Putting an XS together

[Mike T]

I have an XS box and a custom rod and a coinsearch 8" coil, and I'm putting it together but the coil has a 34" cable making it impossible to mount under the arm. Is there an extension?
How good is the XS compared to the GT of today? it sure is pared down with few knobs and 1 switch.
Also I still need a lower rod+washers+bolt if anyone has one to sell? thanks, Mike

 

[Critterhunter]

If you are building a custom shaft then look at the cheaper Whites tall man lower carbon fiber rod off White's site. Not only is it much lighter than the fiberglass Minelab rod, but I believe it's still much cheaper (I paid $10 direct from whites off their site). And, because it's longer, you can then cut off more of the length of your upper rod and thus reduce weight even more. If you are looking for an arm cup the Whites is also cheap and much lighter than the Minelab, also off Whites site. The lower whites rod is less wide at the shaft mount, so just head up to your nearest home improvement store and go to the faucet fix it isle. You'll find rubber washers of various sizes. Bring the rod to match the proper size to fit in the hole on the Whites. Drill out the center of the washer to clear the bolt. You'll need two rubber washers for each side of the rod to make up for the wider space of the Minelab coils. Glue the two washers togher as a pair to make it easier to put together. The nylon bolt and nut can be found at some hardware stores. The smaller stores usually carry them (mom and pop shops) if the big stores don't. Also you can find them at RC hobby stores as they are called "wing bolts" and used to mount plane wings when building often. Alternatively, if you can't find the right size bolt and nut, some guys (especially using the big heavy WOT coil) will drill out the bolt hole on the shaft and on the coil and then use a bigger nylon toilet bowl bolt and nut from a home improvement store. Some guys who hunt water like to do this to prevent the coil from moving on the shaft up and down.

Look in the Sovereign accesseries sticky for a thread link I posted on building a custom light weight Sovereign. All the mod info above is listed there with pictures.

 

[Critterhunter]

And I just posted info on plug in coil cable extensions in the Sovereign accessories sticky, as that question often pops up a lot so I think it's worth posting in the accessories sticky.

Far as how good the XS is, others who have used all the Sovereign models will chime in, but I think that is one of the ones people liked best of prior models? Oh, look in the Sovereign models sticky. They run down the various models and pros and cons there. I can tell you that all of these Sovereigns get VERY good depth from all I've read. Some say some models are a tad deeper, such as the Elite, and many say the GT is a bit deeper and more sensitive than all prior models, but any of them will hold their own against any machine made these days, and in fact some think the Sovereign is the deepest machine they've ever used *in their soil*. Some guys think a prior model is deepest for them too. I know the Elite has a few who think that for one, but in general most I think say the GT is the deepst/most sensitive yet. Either way, you can't go wrong with any Sovereign. It'll find things other machines, fancier or not, have missed.

 

[Mike T]

Thanks Critter! You just gave me alot of info I can use. I got an old Plugger rod from 7 years ago its chrome looking but light and now I'll call whites and pick up a lower.
Whats giving me trouble is the short cable length 34", it won't fit if I move the box under my forearm. I'll take it to Radioshack and see if theres some kind of extension.
I'm going to study on the acces. page you recommended and it won't be long and I'll be done.

 

[Rick(ND)]

What someone has done is cut the cable down on your Coinsearch coil as these are very long when new. This coil the cable was shorten on is made for those that use a meter, so if you are not using a meter it will be too short to mount on the rear of a custom made shaft. Sun Ray used to make cable extension's, but understand they don't anymore, so you would have to build one or find someone that will. The 8 coinsearch coil is one of the best coils ever made and it would be nice if you can get a extension cable for it. The XS is one of the best Sovereigns ever made and are over 16 years old and stopped making them in 1997 when they went to the XS2 which is also a good Sovereign. These 2 Sovereigns would be the one I would want if I didn't have a GT.
I also have the mounting hardware for the Sovereigns too, so if you need a set of the teardrop washers and the nut and bolt I have them, but don't have the little spacers for the Coinsearch coil which you can make out of a old ball point pen.

 

[Mike T]

Rick, what do you mean by teardrop washers? I'm looking at the coil and it looks like it takes a small round washer inside and a very small washer or nut and bolt outside. Theres 2 brackets on each side which would make it impossible to turn a wingnut to tighten.

 

[Critterhunter]

The Minelab shafts use tear drop rubber washers in the holes on them that the coil snugs up to, but if you are using an aftermarket shaft or a Whites one the rubber washer holes are round.

 

[Rick(ND)]

The Minelab lower shaft for the Sovereigns takes a teardrop rubber washer on each side of the shaft as you can see where they go. If you have some other lower shaft it can be different and hope being the cable has been shortened and now maybe a different lower shaft been used I just hope it don't have some other mods done to the control box as it will not work as good as the stock set up.
Back to the lower shaft and the coinsearch coil as there was a small shim used on this coil too before the nut was put on the nylon bolt in order to tighten it down. This is what I was talking about when I say some are made from some small dia. ball point pens barrels, as these are not available from Minelab. I may have something too in my parts box where I have coils bolts and nuts and washers for the Sovereigns and Explorers and a few other detectors plus 8 AA batteries and even a 9 volt battery as I like to have the extra parts just in case so it don't spoil a good day of detecting.
Let me know if you need anything and I will see what I can find.

Rick
Sovereign owner and user since 1996