Sgtfda Posted April 30 Share Posted April 30 After reading about the cheap plastic handle breaking I decided to reinforce the handle open spaces with epoxy putty. Leaving the channel open for the ground balance wire. Tomorrow I'm putting on a carbon fiber shaft so I had to take it off anyway. Put some in the bottom channels while I was at it. My help may not. I'll see. 2 Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexnov Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 On 5/1/2025 at 10:22 AM, Sgtfda said: Прочитав о том, что дешёвая пластиковая ручка может сломаться, я решил укрепить открытые участки ручки эпоксидной замазкой. Оставив канал открытым для провода заземления. Завтра я устанавливаю стержень из углеродного волокна, так что мне всё равно пришлось бы его снять. Пока я этим занимался, нанёс немного замазки в нижние каналы. Возможно, моя помощь не понадобится. Посмотрим. Leider tritt der Bruch hauptsächlich dort auf, wo die Befestigung verschraubt ist. Translation: Unfortunately, the breakage mainly occurs where the fastening is screwed. 1 Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296056 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgtfda Posted May 1 Author Share Posted May 1 Sorry, I can only speak German and Chinese on TV. Picked up a few words in Vietnam. Not said in mixed company. I bought my dog off of a Mexican vet. So she knows some Mexican. 1 Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296083 Share on other sites More sharing options...
phrunt Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 On 5/1/2025 at 10:29 PM, Alexnov said: Leider tritt der Bruch hauptsächlich dort auf, wo die Befestigung verschraubt ist. You've repeatedly been asked to do your posts in English, you are translating them to Russian to read them, so please translate your replies back to English to post on the forum, as at the moment most people won't bother translating them to read them, and those that do have to go to that extra effort when it's simple for you to do as you're doing it anyway at the time to read them. I think you're correct, my handle broke where the screws go into it, tighting the screws enough to make the handle not slip on the shaft seems to weaken the plastic over time as the shaft is smooth the handle naturally wants to slip on it, I put some thin tape under my new replacement handle to make the surface more abrasive to prevent slip, it also prevents the plastic being squeezed/bent so much to have tiight. Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296136 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldseeker5000 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Just go online to Reed's prospecting and buy a solid swinger handle. You will be glad you did. They aren't that much money. 1 Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296155 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mn90403 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 I had my 5000 handle break years ago and I made a temp out of pvc that worked until I replaced it with another one. I need to pull that detector out of mothballs this summer and use it. Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296157 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Leppert Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 When I owned Fort Bedford Metal Detectors, we had these built to use with the large coils used by relic hunters in the Eastern US…. No more broken handles! https://fortbedfordmetaldetectors.com/product/jp-s-minelab-gpx-aluminium-handle/ 1 Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296199 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 On 5/3/2025 at 12:53 PM, Goldseeker5000 said: Just go online to Reed's prospecting and buy a solid swinger handle. You will be glad you did. They aren't that much money. Yeah they're great. I added some good quality tennis handle rubber wrap to mine. Another thing that helps is to not tighten the handle so tight that it never moves. If you trip or stumble you can find yourself putting a lot of pressure on the handle and a lot break in that situation. If you leave it so it's not over tight and you do trip or whatever the handle will move a touch but not break. Tight enough to not move under typical use but loose enough to move a little bit to take the pressure off of it. I broke two on my early SDs before I realized they were too tight. 1 Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296383 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgtfda Posted May 8 Author Share Posted May 8 10 years ago I had my sd2000 at one of my claims in the Superstition Mountains. We were getting nice gold on a 50 foot embankment. It was straight up. There was a small wash coming off the top. I climbed up with the 2000 in one hand and my pick in the other. When I got to the top I stood on a 4 ft wide flat rock to get some footing. It let loose and I rode it like a surf board down. Still had the detector and pick in my hands. At the bottom was a large tree root aimed right at me. As I hit bottom I stuck my foot out and hit it perfect. It was like a diving board. I flew up in the air and landed face down on a pile of large boulders. The side of my head landed on a large boulder. My headphones saved me. I had the detector in my right hand. It hit and the carbon fiber rod broke in half. The arm cuff folded out like a pancake. I had the handle in my hand. It took the fall without breaking. I hit so hard my military pants split in half in the crotch. I ended up with a sprained wrist. My partner thought I was dead. I guess the old 2000 had a better handle than the later units. The 2000 still works perfectly! 1 2 Link to comment https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/28289-gpx-4500-handle/#findComment-296424 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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