Water RESISTANT coil -How screwed am I?

[AugustMoose87]

So shortly after I got my "new to me" Xterra 30, I got a 10.5" DD coil for it as well. I knew the 9" concentric it came with was water proof, but in my excitement, I didn't stop to check if my new DD was as well. Thankfully I haven't taken it very deep, 6" max, but it has DEFINITELY been fully submerged, for maybe a minute at a time. It was fresh water, and pretty clean for a lake. Anyone have any experience? Am I screwed? Can I just let it bake/dry in the car for a few hot days? And what signs should I be keeping an eye out for to know if/when I have an issue? Thanks

 

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[Sandman]

Coils are water proof but since you bought it used it wouldn't hurt to smear some silicone sealant to the cable at the coil. Don't leave any detector or coil in hot car. It will help to clean out coil cover often to remove black sand.

 

[Fletch88]

About as screwed as one can get! That's what I did not like about the Xterra line. The 10.5 DD and the 5x10 are NOT waterproof. The best you can do is keep it inside air conditioned house and hope it dries out.

 

[Dominoe]

If you want to dry out anything electronic in nature get a large zip lock bag and put the item inside, add a couple cups of dry white rice and seal it up. The rice will extract all the moisture from the item in about 3-4 days.

 

[luvsdux]

My only bad experience with a coil and moisture was a small crack that let rain water from wet grass in. The detector began falsing and carrying on like crazy. If your is working normally, you may have lucked out.
luvdux

 

[cudamark]

Check with the manufacturer of the coil to see if it's waterproof. Most modern coils are, but not all.

 

[Terry Soloman]

So shortly after I got my "new to me" Xterra 30, I got a 10.5" DD coil for it as well. I knew the 9" concentric it came with was water proof, but in my excitement, I didn't stop to check if my new DD was as well. Thankfully I haven't taken it very deep, 6" max, but it has DEFINITELY been fully submerged, for maybe a minute at a time. It was fresh water, and pretty clean for a lake. Anyone have any experience? Am I screwed? Can I just let it bake/dry in the car for a few hot days? And what signs should I be keeping an eye out for to know if/when I have an issue? Thanks

If you haven't had an issue yet, most likely you are safe. In a shallow stream/lake situation, I have always used plastic garbage or leaf bags on my gold detector coils - works great!

 

[elliottAM]

If you want to dry out anything electronic in nature get a large zip lock bag and put the item inside, add a couple cups of dry white rice and seal it up. The rice will extract all the moisture from the item in about 3-4 days.

New here, but as someone who finds myself accidentally submerging electronics way too often, I personally have a few pounds of color indicating silica desiccant around for this. Rice IS a desiccant that'll work in a pinch, and you're far more likely to have it around, but you can get a quart of silica desiccant for about $13, it'll absorb any moisture much more rapidly than rice, and it can be reused after 3-4 hours in the oven. This is actually probably not much help this time around, though if you have Amazon prime...

 

[Fletch88]

You would think so wouldn't you Cudamark! But not the 10.5 DD or the 5x10. Sounds absurd to me

 

[RobRieman]

Spray the crap out of it with a can of bedliner and seal that puppy up yourself. I can't imagine making a coil that you can't even hunt wet grass with. What were they thinking?

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

I would avoid those non-proofed coils !

 

[Fletch88]

I would avoid those non-proofed coils !

I did! That's why I sold it. Your locked in to using only ML could because of proprietary chip inside. Coiltek makes a 6" and 15" that are waterproof. Not much variety in between the extreme sizes.

 

[atomicscott]

I'm with fletch! Never cared for the XT coils not being fully waterproof, especially when you can buy a $100 BH tracker 4 with a fully waterproof coil. Some forum members make you feel like a communist if you use a NEL on a Minelab. I have since got a NEL Sharpshooter for my Tek Omega, & it is lighter than my X-Terra coils, and fully waterproof.