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Explorer Weight...

Hey Big Fang,

I just happen to weigh my modified Explorer XS to Whites 3 piece S shaft, with 12X10 SEF coil. For power I mounted an Excalibur pod with 1600 battery way back under the arm cuff. It has the typical Whites arm cuff/strap mounted at max distance out. I also used a Whites Tall Man lower rod and took out the center metal piece of the 3 piece rod. In this configuration it weighs exactly 3 pounds 15 ounces. It's lighter than my DFX.

Naturally even lighter with lighter coils, such as the Pro coil or smaller coils. Not sure how this weight would compare with new factory machines, but I suspect mine is lighter and better balanced. I like the Tall Man rod for a wider sweep, but for 2 - 3 more ounces extra I can change/add the Whites center metal rod piece and a shortened ML Excalibur lower rod. This will take it slightly over 4 pounds, but one can shorten the OAL for a perceived lighter weight/balance- only sweep distance will be smaller. I would certainly shorten the sweep using larger coils such as the WOT.

If you really want to go light then contact Mr Goldmaster here on the forums. He stuck his Explorer in a WP bag hung around his neck and uses a balance shaft for the coil and battery. One could easily use a Whites straight dive shaft with added center from Whites 3 piece travel rod for that. He mounted the battery on the rod to help balance the coil and not have too much weight around his neck. All controls can be done thru the bag. Excalibur lower rods work with whites shafts and also with FBS coils.

With an 8 inch coil, I could swing my Explorer all day and actually enjoy it!
 
Thanks Chris,
Sounds like you have the weight down on that machine. Let's see some pictures of the beast. Good tips on the Excal lower rod and tall man rod. I have a friend who is going to give me some stuff from a project he started. He said it is an old XLT shaft. Charles made me think an X-Terra shaft would be lighter/better - wonder if the Explorer coils fit on the X-Terra lower rod?
Thanks again and HH - BF
 
I personally have to use a swingy that I've made out of a small back pack that fits REALY well and adjustable bungie cords. It works great and I use it on tougher hunts and keep possibles in the bag too. I've torn my rotator cuff and any hunt over a couple hrs will do me in without it.
I've looked at some WAY cool mods on the mod site here and been tempted to do some but I don;t want to screw up a really good machine that was not cheap. I've detected almost 30 years now... would be nice if the machines got lighter and not heavier.
 
i sent the image below to minelab a while back just for a bit of fun, plus it was to dropping a few hints and other issues aswell. they just found it funny and said that they wear aware of the weight issue. i told them if they could just put an explorer/etrac inners into the body of an deus all us people who have health problems will be much happier falk.
this is the email reply i got back....

I Trust that you are keeping well.
At least your sense of humour is intact...the picture was very good!!

In relation to the core of your message..thanks for taking the time first of all. It is true that weight has always been a concern for our customers. Traditionally, the customer base for our market has been middle-aged and beyond so weight will always be a consideration for them. In recent times, the market has grown and continues to do so and now appeals to all ages so we too must move with the times.

I think that we have made advances in this regard with the introduction o f the Xterra series, lighter coils and progressively lighter machines with each new release.
We will be looking to continue this with any new releases in the future (Obviously such information is confidential)

Thanks you for your product development suggestions and please let me know if you have any further comments.

Best regards,
Vincent.

PETITION.jpg
 
I think changing the Explorer balance is more important than reducing just weight. Getting the battery pack even further back than I have it would be even better. As a matter of fact, perhaps one of the Excalibur balance shafts would be the way to go? One could mount the battery way back to balance the coil neutral- sounds like a fun project! One might even try a stock Excalibur S rod, then purchase those balance adaptor short shafts that extend the rear of the Excal shaft. That's where one is supposed to mount the Excal and battery towards the rear. Well, one could use and mount an Excal battery pod back there and then mount the Explorer housing on top of the rod down past the S curve/foam handle. Then use Excalibur lower rods for your FBS coils. The weight of the battery that far back should help offset the coil weight up front. One might even add weight back there to float the larger FBS coils?

You can get an alkaline Excalibur battery pod, the put a 1600 battery in it. The Excal battery will snap right on to the rod rear where intended. You'll have to buy an Ikelite connector- like on Excalibur and run a coiled power wire. I would then use Excalibur lower rods for your FBS coils.

If you use Whites lower rods, you'll have to get thicker/double up on washers for the wider FBS coil ears. Plus you probably will have to ad a shim under the Explorer housing to fatten the rod. One can use a piece of rubber hose split in 2 for that and drape it around the shaft. I drilled a 1/4 hole through shaft and bottom of EXP housing and mounted it to shaft with nylon bolt and wing nut. Use a flat washer on the inside of housing, and be careful not to yank any wires loose. You can add a 1/4 headphone jack to the front side of Explorer housing (drill hole for it) and solder/wire it. Just take your time doing it and if you get stuck with the wiring, you'll have to find someone to help do it for you- such a soldering. Again, Mr. Goldmaster who builds the best headphones for Excaliburs, can help with advice/getting some of the parts. He is Very Smart when it comes to these fun projects. Just tell him Caribbean Chris from Seattle sent you. On the other hand you could just get that funny lookin Swingy Thingy leash and walk da dog!:lmfao:
 
I do know that the handle angle is also part of the issue...for me anyway. The E-Trac, while not much different in weight, works MUCH better for me, with its more "upright" handle angle, than the Explorer does. There are a number of issues here revolving around "ergonomics;" hopefully Minelab really is "on the ball" like they implied in their response to "sovereign-fan."

Steve
 
You got a fairly good response too. So, their market is growing to include more than middle-aged and beyond, ok. So, now they can design for an eighteen-year old and/or a three-year old?? Sort of reading between the lines, I guess that they now think weight is an issue?? Not really sure.

Man I hope the E-Track is not the wave of the future in the "Explorer" line. I hope they make an Explorer III (which would be what the SE should have been, and lightweight). They can drop the overly priced, marginally better E-Track as far as I am concerned.

Thanks - BF
 
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