:usaflag: Sovereign GT In A Box!! :detecting:

[jyt2017]

I asked about box size an white things to seal wires. For some reason, instead of the questions showing up down here where its easy to find, there buried in middle of thread.

Its a PLANO 1460 and the caps are cable cams. I ordered two. Will post a video of my attempt at water proofing my GT. I am probably going to take an extra step and use rubber cement to glue any seams too.

I also plan on using waterproof headphines from amazon...link here [mods pleas just delete link if its not ok to post them]...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QUPUKY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068O3T/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Second link is adapter with best amazon rating. There were others, with less then 4 stars, so I wouldn't order.

The idea is to be able to use waterproof headphones instead of the stock ones...I will post back on how they sound. If its no good, they get sent back.

Thanks all for help, took me a min to find info I needed.

One think I could use is a nice comfortable setup for a strap, chest or backpack. Thanks. Maybe in future, ill bore out holes an connect knobs, not now.

hh an gl -Joe

 

[Critterhunter]

Nice rig. I'm using I think the same Plano box to build a waterproof rig I can throw my GT control box in when water hunting with my water shaft (stock GT shaft), and then quickly back onto my land shaft (custom built 1.5 pound lighter shaft set up).

I'm also planning on using a clamshell, even though the stock 10" Tornado stays on my water rig while the 12x10 stays on my land rig. I'm going to try to route the coil cable, headphone cable (it's very thin), and my stereo cord to plug in my remote PP switch like I have one on my land rig...All 3 through the same clamshell connector. At $20 a pop I didn't want to buy two.

I have read somewhere (?) that somebody has at least able to route their coil cable and headphone cable through one clamshell without issues. I would suspect you drill your holes in the rubber plug a bit spaced out from each other so each cable has rubber around it to seal them from water intrusion. So long as I can space the three cables apart enough, without running into the plastic clamshell at the sides, I would think this should work, and I plan to seal around them further with Shoe Goo anyway. Does anybody have any input on this and if you think three cables is pushing it for one clam shell, even though the headphone and stereo cords are much smaller in diameter than the coil cable?

Also, by the looks of your pics I thought that is mounting the bottom plate of the clamshell upside down? In other words, from what I can tell with my clamshell, it looks to me like the bottom plastic plate is flipped unpside down on yours? Reason being that if you notice that bottom ring has recessed screw holes for the sheet metal screws on the other side (the side you have the gasket on), so I figured the plate went the other way, so that the top plate with the plug would clear the sheet metal screws used to secure the bottom ring to the box?

Far as I could tell from the lousy diagram that came with the clamshell, it looks like you've got the rings on both sides of the box, where as from what the diagram shows for the clamshell, they both go on the outside of the box? In other words....First the bottom ring, flipped with the smooth surface AWAY from the box, and with the rubber gasket under that to mount to the Plano box on the outside like that, then the top ring with rubber plug bolts down on the clamshell outside of the box as well on top of the first clamshell ring?

I need to clear this up. There are various reasons why the bottom ring might be flipped either way so I'm not sure which way it should go on that, but at least concerning both rings I'm pretty sure both are mounted on the outside of the box, with the rubber seal gasket between the bottom ring and the box? I really wish companies would provide more detailed descriptions and label stuff for installation. Playing guessing games with waterproofing is a dumb idea, and thus I'm asking here first to be sure.

 

[Critterhunter]

Here is what I mean, look at this diagram...
[attachment 262622 ClamShellConnectorDiagram.jpg]

By the looks of things, the bottom ring's non-smooth side goes on top of the rubber gasket against the OUTSIDE of the box, and then the top clamshell ring with the plug goes on top of the bottom ring (IE: against the smooth side of the bottom ring). This is why I figured the bottom ring has it's mounting sheet metal screws recessed on the smooth side, so that the top ring would clear those screw heads when mounted flush on top of the bottom ring? And, by the pictures, both rings are on the outside of the box (or say a boat), since the picture appears to show the antenna plug for a boat radio or say a fish finder transducer, is routed through both rings to the INSIDE of the boat?

I need comfirmation on what I suspect is the proper way here judging by the diagram, which looks different from yours, in that you appear to have the bottom ring upside down and inside the box, and the top ring on the outside? Seems to errors there perhaps?

By the way, I don't trust those sheet metal screws that the clamshell came with to mount to something as thin as a Plano box, so I took the bottom ring up to a local hardware store and found the biggest brass bolts along with brass nuts that will fit down inside the bottom ring with the bolt heads like they should with the sheet metal screws, so that the top ring will clear them since they sit down in the recessed holes on the bottom ring. I'm using the nuts on the inside of the Plano box to tighten down the bolts.

Seems less risk with sheet metal screws slipping, and being brass the bolts/nuts shouldn't rot over time, even though I'm using this rig in only fresh water. I used the shortest bolts I could find so I wouldn't hav them pretruding inside the box and possibly scratching my GT control box should it move inside, which is unlikely since the yellow flat foam rubber the Plano box came with for protecting the top and bottom of stuff you put in it seems perfect to snug the GT in place.

The other thing that concerns me with this clamshell connector is it would seem water could wick down the mounting screws of the bottom or top rings for either one and fine there way into the box, so I plan to coat all bolts with Shoe Goo when screwing them in. Should water somehow get past the first ring, it shouldn't then be able to wick down the bottom ring's screws (which I'm using bolts for now) into the box. Also, plan to coat between the two rings with Shoe Goo for a better seal, and also under the rubber gasket under the bottom ring. Once all is hooked up, I also plan to coat over the rubber plug at it's rim and around the wires going into it with Shoe Goo for added leak insurance just to be safe.

I don't plan to use the Plano box in the water actually, as I have heard of leaks of the lid from people when it's dunked under water. If you keep that O-ring around the lid clean and lubricated with a proper condition (Dielectric grease perhaps?) there shouldn't be any leak potential, but just the same I don't want to risk any leaks, and besides I don't want the box on my body or dragging/floating in the water, so I plan to mount the box on a snap on back shaft extension I can snap on when I arrive at the site for easier transport, and also doing that will keep the box at head height in normal hunting position so even neck deep it'll be out of the water at head height.

No worries of leaks, drag, or floating, or being bounced around by waves that way, and the balance of the shaft should be effortless with all that back weight. Plus I don't like a control box mounted to my body on land or in the water. I have been hunting with my control box mounted chest high in the Minelab bag and didn't care for that in the water although I put up with it to water hunt. That's also why I built a 1.5 pound lighter land shaft for land hunting, so the box wouldn't need body mounted for weight issues. The stock shaft is now my water shaft, while this lighter shaft is my land rig.

I rigged my GT control box up on such an extension just to see how the balance was and it was great. It might try to lift a little when taking your hand off the grip to scoop a target in the water, to where the box might dip down towards the water, depending on how heavy of a coil is at the other end, but I just found that by placing my big toe on the coil water using both hands to scoop the target, that it holds the shaft upright with no issues. I like to use both hands when scooping in the water, and just rely on the arm cup strap to hold the shaft to my arm with both hands free.

Any input on all these things above concerning the clamshell connector are welcome as I try to figure out it's proper installation...

 

[Critterhunter]

Never mind, after surfing various threads I found numerous renditions of people flipping the clam shells or even sticking one on the inside of the box and the other on the outside. My suspicions about what the diagram above shows appear to be right, many people are installing them wrong in various combinations that do not show what the diagram seems to indicate is proper installation.

I ran across a few threads with pictures that appear to show the proper method of orientation according to the above diagram, and here's just one of those pictures...
[attachment 262667 ClamShellProperInstall.jpg]

This, along with a few other pics in threads, confirms what I thought was the proper way to install it. I had already drilled the box and mounted the clamshell this way, so I'm happy to see it appears right. It was only a test fit of things but wanted to be sure of proper assemble before proceeding. This box is going to be mounted on a back shaft extension to keep it out of the water even when neck deep so I'll not have issues with float, drag, or risk of leaks...

But if I was to intend submersion in water I would have been sealing all clam shell plastic surfaces, the rubber flat gasket, rubber plug, cables, bolts (I ditched the bottom clamshell sheet metal screws in favor of brass bolts and nuts) with Shoe Goo to further insure no risks of leaks.

One thing I noticed in some obscure threads is that at least one guy found that his Plano box had a tiny pressure relief hole on the lid lip that I guess is designed to relief positive pressure as the box engages the lid O-ring, so if anybody intends water submersion it might be a good idea to seal that hole in case the O-ring fails to seal it when the lid is closed.

Others said they didn't find such a hole in their lids. Going to have to look at mine to see if it has one, but since it's not ever intended for the water I don't care about sealing it further.

I have read of people finding the lids on these Plano boxes are prone to leak, so I'd also keep good cleaning and lubrication care of the lid O-ring seal.

I'm working on a video pictorial of the assembly/prep of the box, clamshell, and a few other things to walk people through various issues and steps. One thing I'm kicking around ideas on is a way to adjust controls on my Sovereign GT inside the box without having to open it, yet not requiring any waterproof POT shafts or switch controls routed through the Plano box or any physical assemble to mate such things, so that the control box will still quickly come out of it and onto my light weight custom land rig for old coin hunting.

I mostly prefer doing old coin hunting with my GT and water hunting is only a part time excursion of mine when it's too hot to do much else unless I head for the woods and shade to hunt in, but I prefer woods hunting more so in the winter when the ground brush and weeds have died down in less open areas impossible to hunt in the summer.

Also working on a method to waterproof standard switches for water use for my remote PP stereo jack on the back of my GT to plug into. I've been surfing the web trying to track down waterproof SPDT switches, preferably push button style, but can't seem to find any. An SPDT switch is what I both wanted and needed to use on my GT as it's switch configurations are different than older Sovereigns or the Excalibur that don't require a the extra switch pole to route the circuit based on function.

I couldn't find any How-To's on a remote PP switch for the GT switch(es) configuration, only on prior Sovereigns with a different switch setup, so I took it apart and tracked down what the switch(es) were doing using a multimeter.

If anybody with a GT is thinking of doing such a remote PP mod, if you search this forum or the Sovereign forum for "remote pin point" ALL WORDS ANY DATE you should find the latest pictorial/schematic I made up for that, which lists color codes of a Radio Shack stereo plug cable and the proper pins on a stereo jack and the listed switch all from Radio Shack with the part #s for my land rig ,so you don't need to use a multimeter to figure out the pathways for it to function properly. You'll know you found the latest schematic/pictorial picture if it's got color codes and the post mentions this was done so anybody lacking a multimeter wouldn't need to use one to figure things out.

I've been using a remote PP setup on my GT for land use for a few years and have had no issues with it, and it still retains stock function of both switches (disc or all metal mode switches) on the GT whether the remote PP is plugged into the stereo jack I installed on the back of the GT or not, along with allowing me to toggle between whichever modes the disc switch is set at (disc iron mask on, disc iron mask off) and whichever modes the All Metal switch is set at (All Metal Fixed, All Metal Track, or Pin Point).

I wanted the diversity of that, along with wanting to insure there would be no conflict of the stock switches and the remote PP configurations that might create two pathways in the GT's control box it was never intended to have activated at one time. This is the main reason why a simple on/off switch can't be used, along with the loss being able to toggle between whatever modes both stock switches are set at via the remote PP.

 

[OldBeechnut]

I'm also planning on using a clamshell, even though the stock 10" Tornado stays on my water rig while the 12x10 stays on my land rig. I'm going to try to route the coil cable, headphone cable (it's very thin), and my stereo cord to plug in my remote PP switch like I have one on my land rig...All 3 through the same clamshell connector. At $20 a pop I didn't want to buy two

I have put as many as 2 holes in the cableclams for use And see as many as 4 holes used on boats

I drill the holes much smaller then the cable, 6mm dia cord I go 4mm and use Dow111 to seal them, drilling them is like drilling super hard rubber.

 

[Critterhunter]

Thanks for the info. I can't tell from that pic but I think if memory serves I saw a pic of a clamshell plug in another thread where you had cut your plug slits for a few holes drilled into it separately for each cable to slide through on the plug to it's proper hole. I'm wondering, if I saw that correctly, if there was a reason for cutting a slit for each plug from the side of the plug? I was thinking perhaps it might be better in some respects to drill my holes and then only cut one slit from the side, which then goes through all 3 holes I plan to drill. I'm thinking perhaps that would lesson potential leak potential with say 3 slits going to the edge of the plug instead of just having one. I would figure that so long as I space all 3 drill holes far enough from each other, that the single slit to them all would seal well between them. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Cupajo]

I used my GT several times with limited exposure to soaking and was satisfied with the protection provided against accidental water damage in a wading senario.

I wouldn't intentionally submerge this case to use my GT "underwater" as I have reservations about its sturdiness due to finding the primary latch broken on mine.

[attachment 267726 PlanoCasedamage007.JPG]

I am careful with my equipment as I don't have money to throw away and have ancient water detectors that still work fine after many hundreds of hours of use to prove it.

I don't know how this part got broken and careful study of it and the rest of the case leads me to believe it can't be trusted for protecting such expensive equipment.

I hate it that I have so much time and money invested in this mod!!!!!!!!!!

GL&HH Friends,

CJ