Garrett ACE 400i User manual

© 2016 Garrett Electronics, Inc. PN 1534310.A.0216
1881 W. State Street
Garland, Texas 75042
USA
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Fax: [phone]
ACE 400iOwner’s Manual
Owner’s Manual
Locate deeply buried coins, relics,
and jewelry, even in challenging
iron-cluttered areas!
English / Spanish / French / German

ACE 400i™1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACE 400icontrol panel........................................................... 2
Quick start guide..................................................................... 3
ACE 400icontents.................................................................. 4
Detector assembly .................................................................. 5
Power on/basic controls......................................................... 6
Target information................................................................... 7
Audio features ......................................................................... 8
Selecting modes (Discrimination Patterns) ............................... 9
Sensitivity ..............................................................................10
Notch discrimination.............................................................11
Iron masking..........................................................................13
Iron audio...............................................................................14
Pinpointing............................................................................. 16
Bench tests............................................................................18
Hunting tips with your ACE 400i..........................................20
Troubleshooting guide...........................................................22
Battery replacement .............................................................23
Metal detecting code of ethics............................................. 24
Cautions.................................................................................25
Caring for your ACE 400idetector .......................................25
ACE 400iwarranty & service ...............................................26
ACE 400iaccessories...........................................................27

2Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™3
QUICK START GUIDE
1. Power ON.
Press and release the ON / OFF Power button. The ACE 400i
powers on in the last mode used, automatically adjusts for
ground minerals and is ready to search. The detector
operates with four (4) AA batteries which are already
installed by Garrett. (Factory default mode is Coins.)
2. Select Mode.
Use the Mode button to select a different detection mode,
when desired.
3. Adjust settings.
Adjust Sensitivity or Discrimination settings, if desired.
4. Begin scanning.
Lower the searchcoil to 2 to 3 cm above the ground and
scan the coil left and right at approximately 1m/second.
The coil must be in motion for target detection, but can
remain stationary during Pinpoint.
ACE 400iCONTROL PANEL
Sensitivity
Setting
DISCRIM and Accept/Reject
Buttons
Use DISCRIM (+) or (-) to select a
cursor. Then use (/X) button to set
its discrimination on or off.
Frequency Adjust
While holding down (/X) button,
use DISCRIM (+) or (-) to increase
or decrease frequency setting.
SENSITIVITY
Button
increases or
decreases sensitivity.
MODE
Button
selects detection mode (i.e.
discrimination pattern).
Power ON / OFF:
hold 1 second to turn
power on/off.
IRON AUDIO: quick
press to turn on or off;
use to hear discriminated
iron.
Depth
Indicator
indicates depth
of coin-sized
target.
Mode
Indicator
Target ID Legend
indicates metal types.
Lower Scale
indicates notch
discrimination
pattern.
Target ID Cursor
indicates probable target identity.
PINPOINT
Button
Press and hold to
precisely locate a target.
Digital
Target ID
Battery
Level
Indicator

DETECTOR ASSEMBLY
4Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™5
ACE 400iCONTENTS
If any part is missing, please contact your local dealer.
Nut, bolt,
mounting washers
Batteries
installed
Control housing with
S-shaped stem
Searchcoil
Coil cover
Upper, lower
stem (connected) Cover-up
Headphones
Warranty card
Manual
Loosen lower camlock and extend lower stem. Insert mounting
washers, connect searchcoil to stem as shown, and hand-
tighten wing nut.
Loosen upper camlock, insert S-stem with control housing,
adjust lower stem to comfortable length, and hand-tighten
the camlocks. Wrap cable snugly around the stem with the
first turn of the cable over the stem.
Note: The arm cuff can be
adjusted by removing the screw
on the bottom and moving it to
the other hole.

6Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™7
POWER ON/BASIC CONTROLS
Power ON/OFF
Button
Power ON/OFF—Hold this button for 1 second to turn power
ON or OFF.
Factory Reset —To restore factory settings, press and hold
the power button for 5 seconds (until the detector produces
a fast double beep).
Battery Level Indicator—Shows continuous status of battery
life. Replace batteries when 1 segment remains.
Frequency Adjust—While holding down the (/X) button,
use DISCRIM (+) or (-) to increase or decrease the frequency
setting. Choose from four minor frequency adjustments (F1
to F4) in order to minimize interference caused by electrical
sources or other metal detectors.
TARGET INFORMATION
Target ID Cursor
(Upper Scale)
Target ID Legend Discrimination Pattern
(Lower Scale)
Target ID Legend—Works with the Target ID Cursor to
indicate a target's probable identity, with Ferrous (iron)
targets at the left, non-ferrous targets that are thin or have
low conductivity in the middle, and thick or high conductivity
targets (e.g. thick silver) at the right.
Lower Scale—Displays the current discrimination pattern,
with lighted pixels indicating accepted targets and blank
pixels indicating rejected targets.
Target ID Cursor (Upper Scale)—Will display for every
target, but will produce audio only for targets accepted on the
Lower Scale.
Digital Target ID—Provides a value from 0 to 99 to identify
targets more precisely than the ID cursor.
Coin Depth Indicator—Shows the depth of a coin, or a
similar sized target. Note: targets larger than a coin may
display shallower than actual depth while targets smaller
than a coin may display deeper than actual depth.
The sample chart on the following page provides Digital
Target ID ranges of some commonly found items.
Coin Depth
Indicator
Frequency Adjust
controls
Digital Target ID
Battery Level
Indicator

8Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™9
AUDIO FEATURES
Tone ID—The ACE 400iproduces three distinct tones based
on a target’s metal type and conductivity:
• High conductivity targets (Digital ID >60) produce a
unique belltone signal.
• Medium to low conductivity targets (Digital ID of 40–60),
produce a medium-pitched signal.
• Ferrous targets (Digital ID <40) produce a low-pitch
signal.
Iron Audio—Allows the user to hear discriminated iron
(normally silenced) in order to avoid digging tricky, undesired
flat iron items such as bottle caps or steel washers. (To learn
more, see pages 14–15.)
Headphone Jack—Use any headphones with a 1/4” plug.
Example: this is the preset notch discrimination pattern for COINS Mode.
Target ID can vary widely based upon the target's size
and thickness because small, thin pieces of metal cannot
conduct electrical current as well as thicker pieces of metal.
In addition, mineralized soils can cause Target ID errors,
especially for small targets.
Tip: Target ID is most reliable when the target is centered
under the searchcoil and the coil is swept flat and at a
constant height above the ground.
DIGITAL TARGET ID
SELECTING MODES (Discrimination Patterns)
Choose from one of four preset discrimination patterns or
use CUSTOM Mode to save a personal pattern.
Use the MODE buttons to scroll through the five modes:
• ZERO-DISC Mode–Detects every type of metal. All 12
discrimination pixels are switched on; no metals targets
have been notched out (eliminated). Use this mode to find
all metal items or when the material of the desired object
is unknown. Switch to the Zero-Disc Mode to aid in locating
a target when its signal is inconsistent. Such signals could
mean a trash target is close to a good target.
• JEWELRY Mode–designed to find jewelry such as rings,
bracelets, watches, and necklaces, while ignoring most iron
trash.
• CUSTOM Mode–Can be programmed by the operator
and the ACE 400iwill retain the changes when the detector
is switched off. The factory preset for the CUSTOM Mode is
the same as the COINS Mode. Begin with this discrimination
pattern and then use the DISCRIM and Accept/Reject buttons
controls to customize the mode. (For more information, see
pages 11–12.)

10 Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™11
• RELICS Mode—designed to eliminate small iron pieces,
while detecting good targets in the lower conductivity range,
such as lead, brass and bronze.
• COINS Mode—designed to find most types of coins
and to eliminate common trash items such as iron and foil.
Some desirable items that respond the same as foil may be
missed. Some digging of junk targets is to be expected, such
as aluminum cans.
SENSITIVITY
SENSITIVITY
Button
Sensitivity
Indicator
Use the (+) or (–) SENSITIVITY buttons to step through the
eight (8) levels. Use increased sensitivity when searching for
very small or very deep targets. Use lower sensitivity levels
when the detector is behaving erratically (due to excessive
metallic trash, highly mineralized soils, electrical interference
or the presence of other metal detectors) and the erratic
operation cannot be resolved with discrimination or by
changing frequency.
NOTCH DISCRIMINATION
Notch Discrimination—Use the DISCRIM (+) or (–) buttons
in conjunction with the ELIM ( /X ) button to eliminate trash
objects from detection such as foil or pull-tabs.
The ACE 400ihas 12 pixels or "notches" of discrimination,
shown on the lower scale. Any combination of these pixels can
be switched on or off based upon your preference. There are
two primary methods for modifying the Notch Discrimination
Pattern to reject a specific type of trash or unwanted item.
For the first method use the (+) or (-) DISCRIM buttons
to move the Target ID cursor to the left or right. Next, press
the ( /X ) button to eliminate or activate the pixel located
on the Lower Scale, directly below the Target ID cursor. (See
illustrations on next page.)
The second method of modifying the Notch Discrimination
pattern uses only the ( /X ) button. When an unwanted target
is audibly detected, simply push the ( /X ) button to create
a notch at that Target ID Cursor. The next time this item is
encountered, it will not produce an audible signal.
Tip: Notch Discrimination can also be used to find specific
metal items. For example, if an earring has been lost, scan the
matching earring in ZERO-DISC mode and note its Target ID
cursor. Then use the DISCRIM and ( /X ) buttons to switch off
all the pixels except the one for the earring and an additional
pixel on either side to account for some ID variations.

12 Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™13
IRON MASKING
To prevent an iron object from "masking" out the signal
of an adjacent good target, use just enough discrimination
to barely reject the iron trash (e.g. small nail, as seen in
Illustration 1). This will allow you to detect the coin and
nail together (see Illustration 2) and not miss/mask a good
target.
Illustration 1
Illustration 2
Modify
pattern
with
these
buttons
Use the NOTCH DISC buttons to position the Target ID Cursor above the pixel
you wish to eliminate (see above illustration). Use the ELIM button to delete
this pixel from the Lower Scale (see below). This item is now rejected.
Example: Manual Modification of Notch Discrimination Pattern
Note: Changes made to the Notch Discrimination pattern
while in CUSTOM Mode will be retained when the detector is
switched OFF. Changes made to all other modes will return to
the factory settings when the detector is switched OFF and
back ON.

14 Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™15
IRON AUDIO
IRON AUDIO
Button
Iron Audio
is ON
Press and release the IRON AUDIO button to switch the Iron
Audio feature ON/OFF.
Iron Audio allows the user to hear discriminated iron
(normally silenced) in order to avoid being tricked into digging
an undesired target. Iron Audio also adjusts the cut-off
between low-tone and mid-tone audio (see illustrations on
next page)to better identify good targets. When Iron Audio is
on, iron targets will not only be heard, but they will produce
an even more distinctive response with multiple tones. For
example, a nail will produce several fast low tones as the
searchcoil passes over. A flat iron object like a bottle cap
or steel washer will produce a very distinctive Low-High-Low
response (see pg. 19 for more information).
Note: Iron Audio applies only to the notched out pixels to
the left of the first accepted pixel within the 6-pixel iron range.
Therefore, it is only effective when at least the first pixel of
discrimination has been notched out.
Tip: In areas with a lot of iron, it is recommended to switch
off Iron Audio. Otherwise, it may produce far too many signals.
If a target is detected with questionable or inconsistent
response, switch on Iron Audio to see if it is iron.
IRON AUDIO OFF:Normal division of low, mid and bell tones.
19
40 60
19
Belltone
Belltone
Belltone
40 60
60
IRON AUDIO OFF: With two pixels of Discrimination notched out, all targets
below 19 are silent.
19
40 60
19
Belltone
Belltone
Belltone
40 60
60
IRON AUDIO ON: Targets below 19 are now heard as a low tone and targets
above 19 will produce a mid or bell tone.
19
40 60
19
Belltone
Belltone
Belltone
40 60
60
Refer to the illustrations below regarding the use of the Iron
Audio feature:

16 Garrett Metal Detectors ACE 400i™17
PINPOINTING
Accurate pinpointing enables fast recovery with the
smallest hole possible. To use Pinpoint:
• Position the searchcoil to the side of the target's
suspected location at a fixed height above the ground.
• Press and hold the Pinpoint button and slowly sweep the
searchcoil over the target area while maintaining the
same fixed height above the ground (e.g. 2–3cm).
• Sweep the searchcoil side-to-side and front-to-back in a
crosshair pattern to locate the peak signal, indicated by
the loudest audio and the greatest number of segments
on the Upper Scale.
• The center of the searchcoil is directly over the target
with the depth of a coin-sized target shown on the
depth scale. The symbol "PP" for pinpoint displays on
the LCD while pinpointing.
It is recommended to practice pinpointing in a test plot.
Indicates
pinpointing
center of the
8.5" x 11"
searchcoil.
Upper Scale indicates
signal strength
PINPOINT Button
(Press and hold to pinpoint)
Coin Depth
Indicator
For the best
pinpointing
results, maintain
a constant height
above the ground
(e.g. 2–3cm).
Note: Alternative pinpointing methods using a DD searchcoil
are demonstrated on the ACE 400itraining video, which can
be seen at garrett.com.