Excalibur 1000 Advice

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

That looks Great!! My first couple times looked ruff! 

On the length, I would go with a little extra, I have one that goes straight down the shaft, no wrap. My latest I went with a foot extra... 

The machine pictured I've had out once, semi rough water. Silent, no falsing with water hitting the coil wire / pod and swing fast..... Taking it out Tuesday in Very Rougher waters, see if my idea works. The board is isolated from the outside surroundings.

[stevejhgla]

Thank you "Joe obn kenobi" you were my only hope ?

New coil and headphone cables!

I didn't feel comfortable with my skill level to open up and solder inside the housing so I soldered the wires outside and shrink tubed them.

Super happy with how the headphones turned out.

Not so happy with how the coil attaches to the machine ( I forgot to put the hard plastic wire saver springy thing on ?).  I may have to cut the wire again, drill out the end cap and solder it inside. Perhaps I'll look into a new coil, maybe a little smaller like an 8".

I was surprised that it turned on!!! It seems to run stable but there is too much emi inside the house to tell...

This was a fun project and I'm sure it will lead to more tinkering.

What do you think? Should I submerge it in the bathtub before going in the ocean?  

Thanks again!

 

 

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

Sorry I just seen this return post. It looks good except the coil to endcap,  I have a extra double endcap I can send for free to replace the one.. If you need. The coil to endcap cable looks dangerous, but it could be a bad picture....

Also.......for sure fill the tub, set the detector in the water.. submerged , turned on the machine, put the head phones on and listen for at least a hour. I'm guessing you will get EMI which will make it hard but listen for the machine to act crazy, like falsing or stopping. Its going to be hard in the house, so If you do take it out in the real world......... I would go slow once under. Any abnormal falsing, or it acting stupid ..get it out of the water ..pull the head phone endcap and check for water. I might recommend having some DeoxIT D5 around just incase you need to clean the board fast. 

My opinion, change that coil fitting out this winter or sooner. Other then that I think you did a great job.. You will find the more you work on it the easier it comes as you learn.

[stevejhgla]

3 minutes ago, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

Sorry I just seen this return post. It looks good except the coil to endcap,  I have a extra double endcap I can send for free to replace the one.. If you need. The coil to endcap cable looks dangerous, but it could be a bad picture....

Also.......for sure fill the tub, set the detector in the water.. submerged , turned on the machine, put the head phones on and listen for at least a hour. I'm guessing you will get EMI which will make it hard but listen for the machine to act crazy, like falsing or stopping. Its going to be hard in the house, so If you do take it out in the real world......... I would go slow once under. Any abnormal falsing, or it acting stupid ..get it out of the water ..pull the head phone endcap and check for water. I might recommend having some DeoxIT D5 around just incase you need to clean the board fast. 

My opinion, change that coil fitting out this winter or sooner. Other then that I think you did a great job.. You will find the more you work on it the easier it comes as you learn.

Found out quickly that my tub is cast iron ? so I took it out for a real world test, it leaked from that end cap ?. Maybe half a tea spoon of water.  I immediately got out of the water and came home to clean it out.  

When I got home I took the board out and inspected it.  There didn't seem to be any damage to the board so I resoldered it inside and this is how it came out.  

I ran out of the curly wire protector but I was able to get the wire through the endcap and seal it with resin from the inside.  

However it is very unstable now, almost like the electricity isn't passing through the wires smoothly.  Constantly changing the tones, maybe holding one tone for 5 seconds and then changing to another.

I'm not mad at it, I like the learning curve but you're right it definitely is getting easier the more I tinker with it. 

 

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

Get the DeoxIT D5, spray the board and the Potentiometers. If you look into the third board down you can see a small opening in the pots.. spray the deoxit in these slots, I give them two quick shots. Let it dry for 24 hours then try..  

[stevejhgla]

Can't seem to find DeoxIT D5 at any nearby stores with a quick search but what I'm looking for is an electrical parts cleaner right? 

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

Yes a cleaner but I swear by this stuff.. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-D5S-6-DeoxIT-Contact-Cleaner/dp/B00006LVEU/ref=asc_df_B00006LVEU/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198057017270&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2205290726216628905&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007872&hvtargid=pla-382003658380&psc=1

[stevejhgla]

Thanks I'll get back you to once I get it done. 

[tvr]

The cleaner I've used with good results is CRC 5101 QD Electronic Cleaner ... that and Joe's recommended one are good choices for electronics cleaners.