Minelab XS lower shaft needed

[saysitall]

Hi all
Does anyone know where I can get a replacement lower shaft for my Minelab XS
I was out hunting this morning and mine broke as shown in the photo.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[Jeff In North Georgia]

The Minelab Explorer XS lower shafts have been out of production for some time. You may want to try the Minelab Owner, classified "wanted" pages or check EBay.

This was one of the weak points of these shafts that they would break or flex at this point. You may want to upgrade to a Explorer II, Quattro, SE, or E-Trac carbon fiber lower shaft. It is interchangeable, lighter and much stronger. Contact you local Minelab dealer or one of the T-Net sponsoring dealers.

Jeff

 

[Ramapirate]

Hey, I had the same thing happen on a Bounty hunter. I mean exactly!! I drilled a little hole up in the shaft and got the old piece that was broken off in it out by putting a screw up in it with a big enough head to pull on. Then I took the part that the coil connected to and sharpened it down and ground it down then sanded it smooth to a diameter that would fit back in the shaft. I replaced the screw which by the looks of things are pretty much like the ones on yours, and it worked like a charm!! I was rolling again in about 30 minutes. My son (who'd just turned 8 years old) had broken mine standing on it. He freaked out! I told him not to worry, I could fix it.

Let me know if that works for ya...

HH,
Ramapirate

 

[Ramapirate]

I wish saysitall would let me know if that turned out alright for him. I know it worked on my pld Bounty Hunter, and the shaft looked the same.

Hh,
Ramapirate

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

Go on Ebay or wherever they sell an Explorer II lower shaft. It will fit just fine. I have both an XS and II, and ever since I got the II, I've used the lower shaft of the II on the XS. What doesn't work is an Explorer II upper shaft on an XS. Suprisngly, the upper shaft of an XS does work on a II however. If you doubt what I say, here is a pic....

But trust me, you don't need to buy a new machine because you busted the lower shaft. You just have to know which fits what. I'll write it out here as I have tried.....

XS Upper shaft fits both XS and II
II Upper shaft does not fit XS
II Lower shaft fits XS Upper shaft
XS Lower shaft I have not tried sticking in into the II upper shaft.

 

[saysitall]

Ramapirate: Thanks for the suggestion, and sorry I didn't answer your post yet.
I took a look and it didn't look like it would work without grinding the nose piece down to nothing to get the right diameter to fit in the shaft.
It did get the ideas flowing though, and after talking to Deano, I knocked out the broken piece, turned the shaft around to insure a square end, cut the nose piece off square, drilled 3 holes in the shaft (one one each of three sides) and 3 holes in the nose piece, then wired the shaft and the nose piece together. After that, a good dose of "JB Weld" to join the two together. Worked like a charm (so far).....<grin>

Jeff and Richardo: I checked with Kellyco and found out that a lower shaft from a II or SE will work, but you need both the upper and lower shafts to insure a good joint between the two (cost $77 for both). As a side note, I just purchased a new Explorer II off of Ebay which should arrive in a few days (was thinking about doing that anyway). So now all I have to do is sell the XS on ebay to recover some of the money.

Thanks you everyone for your help