Reg Mods Update

[PI-Man]

See what happens when I take a little break from the forum.  I missed a great thread.  Cali I PM’d you sorry for delay.  

Yep I am the guy who probably bought out all the Panasonic and Rubicon caps years ago after they were being discontinued.  I bought hundreds since it was a minimum order from the vendor.   Didn’t need hundreds just worked out that way.  But I can tell you I do go through a bunch when finding the right pair for the job.  

Karl — thanks for explaining to everyone about why we match caps (important) and the many other things you explain to all of us.  

Wow some good work being done out there!  
 

[CaliGold]

@Jim in Idaho @Melano87 @PI-Man

I took the plunge and removed R86 resistor and made the sweep speed mod yesterday with some gucci $ caps I found on digikey to spec recommended. Machine seems ok in air tests. 

 

List of Mods:

-Q4 mosfet "beefed up" and heat sink added.

-R9 & R14 resistors wattage increased  2 watt on R9 and 3 watt on R14. (3 watt much thicker but fits fine 2512 size footprint)

-C42 Jumper and on/off switch installed and mounted on control panel exterior. 

-Sweep speed Mod (C20 and C21 capacitors swapped). Digikey part #s SMR5224J50J02L16.5CBULK
399-13054-ND
 

-R86 resistor removed (near gain plug) (easiest "MOD" to complete lol)

-16.64V battery pack (my charger wont go past 4.16 on each 18650 battery)

-I have waterproofed my 8x6 Sadie coil from Nugget Finder with Sikaflex 221. (hard to find other than amazon or an RV repair shop...

 

I find the machine runs great with gain up around 50%-80% and with Gain Boost switched on from c42 around 50%.

 

God have mercy and bless this machine to find much Gold. 

 

Thank you, again, gentlemen. I hope I don't let you down. 

Patrick

[Jim in Idaho]

I really appreciate the great pics, Pat! Nice work. I'm also eagerly looking forward to field reports...even birdshot finds and depths...LOL.

Jim

[Jim in Idaho]

5 hours ago, PI-Man said:

See what happens when I take a little break from the forum.  I missed a great thread.  Cali I PM’d you sorry for delay.  

Yep I am the guy who probably bought out all the Panasonic and Rubicon caps years ago after they were being discontinued.  I bought hundreds since it was a minimum order from the vendor.   Didn’t need hundreds just worked out that way.  But I can tell you I do go through a bunch when finding the right pair for the job.  

Karl — thanks for explaining to everyone about why we match caps (important) and the many other things you explain to all of us.  

Wow some good work being done out there!  
 

Yup, Gary, it's like "Back to the Future"....LOL. Hope you're doin' good buddy!

Jim

[Melano87]

4 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

I really appreciate the great pics, Pat! Nice work. I'm also eagerly looking forward to field reports...even birdshot finds and depths...LOL.

Jim

 

Likewise I await your results and tests

[PI-Man]

Great we all like fresh field reports it helps.  I might have to add that switch onto my machines this fall and the R86 removal.  My problem is my machine just runs so darn smooth with all the other mods.  FYI - my TP2 and TP31 are shorted together on my 3 machines and a friends I modded.  Have not had any issues and did notice a gain increase when I did it.  Machine still runs smooth.

Karl do you think there are any long term effects or potential failure of op amp by just shorting TP2 and TP31 even though so far machine running smooth?  And any degradation of performance long term effects that you can think of by just doing the short without resistor — inadvertent loss of depth  or any issues other than op amp abuse etc?

Jim — I am still kicking — 1.5 yrs cancer free so far. Just move a little slower now a days and I still need to find a gold coin.  Doing good had a bunch of other medical procedures done this year since I was in for my 500,000 mile tune up.  Lol.  You didn’t tell me this getting older stuff can be painful at times 😂 

[Jim in Idaho]

1 hour ago, PI-Man said:

Jim — I am still kicking — 1.5 yrs cancer free so far. Just move a little slower now a days and I still need to find a gold coin.  Doing good had a bunch of other medical procedures done this year since I was in for my 500,000 mile tune up.  Lol.  You didn’t tell me this getting older stuff can be painful at times 😂 

Yup....gettin' old is not for sissies, for sure. I'm approaching 75, and this has been one of those seasons where I feel like I did a big leap downward. Still hiking uphill at 8,000', but I'm feeling it more, and the legs just don't have the power they did a few years ago. I'm really happy with your progress. Not everybody heals as well as you have. Keep it up!

Jim

[Geotech]

3 hours ago, PI-Man said:

Karl do you think there are any long term effects or potential failure of op amp by just shorting TP2 and TP31 even though so far machine running smooth?  And any degradation of performance long term effects that you can think of by just doing the short without resistor — inadvertent loss of depth  or any issues other than op amp abuse etc?

It should not make any performance difference. I know that Reg and some others have just shorted the cap and I have never heard of a failure. I'm just offering a word of warning.

[PI-Man]

Karl — Thanks much for the response your input is always respected and appreciated.  Actually when I put the shorting wire in awhile ago I completely forgot about the op amp, but no issues that I can see so far.   It must have been a late night at work.  Nothing like throwing a tiny bit of caution to the wind.  I am blaming Jim when he sent me mod to do 😆 

[Jim in Idaho]

LOL....what are friends for, if they can't help?

Jim