palzynski

21 minutes ago, Glasswalker said:

....

As for height, I had wondered if that would be an issue, but will have to see once I get using it. And as you said, extensions, etc can address that pretty easily if it's needed. (to be exact, I'm about 195cm tall, not quite 2M, but still quite tall)

...

I forgot to say that if you are 195cm tall , probably the Vanquish stock shaft will be too short for you . Then you will have to make at least one "do it yourself" accessory , a longer lower shaft  ... 🙂

BTW the Vanquish is a very good machine , but it takes a little time to get used to its audio because this detector is a bit chatty , especially in iron trashed areas.  Usually people get used to it after say minimum 10/12hours detecting.  Start to use it in a clean area , avoid gardens , parks etc during the first hours ...   

HH

2 hours ago, Glasswalker said:

....That's a cool suggestion, I hadn't thought about replacing the tubes with carbon. What is the opinion in general on straight tube vs the "S" configuration the vanquish uses by default? Is one clearly "better" than the other in some way? Or is it purely subjective?

So if the overall machine was reasonable weight, and had balance improved, would you say the V12 is superior overall, the only reason you say the V10 is better is because it's nearly as good as V12 but lighter?

- I prefer a S configuration vs a straight shaft. This for 2 reasons :

   First I find easier to sweep a S shaft because with a straight shaft the detector center of gravity is lower than with a straight shaft . This means that with a straight shaft you have a pendulum effect that does not exist on a S shaft .

   Second when you put your machine on the ground a detector with a straight shaft often rotates to one side due to the high position of the control box , and the control box side hits the ground  at each time , which is not really good for the electronics .... 

- I think that Phrunt prefers the V12 because he uses it in low iron trash areas . However in most of my areas ( in France ) there are quite a lot of ferrous and the V12 has too much iron masking for me , I need a smaller coil that will perform better amoung the ferrous , so the V10 is a better choice for me , apart from the weight criteria.  The coil choice depends on your soil contents and also on the type of targets you are looking for , small coins , big coins , etc 

Thanks for the UK conversion kit info, Great idea , would like to get one before the brexit  🙂...

Btw I mostly use a V10 coil on my 540 . I only use the V12 in specific cases , for example when finishing an area to go at max depth ( I noticed  that the V12 goes  3 or 4cm deeper than the V10 on big coins on my bed tests ).

The V12 is too heavy for me to be used during long outings . Attaching 100g at the back yes I will try this and let you know ....

For me the V10 is by far far the best coil of the Vanquish coil set , it is powerful and light . I dont understand why ML does not sell the 540 with a V10 as stock coil , like it is the case for the 340 and 440 ...

Sorry but I do not see the advantage of a 3D printing armrest vs the stock one. I have no problem with the stock Vanquish armrest which I find tough enough , just my opinion ...

Ok thanks for the armrest pics but not really interested by that because it will not lighten the Vanquish I think . I would rather be interested by a new control box design even if I know that it will probably never be done because too complex ...

Btw I recommend to replace the Vanquish lower and mid shafts by carbon shafts ( see Testing The Vanquish 540 - Page 9 - Minelab Metal Detectors - DetectorProspector.com ) . This is quite easy to do and it significantly  improves the  vanquish balance  . I went detecting with my 540 today and the Vanquish is really more fun to use with these carbon shafts than with the stock ones  . btw I have seen on this forum someone making carbon shafts for the Equinox , probably he would have customers for a Vanquish carbon front shafts package ...

4 hours ago, Frank M said:

I will get an armrest in the next few days

3D printing and first prototype for vanquish

very stable and stainless steel fastening

color selectable (i chose black)

can show pictures if you want ?

Yes please post pictures ... thanks ...

1 hour ago, Frank M said:

Hello

My suggestion would be a waterproof box (see link Garrett Ace)

And illuminated buttons.

waterproof

Hi

Making a waterproof Vanquish would be too complex and expensive to do to my opinion. Because the control box needs to be entirely redesigned from the front digital display to the rear part of the box ... 

1 hour ago, Glasswalker said:

... Now IF experimentation shows the unit can take 7.4V directly without any issue (which I hesitate to jump to that conclusion). Then you could use 2S1P Lithium Polymer packs, and I can find some of those at 1.5Ah and 70g of weight. That would provide 11.1Wh of energy capacity, vs 15Wh with AA Alkaline, but you'd be able to discharge fully most likely, getting longer run time with full voltage. But you'd still probably be looking at 80g-90g for the whole package, including a BMS, and the chassis.

So I think as far as an actual replacement for the normal battery compartment that is rechargeable and light, I think you're better off with the RNB pack (which will be difficult to improve on much), or rechargable lithium AA cells like you've been using. I think the only way to further improve the balance/weight is to rebuild the control box as you've been saying, or to move the battery back to the elbow (which doesn't help with weight, but possibly improves the ergonomics of where the weight is located)

Thanks for this very detailed info ... So yes the only way to significantly lighten the Vanquish is to redesign the control box .   A thinner control box would require less plastic than the current one ,with the use of a Lithium or Li Po, this would perhaps save 150 grams vs the current 4AAs cb.  Adding to this a lower and mid carbon shafts and you obtain a Vanquish + V10 coil at a total weight of 0.95kg vs 1.2kg for the factory machine, this means a 20/100 improvement of the detector balance , not bad  ...

Concerning the 7.4V lipo  experimentation, yes it is a little risky to plug this in the Vanquish , I am not sure that I am ready to sacrifice a 340 for that ... 🙂

13 hours ago, Glasswalker said:

....

That said even if you were willing to sacrifice a 340, I think shipping it to me in NZ would be completely unrealistic (expensive). But either way it's an interesting idea.

Sounds like a cable extension and/or quick-connect is a valuable item, and that's probably super easy so I'll definitely look into that.

....

After thinking a little more about all this , the most interesting thing for me , and probably not too complex to make would be a "lite" rnb like battery pack.  I would say max 70grams incl. the plastic cover ( instead of 150g for the current rnb li ion pack , and instead of 124g for the 4AAs stock nimh batteries system) .  This would replace my relatively expensive AA lithium batteries and probably interest other Vanquish users ... 

btw I know a little about electronics and I have a question , is it easy to convert a li ion 3.7V output into a 5 or 6V voltage output ?  Does the  electronics converter consume a lot of power for doing this ?  thanks ...

1 hour ago, Glasswalker said:

...

As for the control box, as I said, it's actually not "hard" to do, it's pretty easy to redesign it. But it's invasive to the machine (no way to install a new control box without disassembling the existing one, and voiding the warranty). I'm open to designing/manufacturing it, but not quite willing to void the warranty on my own vanquish just yet.

.....

Cable extensions / quick-connects shouldn't be too hard to do at all. I will have to look at that once I get my hands on it, to see if it's using a readily available connector of some kind.

- Concerning the control box redesign , I think that the front part ( the screen display ) can be kept like it is , only the back part ( containing the batteries and loudspeaker ) needs to be redesigned to my opinion ( the part that integrates the li ion battery + loudspeaker ) . I would be ready to sacrify a 340 to test a new lighter cb  ... On the other hand I would never ask to anybody to do that job knowing the amount of work to be done ... For sure you would better spend that time detecting in the field with your Vanquish  ...  🙂

- This cable extension ( PimentoUK s post ) is a great idea , this because when using a cable extension the control box could be mounted at the rear of the machine under the elbow , improving the Vanquish balance. The drawback is that the Vanquish screen could not be seen any more. However I often rely on the audio then I can afford not to see that display.... And it is probably simpler to make a cable extension than redesigning a cb ...

- Concerning the battery pack accessories , there is a thread that willl probably interest you :

 Is Anyone Using An Rnb Lithium Battery For The Vanquish? - Minelab Metal Detectors - DetectorProspector.com

This RNB lithium battery for Vanquish is a great design because a li ion battery is more reliable than multiple AAs . Unfortunately for me, this high capacity pack( 36Wh / 33hours duration)  is heavier than the stock AA system so it does not solve the Vanquish balance issue.

Actually for me 12hours duration is enough , then for sure I would be interested by a RNB pack  or a similar design with an only 12Wh capacity/12hours duration, because this would be lighter than the 4 AAs nimh  

- Concerning the battery pack at the rear near the elbow , frankly speaking I dont like this solution because this means that there will be a cable between the battery at the rear and the control box. Then the rear shaft cannot be taken apart/compacted  any more . And this will be a problem when you want to put the Vanquish in a rucksack for example , where the telescopic shaft is a great feature. And also you still have this heavy control box ( even empty ) , then I am not sure that this will improve the balance a lot . For me the neat solution is to redesign the cb but clearly it is not easy to do ...

Btw now most of the entry level detectors : for example Nokta simplex , Quest X5 , X10 , etc ... now use thin control boxes with integrated li ion batteries . This Vanquish 4 AAs power system is clearly outdated ...

21 hours ago, Glasswalker said:

Hey Everyone, New here, and new/returning to the hobby after a long time away (let's not go into how many years... lol)

Anyway, have a shiny new Minelab Vanquish 540 under the tree that my wife got me for Christmas, and eagerly itching to get out and do some hunting...

But in-line with my other hobbies, and my general nature as an individual, I can't leave anything alone. I'm an Electronics Engineer, Computer Engineer, and I build/diy things like crazy. I have multiple 3D Printers at my disposal, etc...

So, I'm itching to come up with some ways to improve/augment/customize the vanquish, and am interested in hearing what others using these detectors would think of as valuable "quality of life improvements". Since I haven't had much time using them, and even once I do, what I find useful, may be different from what seasoned hunters would find useful, I'd love to hear suggestions.

...

Hi Glasswalker ,

I also have a Vanquish 540 , since June 2020 ...A very good machine but I find it a little heavy ( 1,2kg with a V10 coil ) compared to my Deus ( 0.75kg ) , soI tried to find ways of lightening it .... 

- First I have replaced the middle and lower shafts with carbon shafts , saving around 100grams.

- Second I use non rechargeable liithium ion 3000mah ( non rechargeable / 15grams each) , instead of the 2500mah Nimh stock batteries ( 28grams each  ) , saving 50grams.

Look at Testing The Vanquish 540 - Page 9 - Minelab Metal Detectors - DetectorProspector.com

With these improvements my Vanquish V10 weights 1.06kg ,

Now the only way to save more weight would be to redesign the vanquish control box , using a lithium ion integrated battery instead of AAs, like the thin control box of the Garrett Apex . For info the current "bulky" Vanquish cb weights around 400grams with the 4AAs . A new control box with an integrated li ion battery would probably weight only 200/250 grams . However redesigning the cb means probably dozens(hundreds)  of hours of work , and personaly I would leave that job to the Minelab engineers , perhaps for the next version of the Vanquish ... 🙂

Last status on my faulting Apex ( false signals ) , my dealer ( Lutece detection in Paris ) has contacted the European Garrett support,based in Germany

 From what they said there are actually a few  faulting machines that have been sent back by customers . For some of them , the pb came from a faulting coil . So they asked me to send my Apex back to them for analysis.

Then it looks like the situation in Europe is similar to the US.  A positive thing ,the Garrett support is reactive and they listen their customers ... 🙂

I will continue to update this thread as soon as I have more infos ..

Congrats Chase for the gold coin , happy to see that your Deus is doing a (very) good job ... I am not surprised btw the Deus/Orx are outstanding machines . I started to use XP with a Goldmaxx in 2007 , and I am still a fan of XP 13 years later ... 

5 hours ago, phrunt said:

I wonder why these aftermarket coil manufacturers always seem to make better coils than the genuine article.   Thanks for all the information on it.  Sounds great.

Probably because NEL has spent more time on the coil design and testing than the genuine manufacturer...

I just had a look on this RNB pack on internet and I watched one or 2 related videos ...

Very nice product which increases the Vanquish power from 12Wh ( 4nimh AA 1.2V 2500mAh ) to 36Wh ( rnb pack 6V 6000mAh ).  Which means 33hours duration with the rnb instead of 11hours with the 4nimh , quite good ... The rnb pack is just a little heavier than the 4 nimh batteries ( rnb pack 150grams , 4 nimh + cover 120grams ).

I hope that rnb will propose an other option with a  smaller capacity Vanquish rnb pack like 3000mAh ( 16hours autonomy ). It would be lighter while still providing a good autonomy. 

I would not be surprised if ML propose such a product for the Vanquish in the future , because integrated li/ion batteries are much more reliable and lighter than multiple AA batteries

1 hour ago, Bayard said:

I notice that RNB now has a lithium battery pack for the Vanquish priced around $60.

I have been using RNB battery packs in my Etrac for years and probably will buy one of these Vanquish batteries, if there are no bugs needing to be worked out.  I intend to keep the Vanquish in my car trunk and will only use it sporadically.  Regular rechargeables don't seem to hold a charge if they are not used for a long time.  In contrast, the RNB batteries seem to hold a charge indefinitely.  I want to be confident that the detector is going to work even if it has been sitting unused in the car trunk for months.

Hi , could you post a pic of this RNB battery thanks ... Is this battery rechargeable ? For info I often use lithium AA non rechargeable batteries for my Vanquish , they work very well 15hours autonomy but unfortunately not rechargeable ... 

14 hours ago, Tom_in_CA said:

Question for you (or anyone here) :  What is the difference between the Deus and the "ORX" ?

The Orx is a simplified version of the Deus , less settings , 4 programs instead of 11.  However their results in the field are almost the same because they use the same coils , and for the XPs wireless most of the electronics "job" is done inside the coil  .

The only difference I can see the Orx multitone is limited to 3 tones , no "fulltones" available ... But this is not a pb, when in an  "interesting" area you dig everything which sounds good ...

Probably you would even improve you results using the "Deus fast" nr 3 program instead of "basic1" nr 1 . And yes the 9inches HF coil is a must in iron trashed sites , especially when running at 30khz .... HH ..

2 hours ago, Monte said:

...

I have two (2) of the new Apex devices.  One of them had a 'noise' issue near the coil cable connector/control housing connector.  If I had th connector nut finger snug and nothing got moved about, all was well and I could hunt away.  My first Apex didn't have that issue.  The folks at garrett, as always, were quick to take care of the problem.

...

Hi Monte , what do you mean by "garrett were quick to take care of the problem" ?  what did they do exactly ? thanks ...

1 hour ago, Shelton said:

Weird. My Apex device runs very well under high power lines... but with two bars removed from maximum sensitivity. No issues at all. But I was heard about some problems with chattering and unstable behaviour from two guys... few days ago. interesting topic. About target locking... is not perfect and that is true. If you narrow your sweeps on target it stay locked if item is coins or similar round shape.

Thanks for your post Shelton ,

From the posts I have seen in this forum up to now , for sure I am not the only one having this  pb ... However I am not sure that the pb is related to power lines ... Now it would be interesting to have the Garrett's US support answer on this ... btw I will try to recontact the French Garretts local support on this issue tomorrow ..

59 minutes ago, UtahRich said:

Brand new Apex +MS3 on the doorstep this morning.   Cudo's to Garrett. 

Good news ...I am looking forward to see if that solves the pb ...

19 minutes ago, EL NINO77 said:

I think in the first place it is necessary to find out whether there is a problem in the detector, or in the coil ... so it would be worthwhile to try the second coil on Apex first ...
And then we can be a little wiser ....

In a moment, coils of other sizes are also on offer ...

coil connector on the electronic board ..if it is well fastened should not be a problem..otherwise it is possible that it can transmit microvibration interference..but I believe it is not so ..

As for Apex and the cancellation of the multifrequency ... so is the shift of the channel of the multifrequency ... and Apex should cancel it well enough .... especially because it uses a relatively compact coil 6x11 "..

....

Yes you are right El Nino the pb is not simple and trying an other coil is a good idea  , however I dont want to spend more money ( and time ) on this issue . I hope we will have news on this via UtahRich who has contacted the Garretts support. Lets see what they say ...

54 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Yea, I just don't like that style although probably cheaper to produce, The Ace series was the same too with the direct connection.  It obviously works as they've been around for years it just doesn't seem right, perhaps the mount screws to the housing take the stress off the PCB and stop it flexing.  I like how it was done on the T2 where the 5 wires down the bottom on the photo run down to a separate coil connector on the housing, easier for a home fix if you need to replace it then too 🙂

 

Yes perhaps the Apex control box box plastic around the housing is too thin and flexes due to the coil connector wiggle . On the Vanquish the control box plastic is quite thick so the coil connector mount  does not flex for sure ...

3 hours ago, UtahRich said:

The initial appearance to me is that the trouble is on the coil cable side of the connection rather than the connector / housing / PCB side. HOWEVER, while it feels like i am not putting pressure on the connector itself with the wiggling of the cable, i could be. 

...

Rich - 

I forgot to say that on my Apex it is always difficult to insert or remove the coil connector into/from the control housing . The connection is too snug. 

Phrunt on the Vanquish the coil connector is also mounted on the PCB  see pic below  ... But it is very easy to insert or remove the coil connector on the vanquish, no snug at all.     btw the vanquish connector and housing are bigger than on the Apex , I do not like small connectors like on the Apex and Equinox too fragile to my opinion I prefer bigger ones like on the Vanquish...