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Coil Cable Damage And Its Effects


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While running my hands along a coil cable, I noticed a pin-sized thorn had pierced the cable, broken off, and embedded itself inside. Tweezers were of no use as the splinter was too deep and brittle. It got me a wondering if any one has any experience regarding the potential impact of such an injury to the coil cable and it’s insulation. Any thoughts?

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If it was me I'd take a tiny bit of the shielding off the cable and get the splinter out in case it eventually breaks through the thinner insulation on the coil wires.   Have you tried doing a good bend in the cable where the entry wound is to try make it easier to get the thorn out with the tweezers? 

I'd then use dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink over the injury to seal it up and make it as good as new.  Good heat strinks can shrink up to 4 times their size so you'll be able to get one that fits over the coil cables plug connector but still shrinks down small enough to shrink onto the cable.  I use them doing X-coil adapter stuff and putting plug ends back on coils.  They slide over the coils plug ends fine to be used on the cable.  You can just use a lighter to shrink it down if you don't have a solder station with a heat gun. 

https://www.te.com/usa-en/products/heat-shrink-tubing/dual-wall-tubing.html

Once that's done the cable is as good as new and just as waterproof as it once was.

Dual wall heat shrink tubing protects against moisture and corrosive environments, while providing electrical insulation and mechanical protection using engineered adhesives. Dual wall tubing products consist of a crosslinked outer jacket and an inner layer of adhesive or encapsulant. During installation, the adhesive or encapsulant lining melts and flows, creating a moisture-resistant protective barrier. Benefits of this type of tubing include controlled amounts of adhesive and consistent results; compliance with AMS-DTL-23053 standards; UL recognition/CSA certification; and RoHS Compliant.

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1 hour ago, phrunt said:

If it was me I'd take a tiny bit of the shielding off the cable and get the splinter out in case it eventually breaks through the thinner insulation on the coil wires.

Sounds like that would be the best way to repair the coil, and then seal it properly.

Simon it sounds like you have done this before and had some luck doing it.

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Seems like an odd and rare event, in all my years of detecting I've never seen nor had a thorn do that. Am thinking maybe a split had already occurred and the thorn just wedged in it??? Outer sheath damage occurs a lot with people who don't wrap their cables well enuff and allow the cable to flop around....you'd be amazed at just how much damage occurs over time even with just vibration from knocking on rocks etc. The inlet point of the cable into the coil is often the worst affected from internal wire breakage and outer sheath damage. Rocks can also damage the sheath....ya just gotta be unlucky I suppose. But, for years I've shown people how to wrap their coil cables and allow a bend in the last few inches next to the coil to allow for flexing when the coil angle is altered. Takes a bit of time, but keeps the coil at its best for a longer period. 

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Our gold areas are full of briar rose from the Chinese miners wanting their rose hip tea, they're nasty and can easily poke into a coil cable, and they damn well hurt! They attack me every time I go detecting.  It's rare I don't come home with holes in my clothes from them, the thorns are very tough.

briarrose.jpg.8739d1af509e771a805aa7790509522f.jpg

They're an invasive pest plant, and they entirely cover areas, gradually taking over the land, JW often cuts them down and has benefited greatly doing so by finding gold in places no one can get to. 

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I had a blackberry thorn do similar but was able to pull it out.  Sealed the spot with a wrap of electrical tape was the fix.

Have also seen old cables go bad like Aureus wrote above. This was a bad one I had, except it was a brand new coil. Something to watch out for anyway.

 

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On 4/29/2023 at 9:21 PM, phrunt said:

they damn well hurt! They attack me every time I go detecting.  It's rare I don't come home with holes in my clothes from them, the thorns are very tough.

Take a look at our teddy bear cholla...

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22 hours ago, WesD said:

I had a blackberry thorn do similar but was able to pull it out.  Sealed the spot with a wrap of electrical tape was the fix.

Have also seen old cables go bad like Aureus wrote above. This was a bad one I had, except it was a brand new coil. Something to watch out for anyway

Wow, looks like they did a dodgy solder job on that one.

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