An Interesting Excalibur Question

[fsa46]

With all the Excalibur posts about problems with the Excalibur ( and most are the same type of problems ) I would like to know how many Excalibur owners never had a problem with their Excalibur and how long have you had it ?

Don't be bashful now, we want to hear from all you Excalibur owners, especially those members that never or rarely post. Your input is appreciated...."Thanks".

 

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[TheRingFinder]

I have 2 Excals, I suppose I have had them for approx. 5 - 6 years. One started acting up when I first got it and I sent it back under warranty. Minelab fixed it for free and since then I have had no problems with either of them. The one problem was false signaling constantly.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I have owned 3 excal 1000s, all the old blue headphone styles, still own 2, have had the 2 for about 6 years now and I bought them both used.

One was in shop twice, once due to broken wire in headphones and other was when I let it fall off truck onto concrete and it cracked the coil.

The other excal is the oldest and I just had work done on it at Kellyco, had the oscillator replaced, that excal is well over 10 years old. I still have less money in them than if I bought them new..

 

[Acquisitor]

my first excalibur lasted for three years, the problems were the following:


0) the cable connecting the battery to the main unit broke rather quickly and needed to be fixed = did it myself..
1) I began to lose the yellow knobs, until only one was left = this is a minor issue
2) the treshold knob broke (you could rotate it 360° without feeling the resistance) = cost €140 to fix including postage
3) then the coil broke and began to leak, when I sent it in they told me that the headphones cable urgently needed to be replaced as well, they ended up taking the old main board and placing it in a new excalibur, basically giving me a new detector with the old main board = €645

 

[bigscoop]

I've had 2 old blues, still have one of them, put them both through the mill, only machine issue I ever had was one that I caused. I think a lot of the issues come about simply because users don't wash them down after each use, handle them poorly, or they store them in hot an dry environments. I'm sure there have been some manufacturer issues as well with so many of them being produced over the years. But day in day out the Excal has been a rugged and trusted performer for me and mine sees a lot of saltwater, surf, current, heat, and bumps.

 

[Sandman]

I have had my Excal 1000 for ten years or so and only had to have coil replaced because plastic on edge of coil was thin and sprung a leak. That was about 8 years ago. I've dove with it to 140 foot with no trouble. Worst thing you can do is leave it in a car trunk! On a whim I bought an Excal II and think the older one is deeper.

 

[RustyGold]

I have owned my Excalibur II for a year now. I bought it used and it looked new!
No problems at all with it and is my favorite detector! It gets plenty deep and is a smooth runner!

 

[Mr.Excavator]

I have two Blue excal's with 12x15's on them, they are a smooth running machine only problem I have experienced was falsing due to a crack in the coil.

 

[John (west central FL)]

I have an old 1996 sword unit that needed a headphone wire repair 11 months into the warranty. Then later it needed a new coil because of a break in the cable. A few years ago it leaked while using it in fresh water. I dried it out and now use it on land only. Minelab won't work the really old machines anymore.

I had an Excalibur II for 5 years. Never had a problem with it. Sold it recently and picked up a newer used Excalibur II. No problems with it either.

You will hear people talk about how rugged the Fisher CZ-20/21 is. Well, I've had to send mine in for repair six times since I've owned it, and I don't really use it very much. It has the lifetime warranty so it only costs me $25 plus shipping each time. Fisher has always treated me well. They even replaced the machine twice!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I have an old 1996 sword unit that needed a headphone wire repair 11 months into the warranty. Then later it needed a new coil because of a break in the cable. A few years ago it leaked while using it in fresh water. I dried it out and now use it on land only. Minelab won't work the really old machines anymore.

I had an Excalibur II for 5 years. Never had a problem with it. Sold it recently and picked up a newer used Excalibur II. No problems with it either.

You will hear people talk about how rugged the Fisher CZ-20/21 is. Well, I've had to send mine in for repair six times since I've owned it, and I don't really use it very much. It has the lifetime warranty so it only costs me $25 plus shipping each time. Fisher has always treated me well. They even replaced the machine twice!

Call Kellyco and talk to Barry in their Minelab repair center, they still do repairs on the old excals that Minelab in Chicago want do.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

I have been using an Excalibur ll 1000 for one and a half years.
I had two failures, both to do with the connection between the battery pod and the control pod:
Pulled pins/bad connection in the wires going to the battery connector (first failure) after one and one quarter years.
Bad connection inside control pod that (again to do with the cable connecting battery pod to control pod.

In my opinion the short stiff cable from the battery pod to the control pod and where this cable connects inside the pod, is the weak point of the Excalibur design.
You have to be especially careful not to stress this cable which needs to to be taken off to charge the battery and later reconnected to the control pod before you can treasure hunt.

 

[fsa46]

Thanks for the great replies....let's keep it going.

 

[lookindown]

I think all water detectors have issues, working them in the water puts a lot of strain on them...customer service from Fisher and Garrett have been outstanding for me...Im not familiar with the other companies.

 

[John (west central FL)]

Thanks! I will look into it.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

I have had my Excal 1000 for ten years or so and only had to have coil replaced because plastic on edge of coil was thin and sprung a leak. That was about 8 years ago. I've dove with it to 140 foot with no trouble. Worst thing you can do is leave it in a car trunk! On a whim I bought an Excal II and think the older one is deeper.

What I find significant, is that the failure in your search oil was at the edge of the coil where it is thin and most likely brittle having been used for ten years. If you carefully inspect the bottom of the search coil it is noticeably thicker and softer, which is not surprising as I have yet to see a coil failure at/near the middle of the search coil.

If my observation is true for most reported failures, this is important as a more protective bumper and thin skid could be used which trap far less sand and still would provide adequate protection of the search coil. This more open protective cover would significantly increase performance as there would be less noise from sand even if it built up as the belly of the coil is open. Since it does not require as much protection.

Further, it would increase reliability, if what I observed is true in that many of the cable failures are induced when the cable is inadvertantly pushed against the sand while trying to remove the trapped sand, especially when using a long straight shaft such as the Anderson Tall Man.

When the control pod is mounted on an extended shaft the normal way with the headphone cable up, you can expect numerous failures with headphones.

When the control pod is mounted on an extended shaft with the head phone wires pointed down, so the head phones would not be jerked off your head when drop kneeing to scoop up a target, you can expected increased failure rates in the battery cable and the search coil cable as they will be pushed into the ground while cleaning the protective cover.

That is unless you are extremely careful or use a stand, to prevent the cables from being pushed against the ground when cleaning the coil cover.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I have owned 3 excals, all with straight shafts, all have battery cables facing coil and headphones facing sky. No cable failures on any of the cables, headphones or battery. Only failure was wire in actual headphone on one ear that went bad..

 

[penzfan]

I don't know guys. I have been considering the purchase of an Excal, but with all the repair issues I'm reading about lately it's got me thinking. I've also read on Tom Dankowski's forum where the Excal is really at it's best in nothing deeper than thigh deep salt water. This is supposedly due to the fact that the coil begins to read the conductivity of the salt water ABOVE the coil and actually cancels out deeper signals BELOW the coil. That being said, I wonder if I'm not better off just using my SovGT up to thigh deep salt and the Sand Shark in deeper water.

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I don't know guys. I have been considering the purchase of an Excal, but with all the repair issues I'm reading about lately it's got me thinking. I've also read on Tom Dankowski's forum where the Excal is really at it's best in nothing deeper than thigh deep salt water. This is supposedly due to the fact that the coil begins to read the conductivity of the salt water ABOVE the coil and actually cancels out deeper signals BELOW the coil. That being said, I wonder if I'm not better off just using my SovGT up to thigh deep salt and the Sand Shark in deeper water.

Any thoughts? Thanks

I am only speaking from 7 years experience with excal so others with more experience may have something different.

I have hunted up to chest deep and had no problem finding deep targets with mine. I don't scuba dive so can't go there but I believe Sandman did.

As far as I am concerned the problems people complain about or concerned about are blown way out of proportion. I have owned 3 excals over 7 years and still own 2 of them and still love excal.

Knobs... no big deal replaced with better knobs for under $10.

Original shaft uncomfortable..... Built 2 of my own straight shafts for $25.00 each.

I don't buy not good past thigh deep salt water at all, in 7 years I have never seen that issue on any of the 3 I have owned and I have hunted way past my thighs and found plenty of deep targets....

Sand Shark is a great detector, but at my age I don't want to be digging hundreds of deep holes for iron. I am already digging 15-20+ inch holes with my excals using the 15" coils and reverse discrimination remote pinpoint mod, that is deep enough.

Not sure what beaches you hunt, but if your hunting same ones I hunt please don't buy excal..[emoji12]

 

[penzfan]

Thanks for your insight TH. And I'll try to stay clear of your honey holes...

 

[bluediamounds 55]

I have two excaliburs I have had the excal 11 for over two years all stock and no problems I have a blue one that I got three months ago used and no problems I am going to do a few mods to one if them not sure which one yet