Jump to content

Some White's Accessory Prices Are Getting Ridiculous


Recommended Posts

At the time I post this there are still 3 days remaining on this auction and already the bidding has reached $61.  I bought one of these (new) a couple years back for $10.  (I may have had to pay shipping but no more than $5.00 for that.)

I guess if you have a White's detector and need a battery holder you don't have many choices....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

At the time I post this there are still 3 days remaining on this auction and already the bidding has reached $61.  I bought one of these (new) a couple years back for $10.  (I may have had to pay shipping but no more than $5.00 for that.)

I guess if you have a White's detector and need a battery holder you don't have many choices....

https://www.centrevilleelectronics.net/parts.htm frequently has the battery holders in stock (currently "Temp" out of stock), and https://centrevilleelectronicsnw.com/shop (northwest) has them in his store for $19.95.

What they say about a fool and his money!

There does appear to be a run or hoarding of Whites though. Before Christmas there were many of the TDI-SL both new and used on E-Bay, CraigsList - now nothing for quite awhile. On one of the Australian boards there has been discussion about how difficult it is now to find any used Whites detectors over there. Maybe they're becoming collector's items? WooHoo!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Auction mentality!!!!!!!! I used to frequent auctions for woodworking tools and would watch bidders pay 100% more than new prices for a slightly used machine. Seems in the covid era, we are paying a lot more for everything. If your Google savy and shop around you will find some cheaper prices. If you think $61 is bad, you do not want to put an addition on your house. Lumber is almost triple in price here in PA.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe the battery holder looks like crypto currency in the picture?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, bklein said:

I would think someone with a 3D printer could make some money here.

Possibly.  I think the tolerances on these are pretty tight because they press into place to make good electrical contact.  And that press fit depends upon the unit sliding smoothly on internal rails.  Also, the fabricator would need to get the right metal parts.

Someone has the injection mold for this plus the parts list.  Getting more units made that way would be easiest and cheapest, I suspect.  Unlikely that the original designer ever anticipated this problem.  Also I wonder why people need replacements.  Do they break, get lost, wear out,...?  I guess with tens of thousands of detectors out there which use these you don't require much percentage loss to generate the need.  (I bought a spare so I could rig up a unit with an external auxiallary battery pack for my TDI.  But that's a pretty unusual application.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, bklein said:

Does someone make a lipoly pack?

This company makes and sells (through retailers) a Lithium Ion battery pack for those White's detectors with the same battery form factor as discussed in the initial post.  As to whether or not it's specifically the polymer type, IDK.  I have one and it's of high quality, but for those wanting to juice up their TDI/SL's, this one outputs the White's recommended 12V.  But the TDI/SL is a special case since most detectors have voltage regulators, converting/locking the voltage that gets supplied by the battery.  (And IMO, the TDI/SL is a fine PI operating at 12V.  Just don't expect it to have as much punch as its more expensive competitors.)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...