Cracked my Minelab Excal II Body

[michaelbd]

Hey guys,

I noticed a crack under the discriminate knob during my dive with the Excal. When I surfaced, I confirmed this after removing the stock knob as you can see from the attached images. I was an hour underwater with the Excal when I noticed this and may have dove for more than 5 hours total before noticing the crack so I'm pretty sure it is not leaking water.

However, for peace of mind, I would really like to get this repaired or replaced.
Are there any replacement pods for sale for the Excal II (OEM or Aftermarket)? Maybe there might be a DIY pod design available? I've tried searching, but could not find any.

I live in Thailand so sending the unit to Minelab might be a hassle so it would be great if this could be replaced by myself.

Any comments will be much appreciated! (On a side note... It will also be nice to find out if there is a fellow detector here in Thailand too)
Thank you in advance!

 

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[Minelab Jamie]

Hi michaelbd -- If you would like a repair done through Minelab, you can contact minelab@minelab.ae or +971-4-4549995 which is our Middle East office. They should be able to help you out!

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I've looked at your pictures and zoomed in. For the life of me I can't see a crack on the housing.

But, such things happen and I've read here about them. That's why when I picked up my Excal, one of my first purchases was a knob guard - just for safety sake.

 

[beerguy]

I think that the crack is across the top of the o-ring area. Not sure that would affect water ingress...

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

It has compromised the top o-ring and should be replaced, new housing is lot cheaper than new motherboard. It only takes a few drops of salt water in the wrong spot to really screw up a motherboard.

January 20, 2017 A New Beginning!

 

[KirkS]

The crack is where the knob attaches from what I can tell. Took me a while to find it as well.

OP - I would try and silicone seal it. It's not a gaping hole, so it should be ok with just some silicone.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I would try and silicone seal it. It's not a gaping hole, so it should be ok with just some silicone.

I like that idea, but fear for losing his motherboard. Freshwater begins here 9 days from now. The OP needs to check with Minelab repair for lead time on repairs for his machine.

Me being the paranoid sort sez that he needs to address this versus pushing the limits.

After all, in my case if I can screw it up, it certainly WILL happen!

 

[michaelbd]

I've looked at your pictures and zoomed in. For the life of me I can't see a crack on the housing.

But, such things happen and I've read here about them. That's why when I picked up my Excal, one of my first purchases was a knob guard - just for safety sake.

The crack is right where the discriminate knob sits. I'm also using a knob guard, but it only guards the left hand side of the unit.

 

[michaelbd]

Hi michaelbd -- If you would like a repair done through Minelab, you can contact minelab@minelab.ae or +971-4-4549995 which is our Middle East office. They should be able to help you out!

Thank you Jamie.

 

[OBN]

Some what common on the Excalibur II's, I've had two request for help in the last few months, and several in the past, all the same problem. I surprised there was not some kind of offer that Minelab would fix them for free with in a period of time since it is for sure a design / material flaw. I have never seen a Blue Excalibur have that issue.

Good Luck and I do believe your best opp is to send her in

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Excal 1000 and Excal II are both made of polycarbonate and use the same design so not sure why it would be a design flaw since the only difference between Excal II and the Excal 1000 housing is the decals on them. I had to have one of my excal 1000 housing changed several years ago because of cracks on the collars.

 

[OBN]

Excal 1000 and Excal II are both made of polycarbonate and use the same design so not sure why it would be a design flaw since the only difference between Excal II and the Excal 1000 housing is the decals on them. I had to have one of my excal 1000 housing changed several years ago because of cracks on the collars.

A change in vendors who makes the pods could easily affect the quality, and for sure we know minelab has done that.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

My exca 1000 had a cracked collar, I know of many Excalibur 1000, 800 and even some swords that have had cracked collars over the years so I don't believe it has anything to do with excal II vs old excals, the newest excal 1000/800 is still at least 10 years old. It has more to do with use and abuse than anything else I believe.

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