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A Couple Of Nox Mods


Dan(NM)

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armrest1.thumb.jpg.adcf936c8cd93e713e2ec75bc77e5335.jpgI decided to see if I could balance out the Nox without too much time or $ involved. So far I'm at $7 and we'll see if this will even pan out. First, I moved my control box forward 11/2"  moved my armrest forward as far as possible and added some ballast at the very back. I used 9   3/4" washers, with a piece of 3/4 round stock in the center as a bushing. I ran a 1/4" hole thru the bushing and mounted it in the last armrest hole. I'll see if the extra weight is worth trying to balance the machine just a little bit more tomorrow when I take it for spin.

armrest4.jpg

armrest3.jpg

armrest5.jpg

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2 hours ago, parkgt said:

Just seems wrong to have to add weight to a light weight detector to make up for poor ergonomics as supplied!

I beg to differ.

They supply the machine with 3 coils, 3 coil weights. So they would need to balance it using 3 weights at the back of the machine. From a manufacturing standpoint pretty easy. But a lot easier to just drill 2 holes each side on the bottom lips off the rest. And attach a cheap bicycle drink bottle under the armrest.

Mine contains a spare set of earbuds, some rags to prevent everything from cluttering around and I add weight at the very back in the form of fishing sinkers.

You can really trim the machine so that its slightly nose heavy and it swings like a dream.

Add a bungee at the bottom of the handgrip which attaches to your harness and it is near weightless.

 

What I don’t understand is the camou treatment people give their detectors. But I’m sure  there is a valid reason why they want it to blend in.

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6 hours ago, scoopjohnb said:

 

What I don’t understand is the camou treatment people give their detectors. But I’m sure  there is a valid reason why they want it to blend in.

I used Camo tape, because, pink, blue, green or orange would have clashed with my camo pants :)   

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Hey Scoop

I have yet to see but one coil that came with the Equinox. To see anything beyond that must have been in your dreams. If the 6” coil had been out I can assure you I’d had one now. 

I must admit the Equinox is coil heavy and it’s because the Equinox is so lite. If and when I get the 6” coil it will be a perfect balance .

I keep saying how great it will be to have that 6” coil to go with my Equinox but the powers that be must not hear me.

Chuck

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I don't feel that the machine needs any counter balance. Like Paul,  I'm used to swinging a much more substantial machine in the gold fields. I'm also one of the weird ones that feels the E-Trac is a comfortable machine to swing all day.

The water bottle bottle idea is a good one. Adjustable... depending on the coil selection.

Dean

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i have thought about moving the control box froward too. we don't have much room tho. then i wondered if we can get an aftermarket carbon fiber shaft that we could move the control box forward to get a better balance. I hoped we could get the balance without adding weight but i'm not sure that's possible. If anyone knows of after market shafts let us/me know. 

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15 hours ago, parkgt said:

Just seems wrong to have to add weight to a light weight detector to make up for poor ergonomics as supplied!

That’s because you probably lack knowledge in how detector design works. It all starts at the coil and how much the coil weighs.

Now, you can do one of two things. You can design the detector to be as light as possible, or you can design it to be perfectly balanced. Given the fixed weight of the coil you can’t have both. Since weight is a key spec people look at, Equinox was designed to be as light as possible. The normal solution for balance is to go the F75 route of perfect balance by putting the battery box under the arm and adding weight. Equinox weighs just under three pounds and the perfectly balanced F75 weighs 3.5 lbs. many detectors use underarm battery boxes to achieve better balance.

The problem with the underarm battery box is it is a hard to modify design. You are kind of stuck with what you get. Equinox is more versatile. If you are happy with the light weight then all is well. Honestly, if you can’t swing three pounds maybe a little more detecting is in order to build that arm strength.:smile: If you do think you want better balance, and trust me with the 15” coil you will, the armrest was designed specifically with slots to strap and hold counterweights to customize the machine for proper balance no matter the coil that you use. With the 6” coil the machine would be light in the nose if perfectly balanced to the 11” coil but as is will be near perfect.

That’s what I call a good design - one that gives me options. Equinox does just that.

My only ergonomics complaint is specific to me. I have smallish hands and the round hard post handle is just a little uncomfortable for me as compared again to the smaller soft oval F75 handle. I think a single wrap of soft tape will fix that for me however, just a minor niggle.

First time poster - are you actually interested in Equinox or just trolling?

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Another advantage of the self-contained control head design from a ML manufacturing and assembly standpoint is that it would seem a pretty straight forward proposition for ML to offer the EQX with either a straight or S-shaft at some point and S-Shaft retrofit kits obviating the need for a third party  S shaft option.   This could help with swing balance somewhat without significantly affecting weight.  That would be another innovative marketing approach that could further set the detector marketplace on its head.  Personally, being a short guy, my setup with both shaft length and armrest placement has given me no issues with respect to weight and balance and I'm coming from Deus.  May add a power bank pouch under the armrest as a small counterweight.

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