Attempting To Fix My X-coils Lead

[davsgold]

On 3/1/2024 at 9:26 PM, Jin said:

I bought an X-coils 20 Spiral early on for my gpz7000. 

Being one of the early coils the leads weren't fantastic, something they rectified later on. The problem was that the lead windings were too big and irregular in size. This caused a lot of problems when swapping over coils as it didn't slide inside the shaft well. I also found that on hot days the lead would stretch out of shape making things worse 

It's been a constant battle to fit inside the shaft and was getting worse to the point it was nearly impossible to use. A while back I attempted to fix the lead by winding it around the shaft shown in the picture and slightly heating it with a heat gun. That worked for a while but the spirals were still too big and it pulled out of shape quickly.

Today I'm trying something different. I'm trying a screwdriver that has a smaller diameter shaft, hoping to create a smaller spiral.  I tied the lead to the driver and then heated it as I wound it on tight, continuing until it was all wound on. Hopefully, I haven't ruined the lead by heating it too much.

*After doing this the lead fit a lot better but is still catching a bit in the middle as the lead has a fat spot, where the lead cable is extra thick.

If this doesn't work long-term I may have to pull the coil apart and fit a new lead.

yep  did a similar thing with a few of the early x-coils, I used a 1/4" or 6mm steel rod to wrap the curls tightly around, and tape it down at the start and finish, and heat with a heat gun, just hot enough to barely hold on to the curls, let it cool right down and slide the rod out, it works but not forever, the other thing is to roll the detector anticlockwise while feeding the cable up the shaft, if it is a bit tight this helps keep the curls tight and not un wind them.

cheers dave