Equinox Coil Repair Question

[GotAU?]

Hi, I’ve been looking for a used 11 inch equinox coil and saw a significantly less expensive one on sale that is in almost new condition except that the cable was accidentally cut in half. I considered getting it as I can repair it properly because I used to repair underwater velocity meter and transducer cables at work.

My question is do Equinox coils also contain an internal chip? If so, should I be concerned about it if the detector and coil were not energized when the cable was cut? Or any other possible issues doing this type of repair?  I’m pretty competent about doing the cable repair itself, including properly replacing the shielding and making it waterproof. My main concern is what could’ve happened inside the coil.

Thanks!

[Valens Legacy]

There is a chip inside the coil, the repair of the wire should be fine.

Hope that the coil is good and works out for you.

[GotAU?]

9 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

There is a chip inside the coil, the repair of the wire should be fine.

Hope that the coil is good and works out for you.

Thanks, I guess it will be a good purchase then. Appreciate it.

[phrunt]

Yes, a signiciant chip inside the coil that could easily be damaged if a wire containing voltage touched a wire it shouldn't.  If something like metal scissors cut the cable while live it would very likely short out the chip and destroy it.

It all depends on the coil cut was made, and if a wire containing power touched another wire it shouldn't.

A gamble.

If the cable was cut like you're saying with no power, it would be fine, but why would that happen and can you trust the seller on that?

[GotAU?]

19 hours ago, phrunt said:

Yes, a signiciant chip inside the coil that could easily be damaged if a wire containing voltage touched a wire it shouldn't.  If something like metal scissors cut the cable while live it would very likely short out the chip and destroy it.

It all depends on the coil cut was made, and if a wire containing power touched another wire it shouldn't.

A gamble.

If the cable was cut like you're saying with no power, it would be fine, but why would that happen and can you trust the seller on that?

Thank you for the input! You’re right, I’m going to ask for a refund guarantee on it first in case it doesn’t work.   Won’t mess with it otherwise.  One scenario - and we’ve all done something close to it I bet, is propping a spade blade in the ground while digging a target - I could see being tired and doing it too close to the detector! 🫢But the seller says it was a dog issue and the cut does look chewed. 😑 I just have to be sure there’s enough length left over- not going to do a double splice to put in more cable!

[D&P-OR]

Sounds like a gamble indeed!

[Knomad]

If it was not on when it was cut than there was no power to short out, so should be fine.

[PimentoUK]

I think you chances of success are high.

Problems you will have include:

The screen of the shielded cable is sort-of-Litz, it's enamelled copper wire ( for better high-frequency response ). As a result it's a bit of a pain to solder. When I did a similar fix, I tinned each wire strand individually, burning off the enamel with the iron. Then I grouped them together in bundles of 5 strands, and made multiple 5-strand joints. I thought this would be better than one big blob joint of all strands.

 

The 5 thin wires are pretty fragile, and a straight solder-joint is likely to have a short life. I used a 2.5" / 6cm extension wire ( correct colour would be best ) for each of them, with the excess folded up so it made a small loop. This then allows some wiggle-room and strain-relief for the wires.

 

Also: the cable outer is made from some silicone-rubber like material, and is quite flexible/stretchy. You can pull back the outer from the repair zone by 20mm, eg. to make room for slipping on heatshrink sleeving . This may minimise the amount you need to cut off when making the repair.

[phrunt]

that enamelled copper wire is nasty to solder, it's the same type of wire used in the GPZ coils making adapters harder to make, burning it off with a hot soldering iron is the best way to go but on very thin wires can damage the wire too.