a floor inside a build-
ing, as it may have a type of metal
present.
2. Set MoDe to tr1. Move a sample
of the material being tested (example:
coin or gold ring) about 2 inches
above the search coil.
Figure 16
note: The Tool will not detect without mo-
tion. You must move the object since
you are not sweeping the Tool.
4. Hold the search coil at least 1 foot
away from the ground and any metal
object. Hold down the red button on
the handle and slowly rotate tune
until the viewmeter pointer rests at or
near 0 (see Figure 16).
3. If the Tool detects the material, the
NON-FERROUS and FERROUS indi-
cators flash and the pointer moves to
FERROUS or NON-FERROUS while
the detector determines the type of
metal it is detecting. If it detects non-
ferrous metal, it also sounds a tone.
5. As you use the Tool to search for
items, you can fine tune by using the
other control (see Fine Tuning the
Tool on page 8).
4. If the Tool does not detect the materi-
al, check the battery power and verify
that the search coil is properly con-
nected. Also, you might need to fine
tune the detector (see next page).
note: To return the pointer to the center
of the viewmeter at any time, simply
press the red button on the handle.
teSting tHe tool
outdoor testing
You must first test the detector to find
out how it reacts to different metals. It can
be tested indoors or outdoors.
1. Locate an area outdoors where there
is no metal present. Place a sample
of the material to be tested (coin or
gold ring) on the ground.
indoor testing
2. Set MoDe to tr1.
3. With the search coil being held ap-
proximately 1 to 2 inches above the
ground, slowly move the search coil
over the area where you placed the
sample. Sweep in a side to side mo-
tion as follows:
Figure 17
1. After removing watches, rings or any
other metal jewelry, place the de-
tector on a wooden or plastic table.
Adjust the search coil’s angle so that
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Fine tuning
Once you practice with the unit, you
can fine tune it to make it more selective in
what is found.
adjusting SenSitiVity
Figure 18
To adjust the search coil’s ability to
detect objects at different depths in the
ground, rotate SenSitiVity between Min
and MaX. For maximum detection depth,
leave SenSitiVity set as high as pos-
sible. If the Tool begins to “chatter”, de-
crease SenSitiVity until the noise stops.
4. Sweep slowly to avoid missing tar-
gets. Never raise the sweep coil
while sweeping; sweep back and
forth as if it was a pendulum (see
Figure 18).
5. If the Tool detects the item, it sounds
a tone and the pointer moves to the
type of metal it found. After detect-
ing metal, switch MoDe tr1 to tr2
to determine the quality of the metal.
If nothing was detected, try again
(make sure the search coil is being
moved properly).
adjusting grounD
For accurate operation, it is criti-
cal that you take the time to correctly set
grounD. grounD tunes out false sig-
nals from mineralized soil.
6. The detector will respond strongly
when it detects most valuable metal
objects. If the signal does not repeat
after being swept over the target a
few times, the target is probably junk
metal.
Figure 19
To set grounD:
7. False signals can occur from elec-
trical interference, large, irregular
pieces of junk metal, or finding trash
on the ground. False signals usually
occur broken or are non-repeatable.
1. Set MoDe to VlF and lower the
search coil to 1/2 to 2 inches above
the ground.
2. If the pointer swings to the right, turn
grounD to the left.
8. After finding a metal item, wait a few
seconds after the tone stops before
continuing; this allows the detector
time to reset. You can also press the
red button on the handle to return the
pointer to the center of the viewmeter.
If the pointer swings to the left, turn
grounD to the right.
3. Lift the search coil about 12 inches
from the ground and press the red
button on the handle. The pointer will
return to the center. Repeat these
three steps until the pointer stays
close to the center each time you
lower the search coil to the ground.
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4. After setting grounD the Tool is
ready for the soil type at that particu-
lar site. It will not need to be reset
until you move to a new location.
that occur at random and signals that
are stable and repeatable. The key is to
dig only for those targets that produce a
strong, repeatable signal. This will prevent
you from wasting time focusing on trash
induced signals.
adjusting DiScriMination
No metal detector is totally accurate.
Many conditions influence the success of
metal detection. Among the factors that
influence results are the angle at which the
object rests in the ground, the depth of ob-
ject, the amount of iron the object contains
and the size of the object.
Discrimination is the Tool’s ability to
differentiate between types of metal. This
setting determines whether the detector
will distinguish between different types of
ferrous and non-ferrous metals. If MoDe
is set to tr2, start with DiScriMination
set to mid-range. While the Tool is being
used, adjust DiScriMination to the best
position. As you set it higher, the detector
becomes more sensitive to the differences
between large aluminum and gold pieces,
for example, but other valuable items such
as coins and small rings, might be over-
looked.
To accurately pinpoint a target:
1. Once the detector detects a target
that is buried, continue to sweep the
search coil over the target in a nar-
rowing side-to-side motion.
2. Stop the search coil directly over the
spot on the ground. Then move the
search coil straight forward away
from you and straight back towards
you. Make a mental note of the exact
spot on the surface where the detec-
tor beeps. Repeat these steps in
an X pattern. The target should be
directly below the X at the area where
the loudest response is heard.
As you set DiScriMination to
higher levels, the detector first does not
detect small pieces of silver paper, then
thick foil, and finally metal objects like cola
pull tabs. Each time you change areas,
you must reset DiScriMination.
False Signals and Detection Hints
As you sweep the search coil back
and forth over the ground surface, you will
recognize the difference between signals
trouBleSHooting
problem
False signals are being
displayed
Suggestion for cure
1. Sweeping too fast or at the wrong angle.
2. Heavily oxidized metals are detected. Pinpoint the target from several
different angles. If the detector does not display and sound the same
signal each time, the target is probably heavily oxidized metal.
1. May be more than one target in the area.
Once a target is found, the
display does not show the
correct metal type
2. If target is heavily oxidized, an incorrect reading may occur. This does
not signify a problem with the detector.
3. It may be a type of metal which is not recognizable to the detector.
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partS liSt
part
Description
Control Box Top
Meter
Loud Speaker
Fixing Board
Screws ST2.9 x 6
Lining Board
Main PCB
Mfr’s part no. part
Description
Mfr’s part no.
SQC8.225.012
SQC6.336.001
GB819.85
SQC8.225.011
SQC8.220.081
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
SQC6.116.042
M3006
21 Stem Lock Ring
22 Stem
YD-50 16 ohm 0.25 W
SQC8.610.154
GB845-85
SQC8.683.031
SQC2.908.526
GB845-85
23 Screw M3 x 10
24 Stem Lock Nut
25 Stem Lock Ring
26 Screws M4 x 28
27 Cover (Stem)
28 Cover (Large)
29 Cover (Small)
30 Search Head
31 Head Knob (Screw)
32 Head Knob (Nut)
33 Bracket
SQC7.852.078
SQC6.170.030
SQC6.170.031
SQC5.939.000
SQC6.354.021
SQC6.354.022
SQC6.154.001
SQC5.566.004
SQC8.009.001
SQC8.610.157
GB848-85-3
Screws ST2.9 x 8
Handle
SQC6.465.033
10 Screws ST3.9 x 16
11 Nut M6 x 0.75
12 Nut M8 x 0.75
GB808-76
GB808-76
SQC8.337.334
SQC6.116.044
R1710N16K
GB808-76
13 Control Knob
14 Control Box Button
15 Potentiometer B-10K
16 Nut M6 x 0.75
17 Control Knob
18 Stereo Earphone PCB
19 Nut M6 x 0.5
34 Socket PCB
35 Aluminum Stem
36 Board
SQC8.337.330
SQC5.566.003
37 Flat Washer
38 Spring Washer
39 Nut M3
GB859-87-3
GB6172-86
20 Aluminum Stem (19mm) SQC8.009.002
pleaSe reaD tHe FolloWing careFully
THE MANUFACTURER AND/OR DISTRIBUTOR HAS PROVIDED THE PARTS DIAGRAM IN THIS
MANUAL AS A REFERENCE TOOL ONLY. NEITHER THE MANUFACTURER NOR DISTRIBUTOR
MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND TO THE BUYER THAT HE OR SHE
IS QUALIFIED TO MAKE ANY REPAIRS TO THE PRODUCT OR THAT HE OR SHE IS QUALIFIED TO
REPLACE ANY PARTS OF THE PRODUCT. IN FACT, THE MANUFACTURER AND/OR DISTRIBUTOR
EXPRESSLY STATES THAT ALL REPAIRS AND PARTS REPLACEMENTS SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN
BY CERTIFIED AND LICENSED TECHNICIANS AND NOT BY THE BUYER. THE BUYER ASSUMES
ALL RISK AND LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF HIS OR HER REPAIRS TO THE ORIGINAL PRODUCT OR
REPLACEMENT PARTS THERETO, OR ARISING OUT OF HIS OR HER INSTALLATION OF REPLACE-
MENT PARTS THERETO.
note: Some parts are listed and shown for illustration purposes only and are not avail-
able individually as replacement parts.
Warning! Service and maintenance should only be performed by a qualified
technician.
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partS DiagraM
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