Cen Tech pin pointer mod?

[Gatorfan]

I want to mod this little pin pointer to see if i can make it worth while using. Let me start by saying I'm a car stereo guy so i understand most wiring situations, but when it comes to anything "micro" i get a little confused. That being said, i want to add a membrane type switch for on and off, and then would like to get rid of the speaker and add a micro vibration motor. My issue is whether i need other parts to do this i.e. resistors, capacitors, etc. The only vibration motor i have found is "3VDC" so i am confused, 9v battery in this thing but can only find 3v motor? Anyway, any help or insight would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Nick

 

[silversmith]

I think I used about a 1k 1w resistor between the "pager vibramotor" I got off of E-bay and the removed beeper's wire.. Adjust accordingly. Good luck.

 

[darrenb]

I changed mine to a vibrator motor, and just removed the wires that connected to the piezo sounder and connected them to the vibrator motor. The motor was out of an old cell phone. Worked perfectly for me!

 

[Critterhunter]

I was going to mod mine in a similar way. I took some volt readings at I think the buzzer and the LED and think one was a much lower voltage than the other when activated. Can't remember what they were, though. The mod I liked best was buying a Garrett Pro Pointer. To somebody who's never used a good pinpointer the Centech's price is hard to beat, but once you've used one of these Pro Pointers it's like night and day.

 

[kydigger]

I just made another easy improvement to make the sensitivity easier to adjust. I mounted a Radio Shack 1/2" Blue-Capped control knob, part no. 274-403, over the factory control knob. Now I don't have to use 2 fingers to adjust that tiny knob. The larger knob also makes fine tuning easier. It looks better too. (LOL)
________________________________
Ron R.

 

[silversmith]

Hey C.H. you're wasting your time. I hit these Harbor Freight guy in the heads many times. They're hard to get through to. Good luck ..........

 

[darrenb]

I'm one of the Harbor Freight guys... and yes, have 2 of the Cen-tech things. I'd gladly step up to a propointer, but I need one of you guys to talk my wife into it for me! I used a friend's recently, and that is certainly on my must have list. Maybe after I find the cache of gold coins, I'll pick one up.

 

[Critterhunter]

I'm not trying to knock the Centech. For the money you simply can not go wrong. All I'm saying is that if you've owned a better pinpointer such as the Pro Pointer or the new Vibra Probe (voted a close tie with the Pro Pointer, but costs more) you'll never want to pick up that Harbor Tool & Freight job again. These are more streamlined (read not boxy like it) and are so much more stabile and get much better depth. I know, because before I bought my Pro Pointer I was constantly bugging my friend to throw me his when I couldn't find the target with the Centech. Results were that every time I couldn't find a target with my Centech his Pro Pointer found it the instant I stuck that thing into the hole.

That was as much convincing as I needed, but when you add the self adjusting sensitivity of it and no need to stick the probe into the dirt to adjust it properly like most others require (so they don't false on the ground signal) you'll think this is the best addition to your metal detector you could ever buy. It's that much better.

Also makes clad hunting much faster (no need to dig a hole when you can pinpoint and pop it with a screwdriver in seconds) to really rack up your clad totals in less time. Another area this thing will be great for is ring hunting in ball diamonds or other areas where you might get kicked out if people saw you using a digger. In fact, I wish more people would use a screwdriver as much as they can when hunting around people to keep our sport legal on public property.

Another trick is the sensitivity increase you can do with the Pro Pointer. After turning it on slide a coin, pulltab, or some other piece of metal up the shaft until the pinpointer just starts to sound off. Back the metal back down the shaft a hair until it goes quiet. You'll be amazed at how much more depth you will get doing that because the nearby metal object is pushing the unit closer to it's threshold of sounding off.

I'm planning to use a piece of thin metal (like maybe a bent piece of coat hanger) that I'll bend into an "L" and secure to the probe inside a plastic tube via rubberbands so as not to scratch the probe by sliding it. Now you just turn it on with your thumb and then use the same thumb to push on the bottom part of the "L" as an easy way to control it with your thumb, sliding the top of the "L" further up the shaft until it just starts to sound off. Now you're getting even more than the already outstanding depth this pin pointer has and can detect coins and rings that are pretty deep to pop with your screwdriver.

While on the subject, I'm a big fan of using a screwdriver with about a 7" long tip. When using one this long I can lay my digger on the ground at a 90 degree angle to the screwdriver and then push the screwdriver down onto the handle of the digger to use as leverage and pop out targets with much more force than doing it only by hand. Lets me really pull some deeper ones from tough ground that I otherwise wouldn't have the strength to bring to the surface.