Your Sovereign Has A Hidden Feature

[Critterhunter]

No, it's not some electronics feature but I figured that would catch people's attention. In constructing my custom light shaft I realized that the GT has a two headed snap pin for the lower rod adjustment. Minelab just didn't take the time to drill the adjustment holes all the way through the upper and lower shafts so both heads can pop out and lock the shafts together better. Take a drill and drill the adjustment holes all the way through both shafts and now when it pops in place it will really stiffen it up better. Just make sure you use the right size drill bit as a bigger one will cause slop. They must have said a few hudredths of a cent by not running the drill all the way through the shafts in the factory. Always amazes me what companies will do to cut corners.

By the way, these snap clips/pins/whatever you want to call them are used on a lot of window cleaning poles to hold the top plastic tool mount onto the shaft tightly. They are hard to find but if you hit a janitorial supply warehouse they often sell them seperate. And, if you decide to build a light weight shaft the internal extension pole from an Unger window cleaning pole is the same diameter yet much lighter than the stock upper shaft. These poles in shorter extension versions can often be had for about $10 to $20 and you'll get your clip with the deal.

 

[meggie]

Hi, do you think i would be pushing my luck if i drilled a hole in between two of the outstanding holes but with a small turn of the shaft to either the left or right.The reason,to offset my digisearch meter to make it easier to read whilst swinging.

 

[Critterhunter]

I wouldn't think it would cause any problem. Just drill the upper shaft out where you want it. Of course the lower shaft wouldn't need any drilling unless you wanted the clip to pop out both sides to make it more rigid.

 

[jbow]

http://www.dixie-metal-detectors.com/dmd-cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=84_106&products_id=484

J

 

[Critterhunter]

Or watch the mods forum. The new way I just mounted the meter today will allow you to adjust it for any viewing angle and offset if you want. You don't have to mount it on top of the grip if you don't want to, either. It'll cost you $2 at Home Depot. Ron gave me the idea and pictures of his are in this thread...

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?21,1156230,1158289#msg-1158289

I haven't post this new way in my pictures in the mod forum yet. What you'll see there was my first attempt with plywood. While it worked I wasn't happy with the looks.

 

[Critterhunter]

By the way...On drilling out the shaft adjustment holes all the way so both snap pin heads can be used...Even if you don't plan to do this at least take the snap pin out and flip it upside down. That will keep the bottom "V" portion further away from the coil if you buy into the fact that at least larger coils might be picking up nearby metal causing you to lower sensitivity a bit. I realize it's for the most part inside the upper metal shaft but I've cut my custom shaft down by about 3" to drop more weight and also keep it's metal end as far away from the coil as possible. There's still plenty of overlap of the upper/lower shafts to prevent any slop or wobble.

I ended up picking up the Whites tall many lower rod which still hasn't come yet. It's the same design as the normal lower Whites shaft, just longer. Since it's the same price ($10) I figured what have I got to lose. If I find it's too flexy at that length I'll just cut it down to normal length. Using this longer lower rod should allow me to cut down the upper shaft's length even further to save even more weight, since I'm expecting the lower shaft to be lighter, though I haven't received it to weigh yet. Cutting down my custom upper shaft doesn't effect the adjusted height of the detector, just eliminates extra overlap of the two to drop a hair more weight.

With all these mods I'm not altering the stock shafts in any way, so I can always throw the GT back on the original setup should I want to sell it down the road or something. Once my mods are done I'm going to weigh both setups to see just what the total weight savings were.