Help please Nel Tornado won't work on Simplex

[Treasurechic]

I purchased a Nel Tornado for my Simplex and it just freezes when I connect it. I have tried 2 returning the first thinking it was defective. I am running 2.78 is there a specific way to connect it unlike just swapping it out? Could use some help.

 

[nekoma]

Hi, I don't have the Tornado , but i do have the Nel Thunder, I was waiting on the ground to thaw before testing, but i unboxed it and tried it with 2.78. for you. To check to see if it did work with simplex running 2.78.
And yes it(thunder) worked fine with an air test, I am sure you probably reset the machine (hold 2 lower outside buttons while powering on, then release power, while still holding the 2 outside buttons until it beeps) on startup before trying the new coil.
Which is the only thing i had to do to have it up and running. If that didn't work maybe try contacting Nel directly to see what the problem may be.

 

[miserman]

I have a Nel Tornado for my fisher F75. Whenever I put it on I always do a factory reset as soon as I turn it on.

 

[Tbled52]

Nekoma, I have been searching for someone with the thunder. How does it preform on the simplex? I'm highly interested in the nel coils.

 

[Picketwire]

I have a Tornado for the T2. I always just put it on and went detecting. Sometimes I had to bob the coil higher to ground balance. It was a very good coil for me. I own the Tornado, Sharpshooter, Snake and Sharp and have been very satisfied with their performance.

If your stock one works and the Nel doesn't, the Nel has a problem.

 

[nekoma]

Nekoma, I have been searching for someone with the thunder. How does it preform on the simplex? I'm highly interested in the nel coils.

Tbled52,
I Only have about 30mins on the thunder, weather here in Northwestern Illinois hasn't been great(some frozen still, the rest mud). I was also waiting on a backordered carbon shaft for it.
But the time i do have on it, i am impressed(for the money), i took it out into a spot in my yard that i had been over multiple times, with the sp24 and sp28.
As expected i found Alot more trash, ie square nails, bottle caps that i had passed over or missed at the depth.
But at the same time i also found a junker(thinking stainless) wristwatch, and my first lead bag seal, i wouldn't necessarily say that at the depth i found them i couldn't have found them with the stock coil(by digging an iffy signal), but i will say that the at the depth they were at. i may have heard them before but passed on them because of scratchy clippy tones, but with the thunder they were pretty much solid good tones.
I mainly bought the thunder to save time when hunting farm fields, and more clarity of tones in backfilled yards,.
Also, the interference from my underground electrical lines was nowhere near as bad as i expected it to be, with the bigger coil.

P.S. yes your arm/shoulder will need to build some muscles, when using the thunder
Any other questions feel free to ask, and ill try to answer

 

[Treasurechic]

Turns out the Nel Simplex coils won't work on the newer Simplex as Nokta Makro changed something internally in the ones being sold now. They only work on older ones that have been updated by owners. I find it annoying that the dealer knows this yet still sells them without any of this information. I had to return 3 of them before they contacted Nel and found out and told me. So apparently they are just going to sell them and if they don't work just accept returns. Ridiculous.

 

[nekoma]

That's certainly disappointing, and sorry it wont work for you. I wonder if its true with all the nel coils.
I purchased my simplex july 12 2021, and it came with 2.78. And the thunder works fine from what i can tell from 30 minutes of use.
So i wonder how much newer of a model a simplex has to be, for them not to work, or if i just got lucky somehow, by trying the different firmware versions to see what i preferred, and maybe undid whatever change they made.
I plan to get the sharpshooter later in the season(if they are still selling them), and will report back if it indeed works with my simplex.

 

[Tbled52]

Thank you for the reply. Its concerning that they many not work. For a couple hundred bucks you'd hope it would be good to go. The reality is we are buying a coil that cost almost as much as the machine. I'm torn between upgrading this way or investing that same money in another machine. I still think I want to give it a try, I mostly work fields and want to cover more ground like you. I'm also planing on the sharp shooter to have a well rounded package.

 

[nekoma]

Thank you for the reply. Its concerning that they many not work. For a couple hundred bucks you'd hope it would be good to go. The reality is we are buying a coil that cost almost as much as the machine. I'm torn between upgrading this way or investing that same money in another machine. I still think I want to give it a try, I mostly work fields and want to cover more ground like you. I'm also planing on the sharp shooter to have a well rounded package.

No problem, glad i had something useful to contribute.
If you do get one to try, before you give up if it doesn't work on your current 2.78(if that is what you have), you may want to consider going to 2.77, which is what i use/prefer, and see if it works on that version for you.
I went from 2.77 to 2.78 just to test for the original post, to see if it indeed would work with 2.78.

On a side note, if you don't already have one, a lot of simplex users swear by the sp24 coil. And with some that's the only coil they use on their machine. I prefer the sp28 for my normal use, and only use the sp24 in my yard(it has more square nails than rocks it seems) or if i stumble onto a really trashy spot.
But that could be another option for trashy areas if you don't have one already, if the nels don't work for you.
There is also the sp22, but i have absolutely no experience with it , and have only ever heard of maybe 2 people that own one.

 

[Monte]

N/M Simplex + and optional coils.

Over 5 decades of avid detecting and favoring smaller-size coils followed by mid-size coils Very seldom do I use a standard or larger-size search coil. I really am impressed with the Simplex + design and performance. The stock 11" round DD works well in open areas. But I am typically hunting in dense brush with an ample supply of nearby ferrous debris and prefet smaller coils in the 4.5 to 6.5 size. N/M made two aftermarket coils, one round, heavy 8" with a rear-positioned rod mount, and the much better and more comfortable Sp24 5X9.5 DD elliptical coil, and that's the coil I prefer. It works well, but is a mid-size coil. Conversing with Dilek about a small coil even before those two were offered, she told me there wouldn't be a 5" DD or the 7" Concentric.

Then everyone saw the aftermarket coils offered by NEL that were stated to be out about two December's ago, including their 5" DD. I wanted one and waited.

NEL offered their 5" for the Garrett Apex which I got from them, but was told therùe would be another month delay for a small coil for the Simplex. I waited, then I contacted NEL again and waited. Nothing.

Then in another contact with Dilek she told me there probably not be any coils from NEL because: "We didn't give them the chip onformation" to make coils. She added, "We only gave the chip info to Detech and approved them to make only the 13" Ultimate coil for the Simplex +.

I kept waiting and watching for a small 5" DD coil from NEL, but it never happened. In this modern era of digital circuitry, a lot of things can be more 'controlled' with chip type information.

By the way, I had both my primary-use and back-up Simplex + models running terrific with the 2.77 update. I tried a 2.78 and didn't care for it. Some depth and VDI performance was off or jumpy compared with the 2.77 update.

Monte

 

[Treasurechic]

I opted for the Detech Ultimate 13 and I love it! It's lighter than I thought it would be. But it was hard to purchase a coil that cost as much as the detector.

 

[nekoma]

Congrats on the detech. Keep us posted on how it works for you(more depth, more clarity of signals).
I got the one i got, mainly to get one before they were unavailable, as there was a lot of speculation on the forums if they would even be offered.

I too had a hard time buying another coil vs. another new detector, but figured i would try and max out the capabilities of my detector before i purchase a new detector.