Fixing 50 Year Old Metal Detector?

[pepperj]

Forget about fixing it, purchase a new detector. Good hunting and good luck.

Sure one could do that-but that's not what this is about HS. It's about (Possible)restoring it to be a functioning machine again. It's very possible because the battery packs were in another compartment and the corrosion could very well be contained to the back end of the box.

Then again its like an antique car-hell it's easier to go out and buy the new ride and throw the other one in the scrap heap. I'm just being sentimental about this machine-heck if it was an old Garrett I'd say off to the dumpster you go!

 

[pepperj]

To be honest, I would fix it and use it from time to time. I have both a 65-T and a 66-T Goldmaster and they are great if you have a good assortment of coils as I do. I have three coils for my' 65-T which is like new and five coils for the well used 66-T ranging from a 4 inch all the way up to a 24 inch and I believe the coils will interchange between to two metal detectors. Most folks that pick up these old metal detectors overlook the fact that they are both mineral and metal Detectors and are great for finding Black Sand deposits when searching for Gold. Don't know the history behind the 65-T but the 66-T was previously owned by a Geology and Gemology Professor that traveled the world and found a lot of Gold, Silver and other valuable items and precious rocks with the metal detector. When I purchased the 66-T from the Professor's daughter and grand daughter, they stated that he had dozens of burlap sacks and buckets full of Ore rocks and Gem specimens in host rocks and other stuff as well but they would not sell any of those.


Frank

Your comment about the black sand brings back the memories of gold prospecting around a old miners shack. Still remember the place was Goldstream Riverand it flowed into the Columbia River. The mouth of this stream was all black sand, the detector never quit buzzing. Ah the memory of the sun sparkling off the black sand and the dreams of finding gold was firmly placed in the memory bank till this day. Sadly this spot now lays deeply under water of the Revelstoke Dam system. A little snippet from the 1865 Big Bend gold rush
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bend_Gold_Rush

 

[huntsman53]

HAve you contacts Whites to see if there are any replacement battery packs available?

The old White's 66-T and 66-TR Metal Detectors used the old Eveready 9 volt and 12 volt batteries which are no longer available except as collectibles. The 9 volt and 12 volt plastic battery packs which hold 6 AA batteries and 8 AA batteries respectively, are the replacements to be used in place of the old Eveready batteries. If the battery holder (housing) has not been replaced, then it would have to be replaced or modified to accommodate the newer battery packs. From his posts, it appears that coinman123's 66-T Metal Detector has already had the battery pack holder upgraded. Now, all he needs to do is to remove the battery packs and toss them but before he does so, he needs to note which two wires goes to the 9 volt battery pack and which two goes to the 12 volt battery pack. Then, he needs to clean up the battery holder and any components/electrical components and connections that were affected by the battery acid, replace the snaps that attaches the wiring to the batteries, put in new battery packs and batteries and turn that old but reliable relic on and start swinging. If he is not up to the task, then he can probably send the metal detector to White's Factory in Sweet Home, Oregon and they will clean it up, replace any bad and/or damaged components/circuits, tune it up and send it back to him working like a new one. They will likely throw in some upgrades to the internals for free.


Frank

 

[coinman123]

The old White's 66-T and 66-TR Metal Detectors used the old Eveready 9 volt and 12 volt batteries which are no longer available except as collectibles. The 9 volt and 12 volt plastic battery packs which hold 6 AA batteries and 8 AA batteries respectively, are the replacements to be used in place of the old Eveready batteries. If the battery holder (housing) has not been replaced, then it would have to be replaced or modified to accommodate the newer battery packs. From his posts, it appears that coinman123's 66-T Metal Detector has already had the battery pack holder upgraded. Now, all he needs to do is to remove the battery packs and toss them but before he does so, he needs to note which two wires goes to the 9 volt battery pack and which two goes to the 12 volt battery pack. Then, he needs to clean up the battery holder and any components/electrical components and connections that were affected by the battery acid, replace the snaps that attaches the wiring to the batteries, put in new battery packs and batteries and turn that old but reliable relic on and start swinging. If he is not up to the task, then he can probably send the metal detector to White's Factory in Sweet Home, Oregon and they will clean it up, replace any bad and/or damaged components/circuits, tune it up and send it back to him working like a new one. They will likely throw in some upgrades to the internals for free.



Frank

Thanks! It would be great to get it running, just to experience first hand how it felt to swing a metal detector when the hobby was still fresh. I saw a pair of battery packs on eBay the day I got the metal detector, but decided to wait on buying them. Now they are gone. I will either wait until I see more for sale, or send it to Whites. I just hope that it doesn't cost more than the metal detector is worth to get it fixed. Thanks for the help!

Also, Luckily the damage seems limited to the back of the metal detector.

 

[Nitric]

You can use vinegar/water mix to neutralize and stop the corrosion if not it will follow it's way through the wire and the board inside eventually, strange how it just creeps along. Then rinse the parts in baking soda water to neutralize the vinegar. I call it battery acid, but it has a different name and isn't actually called Acid. I just can't ever remember the right wording.

You may already know the above. You also know not to submerge the thing. Which sometimes you can,(meaning the circuit board) but you have to make sure it is completely dry in every nook and cranny, they use some kind of alcohol to pull the moisture out. I'm sure you can find all that online if you look up fixing battery damage to circuit boards.

Here's a good guide. It's pinball related but same idea. If you go the route of fixing it and if the damage has crept inside.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/terrybs-guide-to-repairing-battery-damage

 

[huntsman53]

You can use vinegar/water mix to neutralize and stop the corrosion if not it will follow it's way through the wire and the board inside eventually, strange how it just creeps along. Then rinse the parts in baking soda water to neutralize the vinegar. I call it battery acid, but it has a different name and isn't actually called Acid. I just can't ever remember the right wording.

You may already know the above. You also know not to submerge the thing. Which sometimes you can,(meaning the circuit board) but you have to make sure it is completely dry in every nook and cranny, they use some kind of alcohol to pull the moisture out. I'm sure you can find all that online if you look up fixing battery damage to circuit boards.

Here's a good guide. It's pinball related but same idea. If you go the route of fixing it and if the damage has crept inside.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/terrybs-guide-to-repairing-battery-damage

Most any Alcohol will work to clean circuits but the stronger the better as long as it won't melt the Circuit Board itself and/or any plastics. Acetone on a Q-tip works great or Denatured Alcohol is another good one to use and just run the Q-tip over the Circuit Board lines. It is best to brush the circuits and the whole surface of the board with a small but stiff non-wire (meaning the bristles are not Steel, Stainless Steel, Copper or Brass) brush, first to brush off any of the dried acid residue, then clean with Alcohol, then you may have to brush the circuits again.


Frank

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... I also saw a really cool old White's Goldmaster, it looks to be from the 1960's.....

.... this metal detector is a White's Goldmaster TR-66, from 1974. I'm sure that this brings back memories for some people .

Yes. Brings back memories. That was my first machine as a pimple faced 8th to 9th grade teenager in the late 1970s. I got it used for $100 ! My entire summer job lawn mowing money profits The 66TR was actually made and sold by whites All the way to 1974 or '75. The advent of GEB (aka VLF ) and TR discriminate put an end to the model.

So technically they can be as young as 43-ish yrs. old. Not "50"

Top depth on those was about 5 or 6" on coin sized items if you listened REAL hard , haha. Useless on wet salt mineralized sand. No discrimination. So foil, tabs, coins, etc... all sounded alike.

One positive thing that all-metal TR had, that modern machines have never replicated, is their innate ability to see through iron. And reject small iron. So even though the 66TR was "all-metal", yet it did not find small iron (nails, etc...). And, in fact, if a coin were under a nail or two, the all-metal TR would see them and not mask.

A much better example of this tech. was in the Compass 77b, which was also an all-metal TR. And could also see through nails. But the Compass was much superior, smoother, etc....

 

[Nitric]

Most any Alcohol will work to clean circuits but the stronger the better as long as it won't melt the Circuit Board itself and/or any plastics. Acetone on a Q-tip works great or Denatured Alcohol is another good one to use and just run the Q-tip over the Circuit Board lines. It is best to brush the circuits and the whole surface of the board with a small but stiff non-wire (meaning the bristles are not Steel, Stainless Steel, Copper or Brass) brush, first to brush off any of the dried acid residue, then clean with Alcohol, then you may have to brush the circuits again.


Frank

I'm working on one now. The fiberglass brushes work good. I've also used the red scotch Brite type pads from Home depot paint section, just rip a small piece off. But what I'm working on is really bad. So, even sand paper was needed in spots and re-tin the traces.

I'm learning that some batteries even "Fume" and in an enclosure, just the fumes alone make a mess of things. So everything needs opened up, cleaned and neutralized.(meaning the MPU i'm working on)

The alcohol is used to pull the moisture out. These boards I'm playing with have to be submerged, during every step of the way. I haven't used the alcohol step, I just rinse real good with water, let it dry, then use a hairdryer to make sure it isn't still under IC"S. But I guess the alcohol will pull all that out and dry it faster. I'm still learning so I may have things mixed up a little on that part. I tried using Acetone to clean flux. Big mistake!!! Or I left it too long! I had to strip half the board of the components and "try again". Then I bought pharmacy denatured alcohol.......Ya...wrong stuff. it's not strong enough. I felt pretty dumb on that one.

No clue if any of this applies to detectors, but I don't see why not. Just saw the thread and it's what I'm digging into in a different hobby. Alkaline Damage

 

[huntsman53]

I'm working on one now. The fiberglass brushes work good. I've also used the red scotch Brite type pads from Home depot paint section, just rip a small piece off. But what I'm working on is really bad. So, even sand paper was needed in spots and re-tin the traces.

I'm learning that some batteries even "Fume" and in an enclosure, just the fumes alone make a mess of things. So everything needs opened up, cleaned and neutralized.(meaning the MPU i'm working on)

The alcohol is used to pull the moisture out. These boards I'm playing with have to be submerged, during every step of the way. I haven't used the alcohol step, I just rinse real good with water, let it dry, then use a hairdryer to make sure it isn't still under IC"S. But I guess the alcohol will pull all that out and dry it faster. I'm still learning so I may have things mixed up a little on that part. I tried using Acetone to clean flux. Big mistake!!! Or I left it too long! I had to strip half the board of the components and "try again". Then I bought pharmacy denatured alcohol.......Ya...wrong stuff. it's not strong enough. I felt pretty dumb on that one.

No clue if any of this applies to detectors, but I don't see why not. Just saw the thread and it's what I'm digging into in a different hobby. Alkaline Damage

Nitric... In most cases of cleaning and evaporating moisture, the 91% Alcohol sold at Walmart seems to work fine. Yes, if you leave Acetone on too long, it will damage just about anything. When I use it for cleaning circuits, I use a Q-tip to rub it on the circuit, then just as quickly wipe it off with a rag or another Q-tip if it is in a tight area. The wipes sold at Radio Shack and other Electronics stores that are used to clean DVD and Cassette Player/Recorder heads seems to work just fine. It is a learning process as the circuit board technology and materials have evolved so much over the years.


Frank

 

[against the wind]

Yep,, here's one I picked up for $25.
I understand that Whites will restore them, if you're willing to go the distance on price.

 

[coinman123]

Yes. Brings back memories. That was my first machine as a pimple faced 8th to 9th grade teenager in the late 1970s. I got it used for $100 ! My entire summer job lawn mowing money profits The 66TR was actually made and sold by whites All the way to 1974 or '75. The advent of GEB (aka VLF ) and TR discriminate put an end to the model.

So technically they can be as young as 43-ish yrs. old. Not "50"

Top depth on those was about 5 or 6" on coin sized items if you listened REAL hard , haha. Useless on wet salt mineralized sand. No discrimination. So foil, tabs, coins, etc... all sounded alike.

One positive thing that all-metal TR had, that modern machines have never replicated, is their innate ability to see through iron. And reject small iron. So even though the 66TR was "all-metal", yet it did not find small iron (nails, etc...). And, in fact, if a coin were under a nail or two, the all-metal TR would see them and not mask.

A much better example of this tech. was in the Compass 77b, which was also an all-metal TR. And could also see through nails. But the Compass was much superior, smoother, etc....

A TR metal detector seems like it might be great on a cellar hole filled with nails. My T2 has a very rough time with masking within 20 feet from the cellar hole, perhaps if I get this working I will test it there.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

coinman-123: Let us know how the restoration project goes.

For the "nail-see-through" trick of those old all-metal TR's : Naturally the depth would decrease . So for example, if you could get 4 " or so on a non-masked coin, then you could expect that ... by adding 2 nails over the top, that ... yes you could still hear a conductor, but only to perhaps 2" deep.

Which is fine for ghost townsy stuff in desert hardpan conditions. Where targets aren't deep anyhow. Or sidewalk tearouts, etc....

There was an oldtown sidewalk tearout in our city in 1980. Eight or nine detector showed up to hunt it. And ... naturally ... we were all sporting our latest-greatest discriminators of that era: 6000D, Red Baron, Groundogs, etc... But along comes a poor sap swinging a 77b. I recognized it was an older machine, that lacked discrimination. So we sort of had a smug attitude of pity for him.

Imagine our surprise when he kicked everyone's butts. He spanked every one else 5 to 1 on old coins. He tried to explain to us that his machine "doesn't see the nails". But that made no sense to me, since.... SO TOO did our discriminators "pass nails". It took me several more years to understand that he was referring to SEEING THROUGH, not just disc'ing out.

 

[Honest Samuel]

Forget about it, purchase a new detector.

 

[huntsman53]

Yep,, here's one I picked up for $25.
I understand that Whites will restore them, if you're willing to go the distance on price.

Cool. That looks similar to my' White's 65-T Gold Master.


Frank

 

[clv]

You know a live edge slab of that Cuban mahogany blak bart has would be a good base for that detector.