Detech Vs Commander 11 Mono?

[Steve Herschbach]

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.

 

 

[PhaseTech]

I have used the 11" Detech Ultra which is spiral/flat wound, and it's an excellent coil. Found gold with it right away. In the stock bundle wound version the most similar size I've used is the 12.5" round. That is a great coil. Ran really stable in bad ground I was having trouble with using the flat wind coils. The only thing I didn't like was the thick profile of the coil. But performance was really nice. If the 11" is anything like that you'll be happy.  

The 8" Detech mono is also excellent, and I've sold a bunch of them, and is a regular seller. 

[phrunt]

I've only had the Detech 15x8" Bundle wound coil, really gutless when it comes to small gold so I got rid of it, wishing I didn't now with the Algoforce hitting the market, probably would have made a great beach coil being less sensitive to small targets yet fully waterproof.  It was a very stable coil though.

As Nenad points out, they have an unusually wide profile, very thick coils, I guess because I'm used to spiral coils where the flat windings don't need a thick coil.   The Commanders aren't all that thick though.

They appear to be good build quality. 

. Made of special polymer, strengthened with glass fibers, injection-molded with very high pressure. The coil is Waterproof with Maximum UV Protection.

 

[karelian]

I have three Detech coils, 11 x 6 mono, 15 x 10 mono and my favourite the 8 round mono. All three are very well made and solid coils. Quality materials and solid well fitting skid plates. The 8" round mono is almost equal to the 'Sadie' coil on smaller targets whilst going a bit deeper on larger targets. Perfect on my Tdi Sl,  if you just want one coil for everything on a light weight machine. Again well made and durable coils with decent options for size and shape. Stable with excellent performance that all come highly recommended. All the best.

[jasong]

Don't depend on a Commander for any longevity. I've owned 3 and had 3 fail. I'm guessing I'm not telling you anything new here, but I opened them up to diagnose after the 3rd and they all failed for the same reason - that foam inside is really soft/weak and the lip on the spool gets brittle and breaks off. That causes the windings to start moving around when swinging, and a lot of noise. If you swing into bushes/trees/rocks often, or mistankenly step or trip on the coil, those lips will break and the coil will fail eventually from my experience. 

If the Detechs are potted or use some more rigid spool material I'd say they are a win over the Commander based on that alone. 

[Steve Herschbach]

I’m looking at the Sadie as my small coil so this would be the “big coil.” I have had a few Detech coils and I have to say the 13” Ultimate was one of the best coils I ever owned, period. Looks like Detech it is. Thanks everyone.

[phrunt]

I thought you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that has used the 11" seeing everyone has a Commander as stock so are very unlikely to buy that size, some Whites owners may have bought it though I guess.

You're right about that Detech Ultimate, a fantastic coil, one of my favourites too.

I doubt you'll go wrong with the Detech, I might get one too as I got rid of my 11" Commander mono also.

[dig4gold]

19 hours ago, jasong said:

Don't depend on a Commander for any longevity. I've owned 3 and had 3 fail. I'm guessing I'm not telling you anything new here, but I opened them up to diagnose after the 3rd and they all failed for the same reason - that foam inside is really soft/weak and the lip on the spool gets brittle and breaks off. That causes the windings to start moving around when swinging, and a lot of noise. If you swing into bushes/trees/rocks often, or mistankenly step or trip on the coil, those lips will break and the coil will fail eventually from my experience. 

If the Detechs are potted or use some more rigid spool material I'd say they are a win over the Commander based on that alone. 

I too went through a few ML 11" commander coils. I really liked the mono but they did get noisy & very touch/bump sensitive. Was frustrating. I wondered if it was a combo of their shielding &/or the foam breaking down allowing the wires to loosen up. I often thought of injecting resin around the perimeter. Never did though but could be a fix. Add a bit of weight though.

D4G