Coil cover or no coil cover?

[BigTony]

n/t

 

[midalake]

Sand or dirt in your coil cover is NOT causing your detector to false. Stop and think it for a second. You are detecting along quietly with ALL the sand/dirt in the world below your coil, but now suddenly because 1 gram of that same material is inside the cover it makes it go crazy? Please explain how that could even remotely be possible.

If someone poured pure magnetite in there, I can see it having an affect but not the same matrix your are already detecting through

Sorry but your statement is COMPLETELY false. I have had my Sovereign false dirt fishing and beach hunting with soil/sand between the coil and cover. The Equinox due to its sensitivity will only exaggerate this. It is NOT a matter of "if", but WHEN. Dave

I would like to add that Minelab's HORRIBLE open design of the bottom of the coil will only worsen the problem.

 

[UtahRich]

I use a Coil Cover.

If replacing an approximately $200 coil when the bottom wears through is not a big deal to you, go for it. Some detectorists are very good at keeping the bottom of the coil off the terrain so no abrasion occurs. Rocky terrain is rough on coil bottoms.

Rich -

 

[BigTony]

Rich, you are right about the wear on the coil. I was simply pointing out that it needs to be cleaned frequently or filled in with something.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Sand or dirt in your coil cover is NOT causing your detector to false.

Sand or dirt PLUS water inside the coil cover will absolutely will cause falsing and instability. That's been true for 20 plus years on Explorers. Inland dirt hunting typically your machine starts out running fine, but if there's dew on the grass as soon as water works its way inside the coil cover bam instability. Clean all the dirt out presto no more falsing.

On saltwater beaches because saltwater is conductive this is even more of an issue. I always remove the coil cover when hunting wet sand beaches. I have used SE Pro style coils for years and never wore one out BUT I'm good at hovering my coil just above the wet sand. Also not all sand is the same, the South NJ beach sand is not abrasive, while North Carolina sand that stuff is way more abrasive. I would likely coat the bottom of my coil with marine epoxy if I were hunting beaches with more abrasive type sand or if I tended to drag my coil on the sand.