Garrett AT series
Garrett AT Series Waterproof Ratings: What 10 Feet Actually Covers
Quick answer
Garrett publishes the Garrett AT Pro, Garrett AT Max and Garrett AT Gold as fully submersible to 10 feet, control box included. The ACE machines have waterproof searchcoils but a control housing that is not, and the Garrett Vortex VX9 is rated to 16 feet.
A waterproof rating answers one question: how much water can get to the electronics before they stop working. It does not say anything about whether the machine performs well in that water, and conflating the two costs people money every season. The AT line is genuinely all terrain, and it is still a single frequency VLF design with the salt limitation that implies.
The table below sets out the published ratings across the Garrett range and the accessories that go under with them. Everything in it comes from manufacturer documentation or listing specifications.
Top pick
Garrett AT Pro
Fully submersible to 10 feet including the control box, which is still unusual at its price and the reason the AT line exists.
Price was accurate when this page was compiled and changes often.
What are the published waterproof ratings?
These are manufacturer figures. Where a listing states a coil is waterproof but the control housing is not, that distinction is preserved rather than smoothed over.
Garrett rates the AT Pro, AT Max and AT Gold as fully submersible to 10 feet, the Vortex VX9 to 16 feet and the Pro-Pointer AT to 20 feet, while ACE machines protect only the searchcoil and leave the control housing exposed.
| Item | Rating | What is covered | Practical note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garrett AT Pro | 10 ft submersible | Whole machine, control box included | Wading, shallow water, rain. Salt performance is a separate question |
| Garrett AT Max | 10 ft submersible | Whole machine | Wireless audio will not work once the coil is under |
| Garrett AT Gold | 10 ft submersible | Whole machine | Excellent in fresh water creeks, poor on wet salt sand |
| Garrett ACE 300 | Coil only | Searchcoil waterproof, control housing not | Shallow shoreline work only. Do not submerge the box |
| Garrett ACE 400 | Coil only | Searchcoil waterproof, control housing not | Same caution as the ACE 300 |
| Garrett ACE Apex | Waterproof searchcoil | Coil, with a wireless ready body | Multi-Salt mode helps on beaches, but check the body rating before wading |
| Garrett Vortex VX9 | 16 ft submersible | Whole machine | Garrett's current answer for deeper water work |
| Garrett Pro-Pointer AT | 20 ft submersible | Whole pinpointer | Goes deeper than the detector it serves |
| Garrett Pro-Pointer AT Z-Lynk | 20 ft submersible | Whole pinpointer | Wireless audio still will not pass through water |
| Garrett Pro-Pointer II | Water resistant, IP66 | Tip can be submerged, unit works in rain | A dry land pinpointer. Do not take it wading |
| Garrett Submersible Headphones | Submersible headphones | Wired audio for AT series underwater | The only way to hear an AT machine once it is under |
Ratings taken from Garrett product documentation and listing specifications for each item. Ratings describe water ingress protection, not detecting performance in salt water, and they assume seals and port caps are intact and correctly fitted.
Why is a 10 foot rating not a saltwater licence?
Because salt water conducts. A single frequency VLF detector works by reading the conductivity of what is under the coil, and a conductive medium surrounding the target competes with it. On wet salt sand and in the surf, an AT machine has to be run at reduced sensitivity with frequent manual ground balancing, and it will still false and still lose depth. The rating means the machine survives. It does not mean the machine performs.
Machines built for salt do it differently, using simultaneous multi-frequency or a dedicated salt mode to separate the salt signal from the target. Garrett's Garrett ACE Apex offers a Multi-Salt option, the Garrett Vortex VX9 adds multi-frequency with a 16 foot rating, and outside the brand the Minelab Equinox 900 and Nokta The Legend Pro Pack carry beach modes for the same purpose. The working settings for an AT machine on a beach, with all the compromises stated, are on the AT Pro settings and AT Max settings pages.
What has to be right before you submerge an AT machine?
- Check the headphone port. The AT series uses a waterproof headphone connector. Either the submersible headphones are fitted and tightened, or the supplied cap is screwed on. An open port is the most common way these machines are flooded.
- Check the battery door seal. Inspect the seal for grit, sand and hair, and make sure the door is closed properly. Rinse and dry the area before opening it after a salt session.
- Fit wired audio. Wireless audio does not pass through water, so the wired submersible set is required. Test it before you wade, not after.
- Rinse after salt water. Fresh water rinse the coil, shaft, control box and headphone connector after every salt session. Salt left to dry is what actually destroys these machines, not the immersion itself.
- Dry before opening anything. Dry the machine fully before opening the battery compartment, so the water on the outside does not end up on the inside.
Is the rating still valid on an older machine?
Treat it as conditional. Seals age, battery door gaskets take grit, and a dropped machine can distort a housing without any visible damage. A machine that has lived in a car boot for ten seasons is not the machine Garrett tested. If you are buying used and intend to go in the water, assume nothing, inspect every seal, and test in shallow fresh water where a flood is survivable rather than in the surf.
The same caution applies to coils, since the coil and its cable are part of the waterproof envelope. A chafed cable at the shaft clamp is a common failure and it is worth checking whenever you swap coils, which the coil compatibility chart covers in more detail.
Sources
- Garrett AT Pro, AT Max and AT Gold owner's manuals, waterproof and headphone connector sections
- Garrett ACE 200, ACE 300 and ACE 400 listing specifications, waterproof searchcoil and non-waterproof control housing
- Garrett Vortex VX9 and Pro-Pointer AT published specifications, 16 foot and 20 foot ratings
Frequently asked questions
Is the Garrett AT Pro fully waterproof?
Garrett publishes it as fully submersible to 10 feet, control box included, which is what all terrain means in the AT name. That covers wading, shallow water hunting and rain. It does not make it a saltwater machine in performance terms, because a single frequency VLF detector has to fight the conductivity of salt water regardless of how well sealed it is.
Can I take a Garrett ACE 300 or ACE 400 into the water?
Only the searchcoil. Garrett makes the ACE searchcoils waterproof so you can work a shoreline, damp sand or a stream edge, but the control housing is not waterproof and submerging it will damage the machine. If you want to wade properly, that is precisely the gap the AT line was built to fill.
Do I need special headphones to use an AT machine underwater?
Yes. Wireless audio does not transmit through water, and ordinary headphones are neither sealed nor fitted with the waterproof connector the AT series uses. The wired submersible set made for the AT series is the answer. If you are not using headphones at all, the port cap must be screwed down, because an open headphone port is the usual route water takes.
How should I care for an AT detector after salt water?
Rinse it in fresh water the same day, including the coil, shaft, control box and around the headphone connector, then dry it fully before opening the battery compartment. Salt crystallising in seals and connectors causes far more damage over time than immersion does. Check the battery door gasket for grit each time, because a single grain is enough to break the seal.
Which Garrett machine should I buy for deeper water?
The Vortex VX9 is rated as submersible to 16 feet and adds simultaneous multi-frequency along with a Multi-Salt option, which addresses both the sealing and the salt performance problem the AT line has. If depth of immersion is the only issue and you hunt fresh water, an AT machine at 10 feet is already beyond what most wading and snorkelling requires.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published specifications, manuals and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Target ID numbers, depth figures and settings vary with soil chemistry, moisture, target size, depth, orientation and firmware version, so treat every figure here as a starting point and verify it against your own machine's manual and your own ground. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.