Excal 1000 Battery Test and Behavior

[RussP]

Hello all, I recently acquired and old but physically good shape Excalibur 1000 and would like some help in diagnosing something. I first inspected everything and all the wires and connections are great. It's the original battery so I suspected from the start it might be cycled out. I charged the battery overnight for 12 hours. The charger output is about 18 volts and the battery tested at 13.5 volts with no load on it.

Off I went to the beach it appears to function fine then after 1.5 hours the detector starts to go wonky by making a loud beep (like a target) but nothing there. The volume got real loud then settled back down. I thought maybe it was just an EMI pulse but it later continued until the detector died. Battery bad?

I got home and then tested the battery again (no load) and it read 12.55v. It's my understanding the Excal needs 12v min to operate. The battery may have crept back up because it turned on again later. Overnight I checked battery again without charging and it was 12.95v no load.

Is this the typical behavior of the Excal when the battery starts to die? I havent had one before and I want to make sure that's the problem before I spend any money to fix it (new battery).

And can anyone suggest here a service center that will service it? For example replace the headphones? Minelab americas via email stated they would not. I know that Excal II parts will work and just need to find someone who can do the work and TEST it for leaks as I plan to SCUBA with it. Thanks -Russ

 

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[cudamark]

Check with Tony Eisenhower. He does all my mods and some of the repairs on my Excals. I would have a spare battery regardless of whether your existing battery is good or not. It's a good way to diagnose whether it's a battery issue or not. I love the RNB batteries for them. They last so much longer than the factory ones.

 

[OBN]

Most of the time if they start acting stupid after a short period it is the battery, I would contact the Minelab service center in Pa. they are a authorized service center and can take care of all your needs, they specialize in the Excalibur and do the PP mode, coil change mod, change headphones, ctx endcap so you can swap head phones, they do all the mods I did years ago. Plus the do pressure testing and seal replacements also. Ask for Keith at the Alum Pa repair center. 814-283-4270

Good Luck!

 

[RussP]

Check with Tony Eisenhower. He does all my mods and some of the repairs on my Excals. I would have a spare battery regardless of whether your existing battery is good or not. It's a good way to diagnose whether it's a battery issue or not. I love the RNB batteries for them. They last so much longer than the factory ones.

Do you have Tony's contact information? All I could find is Youtube posts that dont provide that. Thanks

 

[cudamark]

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