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VMI went out today, it was beautiful. Wanted to do a bunch of testing and comparisons on coils and depths between a vlf and pi. ( So i know where the cross over is ). When I got to the stock 11" dd commander for my 4500 it didn't work. I mean I waved it two inches off my pick before it responded! I looked the whole thing over but can't find the reset button. Any words of wisdom? I've included pics top and bottom for reference. And fat fingered the pics, sorry. I think I'm going to ever so carefully take it apart with a two pound hammer and see if I can find the problem. On the other hand I can now fully justify a new aftermarket.?

Looking into purchasing an aftermarket coil, equivalent to White's DD eclipse for an MXT specifically. I really don't know whats out there from other manuf. Looking for a HOT (sensitivity/depth) coil. Better target separation is a plus too. Or would you recommend I stay with whites coil? Any experience and feedback would help. Thanks, TC-AZ

Hey all, I just found my coil connection sheared off at the control housing. (oops, and bad timing as I was just headed out!) Luckily no damage to the control housing connection but the other end was bent and broken right off... I sent some photos to minelab to asses if they will fix it or not but still waiting. I was wondering if anyone knows if its possible to buy this connector anywhere? If minelab wont fix it then I will end up splicing one on myself and hope for the best (minus the water tightness of course) . Any help would be so appreciated!

I keep reading in a few different post (To Not Turn A PI On Without a coil connected) I have not attempted to do so because of reading what I quoted, but have often been curious as to what would happen if one was to turn a PI on without a coil connected I know with a VLF generally you will get a coil Error pop up and for instance like the Legend the Legend will shut itself down with out a coil attached so can someone explain to me what happens if you power up a PI with out a coil attached (Just Curious) also why do manufactures not put in a fail safe to prevent a PI from powering up with out a coil connected, if it can cause harm to a PI again just curios because of a statement in one of @Steve Herschbach recent post

I have an Axiom and a good old AT-Gold for hunting in water. I've been trying to find out why Garrett favors blunt ends on it's coils. I've found one brief reference in a forum that the design provides more depth on the front and back end of the coil. I've also seen a reference that stated that the rounded corners may be the hottest part of the edge. They seem to use this design for both DD and Mono coils across all of their products. Can anyone talk about the good and bad aspects of the blunt end design? Why is the round coil design better or worse?

Anyone know what types of plastics all the manufacturers use? I am looking at printing some skid plates and coil bodies if I'm able to get some time to experiment with making my own coils next season if this Algoforce rolls around and we have use for non-chipped coils again. I can 3d print strong plastics like polycarbonate and nylon, leaning towards one of those. But I'm just curious, is there an industry standard for the types of plastics used for the injection molded coils? I feel like maybe nylon, but I'm unsure. I like the idea of transluscent polycarbonate coils so I might try that first (inspiration from Strick's x ray posts). Seems like the cheaper spools like PLA, PETG, even ABS all might be kinda too weak. I know layer adhesion makes 3d printing non ideal for wear parts, but the ability to quickly print and prototype different geometries seems compelling for experimenting. Anyone know what like NF uses for example with the modern coils like Evos? Anyone printed a coil yet and determined how robust (or weak) it is compared to injection molded of same plastic?

Has anyone ever used both or at least the Detech and have any comments at all? I'm confident enough in the Commander but wonder if the Detech might be a better option. Basically going to use for looking for coins and better yet rings at the beach so don't care about hitting tiny bits, in fact prefer not doing that. Detech has the spec edge at 780 grams versus Commander at 820 grams. Detech is rated waterproof whereas Commander is only rainproof. Commander coils I am pretty sure are Litz wire. Not sure about the Detech.

Looks like M15's are hitting retail at the moment, a guy in NZ has secured one, not me unfortunately, I may have been to slow to order by the looks of it but at the early stages I wasn't even sure I was going to bother with my Manticore, now I've decided I'll give it a chance. Hopefully my spots not too far away. I've ordered both coils.

So I read all the old reviews on here for the GPX17 coil for the 6000. Is everyone still in love with this coil like the old reviews indicate? The 6000 is my primary gold detector and I dont have a 7000 or 5000, and I also know the 6000 will never match these machines regarding depth on larger gold. Is the GPX17 still a good coil to have for patch hunting in open ground and some extra depth compared to the stock 11 inch or the NF 12x7? I was patiently waiting for the NF 16x10 mono coil to be released but it does not appear like this is going to happen any time soon and maybe never. Please advise if the GPX17 is a worthwhile investment now or should I wait for another year to see if the NF coil will be released. I have not seen any field test results comparing the GPX17 to the NF 16x10 even though it appears that JP and maybe others have tested it. Please advise, Ceril

Hi everyone, A few years back, I came across an older Metal Detector at a garage sale and it came with a “Bigfoot Coil” , I thought I’d be using it more often than I was and decided to see how much they cost. After a Google/eBay search, I listed it on eBay for a price that I felt was fair that they were selling for. I ended up finding someone interested in it on eBay and sent it out to them for cheaper than I even had it listed for, as well as paying for the shipping. About a week after he received it, he sends me this message; "I finally have a chance to check out the Bigfoot coil you sent and thought after hooking up to 1 of my 3 DFX detectors that this is not the correct coil as you have listed for DFX. I went in the basement and found my DFX Bigfoot coil I have not used in several years and testing them against one another. You coil has to be for different frequency Whites detectors as it’s different looking upon top of coil and testing with my wedding ring I get a pretty consistent 20-22 VDI which is normal number even with 9 1/2” coil and with Bigfoot coil it shows a VDI number of close to 85 consistent so I would like to receive a return label as this coil you sent is not correctly working for a DFX.” Just wondering if I can get some input from someone that actually knows what he’s talking about ? from what I originally saw, it looked like the BigFoot Coil only came in one model? But could there be different types? I’d really hate to pay shipping again and go through all the hassle of returning it and trying to resell it again. Any help or input is appreciated! Attached are pictures of my Bigfoot coil , and the last picture is a pic he sent in comparison to his other one. Thank you in advance!

For those folks who have used both the 9” round HF coil and 5” x 9” elliptical HF coil, if you could have only one, which would it be and why? Thanks in advance for any responses. 22.5cm (9”) Round DD coil: 13 to 15.7kHz, 26 to 31kHz, 50 to 59kHz 24 x 13cm Elliptical DD coil: 13 to 15.7kHz, 26 to 31kHz, 68 to 81kHz

Anyone know about the M8 & M15 Coils price and availability date? They have been up on the Minelab site for a couple of weeks but no one is advertising them yet.

Anyone know of any person or company, worldwide that sells coil shells? Thinking about building a smallish CC coil for the Legacy Minelab PI's. I only know of a Bulgarian and Ukrainian seller but neither has coil covers to accompany their shells. The Ukrainian one (Pictured) is only a 9", so the receive coil will be C.5" at best.....so should be sensitive but not great overall depth for larger targets. Any ideas????

I tried to finalize the purchase of a Troy Shadow X5 coil and it seems that the only way to pay is by making a deposit into a bank account, money order & money gram, which is strange or suspicious for any company that considers itself serious. Note: The same coil is on an auction website for twice the price.

Just curious if any of you folks still use a concentric coil and if you do, when and why versus a DD. I picked up a Tesoro Sidewinder with the 8" concentric coil a short while back and did some parking hunting with it last week. It did remarkably well. Yes, I did dig more trash than I would with my Legend or Equinox 800, but the Tesoro did reward me with a good pocket full of clad and a shallow wheatie. I had forgotten how easy it was to pinpoint with a concentric coil. And the detector was really fun to use. No updates to install, no menus to trudge through. Don't know if I will use it a lot but it was a nice change of pace. Bill

I need some help in Choosing which big Mono Coil to purchase for the Axiom I currently have the 13x11 DD and the 11x7 Mono which were in the package I purchased, I also picked up the 11x7 DD I am wanting to add one of the big Mono's for the Axiom, but can not decide if I want the 13x11 mono or the 16x14 Mono Someone please sway me one way or the other LOL How much depth will I gain with the 16x14 Mono over the 13x11 Mono if any, I know this depends on several things ??? how much sensitivity to smaller gold will I loose with the 16x14 Mono or the 13x11 Mono if any ???, I also know there is to many factors to consider on this one also price is only like $20-$30 more between the two so not an issue in my opinion So there is my dilemma, so again give me some reasons to choose the 13x11 mono or the 16x14 mono for me it keeps coming down to (if I am going to go big go the biggest I can currently purchase) LOL Thanks for reading my RANT

On all my VLF detectors I usually run the coil cable straight up the top of the shaft securing it with Velcro type cable straps, I usually do this all the way up the lower shaft and then wrap the coil cable around the Mid shaft to the control housing, this has always worked for me my question is, is it ok to do the same thing on a PI like the Axiom or should the coil cable be wrapped all the way up the shaft starting with the first wrap over top of the shaft ???, or is straight up the shaft ok ??? in the photo is how I have the coil cable on my Axiom

Big idea from a bloke with no idea!!! Hoping that this forum can be of some assistance ? Well, with another trip to Western Australia done and dusted my last statement to my brother in law before I left was that "I don't think I will be back without a drag coil". Aaaaaaaand I am hoping to go back next year ? We did OK considering we were genuinely 'prospecting' and we knew that it may be a boom or bust type situation. The issue is that we passed over so much country because it is just too big. Vast. Expansive. And much of that vastness looks exactly the same - where the hell do you start? And of the patches we did find, then gridding out from those located pieces would be far more efficient and easier on the body than the side-to-side, slowly moving forward, small step action that gridding requires. I'll proceed with what I want to do, what I don't want to use, what I hope I can build and then questions re: what is actually feasible. I have looked through a few topics on here and there are snippets that can be picked up but not specifics and the cans, cants and have to's and how to's. I am really hoping to build a thread that anyone can follow and build their own basic coil design or at least have the basic idea of where to start. I'm hoping that @Reg Wilson @Chet @jrbeatty @Aureous @jasong @Geotech and others with technical expertise and prior experience can be helpful. Disclaimer - I checked out Geotech forum and although I am sure it is a fantastic forum I am sorry to say that it is all just too far over my head. I really need things in laymen's terms. I guess it is a case of if you never learnt it you just don't know it and I don't have the time to go and do a diploma in electronics. I help student/new nurses go through a step-by-step-by-step process of changing vacuum dressings on huge abdo wounds or changing PICC dressings or setting up a syringe driver for a palliative care patient. They are technical things and they need guidance, unfortunately I am asking for the same guidance here ? My basic plan - to make a 5 or 6 foot wide, oval or rectangle shape, mono coil that I can drag myself - not with a vehicle of any sort. My goal is coverage more than depth although depth is always a welcome advantage I suppose. I would be hoping such a coil could pick up shallow gold pieces that are 2 grams and up?? Mount the windings inside plastic tubing (inch poly??), solidify those windings inside the tubing with either some sort of foam or resin, affix that to the top of a folded piece of non-metal conveyor belt, place a solid timber on the front edge/folded edge of the belt and tow with a rope. All connected to a GPX series (4000/4500/5000) detector that can be carried on a harness with the battery, etc. As I am trying to keep-it-simple-stupid I am hoping that the windings can simply be bundle wound and that a gel type resin will both provide some weight, some rigidity and keep the windings in place. I do not want to use a vehicle due to the extra cost of purchasing a vehicle, transporting it and the EMI complications it can bring. As I will be pulling the device it needs to be reasonably light weight but not so light weight that it is not durable and that it does not remain as flat as possible. I know there is a pre-fab ready-to-go option with an @Coiltek 40 inch drag coil but I am wanting something a little wider to really make the process efficient. And I might learn something along the way ?‍? So before getting into the what I need and how to do it, I really need to start with 'Is it possible?'. Noting Reg's post below re: as things get bigger they develop more problems - is a 72 inch wide coil even feasible? Is this why Coiltek don't make anything over 40"? The build itself it adaptable but I am guessing the physics is not, so that is the first hurdle I need to over come. Question 1 - Will physics defeat me before I even start? Look forward to your responses ? Cheers, N.E.

Oh crap. I get out my GPX coils and find 3 with bad cable insulation, the inner plastic insulation may be brittle too. They don’t have a shield so I’m wondering if some thick stranded AC power cord cable may be a sufficient replacement- any thoughts?

I bought several coils over the years for my GP Extreme and just now am getting around to trying them. I discovered that some DD coils wouldn’t work - they result in alternating high-low tones without sensitivity to any targets. Is this indicating an issue in the coil or more of an incompatibility. The manual says some coils can act erratically - is this that?

I just recently bought a nice Spectrum XLT that came with the 9.5 coil. I have been trying to search for what other coils are compatible but haven't came up with much of anything, other than some older posts on other forums saying some people favored an 8 inch coil over the 9.5. But they don't tell what the name of the coil is; just the size. Any help is appreciated.

Today I had a conversation with a colleague in which we talked about being able to use coils from one brand in detectors from another for which they were not manufactured. I stand aside due to my lack of knowledge, but he argues that it is possible to adapt certain coils that were not designed for a detector for which they were not designed. Is that possible? Making mods is one of my favorite hobbies so the topic caught my attention. Specifically, we were talking about placing Whites coils that are used in the M6, MXT, BHID, DFX and some others that I don't remember, and installing them in the fisher cz21, cz3D, which share similar frequencies, configuring adapters and wiring. Do you think this could work?