Do You Tape Or Seal Scuff Covers?

[Steve Herschbach]

Do you tape or seal metal detector search coil scuff covers / skid plates? Pick an answer that best describes what you do.

[UKD2User]

I use stock scuff covers.  If they seem loose I use a couple of zip ties.  If things get really bad I use self-amalgamating tape. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-amalgamating_tape

[NCtoad]

My scuff cover on my deus II was never really very tight even when new and as time passed it became looser.  It eventually got loose enough that one evening after a hunt in the nearby woods, I noticed it was missing.  The next day I retraced my steps and lo and behold I found it.  From that point on I taped it with electrical tape on opposing sides which worked really well for keeping it on even during fresh water hunts.  However during those fresh water hunts I was getting a lot of sand between the cover and coil and to clean it I had to cut and remove the tape, clean the coil replace the cover and re-tape it so I wouldn’t lose it.  I was getting ready to order a new scuff cover when I thought maybe I could heat up the one I have and bend it to make it tighter on the coil.  So I got my heat gun out and gently (this is important) heated the cover in multiple places and bent it so it would grip the coil tighter.  So far, so good as I haven’t had it fall off and I don’t have to tape it on anymore.  

[phrunt]

Difficult question in a way as some covers are more suitable to taping than others, taping an Equinox 11" coil would be hard work, whereas taping a Coiltek 10x5" on the GPX 6000 is simple and effective. 

So, it comes down to the coil for me, any that can be taped are taped as the benefits are certainly there keeping the cover nicely sealed up from dirt and black sand intrusion along with that little bit of extra protection the tape provides from the side of the coil being bumped on rocks. 

[phrunt]

46 minutes ago, NCtoad said:

I was getting ready to order a new scuff cover when I thought maybe I could heat up the one I have and bend it to make it tighter on the coil.  So I got my heat gun out and gently (this is important) heated the cover in multiple places and bent it so it would grip the coil tighter.  So far, so good as I haven’t had it fall off and I don’t have to tape it on anymore.  

This works very well on most coil covers; a hair dryer does the trick nicely and less likely to damage than a hot air gun.   Just leaving big coil covers on a desk in sunlight can cause them to warp, so a bit of hot air blowing on them while holding them down flat fixes them up.

[Doc Bach]

I take the risk of voiding the warranties and run without them. So I do not have to deal with all of the dust  and on wet days mud that constantly collects in them. However I also run a layer of the CoilTek tape around the outer edge to give the coils edge a little added protection from rocks and so forth.The tape is thin enough that I can replace the covers on the D1 and 2 for charging if needed. With the doo dads after market clip it's not necessary though.

[Gold Catcher]

For all my detector coils, but the Manticore coil, I seal the coil covers all around with detector tape. Makes all the difference. 

GC

[okara gold]

When I had the Garrett Infinium, the coil was smooth on the bottom.  I used the cover that came with it but as soon as the warranty was over, I coated the bottom and sides with a white marine grade epoxy. Over time when some of the edges of the epoxied coil would wear thin another touch up coat on those edges did the trick. No longer any build up with sand or skid plate removal. I would have done this with the Nox, but the bottom design makes it impossible to coat. This goes for the Manticore as well.

[RONS DETECTORS MINELAB]

GPX & GPZ always use UPC tape.

Equinox Stock covers no tape.

Gold Bug 2 No covers due to the epoxy fill.

[DSMITH]

I use a good electrical tape to seal my coil covers on and change it ever so often when it starts looking ragged, I hate taking the coil covers off to clean the debris that accumulates between the coil and the cover, so for me its just better to seal them with electrical tape

some of the coil covers are a pain in the butt to remove like on the Legend, and then some coil covers almost want to fall off