Symptoms of a coil going bad

[joedirt]

Yesterday the stock coil that came with my E-Trac, for lack of better words, started to "spit and sputter" with the threshold sound and also it would randomly sound off when holding it away from the ground.

I looked around for interference, noise canceled again, put the sensitivity in auto, and it still wasn't working right.

I took the unit apart, bypassed the X1 probe, and connected it directly to the box. Still acting up. I even washed the coil off to make sure there was not a flake of metal stuck to it. Still not acting right.

I finally put on my other coil and used it all day today without a hitch.

I think I've answered my own question, but does anyone know of any other symptoms I should validate, or fixes to try before writing it off as a coil gone bad?

 

[david.di]

Follow this ink. Hope it helps you out.


http://www.findmall.com/read.php?63,1205163,1205836#msg-1205836

 

[Bell-Two]

The last month or so I seemed to have some trouble with jumpy signals even though I was still finding stuff it seems as though I could not get any of those typical "Ya gotta dig me" signals. After last Saturday hunt which was a bit muddy I cleaned my E-Trac, I typically keep it clean. I took the coil cover off to clean the coil, I typically do this every few weeks and this is what I saw. Cracks in the coil surface, these were not there just a few weeks ago. My dealer was very responsive and is contacting Minelab to have them send me a replacement coil, I am sure they will take care of it. Check out yours to see if it has a similar problem. I do have another coil I can use a Sunray X-8 and just ordered another one that I had been thinking about ever since the problem first occured the Sunray X-12. The coil has never been dropped or abused, in fact my hunting buddy says he never saw anyone that is "more gentle" with his detector than I am!

 

[Bell-Two]

I called my dealer on Saturday by Wednesday afternoon I had my new coil from Minelab!! Great dealer response and great response from Minelab! Dealer is not a sponsor on here but if anyone wants the name of a great dealer let me know!

 

[treebeard]

Hi,
I've made a post to talk about erratic signals on my Etrac and I saw your topic... I've noticed that my coil have some cracks on surface, I'm also pretty sure that I didn't brutalized the coil but maybe it's a part of the solution to my problem... I'll try with a new coil, pretty sure it's the origin of my problem in my hunting sessions now!

Thanks guys, here in France, everybody use the Deus (Xp - french constructor of metal detectors), so nobody talk about the etrac, so it's good to be here!

regards.