Minelab Excalibur 1000

[Haoleman]

I've had my Excal for 4 years now and haven't used it for about a year as we haven't traveled and been too busy. I take the nicad battery pack and discharge it and recharge regularly to keep it fit. I took it out today after charging the battery and it is so unstable that I couldn't use it on disc mode. had to set it on pinpoint. I checked the battery pack after one hour of operation and it's reading 13.2 volts under operating load which should be fine but it just starts sounding off all over the place. Also, two of the knobs broke off. I expected better service from such an expensive detector. Any ideas on what's wrong? It's never seen any water except over the coil. Is it possible that one or more of the pots might be dirty from sitting?

Terry

 

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[OBN]

This was at the beach you had this problem? Check the coil cover to see if it's clean? Ikelite Battery connection OK, greased? What are your settings, senstivity? Vol, threshold? Were you in the water deep? Sometimes if it sets the O-rings will dryrot, but mostly just the top one on the pots...this is from not cleaning the saltwater off, lack of care...and yours it yet to see that........... more then likely all is good inside, they are sealed very tight. Answer the few questions and we can get a better idea Of what it might be.....

 

[Haoleman]

The problem isn't specific to where it is located. I can set the detector on a wooden table or hold it up in the air in the middle of a field nd it just keeps sounding off at all different frequencies. It's some sort of stability issue. I have cycled all the knobs many times to see if the pots are dirty but it didn't make any difference. It won't settle down to a fixed tone.

 

[OBN]

Seen this problem before, .....one of two...Bad Coil and I have seen this when water gets into the coil cable and is shorting out the signals....It could be either but these are just what I have seen in the past..and maynot be the issue...I do know when a dead battery is coming on, there is a crazy false signal but it's like every 20 seconds........and it will happen in the PP mode....

One post from some time ago but this hunter had the problem only in the water... http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,399514.msg2890847.html#msg2890847

 

[Haoleman]

Well I went out and screwed around with it for about 2 hours yesterday and it finally settled down. Had to run the sensitivity control way low or it would spaz out again. It also does it in the auto mode. I still keep thinking that there is an issue with a noisy pot on the board. As it's out of warranty, should I take it apart and squirt some cleaner in the pots? How are the shafts attached to the controls as I would like to lube the o rings plus I need a set of knobs. Which ones are best?

 

[OBN]

the knobs I've used, john is on the forum here

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-5-Impro...828?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf4a57204

 

[OBN]

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?22,1437544 O-rings

 

[OBN]

 

[OBN]

pulling apart, you could check the pods, but I'm sure they are ok, unless one was over twisting pass the point of the stop, then the shaft turns 360..

cleaner?..they are closed, and I've never done that.....I still think it maybe a coil issue, but if you've got it settled down I would give her a try at the local beach...and see if it gets worse when in the water or you can adjust the sens up...Good Luck, let us know if you locate the problem...

 

[Haoleman]

took it out again today to the local park and picked up a buck in change. Seems to be working fine now. The only thing I can think that would cause this is dirty pots (the controls) as when they don't get used for awhile, they sometimes develop some corrosion even in an airtight environment. I'm sure some of you are old enough to remember what a noisy control was like back in the day when you turned it, you would get a bunch of clicks and static on volume controls, etc. This would cause stability issues in a MD as the potentiometer (control) would no longer have a linear adjustment so it would go way out of range in it's resistance. ( not so old ham radio operator here) and lifetime electronics geek. Thanks for the vids. When I have some time I will take it apart and remove the shafts to lube them.

Terry

 

[OBN]

Haven seen that before on the Excalibur's but always open to new theory's, if you open her up I would just go ahead and replace the O-Rings..McMasterCarr is the place to get them, the sizes are posted on the findmall link....For the grease I use the Dow Corning 111 to lubricate ....You may want to change out the Desiccant (Silica Gel) pack's so you won't have the corrosion problem again....Good Luck..........Joe/obn

 

[Haoleman]

Thanks for all the info, Joe. When I have time, I'll tear into it and see what I can find. Assuming that once inside, it looks like the coil is plugged in. Testing it for resistance should show if there is any problems, right? Especially pulling on the cable or twisting it. If there is a break, I would think that the resistance would change which would indicate a bad cable or coil. Would think that would be an easy fix.

 

[Haoleman]

Hey, just got my knob set from John. Very nice!