Garrett 400i or upgrade coil on Garrett 250

[robbyh]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of either upgrading to a machine something like a used Garrett 400i or upgrade the coil on my ace 250, this is my first year detecting.

Not got a big budget at the minute (About to buy my first house) so just looking for the best options.

What is everyone's opinions?

Thanks Rob

[f8met]

The 400i would probably be a sensible upgrade as the technology would have moved on and been tweaked with the newer machine and the coil is a bit bigger anyway.

When I had the 250 I did add a NEL coil which was a good option.

[janner53]

My first detector was a Garret Ace 250 which I bought 5 years ago and still have. I call it my back up machine. After a few months of owning it I did what you are considering, upgraded the coil to a 13" Ultimate coil. It transformed the Ace 250. Depth was a lot better, good ground coverage, even go on to say it transformed it from an entry machine to a mid range machine, a big improvement.
Mind you, I am talking about detecting on land. On the wet sand it did not perform so good, think the prob was because of the wider coil it was picking up more mineralization from the wet sand and had to increase sensitivity so much I was losing a lot of depth.
But as I said, on land a big improvement.

[Bradrick]

Just a personal opinion Rob, but I would opt for the additional features and technology of the 400i and of course you can always add a Nel to the 400i later on when finances allow.

[robbyh]

The 400i would probably be a sensible upgrade as the technology would have moved on and been tweaked with the newer machine and the coil is a bit bigger anyway.

When I had the 250 I did add a NEL coil which was a good option.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply, I think I might take your advice and go for the 400i

Rob

[Saki]

Hey Robbyh, Im with f8met on this one.
ALthough I had the 250, bought the nel, then bought the 400i.
I would go straight for the 400i and when cash comes along get the nel

[robbyh]

My first detector was a Garret Ace 250 which I bought 5 years ago and still have. I call it my back up machine. After a few months of owning it I did what you are considering, upgraded the coil to a 13" Ultimate coil. It transformed the Ace 250. Depth was a lot better, good ground coverage, even go on to say it transformed it from an entry machine to a mid range machine, a big improvement.
Mind you, I am talking about detecting on land. On the wet sand it did not perform so good, think the prob was because of the wider coil it was picking up more mineralization from the wet sand and had to increase sensitivity so much I was losing a lot of depth.
But as I said, on land a big improvement.

Hi ya,

Thank you, I think I will upgrade to the 400i and keep the 250 for my daughter.

I really only detect on farmland but as I am ten mins from the beach on the south coast I may try out beach's

Rob

[robbyh]

Hey Robbyh, Im with f8met on this one.
ALthough I had the 250, bought the nel, then bought the 400i.
I would go straight for the 400i and when cash comes along get the nel

Thank you, I think the 400i wins then
now to try and get one before the weekend haha

Rob

[robbyh]

The 400i would probably be a sensible upgrade as the technology would have moved on and been tweaked with the newer machine and the coil is a bit bigger anyway.

When I had the 250 I did add a NEL coil which was a good option.

Thank you f8met I think I will take your advice, I appreciate it

Rob

[Mud Max]

Just a personal opinion Rob, but I would opt for the additional features and technology of the 400i and of course you can always add a Nel to the 400i later on when finances allow.

Totally agree.