Excal II battery charging / coil cover question

[Florida Keys Pirate]

Do you guys charge your battery before each trip out ? I've went out twice for about two to three hours each time. Should I assume I have about 10 hours of detection time left ? Or , should I be leaving my machine on to discharge the battery , and then recharging it each time ? Is it bad to charge the battery before it's completely dead ? Don't want to damage my battery by improper charging techniques. But, I don't want to arrive to the beach with a nearly dead battery either. Also , is the yellow coil cover removable ? Or , is it glued on ? I want to make sure there is no sand trapped inside there before I silicone the topside of the coil ( to keep black sand out , and avoid false signals ).
Thanks

 

[hershey1]

The new batteries no longer have a memory so you can recharge without them being run all the way down. The way I usually do is if I hunt say 5 hrs. I will recharge 5 hrs. The coil cover is removable and even though it may be tight sand and other stuff will get in and sometimes cause falsing so I clean mine often. HH

 

[Florida Keys Pirate]

Thanks hershey 1.

 

[GrizRod1]

Soaking the coil cover in dish washing detergent and water for a few minutes make it a lot easier to get off, I have use a flat screw driver blade on the edge of the coil after doing this, but be careful and not put a lot of pressure and crack it. I usually try the edge near where the coil hooks to detector shaft.

 

[Florida Keys Pirate]

I was able to pull it off by hand. After it dries , I'll put it back on and seal around the edges with clear silicone to keep sand out. It'll peel right off if I ever need to remove it. Thanks guys !

 

[erikk]

DO NOT SEAL THE COIL COVER WITH SILICONE OR ANYTHING ELSE.Sand WILL get in eventually and they you will have as big mess. If you are under warranty just live with cleaning the coil cover from time to time and then spray several coats with bed liner spray
AS for the charging of the battery I use one of these and I charge till the green light comes on EVERY TIME before I go out

 

[Florida Keys Pirate]

I'm going to charge my battery like Hershey 1 suggested. I've detected for about six hours , so I'll charge it for six hours. But , I'm suprised to see that the manual doesn't tell you how to properly charge the battery after the first time. Has anyone ever spoken to a Minelab tech. about charging times ?

 

[John(Tx)]

The NIMH batteries are not suppose to develope a memory. I usually use my Excal about 3-4 times for about 3 hours each time. After that I recharge the batteries. The charger I have is a Powerizer Model H01200006-US-1 and it will fully recharge my batteries in 2 hours flat.

 

[Florida Keys Pirate]

OK, Thanks.

 

[jyt2017]

Has anyone used the battery pack you can use AA batteries in? It says its not waterproof, and for 80 bucks its quite costly. The next option is to buy a second battery...and I dont wanna do that...150 bucks. Jesh those are expensive...over 10% of the cost of a machine. I looked up the Powerizer Model H01200006-US-1 and am curious if John(Tx) could post a picture of the setup. Looks confusing from the rig. Thanks. HH-Joe

 

[John(Tx)]

Here are a couple of pics of the charger, very simple to use. Just use the connector from your original minelab charger. Hope this helps. John

 

[Critterhunter]

Nimhs still benefit from being drained dead a recharged about 5 times in a row a couple times a year. They will hold more capacity that way. Do the same for nicads. No need to drain those dead before every charge so long as you do that. Drain them dead with a car tail light bulb and when it goes out let is sit on it for another 20 minutes.

 

[John(Tx)]

but don't let the voltage get below 7-8 volts, have heard that is not good for them, your thoughts? HH

 

[ML]

I no longer use a coil cover. My Excal would false badly even if I took it off and washed it out several times per hunt.

 

[Critterhunter]

Drain nimhs or nicads DEAD as a door nail 3 to 5 times in a row and do this a few times a year. /just don't store it dead.

 

[foiled again tab hunter]

I've done mine this way & if it doesn't work I guess I'll have a mess & then I'll try the bed liner or marine epoxy on it......Tab.

 

[Suncoast Kid]

I would like to say that the recharging system that erikk has pictured is the best. There is no more wondering what the status of my batteries are any longer, not only with my detectors, but with anything. I have put together the same set up myself, and have charged just about anything I could get my hands on. Thanks for sharing the information, it's a life saver.

 

[erikk]

I've done mine this way & if it doesn't work I guess I'll have a mess & then I'll try the bed liner or marine epoxy on it......Tab.

You can put 100 coats of silicone around you coil and eventually the sand WILL GET IN and yes you will then have a super mess. I used to use epoxy but I have since found the bedliner more durable and easier to maintain

 

[erikk]

I would like to say that the recharging system that erikk has pictured is the best. There is no more wondering what the status of my batteries are any longer, not only with my detectors, but with anything. I have put together the same set up myself, and have charged just about anything I could get my hands on. Thanks for sharing the information, it's a life saver.