Accessory Coils And Coil Covers, Do You Expect Coil Covers To Be Included Or Not?

[Chase Goldman]

Doc - If Garrett wasn't selling only Axiom dual-coil packages I would expect the cover to be included  or available for separate purchase (for the 13" and 11" standalone accessory coils) but since I already have a coil with the same form-factor I have no issue swapping the cover between the Mono and DD variants and would prefer that option to save on the cost of a forced buy of a second unneeded cover.  If the 16" coils are only being sold as standalone accessories, the I would expect the the cover to be included.  It's not a big deal as long as I know up front what is going on, regardless of the magnitude of the coil cost.  

[phrunt]

Garrett is more unusual as they often don't include covers with their detectors, my Ace's never came with covers, nor for their accessory coils, same with my AT Gold,  the 24k didn't come with covers either and I had to go to great lengths and expense to get them from USA as they are not available in the local market, the Garrett dealers don't even list them as an item you can buy, you don't want to know what that cost me but lets just say it's cheaper to buy a coil than it cost me to get the covers, I shouldn't have bothered I guess.  Then other brands come with covers, the Vanquish I got came with a cover as it was the "high end" Vanquish version but I believe the cheaper models don't.  It seems odd to me as the covers cost them next to nothing to make, so not including them on detectors that cost many hundreds or even thousands of dollars is just weird I think, it's a way for the manufacturer to add value in the consumers mind with minimal expense on their part but I guess like everything any accessories can be where they make the highest profit margins.

As for as an accessory coil, well that's a different story, if they come with it or don't it makes little difference as long as the price is right. 

The Mars Tiger I purchased came with a skid plate although they made it clear its not necessary to use it as the coils are designed tough and the skid plate isn't beneficial, I believe them they are tough coils.  They put skid plates with coils for the UK market as for some reason the British customers had trouble accepting skid plates were not necessary, all that grass they hunt on and all 😉  I bought my Tiger from the UK hence it coming with a skid plate.

The only detectors I've worn through a cover on are the Equinox and the GPZ, oddly they're the ones I've used the most for the longest lengths of time.  I expect I'll wear through a 24k skid plate in the future, the rocky gravelly ground here can eat skid plates for breakfast.

[Doc]

The bottom line is providing the consumer the information for them to make an informed decision.

I think the poll is rather convincing, that most people do not think of a coil cover as an accessory for a coil, they consider it an integral part of the coil to protect their investment.

I would rather the price of the coil be increased so that the coil cover is included.  It makes for difficult position for me as a dealer to sell someone a coil assuming it came with a coil cover, when there was no information to the contrary, and then the customer has to tell me that no coil cover was included and is upset at me.

I don't think any of us have a problem knowing up front that the coil cover is considered an additional item.  But I couldn't find that information anywhere.  My fault for not asking.  As they say, never assume anything.

To my line of thinking a coil cover protects your coil.  Just like the insulation on your coil cable protects the wiring.

I certainly can understand why a coin and relic machine that is used on grass, a coil cover may not be that critical.  However, when you are using a gold machine looking for nuggets you are working ground that is covered in broken sharp quartz.  On my GPZ7000 I go through a cover after three trips.

Doc

 

[GoodAmount]

None of my Whites coils came with coil covers and my experience of getting them was similar to Phrunt’s - they were super expensive for what’s effectively just a vac-formed piece of plastic. All my Coiltek and NF coils all came with skid plates. The one on my Sadie took well over a year to wear through and I scrub that thing as close to the ground as I can get it. I bought a replacement for it that lasted only 2 months - I can’t remember if it was OEM or aftermarket, but it was a total waste of money! After that I 3D printed my own covers for the coils I use most, designing in a bit of extra meat around the base perimeter. I’m still using the first ones I made - it’s been awesome. I’d still prefer to get a skid plate with every coil though, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.

[DSMITH]

Personally I think a coil cover (Skid plate) should be supplied when you purchase a new coil or a detector, would I ever let it stop me from purchasing a coil or detector because some manufacturers do not supply a coil skid plate absolutely not

[Doc]

1 hour ago, GoodAmount said:

None of my Whites coils came with coil covers and my experience of getting them was similar to Phrunt’s - they were super expensive for what’s effectively just a vac-formed piece of plastic. All my Coiltek and NF coils all came with skid plates. The one on my Sadie took well over a year to wear through and I scrub that thing as close to the ground as I can get it. I bought a replacement for it that lasted only 2 months - I can’t remember if it was OEM or aftermarket, but it was a total waste of money! After that I 3D printed my own covers for the coils I use most, designing in a bit of extra meat around the base perimeter. I’m still using the first ones I made - it’s been awesome. I’d still prefer to get a skid plate with every coil though, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.

GoodAmount what type filament did you use?  ABS?

Doc

[All_Metal_Mode]

When I bought an accessory coil for my Axiom I was surprised it didn’t come with a skid cover, but like Steve I wasn’t too upset since nowhere in the description did it say it would come with one. I just swapped out with the matching size from the stock coils and good to go. I theorized that Garrett might include the covers with their largest size coils but I have nothing to back that up other than wishful thinking.

$38 seems a bit steep, being around 1/6th of the price of the smallest coil. I am sure an aftermarket option will come around that cuts that in half or better. I guess it doesn’t really bother me since I don’t expect accessories to be included, and skid plates were always aftermarket add-on for my ATX. 

Side note, the Axiom coils have a pretty decent base with the skid plate off, the black material looks sturdy and actually resembles the skid plate itself which is why I initially didn’t realize there wasn’t one included. I’m curious to see what kind of beating these can take before they start looking like trash, because the cover only adds a minuscule amount of rigid plastic.

[GoodAmount]

54 minutes ago, Doc said:

GoodAmount what type filament did you use?  ABS?

Hi Doc, yes I’m using ABS. I didn’t expect it to hold up particularly well given it’s a fairly soft plastic, but it’s actually working out very well. The trouble with vac-formed covers is that the thinnest part of the moulding is on the fillet around the leading edge where the plastic has to stretch the most as it sucks over the plug (the deeper the plug, the worse it gets). But that’s actually where you want the most material to be when you’re scraping your coil over the rocks given it’s the highest wear area. 3D printing is great, given you can add material wherever you need it most and strip it out where you don’t.

[Doc]

10 minutes ago, GoodAmount said:

Hi Doc, yes I’m using ABS. I didn’t expect it to hold up particularly well given it’s a fairly soft plastic, but it’s actually working out very well. The trouble with vac-formed covers is that the thinnest part of the moulding is on the fillet around the leading edge where the plastic has to stretch the most as it sucks over the plug (the deeper the plug, the worse it gets). But that’s actually where you want the most material to be when you’re scraping your coil over the rocks given it’s the highest wear area. 3D printing is great, given you can add material wherever you need it most and strip it out where you don’t.

That's sweet.  And I just happen to have a 3D printer.  What thickness did you set the coil cover at?

Thank you,

Doc

[GoodAmount]

Awesome. Nominal thickness is 1.5mm increasing to 3mm around the leading edge. You might need a heated build chamber to keep the part from warping - ABS gets freakily hard to keep stuck to the build platform when printing flat parts like this. 🙂