It may appear that I had the same problem with my EQ2 DD Pro Search coil (my coil of preference); it would short out. I talked to a White's rep, and I was told that I could send it in (not under warranty), or I could attempt to fix the problem myself, and if I couldn't fix it to give a call back and he would set up with another coil!! ((Not for a minute did I think it would be free, but maybe a discount??))
Although I'm not a technician by trade, I decided to take him up on his offer and attempted to correct the problem myself. Although I had to break the housing unit (not the screw cap) in order to get to the wires, I was able to sort the problem out (not a wire break, rather two wires were touching that caused the short). Jerry-Rigged the cable back into the housing unit, attached some electrical tape around the plug, and I was out hunting within the hour. Came back with a 14k mans wedding band, and a UK 1 pound coin (a first here), so I'm back in the hunt.
Now, I'm not telling you to do this, rather this is what I did with no problems, and I learned something in the process. Course, it could have gone the other way, and I could be out 100 bucks..
Thanks/Cliff