ELECTRONICALLY BALANCE A COIL ?????

[RELIC_HUNTER]

I read in a gold hunter's field guide to detector's that Minelab user's with the top of the line gold machine's have their coils balanced electronically to the machine's they will be used with...Is this a waste of time and money or should all user's no matter what machine's they use,have thier coils balanced.

 

[BarberBill]

I'm not sure exactly what is meant by that. I know that Tesoro will balance a particular coil for the best match on their preset ground balance machines if one is using a particular coil nearly all the time, for the best performance. (at no charge other than shipping, I believe) I've had it in my mind, but may not be accurate, that machines with manual ground balance or true auto ground balance are pretty well matched to the coil in use at the time, when properly balanced. That said, if I were a serious prospector I'd want my machine to be set up to the top efficiency it was capable of. Interested to see if some of the techies jump into this with more.
HH
Bill

 

[robert roy]

I think he's talking about calibration of the coil.
I recently read that a few of Tesoro coils had a problem with calibration/balance and thats why some people said they were geting lousy depth while others were getting outstanding depth!!!!!! I believe that was the problem with my Ace 9x12 coil I just returned. Calibration can be thrown off, I'm told, by constantly bumping it or even worse, jaring it/droping it on the ground. I have to wonder if it wouldn't hurt to send one's coils in from time to time to make sure they ARE calibrated, as long as the warrenty is still good.

Robert R

 

[BarberBill]

I'd like to see an expert on this respond. To the best of my knowledge from seeing diagrams of coils and seeing a video of Tesoro coils being manufactured, there is nothing (no electronics) to calibrate in the coil. They are just 2 sets of wire wrapped to the proper length, connected to the lead and sealed in the plastic housing. The only physical adjustments or calibration would have to be at the detector box. I'd be interested in some other examples, but I'm 99% sure this is accurate.
HH
Bill

 

[robert roy]

I'll have to do some calling around. I could very well
be describeing the situation the wrong way.
Give me a week and I'll get back to ya.-)
Regards
Robert

 

[coinnut]

I always thought a coil was electrically balanced when the two wires were a "balanced" (set) distance from each other. When you hit the coil and loosen one of those wires and it moves closer (or farther) from the other one, it is less effective and "unbalanced". I think there is a relationship between the two that has to be maintained for perfection. And there is always the coil that is made on a Monday by the hung over, disgruntled employee, that I always seem to get.

 

[BarberBill]

I think coin nut is right on - especially in the original design, engineering and manufacturing of the coil. Some coils are sealed well enough that opening them up is likely to destroy them leaving replacement, rather than adjustment. as the option.. I'm sure that a coil that is "right on" to specs or within allowable tolerances as it comes out of the factory is the desirable goal, both for the manufacturer and the user. A coil that has been severely banged and then begins acting strangely could very easily have one of the windings bounced out of place or a broken/cracked wire. Whether that would be repairable or not, depends on the total design I expect.
HH
Bill

 

[robert roy]

Getting back to you like I said I would,
About those pesky coils

 

[BarberBill]

No problem RR, I found this thread informative and of interest for those of us that like to understand our machines better. One of the big pluses that comes from hanging around the forums.
HH
Bill

 

[Delaware Bill]

I would think that the reference to having the coil balanced would actually mean that the detector would be adjusted internally to get the maximum performance from the coil detector combination. I believe that First Texas with the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Detector does this for the 10" coil. This is so you get a true depth and VID reading as the detector was optimized to work with the 8" coil.

 

[BarberBill]

That has been my impression as well. I once asked the Tesoro people about different coils for one of their preset ground balance machines and was told that if the coil and machine were sent in, it could be adjusted for the maximum efficiency. Later learned that on the average, switching the coils works well without additional adjustment most of the time.
HH
Bill