3 Hours At The Beach With The Equinox 800

[MontAmmie]

1 hour ago, midalake said:

Coil covers... Throw the coil cover in your closet. It has no place being on a detector in the water. To protect the bottom of the coil take JB weld or two part marine epoxy and brush a thin layer all over the bottom side. Mine will last about a year, just touch-up missing areas as necessary.   

Dave,

Will putting epoxy on the coil not void the warranty on the coil?  Thanks!

[Jackpine]

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Thanks.  Good info.  The hole however should equalize the pressure placed on top of the coil reducing the loading it sees. But I agree keeping the water and sand out in the first place is preferred.  And avoiding mucking up your new equipment with cuts and holes is desirable.

How about drilling a vertical hole thru the center of the yoke at the bottom of the rod where the coil attaches.

[midalake]

6 minutes ago, MontAmmie said:

Dave,

Will putting epoxy on the coil not void the warranty on the coil?  Thanks!

 

I do not know, I have never had a failure in a coil except for the sheeting covering the wires....way out of warranty.

[Steve Herschbach]

As a rule nothing voids a warranty unless what you do causes the issue you want fixed under warranty. Even then your entire warranty is not void per se. The whole battery thing is a blown out of proportion example of this. Minelab is not saying your warranty is void if you change the battery yourself. They are saying if you change the battery yourself and damage the orings in the process, then your detector will not be covered under warranty if the detector leaks. Because you damaged the orings.

I was a warranty administrator once so have a fair bit of knowledge about how warranties work.

[Chase Goldman]

34 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

As a rule nothing voids a warranty unless what you do causes the issue you want fixed under warranty. Even then your entire warranty is not void per se. The whole battery thing is a blown out of proportion example of this. Minelab is not saying your warranty is void if you change the battery yourself. They are saying if you change the battery yourself and damage the orings in the process, then your detector will not be covered under warranty if the detector leaks. Because you damaged the orings.

I was a warranty administrator once so have a fair bit of knowledge about how warranties work.

Or if you break the tamper seal on sealed electronics such as a phone or hard drive but it is usually marked as such.  No such issue with the Equinox that I am aware of now that the battery issue has been explicitly addressed by Minelab as Steve pointed out.  Obviously, you would not want to compromise the watertight integrity of the coil seal (even though that is not marked) but the coating recommended does just the opposite.

[dewcon4414]

On other ML machines ive used for water hunting...... its like Steve said.   Warranty is written always to their interpretation.... but MLs been pretty good to me.   The best stuff ive found is loctite marine epoxy.  You have to be careful because some products contain metal in the mixture.  Loctite spreads easy and gets hard as a rock.  I used to go thru a coil cover with the Xcal about once a quarter before i started using it..... $30 a pop.   The CTX and EQs coil cover is just poor for water hunting.  It fits well on the outside but those inner bars that make an X.... arent attached ... they quickly stretch and pull up the inside as well and act just like a rudder in the water causing a LOT of drag.  You can use zip ties to hold them in place....... but then black sand builds up.   Epoxy ON the coil might be better with this type of coil..... depending on the cost if you need to replace one.

Ive been drilling a hole to release sand and water every since the CTX came out and i realized it was hard to get all the sand out of the lower shaft.   Im afraid those locks being used in the salt water.... and the shaft being aluminum (it blisters inside) are going to require rinsing and taking them apart EVERY time.   Salts is harsh...... even those push buttons that i believe are SS....... rust and catch stuff.  Best advice..... if you plan on using ANY machine in the water you best set some money aside for repairs.

[Thegoldenone]

Maybe I'm old maybe I'm weak maybe I'm both but I'm not going to lift my coil to the sky to drain the water out of it every time I come up on shore! 

Here's a pic of the hole I drilled, works like a charm I doubt that it will snap off there! I gave it 8 hours a hard swinging in the water yesterday....

[Redneck]

If you are going to drill a hole I the lower shaft, drill a small hole. It may take a minute for the water to weep out, but should not weaken the shaft.

[MontAmmie]

I wrapped my Infinium mono coil in Gorilla tape.  I got a coil cover, but it was like trying to swing a boat oar through the water.  I sprayed my DFX coils with bedliner stuff for trucks.  Worked like a charm.

[Thegoldenone]

I also wanted to add this about Beach hunting, I've had detectors that picked up more than one target in my scoop at a time once in a great while, on the other hand my 8-hour beach hunt I bet it happened 15-20 times there'd be Nails with a coin or screws with a square pull tab.... so when looking in your scoop and you see a target don't be surprised if there's more in the scoop!

Also I think the very quick separation this machine has, brings any place you walk into alive! I can't wait to get on a beach that doesn't have all the junk that the beach I'm working on has! It's like metal detecting in a dump!

Wish I was near the Treasure Coast right now! I'd love to take this machine down there and crank her up! I think I'd actually have a chance of finding something there with this machine!