Original Minelab Excalibur

[JimDon]

I have an opportunity to purchase an original Minelab Excalibur, the kind with the horseshoe shaped coil. It has been lightly used and has been in storage for about 10 years. It will be quite cheap. Is this a good salt water detector or should I get an Excalibur II instead.

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[Sandman]

Depending how cheap the #1 is it would be OK, but the Excal II would be a lot better deal as the old one can't be repaired by Minelab.

[Keppy]

Like Sandman said if it works really good and it is cheap get it......... But beware if anything at all goes wrong with it "anything" Minelab will not repair it...... And with all other brands of detector's you can always find some one to repair them............ But with Minelab detectors the only people that can repair a Minelab ......Is Minelab...................

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

If it works and its cheap for sure pick it up! You can always re sell it. Sounds like a win win for you!

[Treasure_Hunter]

Like Sandman said if it works really good and it is cheap get it......... But beware if anything at all goes wrong with it "anything" Minelab will not repair it...... And with all other brands of detector's you can always find some one to repair them............ But with Minelab detectors the only people that can repair a Minelab ......Is Minelab...................

Not exactly true, my hunting partner Dave does repairs on them as long as he can get the parts... He has fixed many of them....

[OBN]

But with Minelab detectors the only people that can repair a Minelab ......Is Minelab...................

Treasure Hunter is right, Dave and Mel Parker are the ones that can bring new life to sick excaliburs. I have just started repairing them myself, honestly, they are very easy to work on...other then the PCB/main board, everything else can be made or bought from outside vendors.

As far as the Old sword model excal, just look it over good in the sun. Some Parts can be interchange. And at a good price it would be worth just having one to hang on the wall.......think I got this one for 500 from dave..

Endcaps I'm having made...

[JimDon]

Thanks guys. I think the price will be about 250 and I know and trust the guy. FYI. Two weeks ago I missed a dentist selling a seldom used Excalibur II for $300 on Craigslist. They are out there guys.

[Keppy]

Like Sandman said if it works really good and it is cheap get it......... But beware if anything at all goes wrong with it "anything" Minelab will not repair it...... And with all other brands of detector's you can always find some one to repair them............ But with Minelab detectors the only people that can repair a Minelab ......Is Minelab...................

Not exactly true, my hunting partner Dave does repairs on them as long as he can get the parts... He has fixed many of them....

But you see it does not do any one any good if they do not know............ It is just a little circle of people that knows about it................

[OBN]

250 is a good deal..I would jump on it for the parts even if she did not work for that price.....

Keppy....... you are 100% correct, It is sad minelabs has went the route of having the worse CS in the business, putting profit before anything else. One of the kickers I've seen, they want around 875.oo to replace the PCB/Main Board

Here is a perfect example, Gary sent the machine in, came back, not working correctly...still.

My Prognosis for this machine is a bad coil....first

If not that replace the PCB, thank god it's under warranty still.

[GreenMeanie]

Sounds like EMI?
My DFX did the same thing.

[Keppy]

250 is a good deal..I would jump on it for the parts even if she did not work for that price.....

Keppy....... you are 100% correct, It is sad minelabs has went the route of having the worse CS in the business, putting profit before anything else. One of the kickers I've seen, they want around 875.oo to replace the PCB/Main Board

Here is a perfect example, Gary sent the machine in, came back, not working correctly...still.

My Prognosis for this machine is a bad coil....first

If not that replace the PCB, thank god it's under warranty still.

OBN ..... Thank goodness i found some one that tells the truth about Minelab's service...... They put out a good detector ......But have really bad service ..... And every one makes some kind of excuse for there service and .............A excuse for there stealing us blind with there repair cost...................... If it was not for there bad service more would buy Minelab detectors...... And if you can repair them get the word out.... You never know you might have to repair one of mine some day ........ Well OBN it is nice to see that some one else here on the Minelab fourm understands how Minelab sort of you know what on us ...... Seem's like no one else here know's what Minelab does to us with there service.....

[Treasure_Hunter]

Everyones customer service can stand to be better, and all hahve had problems through the years, look how long it took Tesoro to get a fix for their waterproof detectors, they sat on detectors sent in for coil repairs for well over a year. They also held a members here detector for over a year because they just forgot to mail it out.... Whites had major problems with the Beach Hunter ID and refused to admit it, telling owners they were leaking becasue the owners were not putting the battery cover on properly when replacing the batteries when infact it was a major gasket issue.......

ML may not be the best, but I have found them very easy to work with every time I have talked to them, and anyone who thinks Minelab is going out of business losing money should read their profit reports...........

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/busine...-1226171154131

[JimDon]

Well the Excal came in the mail and it is in perfect condition. Turns out it was only used three times by the original owner. I went ahead and purchased a hip kit and tall shaft on ebay for it. I installed it today and low and behold the cable is way to short for the shaft. Turns out it is only 40" long from the coil to the control box. Any suggestions? I wouldn't mine getting a larger coil installed with a longer cable. If you think you can do it please let me know.

[Treasure_Hunter]

Well the Excal came in the mail and it is in perfect condition. Turns out it was only used three times by the original owner. I went ahead and purchased a hip kit and tall shaft on ebay for it. I installed it today and low and behold the cable is way to short for the shaft. Turns out it is only 40" long from the coil to the control box. Any suggestions? I wouldn't mine getting a larger coil installed with a longer cable. If you think you can do it please let me know.

Check with my hunting partner, he does fantasic mod work on excals, his username here is davespen..

[CoinandRelicMan]

I have an original Excalibur. Any tips on what points are common trouble areas. It hasn't been used in water for like 10 years or so probably.

[OBN]

CRM
I have an original Excalibur. Any tips on what points are common trouble areas. It hasn't been used in water for like 10 years or so probably.

If keep in a controlled climate, and no batteries involved...I would check out the cables for cracking. Specially the coil cable since it has been wrapped around the shaft for so long. I have noticed that the newer excaliburs {98 to present} seem to have a problem with this, causes tension on the outer part of the cable if wrapped for long periods of time. I've Not seen alot of the older grey cable ones so I can't say, other then they don't build them like they use to! And this seems to be with Excaliburs only, I would guess because of the saltwater conditions they have been exposed to. Next would be the O-Rings, they since sealed, and lubed, have a better chance of being OK, if the machine was taken care of during use around saltwater, and not exposed to harsh temp changes they should be fine. I would do a visual inspection, pulling the shrink tubing back and should be a nice contact, seal. If you need a picture..I can Post. The one's on the shaft/knobs..you almost have to trust in God on them. I would bet, all is fine if taken care of during use. Not sure how well your battery will hold up after many years of storage, but be ready........

[OBN]

Here is a perfect example, Gary sent the machine in, came back, not working correctly...still.

My Prognosis for this machine is a bad coil....first

If not that replace the PCB, thank god it's under warranty still.

Update on Garys machine..............They replaced it with a New one.............it was still under warranty..........