Coil Stiffeners?

[utmike]

I'm seeing lots of videos of red coil stiffeners being used lately, especially by beach hunters.
I am curious to know if these are worthwhile?
I haven't had any problems with my 11" or 6" and am careful not to lean/put weight on them. If they really do help, I'd pay up for them just in case.
I'd love to hear users comments on these gadgets.
Thanks!

 

[fwcrawford]

I bought one to try, but in my opinion it did not help much.
My coil kept flopping down every time I set it down to dig a target, which is the reason I got one. Even with that installed, I had the same problem.
The issue is that there is space between the coil ears and the rubber washers, and in order to make the coil stay in position the ears have to tightened to the point that they bend inwards which causes them to crack and break.
A better solution is to add some shims behind the washers to fill the gap so the ears fit tight against them.

 

[jayhop]

I'm seeing lots of videos of red coil stiffeners being used lately, especially by beach hunters.
I am curious to know if these are worthwhile?
I haven't had any problems with my 11" or 6" and am careful not to lean/put weight on them. If they really do help, I'd pay up for them just in case.
I'd love to hear users comments on these gadgets.
Thanks!

They don't work, I bought the best one I could find and my coil still broke.
Keeping new washers in is about all you can do. But if I still have my machine when the warranty runs out I will reinforce with epoxy.

 

[ColonelDan]

I've had three stiffeners and had three broken coils even with the stiffeners installed...all coils were under warranty fortunately. The only way to fix this is to epoxy the stiffeners to the coil itself making the ears and stiffener one solid piece. However, this could very well void the warranty. The best way to permanently fix this problem is for Minelab to redesign the coil ears!

 

[Mark kus]

I have one on my 11' coil really makes not much difference but my coil is 3 years old knock on wood I'm super careful and when water hunting I use only the 6" way easier to swing under water..
Mark

 

[Justme]

i have stiffeners on my 11 and 15, havent broken the ears yet even without the stiffeners on.

 

[Finderskeeper]

I have the ones that are popular over in Europe....they sell them here on Flea Bay.......
So far, it seems that they are pretty stout. You cannot bend the tabs as the tabs are enclosed by the coil stiffener on these that I have. The tabs on the coils cannot be moved with them on. The problem with loose coils is not the tabs...it is the rubber washers that often times break down. I've had those rubber washers break down on a few of my detectors in the past and the only way to fix a loose coil is to replace the washers.

Would I get them again? Yeah, I probably would. Do they do what they say they can do? Not sure......I could take my detector and wack it against a tree to see but I don't think I want to do that. I do know this.....the European ones from England are very well built (3D printed) and fit perfectly. The Europeans seem to swear by them as they too have experienced coil tab breakage. So far, I have not heard any reports of coil tabs breaking with the European Coil Stiffeners. (Gee...I wish they were made in the USA!)

Note: The 15 inch coil version does not use snap ties to hold it on. It just snaps over the coil tabs and that holds it on very well.
The 11 inch coil version uses nylon lock ties to hold it on.
There are different versions for each size coil.

 

[Finderskeeper]

Here's a photo of the ones I have. As you can see, the tabs on the stiffeners are a lot thicker than the ones on the coils. They should work. So far, I cannot tell if they do or not but I suspect they do.....and that is just an opinion and we know what opinions are good for.

Oh yeah....I run my coils bare naked....no skid plates .....they have some weight to them and I find them problematic. I could be wrong, but I suspect that that little extra weight can cause tab breakage due to the inertia of the swinging of the coil with the skid plate on.

 

[fwcrawford]

Those pieces are nice looking… I can see how they would really help against breakage.
The one I tried was not like those at all.

 

[utmike]

Here's a photo of the ones I have. As you can see, the tabs on the stiffeners are a lot thicker than the ones on the coils. They should work. So far, I cannot tell if they do or not but I suspect they do.....and that is just an opinion and we know what opinions are good for.

Oh yeah....I run my coils bare naked....no skid plates .....they have some weight to them and I find them problematic. I could be wrong, but I suspect that that little extra weight can cause tab breakage due to the inertia of the swinging of the coil with the skid plate on.

That looks like a smart design. I don't spend a ton of time on the other brand forums but this seems to be more common with Minelab. Back in the Xterra days, I had several friends break ears on the larger coils. Knock on wood, I've never lost a coil on the Xterra, Etrac, or Nox.
I use the small coil almost exclusively and haven't really heard about breakage with those.
You'd think with the tech wizardry Minelab puts into their electronics, they could solve this issue.

 

[Mark kus]

They need to make one that has a slot and the coil tab ears go in between the slots to really make it work
Mark

 

[Dirt Duke]

I bought a coil stiffener and it was a total waste of money. Both coil ears broke. Fortunately, my coil was still under warranty at the time and was replaced by Minelab. I asked thr Ft Bedford repair guys about the coil ear breakage problem. They said over tightening the coil bolt appears to be the issue. The suggestion above to shim the rubber washers, or better yet, replace them with new washers Is good advice.
Check out Gigmaster's July videos for his reinforcement of the coil ears. He used ABS plastic and epoxy to add additional thickness to the ears. I did this mod to my out-of-warranty coil using 1/8” ABS plastic and it worked perfectly, adding much needed strength to the coil ears. Turned out great. Use the same epoxy Gigmaster used.