GT control box seems sloppy

[sierraimage]

Hello all, I am new to the sight, but happy to be here.

I have a question, I bought a used GT this week and I can't get over how loose the control box seems when mounted to the handle. Is this normal for all GTs? Its the main blue box where it attaches to the handle clip. It seems like it's wants to fall off, but so far it seem on there, but just a lot of play at the mounting point between the two and wobbles back and forth more than I would think it should. Any suggestions or thoughts? or is this just the way they are? Thanks for your help and I'm excited to be a part of your forum.

sierraimage

 

[Kbron2000]

Mine is very stable, I does not move a bit.... Did you install the mount before you placed the box?

 

[sierraimage]

yes, the mount went first on the shaft assembly. It seems like the mount isn't wide enough or is slightly too small for the channel in the back of the control box or there is too much space between the control box and slide/snap channel mount. It doesn't move up and down at all, but the left to right movement seems excessive. The mount to shaft connection also seems loose to me as well as the box to clip bracket, but those look like rivets to me. I took it all apart and reassembled it, but that didn't seem to improve the play in both pieces. Nothing appears to be broken either, no cracked or missing tabs etc. Thanks for your response, any thoughts?

 

[devilantsva]

The mounting bracket side that slides in between the arm rest should be approx. 1-1/4 inches wide. The side that mounts to the control box should be approx. 1 inch wide and from the male insert at the top to the male insert on the release at the bottom should be approx. 5-3/4 inches. These are the measurements from my GT.

 

[sierraimage]

indeed, those are the same measurements as mine and I don't have any play up and down from the box and mount, I think it's the width of the top male tab on the bracket (closest to the top end of the shaft) that is why it's sloppy and rocks back and forth. The width of the tabs on the bracket is 5/8" (both the hook tab and raised tab) and both of the female cut-outs on the control box are 6/8" plus a hair. The female receptor on my control box isn't worn out either.

Don't want to sounds like an insane person talking about 1/8", but seems really odd for a $1000 piece of equipment. Do these measurements match yours? An 1/8' is actually a lot of room on something like this I would think.

Thanks

 

[deepdiger60]

Make sure the tabs on the clip are not worn or bent if they are being it is a used unit that most likely is the problem as you can see in my photo my tabs are just starting to wear but i do not use it any more i hip mount my unit , iam sure that clip is replaceable in Minelab,s site . The red push pins show the tab,s you need to check . GL Jim

 

[devilantsva]

Check two more measurements. The clip that hooks to the top of the control box should stick out 1/8 inch from the flat surface below. The bottom release clip should measure 1 inch from the flat surface measuring straight out.

 

[Critterhunter]

Put some tape on the tabs before popping the control box on. That should snug it up. Mine doesn't have any play. More than likely the previous owner kept taking the box of the mount frequently to say chest mount to water hunt or something. You could also try putting tape on the mount where the box rides flush up against it without putting tape on the tab heads to see if that snugs things up. I'm not talking about taping the box to it, I'm talking about using tape to fill any gaps that cause any play between the box and mount.

Lacking that working, you could order a new box clip. Check the Sovereign accessories sticky at the top of this forum. I posted a pic of the box clip that can be bought separately from a Findmall sponsor such as Kellyco or perhaps others like Indian Nation detectors. The picture I posted also has a Minelab shaft stand in the picture.

 

[sierraimage]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I think I need to try just ordering a new handle clip and maybe those will be a little wider in the tab areas to prevent the back and forth wobble.

 

[Gary in Daytona]

I'm not happy with just using the strap that comes with the bag because it let's the GT swing all over the place when I'm bending over, so I'd like to try making something of my own. Looking for some ideas. TIA

 

[Critterhunter]

I think some guys use those small straps meant to hold binoculars tightly to your chest when hiking or something? I remember a big discussion on that a year or so back if anybody knows? I'd do a search for "binocular, binoculars" ANY words ALL dates, in this forum and you'll probably find what you are looking for.

 

[Gary in Daytona]

I think they called it Bino-buddy or something like that. I'll look around, thanks for the reminder.