VaBeachRon
New member
Was at the beach yesterday near the pier. Had the Excal down for a stroll and as usual, was cleaning up on pennies and deep quarters. Whoa. A nice mid-tone. Two scoops and I see this gorgeous gold ring laying on the top of the sand in the scoop. As I reach for it. Mr Dickweed on a boogey board, plows right into me. Knocks the scoop right out of my hand and the blade end of the scoop cuts my foot right on top. I go a55-over-tea-kettle and the ring goes sailing. He also hit the Excal and broke a wire in the cable up near the body of the unit. Was I pi55ed?? Oh yes. I screamed at him "You are dead meat!!" I took off after him and he left the scene of the crime to never return. There I was with a detector gone belly up, a ring that I know is just laying there somewhere in fron of me and I am bleeding and dead in the water. I can't tell you how mad I was.I went home and sulked all night.
I bumped into Big Scoop Rich today while I was down with the PI machine, you guessed it, trying to find the ring, which I did not find, and told him my story. He explained how the Excal came apart and I hurried home to try the repair.
The black rubber boots on the end just slip off. Once they are loose and slipped out of the way, remove the two allen screws that hold the end cap off of the headphone end of the unit. The headphone cable simply unplugs from the circuit board. Then, go to the coil wire/battery end and do the same. Slide the boot out of the way, remove the allen screws and pop the cap off. What is nice is that the control knobs are permanently mounted to the plastic detector body. Turn the controls far left (counter-clockwide) This lines up the slots on the knob shafts and the circuit board then slides right out.
To replace the coil wire, take a small wrench and unscrew the coil support piece. This will slide up the coil wire. Remove the rubber grommet that stops water from going into the sleeve and you are just about ready. You'll have to cut the cable then take a drill bit to remove the cable that goes through the plastic cap. Easy and slowly does it here. Once this is done, the new coil wire end will slide through the hole. Don't forget your coil support piece and the rubber grommet.
You can now have access to the mother board and can solder in your new wires. Once done, the line up to get the board back in is a bit tricky but it does go back fairly easily. Take some swimming pool o-ring lube and re-lube the o-rings on the end caps. Once the end caps are back in place, take some GE high grade silicone sealant and place a small bead around the lip of the end cap where it contacts the body. Let that dry, slide the end boot back in place and you are done. Total cost? Nothing if you have the lube and silicone sealant. Time? Around 1.5 hours. Saved about $150 from what folks say about mailing it back for repair out of warranty and saved around 6 weeks of down time. If you can solder it really is easy to fix.
Took it out and she runs good as new and I'm ready to roll to the beach again tomorrow.
Happy Hunting!
Va Beach Ron
I bumped into Big Scoop Rich today while I was down with the PI machine, you guessed it, trying to find the ring, which I did not find, and told him my story. He explained how the Excal came apart and I hurried home to try the repair.
The black rubber boots on the end just slip off. Once they are loose and slipped out of the way, remove the two allen screws that hold the end cap off of the headphone end of the unit. The headphone cable simply unplugs from the circuit board. Then, go to the coil wire/battery end and do the same. Slide the boot out of the way, remove the allen screws and pop the cap off. What is nice is that the control knobs are permanently mounted to the plastic detector body. Turn the controls far left (counter-clockwide) This lines up the slots on the knob shafts and the circuit board then slides right out.
To replace the coil wire, take a small wrench and unscrew the coil support piece. This will slide up the coil wire. Remove the rubber grommet that stops water from going into the sleeve and you are just about ready. You'll have to cut the cable then take a drill bit to remove the cable that goes through the plastic cap. Easy and slowly does it here. Once this is done, the new coil wire end will slide through the hole. Don't forget your coil support piece and the rubber grommet.
You can now have access to the mother board and can solder in your new wires. Once done, the line up to get the board back in is a bit tricky but it does go back fairly easily. Take some swimming pool o-ring lube and re-lube the o-rings on the end caps. Once the end caps are back in place, take some GE high grade silicone sealant and place a small bead around the lip of the end cap where it contacts the body. Let that dry, slide the end boot back in place and you are done. Total cost? Nothing if you have the lube and silicone sealant. Time? Around 1.5 hours. Saved about $150 from what folks say about mailing it back for repair out of warranty and saved around 6 weeks of down time. If you can solder it really is easy to fix.
Took it out and she runs good as new and I'm ready to roll to the beach again tomorrow.
Happy Hunting!
Va Beach Ron