APEX 100 Entry Level Metal Detector

Small metal foreign objects have very small signals, and the food metal detector is operating in a factory that has many possible noise sources that can confuse the metal detector electronics and software. Make sure you address some of these sources that can interfere with your testing:

- Large motors turning on and off
- Electronics boxes broadcasting wide spectrums of radiated noise
- Production equipment vibrating and causing the antenna in the metal detector to move ever so slightly
- Electrical power surging and dropping
- Temperatures going from freezing to boiling and back again

It is widely understood that ferrous metals are the easiest to detect due to their magnetic properties. An electromagnetic field reacts most to ferrous metal, and the lower the frequency, the greater the reaction. Conversely, stainless steel, which contains only a small amount of ferrous metal, has little or no magnetic property. Metal detectors must run at a high frequency to find stainless steel because the high frequency field induces a current in the stainless steel which creates a new field that interacts with the original field in the metal detector to create a signal.

When metal is missed on the leading or trailing edges of a standard food grade metal detector, adjust sensitivity per the manufacturer's recommendation and when required, increase metal size until it is detected.

Place metal spheres in multiple locations on the food package, always trying to keep the metal at the midline of the head height and middle of the package. Test the leading and trailing ends, both sides, the absolute center of package (whenever possible), and the top. Specify the smallest metal detected in ALL locations.

For all food grade metal detectors, eliminate as much background noise as possible. Then start with the manufacturer's default settings. Ensure that production samples are used for setup.