Beach Reminder - Coil Covers

[PA John]

This morning I went out with my AT Pro and it was acting erratic after a short while. After about 30 minutes I decided to remove my coil cover and it smoothed it out quite a bit!

Attached is a pic of what I did with my Dual Field cover. I used a silicone adhesive to keep everything out yet still protect the coil.
Should have done this with my AT Pro before I headed to the beach.

What does everyone think?

 

[MiamiFox]

Yep I take the covers off because I hunt the water 99.9% of the time sand and air bubbles get in there. Plus the added benefit is there is a little less drag in the water.

 

[jeepGold]

Personally I wouldn't recommend that on the beach machine. It might hold sand out for the most part, but if any moisture gets in there it wont get out. Much easier to just pop the cover off once a week or so and use a hose to clean it off real good. Salt is a killer.

 

[PA John]

What I did was drill a couple holes in the cover to allow the air to escape when putting it on. Because it is a silicone adhesive it can be removed fairly easily and remains flexible.

There are a lot of large shells down here in Surfside, SC.

Headed back to PA tomorrow. : (

Not much detectin' time this week. Low tide was in the middle of the heat of the day. I will look at the Tide Tables when planning my next vacation!!

 

[Sandman]

This adding silicone to the gap works for a short time but it soon allows black sand to enter through a gap and you will continue to swing along thinking your okay.

 

[G.I.B.]

The bottom of all my coils have some scratches on them.

I'm still waiting to see what the downside of some scratches are.

Do unscratched coils find more stuff?

 

[MrMikeJackie]

Sand and water doesn't seem to affect my CTX. Quiet as a church mouse until it passes over a target. Same holds true for my Sovereign.

 

[lookindown]

The bottom of all my coils have some scratches on them.

I'm still waiting to see what the downside of some scratches are.

Do unscratched coils find more stuff?

No downside until a hole wears through, but most people that don't use a coil cover wont wear a hole because they are afraid to scrub their coil across the bottom...my coil cover takes some abuse scrubbing the bottom.

 

[DJWEHAGE]

I applied a product to the bottom of my coil while working as a salesman for a roofing distributor. It is called Geocel 2310. It is used to repair roofs and comes as a brush application. It is available at many distributors and can be found on E-Bay. It comes in clear and is waterproof, although it is recommended by the manufacturer not to be used for "full time" submersion. It has been on my CZ 20 for almost 15 years . It took me all of 2 minutes to brush it on. Let it dry for a few hours, and haven't had an issue EVER!!!! I've used it in the Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, Aruba, Puerto Rico, and many rivers and rocky streams in between. However, I do believe that the CZ 20 has a very rugged coil design, and I may be a beneficiary of such fine workmanship.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

A tiny hole in the silicone will let sand in that you can't clean out with out removing silicone and removing cover. I use no coil covers at the beach... No damage to my coils in 8 years of beach hunting....

 

[penzfan]

Coil cover gets removed and cleaned out after ever hunt. No issues.

 

[PA John]

Thanks guys!

I used a silicone adhesive I used on my boat that is for under the waterline. When I see any holes, off it comes!

 

[ColonelDan]

I agree with Treasure Hunter...no coil cover on our central Florida beaches works fine. Having said that, I've had the same concerns as expressed here and have considered or tried every option known to the beach treasure hunting world...silicone around the cover, truck bed liner spray, marine epoxy, no cover as well as frequently removing the cover to clean it out. All options had shortcomings in my view. I'm now working on a new coil cover design in conjunction with Kellyco. Preliminary testing has gone very well on my original design but I modified It somewhat and plan to test that out tomorrow on dry sand, wet sand and the roughest surf I can find. Once finalized, we'll let the "cat out of the bag" so to speak but so far, my confidence level is high.

 

[mham2]

I have a Excalibur and ctx I apply a coating of marine epoxy at the seam between the coil cover and the coil .has been on there 5 years and I have never touched it ? I hunt west coast Florida,have used it on the east coast Miami area and Lake Erie you can get the epoxy at Home Depot unilock seems to work good

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Just so members know, if you epoxy a coil cover on coil and coil fails minelab will not honor warranty....

 

[PI PETE]

I didn't use a coil cover on my infinium L/S 10x14 mono and dinged it on rocks and ruined it! Just got a new coil and cover last week!!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I didn't use a coil cover on my infinium L/S 10x14 mono and dinged it on rocks and ruined it! Just got a new coil and cover last week!!

In 8 years of beach hunting never hurt any of my coils...Different locations different methods..

 

[penzfan]

All it takes is one obscure rock/shell/coral to ruin an expensive coil...............never say never.............

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

You can crack a coil even with cover, I prefer to hunt with no covers when hunting beaches, when I hunt land I usually use coil cover...

 

[Native Floridian]

I go naked at the beach! No covers! The covers trap sand and other debris that really screws with the machine. I search in non rocky environments so nothing is going to hurt the coil.