looking for good way to rebuild lighter explorer

[todd9146]

i ran a search and was glad to see a few people have redone there ex2 to make them lighter,one was really good but lacked a better battery,anyone else working on one of theses??

 

[Ace]

Changing the stock coil for a lighter Sunray 12.5" coil will make it lighter. I wouldn't really change everything else since it would void the warranty. About the battery, just buy a 15-Minute fast charger and 8AA 2500MaH batteries which will almost double the time until the batteries give up, just make sure they're NiMh not NiCad. Amazon has them for $29.95 w/4 2500MaH included.

 

[todd9146]

thanks ace for that battery input,the reason I'm looking to lighten the ex is because it hurts my shoulder really bad and i don't like the swingy thing dangling off me,as far as the warranty,i think i got my money worth out of the detector if it broke now i would next day air a new one!!!well maybe not next day seeing the grounds frozen!thats another thing,you guys that can still dig are killing me!

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

This is way lighter than the stock machine. The battery is hip mounted, 10 cell NiMH 12 volts that removes a bunch of swing weight. The control box is moved slightly towards the rear for improved balance. The "S" shaft is a featherweight Whites model. The lower rod is from a Sovereign. Minelab lower rod wings are .900 inch wide, Whites are .750 but the Sovereign lower rod fits in the Whites "S" shaft.

This setup is also waterproof by way of an external hardshell housing.

[attachment 12732 exl1.jpg]

Next step...build one of these. This is an 11 inch waterproof DD Explorer coil a friend of mine built. It weighs...drum roll, 11 ounces, about half of what the stock 10.5 coil weighs and is much better balanced.

[attachment 12733 11DDTop.JPG]

[attachment 12734 11DDBottom.JPG]

 

[todd9146]

charles,nice clean work,how much will all the parts cost?i have a sunray probe on my shaft thats going to complicate it a bit,did it cut a lot of wieght?

 

[bunn leonard]

yeah its nice to be able to still dig in va. this to me is prime detecting no snakes poison ivy every where, but as far as the weight i swung the xlt for years and wore my arm out its designed for a fast swing may be light but the xs may have some weight especially with the wot but i hunt in deep, slow my sweep speed down way down so i guess my point is real light swing fast like a hunt machine or take your time and listen it works for me personally i dont think its heavy,i guess it depends on the type of hunting your doing,isuppose one day someone will design a machine that everybody uses.my only complaint is changing coils its a pain to feed the wire up the shaft ,unless you buy another lower shaft thats already threaded its a pain