Just purchased a used Excal 1000 freshly serviced by Kellyco. It had the coil, headphones, and all seals replaced. My Anderson straight shaft should be here on Wed from Metaldetectors.com.
I've never used one and need advise as far as setup, daily maintenance, and cleaning tips.
Where should I apply grease(what type is best), how long do I charge the battery, how tight should the compression fittings be, etc?
All tips much appreciated. Thanks Mike
Discrimination....1, Sensitivity....auto or just off, Volume.....max, Threshold....wherever it's comfortable, Hunt in Pin Point and flip to Disc to I.D. iron. If you got two batteries with it (both factory rechargeable and an alkaline pod), hunt with the rechargeable until you get the low battery signal, then recharge overnight (a good 10-12 hours). Hunt until the rechargeable needs recharging and swap in the alkaline when needed to finish a hunt. If you need to replace the factory rechargeable, get an RNB replacement. Better and much cheaper. You'll need the old pod housing though, so, don't throw it away! Tighten the Ikelite battery nut like you would a plastic lid for a jar of peanut butter. Just enough to snug it down so it doesn't leak. Be easy on the silicone. Just enough to coat the washer, no excess. Get some silicone spray (without petroleum propellant) for the cables. I don't recommend trying to seal the coil cover to the coil. The sand will likely get inside anyway and then it's a mess trying to remove the cover and clean it out. Just pull it off occasionally and wash it. I haven't found that to be a problem with any of mine. I don't seem to get any falsing, even with a bunch of black sand inside. Your results may vary! It's just not that big a deal to remove and clean. Recommended mods are: Straight shaft...both Anderson and Plugger make some nice stuff (I have both), The pin point mod where the switch is right on the handle (you'll wonder how you ever hunted without it!), headphone upgrade if you don't like the originals. I have three different ones and don't find any of them ideal. I like the sound and volume control on the GGA's, but they're not all that comfortable to me. The stock blue ones are ok, but, nothing special, the stock yellow don't have as good a sound as the blue. They sound kind of tinny, like two soup cans on a string! I also have a custom set made with the stock speakers and some aftermarket ear muffs from MSA via Amazon. They're the most comfortable, but, they still have the tinny sounding speakers. If the GGA's were more comfortable, or the custom set had better speakers, they would be the best. Headphones are such a personal thing that others may have a different opinion. Don't worry about greasing any of the pots. You really can't do it properly unless you pull the "O" rings or disassemble the pod. Just hose it off good with fresh water and let it air dry. I try not to get the headphones wet unless I've been under saltwater. After repeated dunkings, they can start to smell a bit mildewy when the foam inside the pads get wet and doesn't dry in between hunts. I use hip mounts with all mine and wear them behind my back. I like taking all that weight off my swinging arm. I know many don't recommend it due to cable problems, but, so far, in over 10 years of using Excaliburs, I haven't had a cable problem. It's important to route the cables properly so they don't flex much or put a strain on the ends going into the pod. I zip tie mine so they don't flex by the pod, and keep enough slack on the coil cable to reduce any sharp bends while swinging. Good luck and have fun!
Oh, and get some aftermarket knobs with allen set screws and small pointers (so you can just feel where the knob is pointed). The stock knobs suck. Just be easy on turning the knobs. Do it slowly and in the correct direction so you don't break the switch stop.
