Bill (S. CA)

I really like your plastic shim solution.  Any chance you could post a picture or two for those of us "challenged" folks?

But I guess first we should all take a good look at our coil ears to see if the cracks are coming before our warranties run out.

Thanks again for responding to my post.

Bill (S. CA)

16 hours ago, PimentoUK said:

As an engineer, I've given this some thought and closely examined my coil. And saw the cracks, saw them get bigger, then one ear broke. Mine broke at the bottom, seemingly the most common failure mode.

I think the problem is this:
The teardrop rubber washers should protrude above the clevis recess they sit in, this includes when the bolt is tightened. This is the problem. The washers get squashed until the coil ears touch the clevis, plastic on plastic. This does two things: it allows the coil ears to bend inwards more than they were designed for, and it allows wear of the plastic when the coil angle is adjusted, such as when it's packed away flat. Abrasive dirt can also get into this exposed area, worsening the wear. This plastic wear then allows the coil bolt to be tightened further, bending the ears in even more. Repeat this, and the ears get grooves worn in them, the clevis gets narrower. I recommend you take a look at your own coil ears inner faces. If there's a circular wear groove, you're heading for problems.

The 'solution' I have tried is to insert thin plastic shims behind the rubber washers, to space them out 'fatter' , so the coil ears tighten on the washer, not the clevis body, and they don't get bent inwards so much. Shim plastic is readily salvagable from packaging, household items. Thicknesses around 0.2 mm ( 8 thou ) seem a good starting point, use the same thickness under both washers. Scissors and a sharp craft knife will be enough to cut them out. Use the rubber washers as a template.

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The second failure I've seen is cracks running from the ear hole out to the edge, often in multiple places. This is caused by improper moulding. The 8mm hole is moulded into the ear, so the liquid plastic has to flow around some 'pin' in the mould, and then join up solidly on the other side. This creates a weak point, when cooling plastic doesn't fully merge.
ML should consider moulding the ears without holes, then drill the hole afterwards as a seperate process. Ideally the hole should be reamed, to give a clean bore that will be resistant to crack formation.

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The solution to ears cracking at the bottom is probably to have taller ears, so the flexing caused by bolt-tightening doesn't cause stress concentration in one small zone. Larger ears would let more/all of the rubber teardrop washer be compressed, instead of just the 'round' part. The tip of the teardrop is further away from the pivot point ( the bolt hole) so it's friction contribution would help resist 'coil-flop' better than the current arrangement.

Pimento,

Very nice reply to my post.  I was hoping for an engineer's take on this.  Interesting that you address the cause of both types of cracking.  My initial thoughts were that bolt over-tightening was the main culprit.  If in fact, outside of molding defects, the washers are the issue I'm a little surprised that Minelab hasn't made thicker washers for Equinox owners.  Seems to me it would be a very inexpensive solution rather then having to swap out coils at the rate they are. 

I like your shim plastic solution, very nice DIY idea.  Do you feel that the Detect-Ed Coil Savers would do the same thing?

Bill (S. CA)

I was wondering what you folks think about the coil ear breakage issue that continues to plague Minelab with coils for the Equinox.  I have several friends who have had the ears break on the 15" coil and have seen other users suffer this same problem with the stock coil.  This past Sunday I had the opportunity to use the 15" coil at the beach and I loved it.  However, the coil ear problem has me a bit leery.  Even the aftermarket coil stiffeners don't seem to help and for all I know they may actually contribute to the problem.  From what I have seen breakage occurs in two spots:  1.  The top of the "loop" where the coil nut and bolt are attached and 2. At the base.  I also wonder if since these ears are thin that coil bolt over or under-tightening could be the culprit,

It seems that there is a defect in this coil ear design that Minelab should be addressing either by an exchange program with a redesigned  coil or an extension of the warranty on the coil.

Thoughts?

Bill (S. CA)

Nice one, Joe.  I never get bored seeing you bring these rings back to the surface after so many years.  Keep it up!

By the way, I also miss that certain Ring Daddy page.  Would love to see it come back somewhere someday.

Bill

Joe,

What a gorgeous ring.  Your recon if really fascinating; I think more gold is going to be in your scoop soon.

Keep it up!

Bill

I'm with the no lanyard crowd. Tried it a couple of times and it was a pain, one more leash to deal with.  Like Steve said, I just drop mine in my pouch.

Wow, Joe, what a way cool ring!  Keep it up!

I had a Tiny Tech many years ago. 

Yes, stock coil.  My 800 was one of the first batch which is why I'm a little concerned about its being watertight.  But yours not leaking is encouraging.

17 hours ago, Compass said:

Thanks Bill, I imagine so but it's been years since I've hunted around Zuma. I recently retired so it's nice to be able to go to the beach now whenever things look promising. That is a good question about my choice of detectors and I hope I have a good answer.

- My Beach Hunter is the best detector of the 3 for the black magnetic sand that I encounter on my beaches. It's not super thick most places but enough that it affects the Nox and Excal more.

- I believe that it is the deepest of the 3, especially, on the low conductor metals. The Excal is pretty deep in "all metal" mode but the target footprints seem small to me and the audio subdued whereas the Beach Hunter seems to belt out a tone on even small targets. I don't feel like I miss as much with the TDI BH. Now I do used a modified lithium ion battery pack that runs at about 15 volts but I would still feel the same way operating at the lower voltage. I use the Nox in fresh water where I can use the "gold" mode. It seems to operate more like a pulse with discrimination in that mode. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of the "beach mode" on the Nox and with my hearing impairment I feel like I'm missing a lot. It might just be me but it seems like I have to concentrate so much more when I'm using the Nox in "beach mode" and I don't get close to the depth I need with my stock 11" coil. I could just need more practice with it though.

-  I used a Pro PI, then a Dual Field for several years with pretty good success. I think that the Beach Hunter is like the Dual Field but with a  stronger audio response, silky smooth threshold and greater affinity for low conductors. The 14 K bracelet I found yesterday really sounded good on the TDI BH but I tested it on the Dual Field and it had trouble "seeing" it. I think of the Beach Hunter as a Dual Field on steroids.

GL&HH!

 

 

Interesting.  I found that my Equinox 800 matched my TDI Beach Hunter for depth, or at least close enough that I prefer using it and not digging the junk targets at depth.  I will admit that I am not a PI pro, however, and may need more time on it to really appreciate its abilities.  I do want do some water hunting this summer and may use the TDI more because I am a little bit afraid of dunking my Equinox and having it flood.

Compass,

Nice results.  Maybe our paths have crossed, I'm sort of north from Santa Monica to Zuma.  I see that some of the guys hunting the southern beaches have done really well.  Unfortunately for me I got called back to work at the wrong time to take advantage of these unusual conditions.

Just curious since I see that you have quite an arsenal of machines, any reason why the TDI Beach Hunter was your detector of choice over either the Equinox of Excal?

It does sound like EMI but you don't indicate if you were at a different location.  As Steve said, switching to a different location will confirm this.  Also remember that the Simplex will go nuts if you have a pinpointer on nearby.  I would recommend doing the latest update; a "mute" function is included that is a very effective workaround for the pinpointer noise issue.  I have used my Simplex in a various locations and have never encountered a noise issue like you have mentioned.  Good luck!

bill

Another one for the champ!  What year and school, Joe?

Great finds, Joe, and love the old picture.

My guess is the AQ won't be leaving your hand anytime soon!  Keep going!

Bill

My first metal detector was a Coinmaster 3 TR that I bought from Knapp's Metal Detector Sales in Berea, Ohio way back in 1972.  An old guy was selling White's out of his house.  It cost $169.99 if I remember correctly and I didn't have enough money from my paper route so my mom "invested" $50.00 in my detector so I could buy it.  I still have it to to this day.  I found a lot of good stuff in the old days and that detector was responsible for my best find ever, a diamond ring found on a beach called "Gem Beach" on Lake Erie.  Sure will miss White's.

Steve,

Bizarre.  Would never anticipate a failure like that happening.  I hope they send you a couple of power cables just in case.

Maybe Fisher should bring OBN in to get them up to speed.

Bill

Steve,

Nice no nonsense review.

My only real comment is that if Fisher had the sense to send you a test unit a year ago the product would be done and available for sale.

Bill

6 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Who knows. When a dealer has one I can buy and a price I’ll buy one. If it’s so limited only special people with special connections can get one... well the product will be a failure and I won’t care. Any company that can’t make enough of something that people want is not worth doing business with. I refuse to buy into any of the “Limited Edition” and “Special Edition” stuff. Yeah, like the F75 Ltd, so limited you can still buy them new 20 years later!  but seriously, if FT is not making and selling these for at least a few years, then it is a business failure. Maybe the first few units are “Limited” in some way, but making just 20 units would not begin to cover the cost of even designing and tooling up for the battery case.

If FT only makes 20 and quits... did you really need one after all? Think about it. The only way that happens is if it does not perform to a level that people are willing to pay for.

As usual, I am with Steve.  Can someone, Rick maybe since Fisher just isn't forthcoming on much of anything, at least let everyone know how to purchase the Impulse when it comes out?  Will it be through dealers or factory direct?  I don't see this as rocking the boat at all.  It just continues to be so odd that price, accessories (good take on the battery, Steve, 4 hours doesn't cut it without a backup), manual, way to purchase, none of this is being mentioned by anyone.  And if this is a limited release, which again makes no sense, I think a lot of us will be out when it comes to purchase one.  Just make the darn things and if they work they will sell, right?

23 hours ago, Rick Kempf said:

It was replaced and after verifying that it performed to standard, I sent it to one of the most successful and respected water hunters in the US. He is currently putting it through an extremely thorough series of air and in water tests. His results are being recorded on videos and will be posted when completed.   

Hey Rick, that is pretty exciting news.  And a water hunter is just what we need. 

Looking forward to seeing his videos.

Thanks for sharing this info.

Appreciate the update, Rick. 

I can't recall if you got your Impulse replaced.  If you did, have you had a chance to hunt with it?

On 5/3/2020 at 3:26 PM, Rick Kempf said:

When the workforce in the plant in El Paso returns, AQ assembly will resume. Launch isn’t far off - we hope!

Hey Rick, heard anything more from El Paso as to their return to work?

Bill

Fisher Impulse AQ Data & Reviews

Just when I am at my wit's end, stuck working from home, beaches and parks closed in LA, along comes Joe with GOLD!  Love that class ring, Joe.  What year and school.

Thanks for posting.  Boy did I need this!

Bill

Look at you, Joe.  On the shelf, you get out once and BANG!  Great rings.

We are totally locked down here in Los Angeles.  All I can do is dust my machines and it's killing me!  Thanks for getting out and sharing your finds!

Bill

Personally I don't think of this as the death knell of the Impulse AQ at all.  Even if the detector was ready to go they couldn't make and ship them anyway.  To me, having engineers at home could be a good thing in that it will allow them to work out any final bugs so that when the lockdown is lifted they will be ready to get production going.  Remember, despite the government bailout, companies are going to want to fast track their restarts to get their revenue streams moving immediately.  First Texas is no different.  If they can release a brand new machine like the Impulse AQ and put it into the hands of users around the world who were itching to get one before the pandemic, they will.  And I can tell you that all of us who can't go detecting because the beaches and parks are closed are going to be even more anxious to buy one.  

I'm hopefully with you Steve but it is curious that we aren't hearing from any of the Fisher sources who kindly furnished info to us over the past year plus.  Not sure what to make of that.  Oh well, the beaches out here in Los Angeles are deader than dead anyway thanks to no storms  and too many guys swinging Equinoxes! It will be worth the wait when the Impulse finally comes to market.