coil size for excal II

[goCARDSjim]

Looking to purchase a new Excal for use on Texas beach - High mineral content - but am unsure of best coil size. I'm thinking that the 8" coil would make pinpointing easier. Also thoughts on Fisher cz21? My main machine is Fisher F-75 upgraded and love it.

 

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[frogmaster-riviera]

Excalibur with 8" coil has been discontinued AOL since jan 2015. You might find old stock, but they are rare.

You can by an 8" coil for sovereign and build a plug to swap coil.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Kellyco had a couple left...

 

[goCARDSjim]

Yeah, that's where I saw them. Just wondering if the 8" or 10" w3as better choice.

 

[jimboa]

I purchased my Excalibur with an 8" coil, mostly for the weight considerations, its a heavy machine. I quickly went to a hip mount to take away the fatigue but then wished I had the bigger coil, I always felt I was missing something so I purchased the coilteck 15" and love it! It was a little scary cutting the wire to install the plug and play coil adapter but so glad I did. I don't feel I am missing a single thing now and my finds have increased. So go big !!!!

 

[frogmaster-riviera]

There is not a big difference between 10 & 8" coil. The only difference where 8" coil could be preferred is in shallow / underwater hunt with a lot a junk.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Be careful with the waist mount, the stress causes shorts in cables...

 

[Soflhunter]

Be careful with the waist mount, the stress causes shorts in cables...

Thanks for that tip!!

 

[lookindown]

Most veteran hunters I see swear by the 8 inch coils...I swear by the 10 1/2 inch coil on my CZ21...I like the fact that every ten sweeps Ive covered 25 more inches than an 8 inch coil...that adds up to a lot of ground in an 8 hour hunt.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Most veteran hunters I see swear by the 8 inch coils...I swear by the 10 1/2 inch coil on my CZ21...I like the fact that every ten sweeps Ive covered 25 more inches than an 8 inch coil...that adds up to a lot of ground in an 8 hour hunt.

I like the fact ever 10 sweeps I cover 4' 2" more than 10 inch coils.....

 

[OBN]

Its important that you tailor your machine to your hunting conditions. If it will be your only water machine you will want versatility and I think the 10 is the first in line, then the 8oo next. I started the year with the little 800 and did very well but found that in many of the older beach's I needed just a few more inch's and the 10 gave me what I needed to really pull the faints.

 

[rsc]

In calm freshwater I use my 10 inch. In the hard running surf I use the 8 inch. Two machines for different areas.
I did buy the 10 inch machine first. BUT if the 8 inch is being discontinued, that is the way to go. IMHO Probably have no problems selling it later at a premium. HH Gayle

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

In calm water I use the 15", in surf I use the 15".....😁

 

[Soflhunter]

In calm water I use the 15", in surf I use the 15".....[emoji16]

How hard is the 15in coil to swing in the surf?

 

[slider66]

I have a 10 inch on my Excal II and a SEF 10x12 on my Excal 1000. I love the SEF and it goes deeper and covers more area.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

How hard is the 15in coil to swing in the surf?

For me it is easy, I don't fight the current either, I swing with the current, ebb and flow.....

 

[dewcon4414]

Im with you Joe....... it depends on the water and trash you are wanting to hunt in. I prefer the 10 as well....... on a long shaft i felt like the 7 1/4", yes its not a true 8" coil, wanted to float if you moved it to fast in any current. the so called 8 looses a little depth for me, even thou you can run it ho,t as well as coverage. Apparently there wasnt enough sales for ML to continue it either......... whats that tell you?

 

[cudamark]

I find it depends on the surf conditions. If it's calm or little surge/current, I use the 15" coil. If it's rough, the 10" gets the nod. In the dry sand, it's always the big coil unless I'm hunting around the fire rings. Then it's the E-trac with the tiny 5" coil. Pin pointing is not a big issue at the beach. You'll get used to it and if you have a decent sized scoop, you'll have no problem regardless of coil size.

 

[jeepGold]

15" on the dry and anything out of the water. 10" in the water. Technique is also key. Don't fight currents and don't get frustrated either. And be mindful of that shovel. You don't want bloody shins or a wacked detector.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

I would purchase the Excalibur ll 800 if available!
However, I suspect that a new one would be very difficult to find, as I spent more than one year
and one price increase searching for a used one without luck.

I prefer to detect with the The smaller 8” coil, actually 7.25” as often shallow water hunt in the first trough or detect near fire pits/picnic tables where it tends to be trashier, plus it is easier to get between ripples in the sand which are too narrow for the 10” search coil to get between.
.
The small field eight inch coil is more sensitive too smaller targets as it covers one half the surface that the large field ten inch search coil. The trade off is you may lose a little depth: 8 to 10 Inch for the small field 8 inch DD search coil, verses 10 to 12 inch for the large field ten inch DD search coil. Even though the surface area under the 8 inch DD search coil is one half of that a ten inch DD search coil, You can still cover a large search area as the smaller search coil can be swept faster since there is less to process. Also, you can run hotter (more sensitive).

Ideally, you should to be able to change coil sizes, to meet specific conditions encountered:
An 8 inch size search coil for trashy areas, a ten inch search size coil as your go to beach coil, and a 15” or larger size search coil to cover more area or detect deeper targets. This will require a total of three detectors if the search coil is hard wired or one detector if you use a water proof inline connector.
Unless you live close the repair center, you should have at least two detectors, so that you can still detect while a failed detector is being repaired.

As the beaches I hunt are small, and the currents / waves stronger, I prefer using the 8 inch small field coil for shallow water hunting as it is easier to pinpoint. This h is very important as I often only get one chance at retrieving a target, before being knocked out of position or the target being sucked down out of range by the vacuum created while digging in soft sand.

Running for your life to get away from a strong surge or rougue wave is more difficult with a larger size coil. Where I hunt, there is no continental shelf to slow waves down and you can easily be dragged out to sea, seriously cut from a flailing scoop, or loose all equipmen - even if tied to you.

QUOTE=goCARDSjim;4689556]Looking to purchase a new Excal for use on Texas beach - High mineral content - but am unsure of best coil size. I'm thinking that the 8" coil would make pinpointing easier. Also thoughts on Fisher cz21? My main machine is Fisher F-75 upgraded and love it.[/QUOTE]