Equinox 800 New Shaft?

[sgoss66]

Rusty -- THANK YOU for the kind words/endorsement!sprailroad -- I'm happy to help, if you decide to pursue...Thank you both!Steve

 

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[gunsil]

Bought from Steve for the primary purpose of not having to dismount coils every time I switch between the 6, 11 and 15” coils. The visual upgrade was a nice side benefit. Steve is a wealth of knowledge and an absolute pleasure to deal with.

View attachment 1894703

The whole business of extra shafts for extra coils was pretty much necessitated by the Minelab explorer series where one has to thread the coil wire up inside the shaft which is a bit of a pain. Then users of other machines seemed to think it was necessary to use extra shafts for ease of coil changes, it isn't. Otherwise I just don't understand why folks find it so hard to undo one plastic bolt to change coils. I have several detectors with several coils each and only the Safari has extra shafts for the coils since the wire has to go up inside the shaft, the others are just too easy to swap coils without extra shafts. I mean, you still gotta wrap the coil wire whether you have an extra shaft or not and when you change a shaft you have to re-adjust the length. I bet I can change a coil faster without an extra shaft on most detectors and my length never needs adjustment. Just logic. I have also never broken a coil ear in fifty years of detecting, it only happens from over tightening the coil bolt so ear breakage is no excuse for needing extra shafts.

 

[clv]

I have a 600 and I have never used the Original shaft that came with the machine. I drive a very small sports car. The standard shaft would need to be taken down to the three parts to fit( too much work). I use the Tele-nox carbon fiber telescoping shaft. this thing is great. from full size down to 23-24 inches.

 

[brianc053]

The whole business of extra shafts for extra coils was pretty much necessitated by the Minelab explorer series where one has to thread the coil wire up inside the shaft which is a bit of a pain. Then users of other machines seemed to think it was necessary to use extra shafts for ease of coil changes, it isn't. Otherwise I just don't understand why folks find it so hard to undo one plastic bolt to change coils. I have several detectors with several coils each and only the Safari has extra shafts for the coils since the wire has to go up inside the shaft, the others are just too easy to swap coils without extra shafts. I mean, you still gotta wrap the coil wire whether you have an extra shaft or not and when you change a shaft you have to re-adjust the length. I bet I can change a coil faster without an extra shaft on most detectors and my length never needs adjustment. Just logic. I have also never broken a coil ear in fifty years of detecting, it only happens from over tightening the coil bolt so ear breakage is no excuse for needing extra shafts.

gunsil your wording rubs me the wrong way. "I just don't understand why folks..." "I bet I can change a coil faster without an extra shaft..."
Why say things like that? If you don't want to use extra shafts, don't.
If you think that you don't need them because you're good at changing coils, great.

But some of us were dropping the little plastic nut that goes onto the little plastic bolt every time we changed the coil (and watching it roll under the car, saying "wow if I lose that I can't detect").
And some of us zip-tie the wrapped coil to the extra shaft so that we only have to wrap it 2 times instead of 4 times when we change coils.
And some of us appreciate the slightly lesser weight of the carbon fiber shafts, and the ability to attache a counterweight.
And some people (not me) like different colors.

There are a bunch of reasons why people may want extra shafts. Just because you don't doesn't mean that those other people are wrong.

Brian

 

[margareedaville]

Got the blue one from steve detectors, with the counterweight. Love it.

 

[AceofBases]

The whole business of extra shafts for extra coils was pretty much necessitated by the Minelab explorer series where one has to thread the coil wire up inside the shaft which is a bit of a pain. Then users of other machines seemed to think it was necessary to use extra shafts for ease of coil changes, it isn't. Otherwise I just don't understand why folks find it so hard to undo one plastic bolt to change coils.

You know what's great about all this? You don't need to understand why others do what they do, just as the opposite is true. You do you, buddy. We don't need your understanding nor judgement here.

 

[sprailroad]

O.K. then fella's. I had ordered and just yesterday received the new shafts from Steve's. I seldom use the word "impressed" when dealing with or ordering from any outfit, but impressed is what I felt after dealing with Steve with the back and forth E-Mails. He does have attention to detail, and I did opt for the counter weight, and he wanted a little extra information to be sure the weight would be right for me. Switched over today, it does feel good, and when it stops raining in a few days, will take it out for a test drive. I did order the "red/black" rods, but looking at the black on the counter weight part, I MAY order another upper shaft in the black, for no reason other then it looks damn good. By the way all, I ALSO did order a second shaft for the 6" coil, the second lower shaft worked so well on the Safari for me, looking at this "quick release" type lock on this two piece set up will make it easy to switch coils, not that removing the bolt and switching coils themselves is such a hard thing to do, just saves wear and tear on the bolt and coil ears, and because I simply wanted one. I did look at other brands, but unless I missed it, Steve's MAY be the only one that offers that counter weight option. If I am wrong, I've little doubt that someone will jump to tell me I'm wrong. All things considered, I have no buyers remorse, which puts me in agreement with most others on this thread.

 

[sgoss66]

sprailroad --

THANKS for the great review, I appreciate it and a really glad you are pleased! If you'd like a second (black) upper, just let me know!

THANK YOU!

Steve

 

[Donut]

I agree. It’s so much easier to just change shafts. He’s forgetting all the ware and tear on the fittings and on the wires and.
When someone talks negative just ignore them it’s not worth. I change coils often because of changing conditions.
You will always get people like that and they are the best people to not take any recommendations from.
live been detecting for over 50 years. And know the Knox better than most.
Doug
ps; Steve’s a carbon shafts are top quality and the removable counterweight is a must. It works so well when I go into the water I have to remove it because I can’t keep the coil down on the bottom.
Steve is a great guy to work with.
Doug.

 

[sgoss66]

Doug, thank you for the kind words! I appreciate your support!

Steve

 

[El_Cid_2000]

I got a Steve's for Christmas of '19 and it transformed my 600. No more sloppy shaft movement, easily adjustable length, and carbon fiber is sexy. I got mine with the threaded end cap but haven't bought the counterweight system yet, just wanted to be prepared when the time comes.

I can't say enough good things about this shaft.

 

[bullnose]

Add me to the list of those recommending Steve's Detector Rods. Great product and customer service. A+ on both counts.

Get the counterweight and Herke cuff while you are at it. You'll be glad you did.

 

[Minelab Matt]

Oh yeah - sexy beast!
7

 

[sgoss66]

El Cid 2000 and bullnose --

Thank you both for the support! I appreciate it, and appreciate your business! Always happy to do my best to make detecting more enjoyable for my customers!

Steve

 

[High Noon]

TELE-KNOX Telescopic Carbon Shaft all the way! Mine just arrived from England and can’t be more impressed! And I’m not easily impressed anymore.... The anti rotation channel is very important and how it easily slides down to fit in a compact travel case. Additional cool items come with the well packed package.

Check it out: https://www.detecting-innovations.co.uk/

High Noon

 

[Minelab Matt]

Telenox is the worst pile of crap u cud ever invest in

 

[Minelab Matt]

 

[High Noon]

TELE-KNOX Telescopic Carbon Shaft all the way!

Thought I’d add a few photos of this fantastic Tele- Knox carbon shaft. The anti rotation groove totally prevents ANY twisting! Like I said at my age I’m not easily impressed...and this shaft totally exceeded my expectations!

High Noon

 

[vferrari]

Thought I’d add a few photos of this fantastic Tele- Knox carbon shaft. The anti rotation groove totally prevents ANY twisting! Like I said at my age I’m not easily impressed...and this shaft totally exceeded my expectations!

High Noon

Let us know how it holds up. Hopefully they have made some improvements since I got mine 2 years back. Never could get the cam locks tight enough to prevent shaft sliding even after installing upgraded fasteners. There were no physical stops preventing the tubes from separating (they would just pull apart about the same time you reached the overextension warning markings). The CF tube edges were rough, sharp and not smoothed down and the last straw, just this past weekend, one of the camlock collars separated from the epoxy holding it to the shaft. When I first got the Teleknox, I needed them to ship a new upper assembly because the mounting holes for the stock armrest were drilled improperly. To their credit, they did that without question and shipped me additional spare hardware. Overall, workmanship and durability were sub par on the some of the early units from my personal experience. Also, my personal preference is that rotation should be allowed to enable the control head to be rotated to the side when in transit.

Anyway, enough of my Teleknox woes.
Let us know how it goes with yours after you break it in and put it through some real world punishment. Hoping they have learned from their earlier experience and have upped their game because I like the collapsible telescoping shaft concept for packing the Equinox into remote locations.

 

[High Noon]

Tel-Nox exceeding my expectations!

vferrari,

I certainly will and let me say I have “no dog in this hunt” and don’t know any of the shaft manufacturers personally. I simply looked at every model I could find and settled on the Tel-Nox carbon fiber shaft for two reasons, the full length groove in the shaft to prevent any twisting and provide more strength and the collapsible feature for traveling which I plan on doing. I have also been in the precision design, manufacturing and publishing business most of my adult life and fully understand improving and updating a product. A good example of this is the Morgan 3 Wheeler which was introduced in 2011 and had quite a few early problems but my 2017 is much improved. Sometimes it takes some time to mature the design to be its best....I bet the folks at Minelab are never quite satisfied and improving their product line as well!

I can assure everyone that this Tel-Nox carbon fiber shaft is a top quality product and I am quite pleased!

High Noon