Cleaning & caring for the At Pro shaft

[2wheeldevil]

After water hunting I have been cleaning the detector with soap and water but neglecting to take the shaft
apart to clean it more thoroughly. Took the shaft apart today and found that one end was frozen and had a
tough time getting it to loosen up.
Does anybody use any kind of lube on the shaft or does that attract more dirt?

 

[ralph]

I hunt fresh water, so remove lower shaft, just wipe the shaft with wet rag, and spray upper part of lower shaft with wd 40 or any other silicone lube to ease dissassembly next time.

 

[gabbyhayes]

This is going to be a huge problem going forward.
I used my detector in fresh water only twice and the shaft was seized. The lake I hunt at has very fine white sand.
I had a difficult time even getting the cam lock off because of the fine sand in the threads.
I finally got everything apart by using a copper pipe inserted into the metal shaft and very slowly and carefully tapping the pipe on the floor to force the plastic shaft out.
I then even needed to use 320 grit sandpaper to smooth out the plastic shaft and it seemed that the sand caused the plastic to swell a bit.
I cleaned it very well and I'm trying a product called Black Magic which is a plastic/Vinyl protectant/restorer used in the automotive field. It is similar to "Armor All" but thicker and supposed to be safe on plastic.
I suspect that this needs to be cleaned after every hunt, maybe even during hunts!! I think the sand is getting into the shaft essentially from the inside out thru the adjustment holes.
Has anyone come up with anything to prevent this from being a problem?
Thanx

 

[Atlas]

I ran into this problem on my last hunt. I wanted to extend the shaft a bit in deeper water and it was locked up. I'll need to free this up but I've had others do this and it can be difficult.

 

[Sailorman]

I try to do a full take down and flush of upper and lower shaft every time I'm in the water. I use a SMALL amount of silicone grease on the detents, shaft and camlocks. So far so good. Especially around salt water just rinsing off the outside is not enough. I also use a little silicone grease on the headphone and coil connector threads. Salt is pretty invasive stuff and can creep up threads and joints and start corrosion in places a rinse off can't remove. Sand gets in and can be really abrasive. I often wrap my shaft with gun wrap before going out on the beach. It keeps some of the stuff from getting in the joints and can be quickly removed and cleaned after the hunt.