F70 internal cable and fin mod...

[mudpuppy]

I've had this thing for years...My main broom, I added a longer lower rod several years back and have it pulled out to max length, which is @39" from coil bolt to back of brainbox...generally ran the coil cable straight up the outside of the shaft, leaving a little loop at the top...I never change coils or shaft length, if I need to collapse the rig for travel, I pop it apart at the top knuckle and fold it in half...

The fins on that 11"dd were always an annoyance...they catch wet newly mowed grass, sand, snow, etc. and make the coil weigh a ton, plus, I work a lot of shallow water, and those things made it very hard to move the coil from all the resistance they created...so they had to go...

While checking everything out, I noticed there were deep grooves worn into the inside of the coil ears from the rod rotating in there all the time...those had to be filled in as well. (JBWeld)
I got rid of both camlocks and lower detent spring, JBWelded the lower rod in place...you can see a junker SS ring (black with a cross on it) I used that fit perfect as a spacer on the upper shaft, so it makes everything not wiggle, and real easy and fast to pop the shaft off and on without fishing around to find the detent hole...

I appear to have been successful, since everything works just fine...
Mud

 

[Mega]

Mud,have done a few similar mods to my T2,i dumped the original T2 straight shaft and use the 33'' Whites tallman shaft on mine straight into the top camlock that is just under the control box.Mainly use the lighter NEL Sharpshooter coil on mine as like you i think the original 11'' coil is total pants.

It does make my T2 alot lighter and with the NEL coil on it i feel the overall performance is much better all round machine.

Will have to look into putting my cable inside the shaft as that is a neat conversion that you have done

 

[mudpuppy]

MegaB...With your skills and tools, You should have no problem at all!...that Fisher connector comes apart easily, and with the right soldering equipment, it should be a breeze to sweat those joints loose...I suppose your largest annoyance will be the lower rod detent spring button...it will have to be modified (slightly ground a bit narrower) so the wire can get past it....

Other than the soldering skills and drilling the holes, its an easy mod and gets that wire out of the way...in fact, having it inside the aluminum upper tube may add a bit of extra EMI shielding? Not that thats a big deal with your NEL...anyway, it does make for a nice clean package...
Mud

 

[Explorer]

Interesting modification--but you have to watch out with JBWeld it is laced with steel powder (black tube). Try a small magnet on it and you will find out.

 

[mudpuppy]

Explorer,

You are right about the JB weld being metal reinforced...it says so right on the box the tubes come in...And I worried for a little bit,

Then I remembered reading someplace years back that guys used to use brass bolts to attach their coils to the shaft with no trouble...it doesnt make sense right? but I remembered they said it was no trouble...now my memory is not what it used to be, so I cannot be 100% sure if this is the truth....

...So I gave it a go, no troubles, everything operated as before...I took it out snow hunting and all seemed fine... I did not go hog wild with it either and used it sparingly...But good point....Anybody else ever use JB weld and notice any problems on the coil?

Heck, guys that use coil covers seem to notice trouble when black iron sand gets in the cover right? Or has anybody ever used a brass bolt for a coil bolt?
Mud

 

[Tom Slick]

Coil bolts used to all be brass or steel. As long as it doesn't move in relation to the coil, the detector doesn't respond to it. I would think that it would have some effect just as detecting over highly mineralized ground does but then again, the ground is in motion to the coil while the coil is being swept.