Anybody got an old Fisher 553-d metal detector from the 1970's?

SomerHimpson

Newbie
Jul 27, 2017
2
0
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi
I own an Old Fisher 553 – D metal detector that I have had for the last 40 years. Unfortunately one of the battery wires has come off from inside somewhere. I want to re-solder this but do you not know where to solder it too. Can anybody provide me with any help on this. I have taken the detector apart and can provide photographs of the inside to help if necessary. I was wondering whether anybody out there could take a photograph of the inside of theirs so I can compare.
Thank you
 

vpnavy

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2008
35,087
18,581
York County, PA (USA)
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1st - I noticed this was your very first post SomerHimpson - so, Welcome Aboard! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting location information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country).
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2nd - I moved this thread from Help! over to Brands > Fisher Research Labs for more exposure.
 

SD51

Silver Member
Aug 24, 2016
4,829
9,950
MI
Detector(s) used
E-TRAC
Primary Interest:
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Not sure if this will help because I couldn't locate the 553's manual but was able to get the 552's. Here's a pictures of the two battery packs inside the 552. Does your 553 use the same set of battery packs? It appears that each battery pack has it's own connector that should have the two wires soldered to the PC board. If so, you should be able to look at the connector that's intact and see where it goes.

2017-08-03.png

Let me know what you find too.
 

Adrian SS

Sr. Member
Dec 7, 2008
363
73
Canberra
Detector(s) used
LST, BDHI,Infinium,Sov XS,6000DI Pro SL,Scorpion,V-SAT,Spectrum XLT,Gold Spear,Scorpion,Sand Shark, Compadre,Sierra Madre,Safari, SDC2300, Sea Hunter,CS4PI,TDI OZ Pro, Vallon VMH3CS. Gardiner 202A
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
RSCN2695.JPG There are two sets of battery leads. One black and one red wire from each battery clip is connected to a terminal lug on the cct board. The other pair of red and black wires (+ & -)connect to the power switch On /Off terminals. There are 4 terminals on the power switch. So be sure to get the correct terminals. You should be able to see where the wire broke off either the terminal lug or the power switch terminal
I can post a photo of the cct board if you like, but it is not easy to actually see and follow the wires to their connecting points.
 

Last edited:

roaddust66

Hero Member
Sep 22, 2013
608
342
Chattanooga Tennessee
Detector(s) used
Impact , Tejon . Fisher F75, Vaquero, uMaxSilver, Cibola , Delta 4000, F2, Ace350 , original Bandido
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
those were very good civil war relic machines. I had one. Then bought a 555D , then a 1260X , didnt like that one. Bought a Tesoro Inca. Fell in love . It was like a 553 with a great disc
 

Adrian SS

Sr. Member
Dec 7, 2008
363
73
Canberra
Detector(s) used
LST, BDHI,Infinium,Sov XS,6000DI Pro SL,Scorpion,V-SAT,Spectrum XLT,Gold Spear,Scorpion,Sand Shark, Compadre,Sierra Madre,Safari, SDC2300, Sea Hunter,CS4PI,TDI OZ Pro, Vallon VMH3CS. Gardiner 202A
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I also purchased a 555D but was never really happy with it and eventually had to let it go and I kept the 553D.
I have found far more coins with this old detector than what i have found with my modern machines.
This may be because that when using a manual ground ballanced non motion tr discriminator and all metal vlf more care and concentration is required to keep the detector in tune and running smoothly and as a result i believe that the deep weak signals are much less likely to be missed than when swinging fast with a motion discriminator. On the other hand detectors like the SOV, and PI machines do much better over the wet beach sand. So it is a matter of using the right tool for the task in hand.
 

roaddust66

Hero Member
Sep 22, 2013
608
342
Chattanooga Tennessee
Detector(s) used
Impact , Tejon . Fisher F75, Vaquero, uMaxSilver, Cibola , Delta 4000, F2, Ace350 , original Bandido
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
If you like old school machines you should look into buying a Tesoro Eldorado ...the first one with the big metal box. They are a power house compared to the 553D which I owned and loved.
 

JULIAN35

Newbie
Oct 5, 2022
1
0
View attachment 1479306 There are two sets of battery leads. One black and one red wire from each battery clip is connected to a terminal lug on the cct board. The other pair of red and black wires (+ & -)connect to the power switch On /Off terminals. There are 4 terminals on the power switch. So be sure to get the correct terminals. You should be able to see where the wire broke off either the terminal lug or the power switch terminal
I can post a photo of the cct board if you like, but it is not easy to actually see and follow the wires to their connecting points.
Any information on the cct board would be really appreciated
 

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