CZ21 Coil Protection Question

[Sleepy]

I remember this was discussed sometime in the past but was hoping there may be some new ideas out there. OK fellow water hunters, I'm using a CZ21 with an 8 inch coil. I've always put a coil cover on my new detectors before I even use them the first time. As usual I put one on my CZ21 when I got it and within a year I actually wore a hole through the coil cover. When I went to replace the cover it literally took me hours to get the old one off without damaging my coil. I had to cut it off in little pieces. I decided I would not put one back on but I'm afraid I'm going to wear a hole through my actual coil. Has anyone found a solution for coating the bottom of the coil that works well, doesn't peal away, is strong yet durable and doesn't in some way damage the coil? I remember someone said "marine epoxy" but I think I remember some negative comments about using epoxy. I rarely hunt in salt water and primary hunt a swimming area at a local lake which has a sandy bottom. I love my CZ21 and am trying to be proactive and protect it before further damage occurs. I'm disabled and try to spend a lot of time in the water for therapy. I don't know how I'd make it without it lol. So, if anyone has found a great solution I would greatly appreciate hearing about it. I have a new coil cover but can't bring myself to go that route again. Besides, sand gets between the cover and coil anyway and I would think could compromise performance. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

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i've had it on one excal for about 5 years and have never touched it up. It will chip a little if you hit rocks a lot but it's been no problem for me. I hunt about 6 days a week all year long in all conditions. I cover the coil about half way up the side and of course the bottom. For me, it's the only way to do it. Let us know how you like it Top

Okay, I like it so far. I used four tubes total. But, since my CZ came with a coil cover I made it a permanent part of the coil. No adamBomb I will never sell my CZ.
I removed about two teaspoons of sand from the cover, cleaned both the cover and coil really well. Then used #60 sandpaper to rough up the surfaces. Then I painted the inside of the cover and pressed it into place on the coil.I then coated the entire top of the coil being especially attentive to where the coil and cover join at the top of the cover. I let it dry for a day. Then came back and covered the bottom of the cover. I also put another coat around the perimeter of the coil and cover junction. Just to be sure. I let it dry for another day. The epoxy is not too difficult to paint on but it does show brush strokes and drips a bit during drying.

It isn't beautiful and it adds 3.5 oz. to the weight, but it does seem functional. If I was in the US where it would be possible to get factory repairs then I might not have taken this drastic of a move. I feel like now I do not have to worry about a leaky coil.

It'll be August 5th or 6th before I can hit the beach with it to know for sure.

 

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[Sleepy]

Well, since I originally made this post I have had some issues come up and thought I would update everybody. I tend to have bad luck sometimes if I don't act on my intuition and I think I messed up with this situation. Instead of going ahead and water proofing my coil I thought I had some time before I would run into problems and went hunting a few days around the 4th. All of the sudden my detector started screaming and acting erratically. I went back to knee deep water, shut off my detector and started fresh. I attempted to ground balance it and as I would start it would give an audible tone and get louder and louder until I hit the pinpoint button to go back into auto tune mode. Then I would get different tones similar to how a single frequency detector acts when you try to hunt in salt water. This detector has never seen salt water. It was like somebody had super tuned the detector. Anyone who hunts with a CZ21 is familiar with the different tones it gives on targets and for example if I passed over a dime that was a few inches under the sand it would give a bell tone and sound like I had found a hubcap. I backed the sensitivity down and was able to hunt and the problem would get worse at times then better at times but I could rarely ground balance. I came home and let it sit all day then carried it in the backyard and tried to see what would happen. When I first turned it on it did the same thing with the increasing volume till I hit the pinpoint button and it got quiet. I turned it off and back on and then it operated almost normal, letting me ground balance but it was still a little sensitive. I hunted a little while doing some tests and it functioned fairly well. So, the next morning I took it back to the lake and submerged the coil about a foot and attempted to turn it on and ground balance and it immediately started the same problems and was acting crazy again. I'm lucky in the fact that my sister surprised me with a brand new CZ21 that arrived yesterday and now I'm going to try and get my old one repaired. I could be wrong but from the tests I did it seems like I've got a leak in the coil or nicked wire. I'm going to attempt my tests on dry land again now that it has dried a few days and if it works properly I may plasti dip the coil and see of that keeps water out and later send it in for repair. It's out of warranty. My dilemma is what to do with my new one. I don't want to put a coil cover on it because of the difficulties that started all this in the first place and not being able to get the cover back off. I don't want to void my warranty on a brand new detector. Since people who have used plasti dip say it is removable I'm thinking about plasti dipping it before I ever use it and then if I needed to peel the plasti dip off I could. I've always taken super good care of my detectors and put on a coil cover before ever using it. It's hard to decide to paint my coil with anything being brand new and I sure wont paint on epoxy. The only reason I'm considering plasti dip is from reading how it can be removed and I've seen videos of people doing it to their cars so it must be safe to use and easy to peel off. Sorry for the long post but thought I may get a few opinions regarding my detector and if it sounds like a leaky coil.

 

[zigzag]

Okay, I like it so far. I used four tubes total. But, since my CZ came with a coil cover I made it a permanent part of the coil. No adamBomb I will never sell my CZ.
I removed about two teaspoons of sand from the cover, cleaned both the cover and coil really well. Then used #60 sandpaper to rough up the surfaces. Then I painted the inside of the cover and pressed it into place on the coil.I then coated the entire top of the coil being especially attentive to where the coil and cover join at the top of the cover. I let it dry for a day. Then came back and covered the bottom of the cover. I also put another coat around the perimeter of the coil and cover junction. Just to be sure. I let it dry for another day. The epoxy is not too difficult to paint on but it does show brush strokes and drips a bit during drying.

It isn't beautiful and it adds 3.5 oz. to the weight, but it does seem functional. If I was in the US where it would be possible to get factory repairs then I might not have taken this drastic of a move. I feel like now I do not have to worry about a leaky coil.

It'll be August 5th or 6th before I can hit the beach with it to know for sure.

View attachment 1333245 View attachment 1333247

A little overkill and extra weight. It's hard to make it look good but who cares. Mine looks the same on the bottom. No more cleaning sand from coil cover.
Good job Top