Is it worth fixing (Excal II)?

[shawnr2501]

I have an Excal II that is roughly 13 years old. It has been sitting for several years and will not take a charge. I used it a fair amount for a few years, but we had kids and moved away from the coast for a decade, and it saw almost no use. I confess, I did not take good care of it for an extended period of time. We moved several times and eventually it was stored in a garage.

I'm unable to diagnose the issue - bad battery, bad charger, or something else? Does anyone have recommendation for a dealer/shop that could figure this out. I'd be willing to buy a new battery, but don't want to spend the money if it's a charger, or if the machine is shot. I have a Nox 800 that I am using now and I like it pretty well, but I would like to get the excal running for hunting in the water in the summer.

Is it worth trying to get it running? or time to move on?

 

[bklein]

Buy a multimeter from harbor freight to check your battery and charger voltage output. Or just buy a new battery and try it. The machine is not likely to fail by just sitting in a closet. I’d buy an rc charger like the bc6 for $30 on ebay as it will tell you how mu current is going into the battery on charge and has a controlled charge profile better than the stock one. See if someone sells a lithium ion or poly type battery as it holds its charge longer over time. Give up, sell it to me for $100

 

[tvr]

After market batteries are getting a little harder to find, but I see a NiMH pack for under $50 (from Nextbatteries) and a smart charger for $20 (From fortbedfordmetaldetectors)

After sitting for that long, I'd suggest checking and lubricating the O rings.
I'd say that it is worth bringing it back to life. The electronics generally don't fail from sitting unless there was water infiltration in the tube that was not taken care of.

Edited to add: You can contact the minelab service center ... in the US for out of warranty detectors it is here or call: https://www.detectorrepair.com/

You can most likely part it out for a good bit more than bklien offered ;-)

 

[cw3]

I’ll give you $200.00

Get a meter like said above.

Where you located? If close to me I’ll let you borrow a battery.

 

[cw3]

What’s your budget on fixing it?

It’s one of the best in the water detectors made will a few mods.

Thats why I own 3 of them.

 

[shawnr2501]

Thank you all for the assistance. I reached out to the detector center. They seem good, I might go that route and ship it to them to see what I'm getting into. I'm tempted to sell it for a couple hundred bucks, but I hate the idea of selling someone a problem.

I'm in Wilmington, NC and somewhat open on the repair budget, but if it ends up being more that say $350-400 I think I'd rather put that money to something else. I'm not basing that on anything mathematical other than I know roughly what I paid for it (a lot!), and a new one with the not so great factory shaft is currently $1,700.00 on kellyco, after upgrading the shaft and making a couple mods a buyer would be in it for $1,900.00 I'm guessing? I see some personal value in it if I could have a good reliable machine again for under $400.

 

[vito]

I have an Excal II that is roughly 13 years old. It has been sitting for several years and will not take a charge. I used it a fair amount for a few years, but we had kids and moved away from the coast for a decade, and it saw almost no use. I confess, I did not take good care of it for an extended period of time. We moved several times and eventually it was stored in a garage.

I'm unable to diagnose the issue - bad battery, bad charger, or something else? Does anyone have recommendation for a dealer/shop that could figure this out. I'd be willing to buy a new battery, but don't want to spend the money if it's a charger, or if the machine is shot. I have a Nox 800 that I am using now and I like it pretty well, but I would like to get the excal running for hunting in the water in the summer.

Is it worth trying to get it running? or time to move on?

Hello Shawn.
Think your Nox will be good for beach hunting, too, if you have the need for it, as long as you won't enter the water.
The Excal II is a good machine and has it's lovers. Selling a working machine will bring some more bucks. After that long period of time I think the rechargables are bad, and the charger may be, too.
Try to find a battery shop and ask them to help to figure out what is damaged and how much the repair would be, then decide to sell.
Hope that helps...

 

[shawnr2501]

Update:

I appreciate all the assistance. I decided to repair the excal ii and keep it for now.

The battery cells were bad and there was a crack in the casing (tube). I ended up replacing the battery cells, replacing the damaged tubing, replacing the o-rings, replacing the cords (they were working but getting old), new knobs and a knob guard.

I'm going to use it this summer in the water and see how it goes. It's well suited for shallow water hunting, but it feels a lot heavier to swing than it did 12-13 years ago! It's not bad in the water, but I used to use it on land/wet sand/beach, I'll be using the 800 in those settings due to the weight.

 

[tvr]

It's well suited for shallow water hunting, but it feels a lot heavier to swing than it did 12-13 years ago!

If it isn't already on a straight shaft, putting an Excalibur on a straight shaft balances it much better and makes it feel much easier to swing than the stock shaft. Light weight carbon fiber shafts are available as straight shaft set ups.

 

[OldBeechnut]

Update:

I appreciate all the assistance. I decided to repair the excal ii and keep it for now.

The battery cells were bad and there was a crack in the casing (tube). I ended up replacing the battery cells, replacing the damaged tubing, replacing the o-rings, replacing the cords (they were working but getting old), new knobs and a knob guard.

I'm going to use it this summer in the water and see how it goes. It's well suited for shallow water hunting, but it feels a lot heavier to swing than it did 12-13 years ago! It's not bad in the water, but I used to use it on land/wet sand/beach, I'll be using the 800 in those settings due to the weight.

Get some

303® Marine Protectant​

and keep all well sprayed.

 

[shawnr2501]

If it isn't already on a straight shaft, putting an Excalibur on a straight shaft balances it much better and makes it feel much easier to swing than the stock shaft. Light weight carbon fiber shafts are available as straight shaft set ups.

Thanks, I have it on a straight shaft, but it's an older one before the carbon fiber ones were readily available. I'm guessing changing shafts would save 6+ ounces, not exactly sure - but I might have spent all I want to on this old machine for the time being. Thaks for the tip on the lubricant. Happy hunting. Shawn