NEL Tornado coil for Ace 250

[DJ7432]

Hi everyone,

I've got an Ace 250 and I'm looking to upgrade to a NEL Tornado coil, does anyone have any experience of these and is it worth making the leap?

I've found it to buy from Detector Distribution, are they a good supplier?

Apologies for sounding a bit wet around the ears and any advice would be very gratefully received

DJ

[nellyt5]

from past experience, the nel tornado will make your detector heavy and unbalanced, I had one on a fisher f2 a few years ago, I only used it once ..................

[Saffron]

I used the standard coil on the Garrett Ace 250 for quite a time, then upgraded to a Nel Tornado coil as my permission was relatively unproductive old pasture and I wanted to gain the extra ground coverage, with the potential extra depth being a bonus.

The extra weight was not an issue but it certainly spoilt the balance of the machine to some extent (I have seen on a recent thread about larger coils on another brand of detector [1] that shortening the lower stem (which will reduce your swing) counters this, and it was also said that using the arm strap helped - most people I know do not normally use it). For a 3 hour session (most of my local sessions are 3 hours or less) this was not a real issue, however I think it might be on a whole day (8+ hours).

Pros:
The extra ground coverage was a significant advantage to me.
I am fairly sure it found deeper targets than the standard coil (I do not have a test bed so can not give firm figures).

Cons:
Balance, not an issue for short sessions but could be if you detect all day (suggestions above might counter this).
Obviously due to being bigger than the standard coil it would not be so good on very trashy sites, this applies to any larger coil.
The Ace 250 is not recognised as a great beach machine, but on my "local" beach (2 1/2 hour drive) with the standard coil it was OK on the wet sand with sensitivity knocked back 2 sections, but with the Nel Tornado it could not cope on the wet sand and was constantly falsing. Note this is based on only ONE session with the Nel so might not be the case on other beaches so treat with this statement with caution.

Myself I would definitely recommend getting the Nel Tornado as I was impressed with the performance on the 250.
But even if you use it as the main coil use it in conjunction with the standard coil, not as a replacement in all conditions - again this would apply to any additional coil either larger or smaller than the standard.

One other thing to consider is, "at what stage in your detecting are you at?". If you think you are happy with the Garrett 250, which is a very good starter machine and fantastic value IMHO, then fine go for an extra coil, but if you think you might want to upgrade your detector in a years time you might be better off sticking to the standard coil and putting what you would have spent on the new coil towards a new detector at some point in the future.

Evan

[1] If that sounds vague its because unsure of the exact details but know it was a significantly larger coil than the Nel Tornado, (big / goliath???), and no idea what the make of detector was.

[DJ7432]

Thank you for the replies guys.

The weight shouldn't be too much of an issue, it's the extra ground coverage and depth I want to get from it compared against the stock coil.

I've got my heart set on eventually getting a Deus but upgrading my 250 will have to suffice for a few more years yet! rl;

[smudge.g]

Hi,
I took the plunge recently and bought a Tornado coil for my euroace and havent looked back since. Taking the previous posts into consideration, I havent found any issues with extra weight, in fact i bought a strimming harness to clip the detector to but havent used it for months! I only had my new coil 2 weeks and it paid for itself with a gold posy ring and numerous silvers, all of which were deeper than before (i was having to use the coil from my Ace 150). I have to say that my holes are bigger than before and i wouldnt venture out without a pin-pointer, far too tricky!! Good luck with your choice but my tornado has turned my Euroace into a new machine. BTW I am also saving for a Deus purely because of the weight difference for my ageing joints!! HH.

[Saffron]

Thank you for the replies guys.

The weight shouldn't be too much of an issue, it's the extra ground coverage and depth I want to get from it compared against the stock coil.

I've got my heart set on eventually getting a Deus but upgrading my 250 will have to suffice for a few more years yet! rl;

The extra ground coverage is very significant so you will certainly notice this aspect, as I said I think you also gain depth. So if you are not looking to upgrade the machine in the near term (pleased to hear that as the 250 is a good machine and so many people upgrade without getting to know their original machine properly so fail to get the best out of it) then the Nel Tornado sounds the perfect coil for you.

I do agree with Smudge that pinpointing is harder but again a lot of people find that to be the case with any larger coil.

Evan

[lurch]

hi have the coil fitted to my ace 250 find pinpointing very hard and if you have a bad back it hurts after a few hours .looked at the double d coil as it is lighter and found it better not un balancing the detector hopes this helps

[DJ7432]

Thanks for all your input guys.

Just out of curiosity, is there any reason why the Tornado coil seems to be the more popular Nel coil, compared to say the Attack or Storm?

Do you think it's mainly down to weight or is it more to do with performance?

DJ

[geordiejono]

i use the nel tornado on my ace 250, it was one of my better purchases, great depth and coverage as well. i use a harness so i have not really noticed any difference in weight while on a dig.

[Saffron]

Thanks for all your input guys.

Just out of curiosity, is there any reason why the Tornado coil seems to be the more popular Nel coil, compared to say the Attack or Storm?

Do you think it's mainly down to weight or is it more to do with performance?

DJ

Have you seen this page which gives the technical details of the Nel coils and ratings for different aspects of performance http://nel-coils.com/index.php/en/ and I found very useful?.

I went for the Tornado over the Attack or Storm for 3 reasons
1) I had heard and seen lots of good reports about the Tornado, including having seen it used at digs and talking to the detectorists, (compared with nothing, positive nor negative, for the other two).
2) Using the link above I was aware that the Tornado was much better on small targets, and we all like our hammies!, and separation of targets (some of my permissions have a lot of small iron due to nails from horseshoes - and at times the horseshoe).
3) Suspicion that the even larger coils would be too heavy and unbalance the machine.

Evan

[DJ7432]

Have you seen this page which gives the technical details of the Nel coils and ratings for different aspects of performance http://nel-coils.com/index.php/en/ and I found very useful?.

I went for the Tornado over the Attack or Storm for 3 reasons
1) I had heard and seen lots of good reports about the Tornado, including having seen it used at digs and talking to the detectorists, (compared with nothing, positive nor negative, for the other two).
2) Using the link above I was aware that the Tornado was much better on small targets, and we all like our hammies!, and separation of targets (some of my permissions have a lot of small iron due to nails from horseshoes - and at times the horseshoe).
3) Suspicion that the even larger coils would be too heavy and unbalance the machine.

Evan

That's a great link, thank you very much for that I hadn't come across it.

Think I'll also opt for the Tornado, although it's sold out in most places!

DJ