Preventive Reinforcing Of Coil Ears

[midalake]

On 2/1/2022 at 9:44 AM, mcjtom said:

b) I'm partial to JB Weld for the epoxy part, which is non-conductive (the steel powder is fine and the particles isolated by the epoxy matrix), but it is relatively ferromagnetic. 

THIS, is why I use Loctite Marine Epoxy for ALL my coil needs. 

[Tometusns]

I used fiberglass/superglue then high strength epoxy over that on the coil ear repair on my 11” equinox coil. Still going strong. I did both sides of the broken ear and just the outside of the other one to ensure the shaft would still fit. (Thanks to who ever it was that suggested that before I did both sides) It’s on a post here somewhere. I think yes if you’re worried about one breaking to reinforce the outside with a layer of fiberglass would definitely strengthen them. If they’re not broke one of those deals that you can just slip on the ears seem to work very well too. Good luck with what ever you decide.

[GB_Amateur]

I'm not an engineer but have worked with many (more the mechanical/civil/structural kind than the electronics ones).  I've picked their brains over a few lunches, dinners, and beers.  One of the things discussed is stress concentration (a term they shortened to 'stress con').  Further mentioned was that strengthening one part often transfers the weak point from one place to another rather than eliminating it.  This can even cause "the cure to be worse than the disease".

Has the Equinox coil ear breakage, which no one except Minelab knows how widespread, justified the concern of a spillover to its younger sibling, the Vanquish series?  Have there been any reports of Vanquish coil ear breakage?

Why would waiting for a problem to occur and fixing it then be such an issue?  After 3+ years of use (so out of warranty), one of my coil ears broke at the hole.  My repair was chronicled here on this site.  Basically I used a thin layer of the very epoxy I linked earlier in this thread (steel impregnated JB-Weld) to attach a bakelite washer (packratted away since childhood) to the side of the coil ear.  Now it works as well as it always did before the break.