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Ongoing Equinox Coil Ear Breakage Issue


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12 hours ago, FloridaSon said:

How about 0.281”

So the hole through the coil housing for the mounting bolt has been reduced in size?  Previously a nominal 5/16 inch (~8 mm) diameter bolt was included.  Are they shipping smaller diameter (~1/4 inch) diameter bolts with these replacement coils?

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When my coil with both ears broken was replaced this summer it came with a new coil bolt and new coil cover all attached to the coil.  Nice.  Replacement was very quick.  The guys at Ft Bedford are doing a great job.

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19 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

So the hole through the coil housing for the mounting bolt has been reduced in size?  Previously a nominal 5/16 inch (~8 mm) diameter bolt was included.  Are they shipping smaller diameter (~1/4 inch) diameter bolts with these replacement coils?

Not sure it is 1/4" but yes, I believe it is slightly smaller but it may be just a mfg change, not to improve the breakage problem. But if the ears remain the same size and the hole/bolt a little smaller, it would add a bit more plastic to the ears. The new bolt does fit loosely into the ear holes. Who knows, and I am not an engineer.

13 hours ago, TedinVT said:

When my coil with both ears broken was replaced this summer it came with a new coil bolt and new coil cover all attached to the coil.  Nice.  Replacement was very quick.  The guys at Ft Bedford are doing a great job.

Yes they are, my new coil was shipped (from Alum Bank) back the same day my old coil arrived with bolt and washers. Plus Dan called me the next day to ask if I had any concerns. Can't ask for more than that.

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   I think it's going to take a little more than a hole diameter change to stop the breakage problem! If they would just change the formulation of the thermoplastic, (little cost) that would most likely fix the problem! But it's not a "problem" if you never acknowledge that there is one!! We will see what happens when the coils; and pod issues, are out of warranty!

   Companies have been operating this way for years! Take Ford for example! They never acknowledged that their 5.4 Triton V-8 had major issues! They sold millions! And never fixed the problems! Just quietly discontinued that engine! 👍👍

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The Triton issue is a good example of bad policy. I agree, and never said a hole dia. change would stop the breakage, just interesting (to me) any change was made but that could just be from a change in outsourcing. I always think of the Ford Pinto exploding gas tanks where it was cheaper to pay a few law suits than recall many times that cost. Not that the total $ or injury are the same. Sick business model. IMO

I would expect Minelab to honor the breakage until warranty expires; after that they would do what any for profit business would. Again, just my view. HH

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  • 2 weeks later...

here is yet another broken ...

I was earlier on the beach, I heard or felt a little noise, but with the wind, the rubber, the waves and the headphones I didn't pay attention to it. well two minutes later I had both coil ears broken ...

so I assumed that the first little noise was the first coil ear which broke.
 

I hope minelab will replace this for me for free.

it's not normal because I don't over tighten, I clean regularly and I have already changed the gaskets and screws twice. Plus I never go surfing. it is therefore clear that this is a design flaw.

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I know two guys that have an Equinox other than myself. One guy is very easy on his detectors. He uses them a lot, but they all look brand new and he detects a lot. He is not rough on detectors. He broke ears on the stock coil fairly quickly. I'm not sure of the circumstances. I never had an issue with the stock coil ears breaking and I bet mine has more hours of use than most do. Weather starting out the morning freezing to temps in the 90's. Actually probably 100's if you count sitting in the back of a truck. The other Nox owner I know has all three size coils and has yet to break a coil ear with no protector on any of them. His Nox has seen a lot of use too.  I did put one of the protectors on mine last spring just in case. Other than an obvious lack of robustness I'm wondering what those folks breaking ears are doing that the folks not breaking coils are not?

I put an aftermarket carbon shaft on soon after I got mine. Which of course does not have the side to side flex the stock shaft has. I wonder if the stock shaft flex could have any bearing on ear breakage? 

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Maybe its the teardrop spacers wearing out and becoming flush so when the coil is clamped on, the connection between the coil ear and the shaft is too rigid. Much like engineers design buildings and bridges to sway so stress fractures do not occur a non flush teardrop spacer (which they are when newly replace as i have just replaced mine) would act as a shock absorber.

I have used the Equinox extensively for nearly 3 years now and have not had an issue - but by the number of breakages being reported it certainly appears to be a design weakness and there should be some instruction from Minelab on what the problem is and how to properly maintain the coil. Good customer service is acknowledging a issue and putting corrective actions in place - Minelab - if you are reading this - that is how you build brand loyalty which one day you may need if more competition enters the market.

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  • 8 months later...

On another forum, someone questioned whether certain manufacturing batches may be more troublesome than others. This made me look closely at my coils, and I see the month/year are moulded into the underside, along with the plastic blend.
11" stock coil (1): date "4" & "18" for April 2018, material "ABS+PC" (polycarbonate/ABS blend).
This one had the broken ear. The blame is placed firmly on the previous owner, with worn teardrop washers, plastic-on-plastic wear.
11" stock coil (2): date "2" & "4" for Feb 2018, "ABS+PC" plastic.
This one is also secondhand, but was likely less used ( until I got it ... ) and is still going fine with no signs of cracks.

It may be educational, (or not) if users post their coil date code in future chat about this issue.

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