What is the Blessed weight of the Explorer SE??

[Brett]

I've been over the entire internet, searching this forum free through google and also minelab's own forum and Google's bowels itself, and plenty of people are talking about the weight issue of the SE and that it's really a balance issue, blah blah blah.

All I want to know is what the blessed weight of the Minelab Explorer SE is... WITH batteries, and in some unit of measurement I can convert to US POUNDS... that's all! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!

I do think it's a conspiracy cover up... REALLY! Just tell me... PLEEEEASE! I must know before I go insane!!

...hurry! I'm going to implode.

 

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[dewcon4414]

The manual, which can be downloaded, says it 3 lbs 7 oz excludeing the batteries. You are talking around 3 lbs 8 oz id say. That weight factor for me has been a blessing. I use the DFX as well and was having terrible pain in my elbow. Once i started using the SE that went away. You tend to swing the SE slower and with a more correct swing. It may not be as balanced as other machines but i havent noticed it reducing the hours i hunt, likely because you put it down a good bit to dig.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

I agree 3lb 7 oz, think the battery is around 9oz. So it is actually maybe just a few ounces heavier than the dfx. The machines are balanced differently... the dfx seems lighter because most of the weight is in the box not the coil. The Se coils seems to help maintain the coil near the ground with their weight and also calling for the slower sweep. I use a homemade swingy thingy...if you would like to see it...I can post a pic... I am sure others have developed better ones...but mine allows me to hunt 4 days a week...

 

[Brett]

Thanks for the info guys. I guess I could have looked in the manual, but I didn't think of that. It is weird that its not listed all over the Net.

I would definitly like to see your homemade swingy thing Gregg.

 

[mastereagle22]

I also found the weight to be an issue for a while but after about three months of hunting with it I am now very comfortable with it.

That is one Major problem, in my opinion, to the 8 inch coil I'm using right now. It is so much lighter than the stock coil you really have to work to keep the coil on the ground.

Still the weight isn't that big an issue.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Thanks for the info guys. I guess I could have looked in the manual, but I didn't think of that. It is weird that its not listed all over the Net.

I would definitly like to see your homemade swingy thing Gregg.

Thanks I did not forget...will post a pic in morning on Thursday...hopefully when I post mine a few more people that have made their own post theirs also. I use mine on my dfx and Se and plan to improve it very soon. Gregg

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

My wife as usual was her happy self to model my sling...oh geez!

Pics show Se and dfx. Simply made using a travel strap from a luggage bag, a bungee cord with ends closed using a pair of pliers after attaching to travel strap, and I saw a piece of pipe insulator blowing in the wind one day and said why not? I attached it around travel strap with duct tape and for now it works great! I have seen a few others that work well too...

 

[Brett]

Hi Gregg, thanks for the pics. Does your swingy thing rock back and fourth around your neck at all, or does the bungee take that out of the equation?

Also, I'm picking up an SE Pro tomorrow so I would greatly appreciate any advice you may have for a beginner to the Minelab Explorer series. I have been reading the manual over and over but that just won't prepare you for what you really have to learn just by using it.

I don't think I'm going to be able to focus on work tomorrow at all... this is bad.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Hi Gregg, thanks for the pics. Does your swingy thing rock back and fourth around your neck at all, or does the bungee take that out of the equation?

Also, I'm picking up an SE Pro tomorrow so I would greatly appreciate any advice you may have for a beginner to the Minelab Explorer series. I have been reading the manual over and over but that just won't prepare you for what you really have to learn just by using it.

I don't think I'm going to be able to focus on work tomorrow at all... this is bad.

My sling works very well...I can just set the detector on the ground or can just let go in the air. It allows me to switch hands when I get tired. I am going to add some type of ring so there is not as much movement in the bungee.... The pipe insulator stops the sling from moving around my neck. Remember you are still supporting the detector with you hand but a lot less weight...

Also I have some Se info...great stuff I have gathered that I will send you tonight... Good luck, at first the Se can be confusing...but after putting in some hours you will be fine.... Any questions I can answer for you I will... Also I will include some other info that will help answer your questions... Just finished my 5th straight day of detecting... Not one of my better days... But I do have a small ring I need to clean up...

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

The ring turned out to be junk.... Oh well... I am sending Explorer info to your e-mail right now, Gregg.

 

[Brett]

Thanks for all of the info Gregg. I'm still re-re-reading it over and over. I went on a day long hunt on Saturday with my new SE Pro and surprisingly my arm and shoulder were not sore afterwards. I'm learning what everything sounds like and what settings are good. It's good to play around air testing different settings and objects. I can safely say that it's not good to learn the detector with factory presets, but rather learn what everything is and what the effects are of adjusting them AND THEN dial in something that you like. The reason why is because if you change any of 5 different settings (Gain, Limits, Variability, Sounds, Response) you will get different sounds that you will have to LEARN. Once you learn it one way, as soon as you change those settings you won't know what a DIME vs. NICKEL vs. NAIL sounds like any more. This is definitely not a turn on and learn detector... you have to experiment and see what the heck everything does and start using it to it's full advantage. A lot of how you set it up will depend on what you are looking for too.

I compared my SE Pro to my dad's new DFX300 and the SE Pro is definitely lighter. They are both balanced well.

Tonight I weighed my SE Pro with Sunray X-1 probe (with NiMH battery pack) vs. my ACE 250 (with NiMH batteries), both had coil covers and the ACE had a rain shield.

The SE Pro with Sunray X-1 was 5.0lbs
The ACE 250 was 3.5lbs

I think my scale might be off by about 0.5lbs, but I weighed the detectors WITH ME and subtracted my weight and also by themselves. Both numbers were the same. I'm going to weigh the SE Pro tomorrow at work with a shipping scale accurate to 0.1lbs. If our part counter scale goes up to 5.0lbs I will get a VERY accurate weight on the SE Pro vs. the ACE 250.

So far I REALLY like the SE Pro... and soon I hope to be finding a bunch of deep goodies.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Great point on the sounds...also changing from fast to deep or vise versa makes a big change... I hunted using fast the first 3 1/2 months...now using deep. A way to avoid not getting your settings mixed up to much is save the program in a slot for the discrimination and write the settings down also to be safe. I am changing my sounds again soon but will have pen in hand before I do. I like conduct for sounds and I always do a noise cancel to find best channel each time I hunt.

 

[007]

I'm thinking of getting the pro , I have a question can it be broken up into pieces and fit into a standard backpack like the Xterra 70 ? if so how many pieces does it brake up into
Thank you
happy hunting to all this season

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

I'm thinking of getting the pro , I have a question can it be broken up into pieces and fit into a standard backpack like the Xterra 70 ? if so how many pieces does it brake up into
Thank you
happy hunting to all this season

upper shaft with display, lower rod with coil. That should do it...

 

[Brett]

Good advice Gregg, thanks!

I weighed the Explorer SE Pro with Sunray X-1 and 1600mAh NiMH Battery pack today at work on a good scale and it came to 4.828 lbs. It's not bad at all really, the probe kind of balances it a little better than before, but I tried a Swingy Thingy today and I have to have one now. It makes the detector weigh NOTHING!!!

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Good advice Gregg, thanks!

I weighed the Explorer SE Pro with Sunray X-1 and 1600mAh NiMH Battery pack today at work on a good scale and it came to 4.828 lbs. It's not bad at all really, the probe kind of balances it a little better than before, but I tried a Swingy Thingy today and I have to have one now. It makes the detector weigh NOTHING!!!

I have not tried a swingy thingy..just my home made version.... after you try it could you drop a update here and tell me what you think... Maybe I will upgrade my homemade version soon...

 

[GrayCloud]

I see what you mean about your wife being happy. What does she look like when she is mad. Oops, now my wife is looking at me with that look.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

I see what you mean about your wife being happy. What does she look like when she is mad. Oops, now my wife is looking at me with that look.

It was one of her bad days....but also I do not think she is happy that after work every morning I don't make it home for 3-4 hours... She says I go overboard with the detecting.... Now if only that 6" Excelerator coil I just ordered for the Se would get here! Just wait till I get the new coil....alot of testing will have to be done