Coil life expectancy opinion needed

[EL Pulltabio]

I use the standard stock 10 inch coil on my Sovereign GT.
I hunt salt water beaches exclusively. Spending 3 hours in ankle deep water
isn't unusual during a 5 hour effort. The problem for is coil life. They usually average
about 9 months or less. I have 4 new looking coils that are useless hanging in
my garage.
I'm beginning to think that there must be something I can do or some trick I can use
to squeeze more life out of them before I go belly up like the coils hanging in the garage.

Any ideas??

Thanks ahead for any ideas...

 

[pasttom]

What is the issue and are you rinsing thoroughly after every outing?

 

[OldBeechnut]

I have over 1000 hours on three coils, most with the 800 of late. I rinse them sometimes, but most important I silicon grease / spray the cables at least once a week plus I keep a close eye on the bottom of the coil and use a coil cover 99% of the time.. coils are the 800, 1000 and then the much lesser used ULT 13.. One factor many don't take into account is the wear on the lower rod bushing (rubber gourmet) These wear down, one will tighten the lower coil bolt. This in turn pinches the eyelets closer causing stress on the bottom of the coil in the adjacent area...crazy but true.. I hunt 3 to 5 days a week on average of about 4 to 5 hours,, wetsand to chest deep saltwater and brackish. I just laid to rest this past March a Excalibur PCB (board) that had served me over 6 years, pulled her out and grabbed a (Excalibur II PCB) and have not noticed a difference, other then I am having one of the best years since starting this water hobby..2008

 

[dewcon4414]

Joe.... ive preached the dont tighten those ears because I know what happens. Doubt its the water per sa because im using Sov coins on my Xcals.

 

[EL Pulltabio]

I'm guilty of doing that, until today!

Thank You

 

[EL Pulltabio]

Which brand of silicon grease/spray do you use?
I'll be off to buy it asap!!

Thank You

 

[OldBeechnut]

Dew uses 303 which you can get at walmart , I use McNett Silicon Spray and another OP, I change coils on my Excalibur, so when I pull a coil off I just take Dow 111 silicon grease the cable good. I do believe these treatments will extent the life of a minelab coil cable.

 

[tvr]

I've been using Son Of A Gun Protectant ... because I already had some in the house. I've been using it for years to lubricate the rubber bands on the free flight model airplanes. Get more winds into the rubber, more power released and longer life for the rubber motors. Should help life of the coil cable covering too.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[dewcon4414]

Tvr..... interesting. I figured that might make a band crack....but if it works on rubber bands it a good thing. Most products really degrade those band fast....id say that a good test...use it on a rubber band. Dont use the cheap spray.... I got some that you could see where it ran after it dried. That 303is great stuff....used it on everything when we RVed.

 

[tvr]

Dew,
When I first started flying the rubber powered planes, the thing to do to lube the motors (rubber) was a diluted dish soap with a couple drops of glycerin added. When the vinyl protectants became widely available, there was a lot of experimenting and measuring of both number of winds and torque until breaking and the total torque profile during the run times while unwinding. Total power over a longer run was what we went after, each motor lasting longer was a bonus. Armor All worked well too but would wick up the strands of rubber beyond where it was applied and the knots would sometimes come loose; not a good thing to have the knot come apart on a fully wound motor inside a fragile tissue covered balsa stick fuselage.

I'm not flying much now. The Son of a Gun bottle I have is more than ten years old and nearly empty. I'll probably pick up some of the 303 soon for use on the detectors.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[WaterWalker]

I had over 4,000 hours in water, both salt and fresh, on my WOT coil before it gave up the ghost.
The outer section of the coil cracked once. With the help of a Coiltek technician and my
expertise as a micro-miniature repair technician I repaired the coil. It lasted another 1,600 hours---
half of its lifespan. I never treated the coil wire which saw a terrific amount of flexing as the
control tube was hip mounted.

I have also had OEM coil / coil wires fail in less than 300 hours of detecting.
I have also seen OEM coil wires crack and get abraded to the point they ceased to function in the
water environment.

WOT repair photos: broken coil case and wire; second photo is after repair

 

[goodmore]

It has already been said a few times. Replace the washers on the rod routinely. Drawing the ears together is putting stress on the coil housing. I don't like coil stabilizers because the terrain and slope changes. But these coils will be harder to find the longer we continue to use the discontinued Sovereign.

 

[dewcon4414]

Very good point about the the coils being hard to find.....especially the standard. Ive got my hunting style now where my coil almost always touches the bottom so i prefer my coil a little looser. Seems to wear less on the coil ears and cut down on coil flip which cause most of the falsing.