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Excalibur reliability

R

Raven69

New member
Hello forum users. I'm new to the forum and live in Western Australia.

I am interested in getting an excalibur for beach wading and shallow diving. I read a few posts about general reliability of the excalibur such as leaking around cable glands and the knobs having issues.
Would you consider the excalibur generally a reliable machine with only the odd one having an issue? Or are they prone to having problems?



Thanks

Raven
 
They are about as closed up as you can get with the pods. Knobs...... $15 for a set off fee bay pretty cheap issue if one does let go compared to some with leaky battery boxes. Electronics and salt water dont mix but the Xcal has minor issuses compared to what can and does happen to other water machines. Got mine last Aug and i put it thru the ringer almost every day...... they arent tanks but tuffer than they look.

Dew
 
I've owned four. An 800, 1000 and two 1000 II's. I have never had any problems with any of them.

I sold the first three because I thought I wanted something else. Always went back to the Excalibur when I found out that at least for me, the Excalibur is the machine I like best. I won't sell the one I have now. An Excalibur II 1500....WOT coil. Mel Parker / Old Beechnut remote pin point / discriminate switch. Ear buds inside sound reducing ear muffs which brand cannot be said here on this site. 1600 MAH NIMH battery upgrade. Straight shaft (home made). Plugger's shaft lock.

I've been using it now for about two years and it has been flawless. Best machine I've found for overall hunting in almost all conditions. Nice to clean it up with a hose.

The knobs are not an issue at least for me. Some people try to crank them hard and that causes problems. The one knob that gets the most use is the pin point / discrimination knob. But if you modify that with a remote switch, no more possible problem. Plus it makes using the Excalibur so much nicer. Best mod after the straight shaft. You don't have to drop a sand scoop to change modes with the remote switch.
 
what about getting your excal II serviced ......my understating is that Minlab won't service with mods, or will they ??
 
I've owned 2 in the last 12 years & the only problem I had with the original one was with the knobs & it was serviced quickly worked great after that. I really like the machines & highly recommend them.
 
I have owned 3 Excalibur II's and never had an issue with a single one of them. These are fantastic machines and, in my opinion, the best water machine out there hands down. You will surely not regret getting this machine. Good luck and if you have any further or more specific questions, I would be happy to help answer them. -Marc
 
[size=medium]I read somewhere that certain models such as the early Excalibur models (horseshoe coil era) and XS Explorer are just a few models that Minelab doesn't service any longer....the reason (so said) was that there was a shortage of parts. Please clarify this, as I like some of the older machines. Thanks[/size]
 
I have not heard of any excals that can't be serviced by Minelab. I am not sure this is the case but I do know that if Minelab can help, they absolutely will. There are a few people on here who have had problems with Minelab service, but from my experience, they completely stand behind their products and make every effort to make customers happy. If you have read about bad customer service from anyone on this, or any other forum, take a look at how many posts those people tend to have. It rarely is ever from people who have a significant amount of posts. These people are usually the "come and go" odd person out who doesn't give us the whole story of their problem. I hope this doesn't read in a negative way, My point is, if Minelab can take care of your problem, from my experience, they will do the "right" thing every time (and often go above and beyond). If you are worried about a specific machine and the possibility of servicing that machine, why don't you give Minelab a quick call and ask them about availability of parts etc. Forums are great, but I find that personal contact with manufacturers sometimes is the best way to get a solid answer. Hope this helps -Marc
 
Thanks for the replies. As I suspected they are a good machine but as usually is the case people don't post when their machines are working perfectly, only when they fail.


Cheers,

Raven
 
Hi Raven, there are plenty of posts about people being extremely successful with these machines. I would feel very confident in saying that it is easier to find "happy" posts than "angry" posts about this machine. Most people complain about 2 things on this machine: the headphones and the knobs. I have done extensive tests on the headphones vs. others and have never found a target that I couldn't hear with the stock phones that I could hear with aftermarkets. I am not saying that certain aftermarkets aren't more comfortable or slightly clearer in tones, but aftermarkets, do not find targets that the stocks can't find. The knobs, for me anyway, make perfect sense. The knobs are designed as the weak point because if you have firm set screws on the knobs, rather than wearing out the knob, you will actually damage the circuit board inside the machine. One thing has to give and I think it was the absolute correct choice of Minelab to let the cheap knobs give (eventually) rather than making the consumer pay the high price of fixing the circuit board in case of over-turning a knob. If you want "firmer" knobs, as some do, change them out for $25 but I think its good to have an external weak point that remains cheap. The headphones are fine. If one of your concerns were the phones, forget about them. I have found hundreds of gold rings with these machines and I can't imagine that "better" phones would have given me better results. The only real problems I have seen on these machines relate to neglect. I wash off my Excals every time I get out of the water and I use sprays on my coil wires in order to maintain them. Most complaints you hear will be of "deteriorating" coil wires and these are due to people bringing their excals to the beach on a regular basis and not maintaining them properly. Excals are not capable of ignoring physics. If you maintain these machines, they will last a very long time. On the other hand, if you neglect them, they will fail and cause newbs to post hate-mail on them in a matter of months. Treat this machine right and it will return the favor. Thats what I have found. I literally make my living using excals and I have never had a problem. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions but i would also strongly recommend calling Minelab directly to ask any questions you may have. As I stated before, forums and dealers' words are one thing, but hearing answers to your questions from the manufacturer directly is a completely different thing. I have spoken with Minelab about infinite questions and they have always happily helped me. Good luck and please let us know what you end up doing. -Marc
 
Hi Marc,

Thanks for the detailed reply, much appreciated.

I will get an excal, unfortunately not in the immediate future but soon. I was looking at PI machines and given they are a fair bit less expensive I was tempted. However some of the places where I intend to detect has a lot of rubbish, so a machine with discrimination is a must.


Thanks

Raven
 
Well, good luck inmaking your decision Raven. I'm not a dealer or anything so I have no motivation for saying what I say. I just know these machines work well and I have had excellent customer service with Minelab. I like to support brands when I come across ones with good products and good customer service, especially these days. I hope you end up with the machine that makes you happy, whatever that may be. I just know for a fact that you will not be disappointed if you end up with one of these. Please keep me informed about what you end up with and I would be happy to give you some tips on using your excal if you end up going that route. -Marc
 
Hey Marc,

Thanks for the offer of some tips, I might just take you up on that.


Regards,


Mark
 
Hi Mark,

Anytime, I mean it. I don't claim to be a "guru" on this machine by any means, but I will claim that I know it very well. If there is anything at all that I can do to help you, please feel free to contact me anytime. I hope to see posts of your finds very soon. HH -Marc
 
Personally i dont like the head phones Marc. would i change them out if i didnt have a warranty yes. The muffs just dont keep out much noise compared to high quality ones. Also im constantly adjusting them on my head. I cant say after market is the better or not, but if done correctly they have to be more confortable with better noise filter. Anytime you have to raise the threshold you have a chance of loosing a target. I think thats where the difference would lie on weak sigals. My knobs are friggen tight.... Dig can attest to that when he was doing some adjustments. If i had a used machine right now id do all the mods..... head phones, PP, WOT.... why? Anything for an edge or comfort. But Marc's right this in one heck of a good disc machine.

Dew
 
[size=medium]Thanks Marc, I went to the offical Minelab website and found out that they will service any Minelab detector that they have parts for. The issue isn't with Service. The question is wether Minelab has parts for discontinued models. On the Minelab website they list 15 discontined models....including the 1993 Excalibur. To view the list (from the Minelab homepage)....click Consumer, then Customer-Care, then from the left menu, click Obsolete. Keep in mind this isn't a list of detectors that aren't serviceable, but it is a possiblity, depending on the problem. In certain cases Minelab may offer to purchase your broken detector and offer a credit for a new model. I will call Minelab before purchasing a discontinued model. Thanks again Marc. [/size]
 
Darn, I'm sorry. Well I stand corrected. Please let me know what you end up doing. I would still recommend getting an Excal as it is a fantastic machine. There are regularly good deals to be had on used ones if new is not an option for you. If you can sling it though, I am sure you wouldn't regret a new one by any means. If you find its not for you, you can sell it, with warranty which should allow you to get most of your money back. My finds in the first 2 months of owning my first Excal paid for the Excal and for another machine. I can't claim this for everyone that buys one, but if you put in the time and hit some good spots, you could pay off that machine very quickly with finds. Water machines tend to pay themselves off much faster than land machines anyway. All you need is to do your research and get yourself in some good spots. Please let me know what you end up doing and if you get an Excal, I would be happy to give you a few tips if you need help with it. -Marc
 
Well I wasn't planning on buying an Excalibur for a while, but I sold some stuff I had laying around and went and bought an as new Excalibur 11 1000. I pick it up on Monday. Am very excited and looking forward to learning it :clapping:
 
Yes the headphones could be better, but I couldn't imagine using a different detector when hunting in saltwater off the beach, & a pulse is great if there is little to no trash. The main thing as stated in the previous posts: Clean and rinse it off good, and then spray it with diver quality silicone spray, and it will last a long time.
 
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