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Coil Ear Stiffener Recomendations?


67GTA

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Ā  Ā  I'mĀ willing to try anything that doesn't have a chance of voiding my coil warranty!

Ā  Ā  Has anyone had coil ears break on any other detector,Ā  besides the Equinox?? I may have asked this before, but i don't think i got an answer!!

Ā  Ā  I had it happen on my first Equinox! I just got a deal on another "barebones"Ā Ā 800, since i traded the firstĀ one away! And will try the silicone first, and then if needed,Ā the grip tape idea! šŸ‘šŸ‘

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I have a detect-ed, and i use spray silicon too. IĀ“ve never thought to use it on the rubbers...with new pair of rubbers (from detect-ed) there is no need to lubricate, even with the 15x12. The bolt is absolutely free and the coil is well fixed with no movements. The spray certainly helps to keep them humid and not dry, so is not a bad idea.

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1 hour ago, Joe D. said:

Ā  Has anyone had coil ears break on any other detector,Ā  besides the Equinox?? I may have asked this before, but i don't think i got an answer!!

NEVER broke a coil ear in my life! Until the Equinox. Been detecting 45 years.Ā 

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2 hours ago, Joe D. said:

Ā  Ā Ā  Ā Has anyone had coil ears break on any other detector,Ā  besides the Equinox?? I may have asked this before, but i don't think i got an answer!!

The ears on the Fisher 11" DD coils break super easy if you don't use theĀ rubber washers that come with the detector. The Fisher washersĀ look like any other washerĀ but the coil ears are so thin that evenĀ the slightestĀ difference in thickness will cause them to snap.Ā  I repaired mine with Gorilla Super Glue and it seems to be okay so far.

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I just discovered what may be the fix for loose floppy coils.

So the problem for me all along is that I want the coil to stay in place and not lay flat every time IĀ set the detector down. What most people do is crank down on the bolt as much as possible but this can snap the bolt and possibly put stress on the ears.

For years I've beenĀ putting a piece of grip tape on the inside of one of the ears. This helps a little but I was thinking it could be better. So I took some surfboard wax and coated the ears and the washers with a layer of wax. Surfboard wax is extremely sticky. When I put the coil back on, I was amazed how well it worked. The coil staysĀ put so well that I didn't need to crank down on the bolt at all. I don't think it even needs the grip tape. The sticky wax gives the surfaces plenty of grip, yet I can still adjust the angle whenever I need to. I'm very pleased with how well it worked.

Surfboard wax is cheap. Any surf shop will have it for a couple of bucks, or you can get it on Amazon.

Actually, any kind of wax might work. Even candle wax. Give it a try. Surf wax just happens to be moreĀ sticky.

Ā 

Ā 

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35 minutes ago, phrunt said:

That's a good idea, and will also stop the grinding plastic/rubber.Ā  It'll get dirty and ugly but other than that it'll work well.

With silicone spray your coil can hold in position when put down, I demonstrated it with the coil bolts very lose not holding the coil at all.

I don't foresee anythingĀ getting dirty or ugly.Ā 

I didn't get a chance to try the silicone. It still defies logic to me that lubricating the washersĀ would improve theirĀ grip, but if it works for you, that's great.

.

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1 hour ago, phrunt said:

That's a good idea, and will also stop the grinding plastic/rubber.Ā  It'll get dirty and ugly but other than that it'll work well.

Ā 

1 hour ago, Badger-NH said:

I didn't get a chance to try the silicone. It still defies logic to me that lubricating the washersĀ would improve theirĀ grip, but if it works for you, that's great.

I know it is human nature to make excuses and sometimes ignore facts. This coil failure has been at multipleĀ points. Breaking at both the base of the ear, and like mine breaking through the bolt eye.Ā 

If you do not want any downtime, be proactive!Ā Ā 

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37 minutes ago, phrunt said:

I put wax on my skis and snowboard to make them more slippery, I put wax on my surfboard to make it less slippery. Defies logic but works šŸ™‚

Come to think of it, wax and silicone are both petroleum products and are made from the same basic thing.

Surf wax has sticky stuff added to it. You wouldn't want to use it on your snowboard. Nor would you putĀ ski wax on a surfboard.

Ā 

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That's the same design I was looking at. Seems like it would help transfer a lot of the pressure back to the coil. Found out my local library has a 3d printer but they only use pla. It won't be as strong as abs. It's only 6 cents per gram so I am going to have them print oneĀ to try out. I can get one made from abs later if I decide to use it.

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On 10/30/2020 at 8:53 AM, GB_Amateur said:

Pretty sure I have spare 'washers' for that so I'll try the silicone on one set.Ā  If I don't like the result I can revert to the other set of washers.

Silicone lubricant arrived but first I made some measurements.Ā  I noticed some differences on the ML rubber washers.Ā  Here is what I measured (estimated single measurement uncertainty ~0.01 mm):

3 sets of the 'teardrop' shape for the Equinox:Ā  Four of them were within 0.01 mm of 5.00 mm.Ā  The other two were 5.07 mm.Ā  The only set that has been used was of the smaller size.Ā  There may have been a tiny bit of wear loss (0.01 to 0.02 mm) on one of the used washers.Ā  (4.99 mm compared to 5.01 mm)

2 sets of the special (toothed on one side, flat on the other) washers for the X-Terra:Ā  (Note:Ā  I'm using the X-Terra lower two shaft sections on my Eqx to convert it to S-shaft).Ā  The two used ones were thinner by about 0.15 mm!

So if my measurements are anywhere near correct, both manufacturing tolerance (Equinox washers) and usage wear (X-Terra washers in particular) come into play.

I've put the silicone spray lubricant on the X-Terra washers and installed the newer (thicker) ones on my shaft to accomodate the Equinox coil(s).Ā  The fit so far is snug but I didn't have to force the coil ears over the washered shaft end.Ā  I'll be going detecting tomorrow so I'll see how well the assembly grips -- i.e. how easy/difficult it is to change the coil angle.

Ā 

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