Lower Rod Flex?

[midalake]

4 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Here's an idea based on an eBay listing...these are hard to get given the situation in the Ukraine.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bracket-for-Mounting-XP-DEUS-XP-ORX-Metal-Detectors-Control-Unit-on-any-Rod-/264321571573

That thing frickin ROCKS!!!!

[midalake]

1 hour ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

Hey SteveG, I saw these online and thought of you. I don’t know if this could be adapted somehow to the S-shaft or for a mount to the straight shaft and these are for Deus 1 and Orx, so I don’t know if they would work for the D2, but maybe they would give you some ideas.

Deus Remote Adapter

 

What you posted is the actual end piece that installs into the factory rod. 

[palzynski]

3 hours ago, DanU said:

Are you guys seeing the wobble in the water or just in general use?  I extend mine to the 4 1/2 mark on the lower shaft and haven't notice any wobble.  But I haven't used it in the water yet.  I am waiting for the 9 inch coil, the longer shaft and the bone conducting headphones to become available before water (wading) use and the dive shaft for diving.

Mine is extended to  5 and I do notice a little wobble ..

[Steve Herschbach]

12 hours ago, steveg said:

Steve, and others...

Thanks for the interest!

I've had a number of customers raising this issue with me.  It seems there's fairly great demand for a Deus shaft replacement, with stiff/sturdy carbon fiber and high-quality cam locks.  Since this is exactly what I try to provide my customers with, it would seem that this would be "right up my alley."

The PROBLEM(S) are this, when considering the production of a Deus/Deus II...

1.  NON-ROUND SHAFTS...

To make a long story short, production of non-round carbon-fiber tubes is costly; there's a rather large up-front cost, as a non-round tube requires a mold for production, and then the cost of the molded tubes themselves are MUCH higher than round tubes.  Additionally, a non-round tube requires a matching, non-round cam lock, matching non-round shaft fittings, etc. -- all of which require their own injection molds to be produced.  

2.  NON-STANDARD COIL EAR...

One of the two coil ears of the Deus has that "proprietary" non-round "plug" that fits through one side of the coil ear, and that plug "mates" to a "cavity" on one side of the Deus lower rod "clevis" or "head."  This makes production of a "proper" lower rod piece more difficult than your basic clevis.

3.  THE CONTROL-BOX MOUNT...

The Deus uses that "proprietary" mounting system for the control box, where the back of the control box "mates" to the front of the "mount," and that mount -- again -- is designed to fit in the Deus non-round shaft.  This is another custom component that would have to be "replicated" for use with an aftermarket Deus shaft.

4.  THE DESIGN ITSELF...

The really cool "collapsible" design of the Deus, where there are "cam locks" integrated into the S-handle, and the shaft "slides through" the handle for collapsibility, is not easily replicated.

NOW, some of these hurdles could be overcome, by avoiding use of the non-round tubes, and building a replacement shaft with standard, round carbon-fiber tubes.  On the positive side, this would allow use of my current cam lock (thus no new cam lock injection mold needed), and would also easier-to-produce "round" shaft fittings (the lower rod piece, etc.)  The lower rod "head" or "clevis," as long as it is round, could have the "cavity" for the "coil ear plug" to be machined into it, so that hurdle could be overcome as well.  I have considered the possibility of adapting my new "S-shaft" design, for use with the Deus.

HOWEVER, points 3 and 4 above remain challenges, even given that I now have that S-shaft design.  For point 3 -- a control box mount would have to be custom-designed -- one that would both A.) fit onto my S-handle, and B.) mate properly with the Deus control box.  Then, for point 4 -- customers would have to be willing to forego the "collapsibility" offered by the Deus shaft design, as my S-shaft does not allow the tubes to "slide through the handle" for the easy collapsibility offered by the Deus.

I have been thinking alot about this, and trying to find solutions to these issues, but there's really no way to get around the fact that no matter how I slice it, this would be a very expensive shaft to produce (in terms of purchase price), as production would require substantial up-front investment.   The Deus shaft is a much more "proprietary" shaft than many others, making a proper, high-quality replacement shaft a very high hurdle to overcome.  I will continue pondering it...

Thanks all!

Steve

I see no reason to try and duplicate the XP rod assembly. Just take your new S shaft for Equinox, add appropriate lower rod, and let people put controller in pocket. I’m going to do just that with the Equinox S shaft you just sent me. 

If an XP rod mount fitting could be glued on, or even clamped on, like Chase showed, so much the better. Certainly be best for wading as you need to run the cable to the coil from the controller. Most people though do detect dry land, so don’t think you need this if your existing S rod can work for most people right now.

The main thing though is Stout, No Wiggle! But still light in weight.

[relicmeister]

I thought XP was going to offer a sturdier lower stem particularly for diving ( but could be used inland as well). I have the 11” and being 5’ 8” and because it’s the 11” coil I only extend the lower stem about 6-7 “ ( I don’t know what mark that would be ) and at that length I do not notice any wobble or feel it’s flimsy. 

[mudwhale]

22 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I had a chance to observe a D2 with 11” coil recently, and overall was impressed by what I saw. Seemed just ok on mid to low conductors, but excellent to superior on high conductors. Decided to get back on the order list based on what I saw, thinking it may do better than I thought on silver in my parks. That in mind I switched from 9” to 11” coil, as I’ve decided other units will do better on gold, especially nugget detecting, and that was main reason I wanted the 9” coil, as alternative to 6x11 nugget coil. But for deep silver, I’m thinking the 11” has the edge.

What I did not like was lower rod movement that seemed far in excess from what I remember on my two previous Deus 1 units. Less the rod itself, then slop in the cam lock mechanism. Not sure, but my previous impressions were the XP S shaft was the best of the best. This one… barely ok out of water, and I’d think a disaster swinging in water against resistance.

Anyone else seeing this, or is it a problem isolated to my buddies detector?

Steve

The Cam Locks may be the culprit. There was a couple videos showing how to adjust and tighten them up using shims.

My unit takes a little force to close the levers and I have zero wobble. 

[mudwhale]

21 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Oops, been too busy I guess, missed that here! I never was a fan of the included XP phones as I hate on ear phones, but I expected it, so no surprise. I'll be using an adapter to use the phones I want instead. But something has changed in the rod from what I remember, so that was a surprise.

I bought the Deus compatible Grey Ghost over the ear phones and the audio is superb. They even have a version with more upgraded speakers.  I tried Grey Ghost phone a long time ago and the sound wasn't good. They reall upped their game with sound quality.

[phrunt]

The Chinese appear to make a XP Deus mount clone, I don't know if this would help anyone with their projects?

 

[Ogliuga]

Friend of mine who noticed the bending of the lower stem has solved it with Nokta/Makro carbon fiber lower stem. According to him it’s almost perfect..

 

I’m sure XP will solve also this problem..

 

[Ogliuga]

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

The Chinese appear to make a XP Deus mount clone, I don't know if this would help anyone with their projects?

 

My D2’s mount swings a little and it doesn’t stop even screwing it. It’s bothersome..