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It's Alive...Converting a Minelab Explorer II...

Donnie
Date: November 22, 2004 08:51PM

The Minelab Explorer II Model DS

Converting a Minelab Explorer II to a lighter, balanced configuration

I have been a Minelab Explorer user since it was first introduced. I started with an "S" model, then
a "XS" and now I own an "II". Overall, I think the Explorer is an excellent machine. It has outstanding
depth, good discrimination ability and excellent identification features (tone and visual). From day
one, my biggest problem with the Explorer has been the weight and balance of the machine. On the issue
of weight alone, the Explorer is not that much heavier than some of the other top of the line machines. In
fact, there is some that out weight the Explorer. But when you factor in the balance or lack of balance
for the machine you have a very heavy feeling and awkward machine. There are many that will argue this
point but in my informal poll over the last few years there are many that feel the same way.

Because I love this machine so much, I have contemplated for a long time on how to fix the issue of weight
and balance. My only two conclusions are to convince Minelab to address the issue or fix it myself. It
seems that option 1 just is not going to happen so I went for option 2. The following information is
how I converted my Minelab Explorer II to a light, better balanced configuration. Overall this procedure
is not very hard to accomplish. I found that the hardest step to this procedure was taking the machine
apart. Technically this is not hard but mentally it is very tough to convince yourself to start dissecting
a $1000 plus detector.

Parts Needed

Small roll of red X gauge wire
Small roll of black x gauge wire
1 - 1/4" stereo headphone jack
solder
pipe insulation
Heat shrink
Glue sticks
Cell phone accessory connections (or computer power cord with extender)
Computer power cord
Black tape
Heavy duty wire tie
Package of 6-32x1 1/2" bolts, washers, nuts

Tools Needed

Drimmel
Drill
Various drill bits
Soldering iron
Phillips screwdriver
Needle nose pliers
Punch
Hammer
Camera
Hot glue gun
Tape measure
Calipers

Taking Apart An Explorer II

Start by removing the battery from the machine. Disassemble the machine as you would normally to the
point of how it was in the box. Now remove all the screws from main control housing (MCH). There
should be 4 screws. Next you need to carefully remove the brass pressure pin from the clamp right
under the MCH. You can do this by driving the pin out with a hammer and punch (or some other type of
pointed item). It does not take much for it to come out. After this, then remove all the parts
for the clamp and the pressure pad that secures the middle rod to the upper rod.

Carefully lift the face plate of the MCH to reveal the inside of the MCH. You will see that the
face plate is connected to the back of the MCH via a wire going to the speaker and via some wires
going into the upper rod. Disconnect the wire going to the speaker at the circuit board. This is
a simple connection that slides right off. Now put the face plate back on the back part of the MCH
but don't insert the screws.

You are now at one of the tricky parts of this conversion, removing the MCH from the upper rod. In
theory, the MCH should slide right off of the upper rod with just a little pressure. Mine did not
work this way. I tried everything from applying pressure to using a hammer lightly. After about
giving up, I finally called Minelab to find out the secret to removing this part. Turns out that
Minelab started using small drops of super glue when assembling the Explorer II. Apparently someone
decided to use more than a few small drops on mine. If you are able to remove yours with just pressure
then you are in good shape. I had to actually cut out the plastic where the pressure pad resides and
pry mine apart until the super glue released. I used a Drimmel with a small cutting disc to remove
the plastic. Refer to figure 12 to see exactly how much of the housing I had to remove. Do not remove
more than this as part of this housing will be used to secure the MCH back to the new rod.

Once the MCH has released from the upper rod, then remove the rest of the screws that are located all
along the upper rod. This will allow you to open the upper rod to reveal the wiring paths for the
headphone jack and the battery connectors. Using either a hot glue gun without the glue or a low temp
soldering iron, remove the wiring from the upper rod by heating the glue. When you are done you should
have something that looks like figure 1.

Figure 1

The next 5 pictures are for documentation incase a wire should pull loose from the circuit board
during disassembly. This will allow you to re-solder it back to the correct place.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Converting The Audio

As you see there are 3 connections coming out of the MCH; the coil connector, the battery
connection, and the headphone jack. We will now convert the headphone jack so that it is mounted
into the back of the MCH. You will need to buy a 1/4" stereo headphone jack from Radio Shack or
some other location. Click the wire leading to the existing headphone jack at a point that will
allow you to solder the new jack to the wires while leaving some slack to move the new jack around
the inside of the MCH.

Locate the place on the back part of the MCH that has a circle with 4 corners indicated. Measure
your new 1/4" headphone jack to determine the size of the hole that will need to be drilled. Drill
a hole in the middle of the circle with the 4 corners. Be sure to only make is big enough to
allow the jack to be inserted. Too big and you might allow the jack to move around. Insert
the new headphone jack and tighten it. See the next 5 pictures for example of how this will look.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Securing The Coil Connector

As seen in figures 12 and 13, there are few modifications that need to be done to secure the
coil connection. Minelab thoughtfully encased the coil connector in a very thick rubber tube. This
allows you to secure the connector to the MCH without having to worry about the wiring becoming
weak. The very end of the plastic covering has a "dog tail" on the end. This can be slipped down
between the plastic housing and the circuit board to help give the coil connector some stability.

As shown in figure 12, you can remove the plastic in the area where the pressure pad once was
located. This allows the MCH to be seated properly for securing the MCH to the rod. Drill two
small holes as also shown in figure 12. Place a large, heavy duty wire tie through the holes. Place
the coil connector between both sides of the wire tie and secure as shown in figure 13. Figure 14
shows how you can insulate the connector by using pieces of pipe insulation available at any hardware store.

Attaching the coil to the end of the rod may require some additional plastic washers if the connection
is not tight enough for you. These can be found at any hardware store in the plumbing section.

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

The Battery Connection

This connection was the most troublesome due the different configurations that are available. There
were some fundamental questions that I had to answer before deciding how to do this; (1) Mount on the
rod or not? (2) Use exiting batteries or not?, (3) If using new battery configuration, which size?,
etc... For the purpose of this text, I am going to describe the route that I decided to take.

I decided to use the existing battery configuration and develop a way to hip mount the battery. I
started by clipping the battery wires to a length that allowed some slack. I then threaded two lengths
of wire through a hole in the rod where the MCH will mount and out the back end of the rod. Be sure to
leave a lot of slack until you decide how you will mount the battery. At the point where the new wire
is at the MCH, spice the two new wires to the existing wires. I did this with solder and heat shrink
insulation. I put heat shrink around each connection and around both to secure. At this point you
can either pull these connections down into the rod or push them back into the MCH.

I wanted to make the battery connection so that it could be disconnected from the detector. I had
an old cell phone car holder lying around that had connectors like those that fit into a car accessory
port. I spliced the female end to the battery wire coming out the back end of the rod and secured it
to the end of the rod with a nut and bolt (this piece had a hole in the end that matched up perfectly
with the nut and bolt holding the arm cuff). This completed the battery connection from the MCH to
the end of the rod.

The battery part of the connection was accomplished using male end of the cell phone holder, an
old computer power cord and the battery compartment holder from the original upper rod of
Explorer. I cut the ends off of the computer power cord and spliced the mail adapter onto one
end. I used a computer power cord for two reasons; (1) They are rugged and made to be twisted
around, (2) I had some old ones just lying around. The other end of the power cord was fished
through the existing headphone jack hole on the end of the upper rod. I then spliced the wires
to the existing wires running down to the spring loaded battery connectors. Some people may not
want to cut the rod down to size like I did but I wanted to reduce weight where I could.

After completing my conversion, I rethought the using the cell phone adapters for the connection. I
have found an alternative method of using the existing female end of the computer power cord. It
requires me to buy a computer power cord extension and splice the male part of the connector to
the end of the rod where the female accessory port adapter is now located. Here is a picture of
the ends of the computer power cords that I have described.

The best way to gain an understanding for the battery connection is to review the pictures
below.

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

Figure 18

Mounting The Main Control Housing

This step will require a helper to hold the MCH while you drill some holes. You want to find a drill
bit that is roughly the same size as the existing hole where the brass pressure pin use to be
located. You will be drilling a hole through this location and also at the other end of this area.

Have someone hold the MCH on the rod where you want to mount the MCH. Drill a hole through the
rod where the existing pressure pin holes are located. Next drill another hole through the plastic
and rod. Be sure to keep everything lined up while drilling these holes.

Now insert 6-32 x 1 1/2" bolts and washers. Secure the MCH with nuts and tighten. You can see how
this will look in Figure 21.

Figure 19

Figure 20

The Final Product

The next two pictures show the conversion at the state of completion. I still may change out the
way the battery connects or even come up with a way to mount a new battery under the rod. I still
need to field test my creation but so far it looks like it will work just fine.

Figure 21

Figure 22