Dualfield external rechargeable battery mod

[lost items recovery]

Dualfield surf pi external battery modification on a counter balanced straight shaft.
Not to hard to figure this one out as long as you don't reverse the polarity and fry the machine.
Key thing is to waterproof it internally to be rock solid water tight.
Don't just rely on the gland to keep the water out or you just may be out the cost of the machine.
Much easier to simply charge a removable battery vs opening the housing each time they drain low. Large capacity batteries maintain the proper voltage to keep the machine running at peek depths.
Undecided on headphone upgrade yet but will figure that out after pondering......

 

[Harold in Fla.]

Nice Job Dave, looks ok to Me, makes it a lot easyier.

 

[lost items recovery]

Nice Job Dave, looks ok to Me, makes it a lot easyier.

Thank you buddy. Yes sir it's a lot easier and just makes more sense to just swap out a battery or throw it on the rapid charger before a hunt vs removing it from the shaft and opening it up to change batteries. As you know if sand gets on that seal for the box that's the end of that if submerged.
Cleaned the seal, lubed it up and that's the end of that.

 

[sandswimmer]

I like that idea! I have always been worried of the constant opening and closing of the latches that I figure would break or lose their strength of security over time. I would be interested in this mod as long as I can belt mount the pack along side the control box. In the water or on the beach I can go for many hours this way with just the coil on a carbon straight shaft to swing. SS

 

[lost items recovery]

It is a great mod and counterbalancing the shaft made a huge difference in the swing and feels weightless but do agree with the setup you are referring to as it would be super light for sure.
The downfall to this mod is the parts are expensive especially if one needed to purchase the battery and pod.

 

[cudamark]

Looks like an Excalibur battery pod. Do you use a special battery inside?

 

[lost items recovery]

Yes it is. No need for a different internal battery but
I use max packs with a rapid charger that has LED indicator lights. Great battery and charger for a great price.

 

[lost items recovery]

Updated headphones for volume control

 

[Harold in Fla.]

Dave you should try a pair of them we were talking about.

 

[lost items recovery]

Dave you should try a pair of them we were talking about.

Yes sir Harold I thought about it but the dualfield's volume control is internal so I wanted to have a knob on the headphones. It was a no brainer.

About those we were talking about.....

Will try to reach you tomorrow

 

[dewcon4414]

Hey Dave....... what kind of weight difference is there between having batteries in the box vs pod? Interesting idea......NOT opening any box when used in the water is the ticket. Man, now just figure out how to recharge the CTX without opening it.

 

[lost items recovery]

Honestly I didn't notice any weight difference.

As for the CTX I figured out a way for a battery mod so it doesn't have to be opened either but I'm not going to run with it.
I think it would look tacky, kind of like a good scoop on a Ferrari

 

[cdv1]

On the CTX there is little doubt in my mind that Minelab could wire up the waterproof headphone jack to the battery by using 2 of the 5 unused terminals which would allow you to remove the headphones and hook up a charger with the properly wired connector, then the battery would not need to be removed......odds are I could do it but until the warranty is up, I refuse to open up the internals on mine! The existing battery charger could still be used by modifying a AA CTX battery pack with a cable and headphone connector. Of course, this is an assumption without actually looking inside the detector! Done at the factory, this would allow charging as is now OR with an adapter, allow the use of the headphone jack..... It could be so simple and error free.....

Dave, good work on the battery mod on the Dual Field, I like the way you think!

Cliff

 

[dewcon4414]

Cliff....... i remember you having a charger thru the headphones on another detector. That was one smart idea. I have no idea why they used a connector with so many pins....... then of all things used two pins right next to each other......... bit of a pain to solder.

What we really need is better batteries..... where fewer are used..... and a bit more power to those coils.