Jump to content

bklein

Full Member
  • Posts

    422
  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Forums

Detector Prospector Home

Detector Database

Downloads

Everything posted by bklein

  1. I went ahead and used the pill bottle, cut in half, on two coils. I kept the wires straight and used the Heyco you show. I used heat shrink on each individual wire, then wrapped with electrical tape, slipped the pill bottle over it. I used hot melt to temporarily seal the bottle to the coil base, and poured in the resin. Seems fine.
  2. CJC, could you post some photos of the wobbly shaft issue? Mine came back from Fisher without this being addressed. I baby it so maybe it’s a non-issue for now(?) Maybe all are like mine out of the factory?
  3. I received my detector and they didn’t find any wrong with it - NTF. They watched my videos of testing the delay switch. Oh well.
  4. I’m not really understanding the purpose of the cut off portion screwed on to the base coil connection (top left photo). It says it is so the resin locks in to it but it would do that without it too. It seems the technique is to add a stress relief base offset from the original. The piece that sticks out though has me questioning though - it doesn’t seem to have anything for the resin to hold on to. I think there used to be your videos on this whole process but I can’t find them anymore. I guess there isn’t something that would screw to the coil base and contain the cable connections. Seems wrong thread on everything. I was going to use a pill bottle for the plastic cylinder but now worry that it may be polypropylene and not bond to the coil housing or epoxy resin - probably better to find something else eh?
  5. My detector was repaired and is on its way back to me! No word of cost so I'm not complaining!
  6. It has always been practice to minimize detectable materials in detection range. It would be good to see someone run target depth tests with different shaft types.
  7. Can the detector sense carbon fiber like my Carrot pinpointer can? Maybe fiberglass is better?
  8. I just managed to get in touch with a human (Gabby) in customer service and she’ll call me back with a status. One of the issues it has is this wobbly mount.
  9. My detectors are both built from parts. They have inline connectors so I can swap coils. Both have a Mogami brand cabling with two pair blue and clear wires. I can’t visually tell what’s paired. I can determine TX and RX pairs though with my multimeter. TX are low resistance, RX higher - like 1.1K. If I take the control head apart I can tell what goes where but I am trying to avoid that as due to my pot shaft adapters it’s really hard to get all to line up on reassembly. Are you suggesting if I don’t hear the pliers it is wired wrong? So fix that by TX wire swap then test for target centering and swap RX wires if wrong? Go back to TX with the pliers and verify heard in all metal minimum discrimination. I’m confused as you say normal Excal behavior is to mask out the pliers (like my friend’s stock unit).
  10. Your mis-wiring YouTube video shows the detector sounding on the needle nose pliers. That’s why I was testing them.
  11. One of my two Excals blanks out the pair of needle nose pliers. (Discriminate set to minimum) Any idea what might cause this? Wrong value pot? Jeez I hate to open it up again. Edit: I just borrowed my friend’s stock Excal II and it also discs out the pliers in min Disc setting.
  12. Wow, what other things went wrong with it? Were all your repairs in-warranty? Yeah the things that sound after switching delay or mode are unfortunate and could be muted with more design effort. I can live with it but really worry about the craziness you describe with the Mode switch.
  13. Was it obviously different when you got it back? Did you get the same unit back or a replacement? It will have been in their hands a week tomorrow and I haven’t heard from them. When calling it in they said I’d hear in 3 days. I really don’t understand failures like this - normal design and construction techniques would not allow it over time. I did not play with settings much at all. Found what worked and left it that way. One day though it went wacko and I discovered the delay switch issue. After that I had some trouble with tones during sweeps (had this with other detectors too though). Then I test depth on a nickel and realize it’s ~11”. I hope they figured all this out.
  14. I think it then depends on the test purpose - the way you suggest involves the ground and that is fine if you want to test without digging holes but it’s going to be different ground than someone else’s so different results different ground. I am most interested in a test with a standard target, like a nickel, that gives the same results no matter where. Then I can judge if my detector is running like others’. OBN’s videos show you can get better results when the target is in the ground. Nickel 19” in ground, 16” in air. Mine and Stateguy’s were doing 11-12” in the air. Transfer this to Pi’s new thread if he does one…
  15. The battery voltage on the AQ gets down to 12.x volts before it dies. I am still thinking it’s depth is sensitive to this. I think we determined my stock battery has a dead cell so lower voltage but still gets over 3 hours use. My small OBN battery is 14.8V…. Stock 17.4V(?) Stateguy says his stock batteries don’t last very long, one only an hour. So I think this is worthy of an air test with a dc supply. Mine’s still in for repair, no word yet on its status. Didn’t send in the battery.
  16. If a VLF, you already know the good target ID, wouldn’t discriminating out the other IDs accomplish the same thing? I guess if you have a pi it might work but it would also lock on real but unwanted targets. Likely be a latency issue plus you’d need to have a consistent swing and sense end of swing with a sensor. Perhaps go into detail how you think it would work.
  17. I have seen an AQ that had been opened by hot wire perhaps and epoxied or JB Welded back together. I work for a company that makes communication systems for military aircraft. We coat the boards with a coating that allows them to survive 100% humidity testing in an environmental chamber. Fisher should do their best to keep water out with o-ring seals etc., coat the board, and keep the unit repairable.
  18. Please explain the 3 12.5” column sections: Limited, Impulse AQ, Final Impulse AQ. Is this a factory chart?
  19. I think it is epoxy sealed not filled. That’s what I was told plus the delay pot on mine would not be able to be moved if it was filled (if nut loose). The battery though could be filled. I’ll know for sure once the rest of the cells in mine die and I try and put lipoly’s in it.
  20. Ugghhhj. Calling Fisher or First Texas is like calling my kids. “Leave a message…” Tried several people, no joy. I’ve decided to return mine for a look over. Really scared at what they may come back with for a repair cost, if they find something. No way it’s getting over 12” on a nickel.
  21. I removed all that nasty coax-seal stuff. It was getting stuck to everything. Got on the headphones then of course my ear… I wrap every connection with new 3M electrical tape and it works well. Don’t go with an off brand tape though as it won’t be as pliable. I don’t hunt underwater with it, the control head rarely gets wet.
  22. I called and talked with Ruby. She could not give a rough estimate. It would be $35 for them to look at it. They pay return shipping. I’ve been trying to decide on my own if mine is needing work - starting to think so. The brown packet that comes with it has a Quality Control checklist. It says it passed an air test at 16” on a nickel. Mine is more like 11”. That’s a big difference. I can twist knobs in all directions and the only thing that really changes is it gets worse if Sensitivity is set under 8. I think mine was more sensitive when I got it but unfortunately I didn’t take videos of it. I am also thinking the EMI cancellation is not working - but maybe it rarely works as my CTX is poor at it too at the same locations. What do you guys test on a nickel in air (13” coil) ? It would be cool to put together a chart listing all the popular detectors for an air test on a nickel.
  23. Wow, great video- thanks I’ll give mine a test. What do you do to adapt the thin shaft of the new replacement pots? Does someone make 3D printed adapters? I made some using the brass tubing from hardware stores. Sloppy cuts in the top using a Dremel. Works but real hard to line up to reassemble.
  24. Thanks OBN!, Newbie question - does it matter if ground/hot signals are reversed on either the RX or TX coil wires? I know I have the TX coil going to detector TX and same for RX wiring (and the detector works) but I could have phasing backwards somewhere. Also that add on circuit you have on yours - is it a tx boost, rx boost, or both? Wonder if any one’s tried one on the CTX. When I first got it (years ago) I had to back off on Sensitivity from 30 - now I’m running 30 all the time.
×
×
  • Create New...