Help Coil Repairs

[gozze]

I had the 10.5 standard loop for the exp1 go bad last year and I won a 8" loop shortly afterward. Now, slightly a year after recieving it, it died. I love my minelab, but it seems to kill coils. I've been detecting with several brands since the 70's and never had one go bad before.

I have a question in regards to fixing coils. I believe that since the wire is forced from the coil to the shaft, it causes it to bend a little each time the coil has movement, hence a short in the wire. Sometimes it acts normal, but on occation when you go down to dig an object and you put the detector down, the loop shifts a little, when the loop shifts, the wire on the outside is moves a little. When that happens, the detector acts like its on im -16, sens 32 in the middle of a nail factory, random noise everywhere and you cannot get it to stableize.

My question is, how would i go about replacing the wire from the coil to the control box. I've unscrewed the top nut on the coil and slid it back on the wire to expose where the wire goes into the coil. How do find where to detach and reattach the wire from the coil? Is there a quick and easy method to remove the bottom piece of the coil to get access inside?

Thanks in advance for the help, I'm short on funds and need to repair it myself.

HH

 

[James N.D.]

That is a tough one Gozze! I don't think you can repair the coils once they go bad since the coil is glued together and I believe if you tried repairing the coil wire that it would false and or not even work at all. The windings inside the coil is the big issue I believe. I had a stock coil go bad on me but I was lucky enough that when this happened that my warranty on the detector was only about a month over what Minelab covers. I had Rick(ND) contact Minelab and they told him to send in the bad coil and they would send out a new coil after talking to Rick on the phone. I sent it in and they sent me a new coil and Minelab decided to just let me have the coil at no additional cost which I thought was great. Which Explorer do you have, the XS or the II? If you have the XS and it has the original lower shaft, then you can buy a coil stabilizer that attaches to the coil and the shaft and it has a few adjustment holes on it and you can tighten down the coil bolt and the coil will not move. This is a quick and easy way to fix your coil movement problem. You can do the same with the Carbon shaft but you need to find a bigger attachment loop that will fit around the shaft. Hope this helps out a bit and if you buy a new or used coil again to make sure you get a stabilizer and attach it. You will save yourself some money. And the problem with keeping the coil stable when on the ground is nothing more than interference. All you need to do is lower the sensitivity down and try Semi-Auto instead of Manual if this is what you run and noise cancel. This should take care of it.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

I have seen coils where the end that attaches to the control box has poor or broken solder joint...Easily fixed by anyone handy with a soldering iron or perhaps check around and anyone dealing with electronics such as TV repair should be able to test and repair if needed...

 

[gozze]

I have the old exp1 and do run it in manual most of the time, however in NY i get allot of hot rocks that give me false reading. When that happens i switch to auto and lower my sensitivity. As i won the 8' coil in one of the best finds in this forum, i am not sure if it comes with the warranty. I will check with minelab to see if it is covered.

Here is a sample of some of the things that i've found this spring.
Due to the bad soil around here, the large cents come out of the ground in horrible condition, but hey, i 'm glad to find them. The Walking halves were found at a new site, and were the first i've found in over 6 years.

Again, thanks for your help! HH

 

[gozze]

Your right about the loosness on the other side of the coil. I have an electrician that lives accross the street, i will have him take a look at it. I wasn't looking forward to tearing appart the loop, but if i had to, i would.


Thanks again! HH

 

[James N.D.]

Sure would be a great day if I could dig one of them Large Cents from the ground. Very nice finds and Congrat's. Hope you solve your problem without buying another coil. Good Luck and HH.

 

[Eddie in Poulsbo]

Nice finds gozze.............. WTG.

HH.

Eddie

 

[gozze]

n/t

 

[James N.D.]

n/t