The importance of cleaniing the coil cover

[DeepseekerADS]

Yesterday was my 9th water hunt. Over the last few hunts my Excal was giving me fits beyond the fading battery charge....

I'd read many times to take the cover off and clean it and the coil due to accumulation of sand AND black sand as well.

My cover was cable tied tight, so there's no way junk could creep inside it, right?

As Indian Steve and I were taking our detectors out of the van, he and I were talking about my issues. So, I decided to pull off the cover, had to carefully cut the cable ties off - and VOILA! Loaded with sand and black sand - and I thought it was too tight for that and I was wrong. I put that baby in the water with clear clean sounds for a change, no repeated falsing. I had a good and solid hunt.

I won't be hunting again without having removed and cleaned the coil cover each hunt.

Meanwhile, Steve had a pretty tough hunt, scooped 32 bobby pins, and had very erratic performance.

Steve e-mailed me last night and said he'd removed his coil cover and his too was loaded with black sand.

Moral of the story, whether land or sea, remove that coil cover periodically and clean it out. That is a maintenance issue many of us tend to ignore.

I'm now a believer - I have seen the light and I'm no longer hard headed (about that anyway!)

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

Due to the cost of replacing a coil = sending it off and paying installation as well as the cost of a new coil - I'd prefer to use the coil till it died of old age versus risking a sharp rock or broken bottle. My coil cover was darned hard to get off, but got it off. After cleaning it went back on easily. I think part of the reason for the difficulty of removal was the fact it was packed with crap.

I'm not going to gunk it, coat it or anything but just keep the cover on as the sacrificial protector. It'll die to save the real money coil - and be replaced inexpensively.

 

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[Top]

Due to the cost of replacing a coil = sending it off and paying installation as well as the cost of a new coil - I'd prefer to use the coil till it died of old age versus risking a sharp rock or broken bottle. My coil cover was darned hard to get off, but got it off. After cleaning it went back on easily. I think part of the reason for the difficulty of removal was the fact it was packed with crap.

I'm not going to gunk it, coat it or anything but just keep the cover on as the sacrificial protector. It'll die to save the real money coil - and be replaced inexpensively.

If I was in a country where I could easily get a new cover I might have taken that route. I went with the epoxy based on several people reporting how it has worked so well for several years.

 

[Lats]

I've stopped using a cover. Mine is so tight I can hardly get it off. I've even caulk it all around. It doesn't matter. The sand and gunk still gets in. I think the biggest drawback with a cover is that after a few hours the buildup under the cover interferes with the signal.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Oh man, I can get 2+ yrs outta a good marine silicone seal. Up in Pompano, Joe at Rileys will seal them for you, too. I get the marine silicone at outdoor world.
I kinda prefer to do it myself (that way, no one else to blame, if it's not perfect, how I want it, lol), and it works for me.

My covers are a pita to get on and off..... and I hate fighting with a machine and sand all day.....we got shells, coral, rocks. Today was seaweed everywhere, yuck.
I did learn through trial and error, bead that silicone on there, don't try wiping it all neat and pretty, like your caulking a bathtub or shower. LOL.
The having to, let it sit and cure a day or 2 (and not touching it), is about the worst part of it (reason we have a backup).
Sometimes it helps to have a toothpick or chopsticks, if you have to pull the silicone, to be sure an area is covered. (I use toothpicks to put the silicone grease on the connector prong seal area, too, easiest thing I found to do that with, so far).

It's a pain to do it, but do it right, and ya don't hafta worry about it, for years, I have found.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Indian Steve and I went out again today. He gave me some silicone sealant and before the next adventure I'll pull the cover off, clean, and return it to position... I'll seal the edges of the cover with silicone prior to the next jump in the water.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

It can be a tedious job, Deep. I do mine outside in the screen room, with my super magnifying reader glasses eyeballs, LOL. That way I can see what I'm doing, not miss any spots. I do the inside rims first, then finish the outer edges.
I cut the tube tip for a big bead, not too big, and make sure that bead line lays right on the yellow and black.
Hope you got the clear marine silicone, I find I can see through it, to know I've make contact for coverage.
Toothpicks/chopsticks ready, in case needed, better than trying to touch the stuff.

DO NOT try to wipe it or think you will make it "neat". I made the first one I did all neat, biggest pita to get all that off, and re-do it, the right way. When you do have to re-do it, that big bead line will peel off a lot easier.
I don't know if anyone else has done this or wants to chime in, but it sure keeps me free of sand headaches and fighting and cleaning that coil cover.
Do it right, the first time. I think you will be happy with the result.

 

[Deft Tones]

Silicone pro tip: use isopropyl alcohol for tooling and clean up.

Run your bead. Mist bead (spray bottle) with alcohol. Mist finger with alcohol. Tool silicone with finger wiping excess off onto cardboard. Mist finger and continue tooling/cleanup.

Mkes silicone as easy as acrylic.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Good thread! I clean my coil covers every two/three hunts. If in very dirty environments or with fine sand every hunt!

I have tried not using a coil cover, but always was concerned of a coil mishap.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

I wouldn't sweat it.
If one thing doesn't get you the other will.
I don't know about you but I go to the beach to find treasure, everything else is secondary.

The Excalibur is more likely to fail as a result of pulled pins / broken wires at the cable ends or cracked/faulty cable insulation wires.
And the oversize knobs to the switches / potentiomers. It is very easy to overtorque them, you should have guards around them to 'protect against dropping / snagging.

It is better to think of the coil cover as a skid plate that protects the bottom of the coil and a bumper that provides an air cushion to protect the search coil from cracking/ chipping when it slams into something hard/sharp. Even a small amount of mineralized sand or a light salt buildup anywhere on the coil will be detected as a target (sigh). The search coil detects targets just as well above the search coil as below the search coil and about one half inch or more away from the outside diameter of the search coil.
The stock search coil for the excalibur which was designed for diving is surprisingly forgiving, especially the bottom which is softer than the sides and top.

I only use the protective skid plate when I have to: sharp coral, sharp spikes, between rocks, broken bottles etc. as I like to skid the search coil over the sand to obtain maximum depth. When I have a harness, I don't even use the protective skid plate even were there are sharp objects as i can easily keep the coil slightly above those objects.

When I used the protective cover on the excalibur at the salt water beaches I hunt on, it was a night mare.
As I had to clean it two the three times during a six hour hunt as the sand where I hunt is highly mineralized.

There is no way of knowing how many valuable targets are not detected as the noise build up from false targets is gradual and you are not aware of until it becomes too difficult to detect true targets. When detecting on dry sand it is very important that you keep your coil dry or sand will stick to it. Sadly, you will not know of the targets you have missed unless someone does a ring dance over the area that you have detected.

The CTX3030 search coils are different in that they are hollow to save weight and have sharp edges, The skid plates for theses search coils are far more difficult to take on,and off and the coils are more difficult to clean as sand builds up inside the coil. I always use the protective skid pad for the CTX 3030 with a harness to keep slightly off the ground so that I don't have to clean it during the hunt.

" Divided We Stand, United We Fall"!

 

[Lats]

I agree with Sir Gala Clad. I go to the beach to find treasure. It's a hobby just like fishing except I'm fishing on land. I don't want it to be a job or a chore. To spend hours after a search prying off the cover and trying not to damage the coil in the process, stripping off the silicone, cleaning, drying, resealing and the giving it a day or two to dry makes it a pain in the but and not worth the effort. I'm careful around rocks and rough terrain but if the coil gets nicked (which it almost never does) so be it. I want md to be fun with minimal hassle.

 

[Randyg12]

I have always wondered if anyone thought of NOT using the skid plate....better signal strength maybe? I have always been a bit chicken
to try this method, thinking I might ruin my main coil, especially if skipping off the sand a bit... Thanks!!!

I've always removed my coil covers. I like my coil on or barely touching the sand and in my mind taking the coil cover off gets me a tad more depth (I know it probably doesn't but it works for me )