Wish List For Next Garrett Apex Update

[phrunt]

This is very interesting, I'd never noticed that's how the Ace Detector coils are, I checked my Ace models which are the Ace 350 (Euroace) and the newer Ace 300i and the coils they come with plus the extra coils I've purchased for them.

My Ace 350 with it's stock coil on the left, the same as the Apex, and the Ace 300i with Nel Tornado coil on the right, note the Nel has the heat shrink over it's connector.

A close up of the excellent quality Nel Tornado coil connector, it even screws onto the detector easier than the standard coil and has a little cap you can put on to protect it when not on the detector.

A close up of the stock coil, it's a puzzle why they didn't put heatshrink on them, it costs next to nothing, takes a few seconds and the benefits of it for them even in terms of warranty would far outweigh the cost of putting it on.  They've used heat shrink under the connector as you can see in this photo, either to make the cable thicker so the connector fits better or for shielding the pins from the outer metal shell of the connector? I should pop one open for a look.

Strangely these genuine coil connectors are rougher to screw on than the Nel coil connector.

Another of my Ace coils, again the same connector with no heat shrink

And all of my Ace coils, the 3 to the left are genuine Garrett coils, the right is the Nel Tornado which by far gets the most use, it's my favourite coil out of what I've got for the Ace detectors, it's a depth demon.

Seeing it's raining heavy outside today and I've got nothing to do I'll go through all of my coils and add adhesive lined heat shrink to any coil that doesn't have it on the connectors.  Not only will it help prevent rust on my coil connectors it by having the adhesive stops the pulling on the wires/solder joints by adding a lot of strength to the plug end.  As they say prevention is better than cure.  I do really like my Ace 300i though, great detector for it's place in the market and exceptionally deep in mild soil conditions on coins with a big coil.

I think Garrett should "update" their coils by adding the heat shrink on for future Apex and Ace sales, that'd be something I'd want from the next Garrett "update"

[phrunt]

And I'm done, that didn't take long 🙂

See the adhesive spilling out of the heat shrink, not only does it make the connector more water resistant it strengthens the connector immensely as the pulling from the cable isn't on the solder joints near as much, with the heatshink going up onto the metal of the plug the pulling of the cable is now transferred to the plug end rather than the connections of the wires. 

It's about the only update to the coil you could do that would cost about 10 cents but provide a lot of benefits.

 

[DIG5050]

Good idea, Phrunt.

The only concern I would have with doing the shrink/melt liner on the Apex coils is the melt liner in the shrink tube makes the overall assembly much stiffer and a bit longer creating more leverage.  The mating connector on the Apex is soldered to the main board.  Wiggling of the cable with the stiffer coil connector might break loose solder joints on the pcb requiring a (warranty)repair.  I change coils a lot on my Apex, and even all the changing of coils as designed is a bit of a concern for me.

Just mating the pin/socket connectors is difficult.  I’ve been considering applying some silicone grease to the pins/socket portion of the connectors to see if it helps. Anybody ever done this?

[phrunt]

I use this on all of my coil plugs.

[GB_Amateur]

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

I use this on all of my coil plugs.

I don't think we can get there here (it's an Australian brand/product).  Is this pretty close?

[phrunt]

11 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

I don't think we can get there here (it's an Australian brand/product).  Is this pretty close?

It'll do the cleaning but not the lube side of it, this one is more the thing which should be in the USA.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00034204/

I just spray a little bit on the contacts and also the screw thread, makes it easy to do them up.  Some electronics cleaners are harsh on some plastics but the 3M claims it isn't and the brand I use has been fine.

This one here seems the absolute best, I might upgrade myself, a lot more expensive though.

https://www.synergyelectronics.co.nz/store/caig-deoxit-d5

https://hosatech.com/press-release/why-use-deoxit/

[GB_Amateur]

That 3m product is $50 on Amazon.  Can this be done in two steps?  1) clean/degrease, and 2) lubricate?  How about this double whammy:

https://www.amazon.com/CRC-Contact-Cleaner-Protectant-Aerosol/dp/B007I9Y200/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3OQTP82MXCTZG&keywords=contact+cleaner+and+lubricant&qid=1643940864&sprefix=contact+cleaner+and+lub%2Caps%2C102&sr=8-4

followed by another of your recommended products:

https://www.amazon.com/CRC-Heavy-Duty-Silicone-Lubricant/dp/B0042NWOLY/ref=sr_1_2?crid=18XMC2UPJRVZF&keywords=crc+silicone+spray&qid=1643941138&sprefix=CRC+silicone+%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-2

 

[phrunt]

2 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

That 3m product is $50 on Amazon.  Can this be done in two steps?  1) clean/degrease, and 2) lubricate?  How about this double whammy

Do they not sell this anywhere in the US?

https://www.crc.co.nz/556-Electrical/6895-2a48f7d0-67b7-4ed5-a59a-855c10ff5f0e/

CRC 5-56 Electrical

[mh9162013]

I didn't know adhesive lined heat shrink existed, but I'm so buying some with my next Amazon.com order!

[GB_Amateur]

5 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Do they not sell this anywhere in the US?  CRC 5-56 Electrical

When I search for that, here is what comes up:

Thus Amazon recommends two separate steps.  (They aren't the be-all, end-all in electronics advice, I realize....)