Could a guy change the coil hookup on Compadre

[Lutherluke]

[size=x-large][/size]Can a guy change the coil screw on end by the housing on a Compadre detector so it could use other U-Max coils? I don't suppose Tesoro would do this for a guy either. Or wire a little larger coil onto it?
Thanks

 

[Jay Evans]

It is possible to have a plug added to the compadre... but you would void the warranty. being that the unit is inexpensive compared to the other models you might consider getting a good reputable electronics guy to do it if you don't mind osing the Lifetime warranty. But why not just buy a silver or other model with the plug already there? you'd have the warranty then and no worries if you ever had an issue with your machine.... it's really up to you.... but Yes it can & has been done before.

 

[fowlercharles]

There are a couple of guys on the Forums that have done this mod and seem to be having a ball playing with different coils both larger and smaller. I put a plug on my old Amigo 2, which is a early version of the Compadre so I could change coils on it. It does void the Warrantee on it and I certainly would not have done that to a more expensive machine. Don't know how much of a job it would be to do on the Compadre, but there was so little room on the inside of the Amigo 2, and I am dumb as a stump at that sort of thing. At the very correct advice of Ty Brooks I put the plug on the outside of the box, about 12" or so and it works just fine. That way and I didn't have to worry about me screwing up anything on the inside, which I most likely would have had I gone the inside route. Just my thoughts, and it would be cool if you could get some input from those guys that have already done the mod on their Compadres. HH, Charlie

 

[David]

Compared to the newer 5.75", the older model Compadres had a bit larger 7" coil I believe.

 

[silversmith]

I did that mod. It was easy (electronics is my profession though). The male and female is quite expensive , so, I used a CB mic plug and recepticle . I did it so I could play around the "doughnut coil" the earlier one used. I would never do that big a mod to my LST though. Cost too much to void the warranty. Good luck, 'Smith.

 

[BarberBill]

I had an earlier Compadre with the 7" coil, really liked it, wish I hadn't sold it. As to modifying a current Compadre, I'm with the suggestion that one add a Silver

 

[JB(MS)]

The instructions below for changing coils on a Compadre were posted by Ralph in a thread on this forum back in 2003. Ralph is, or was, a law enforcement offical in TN, and very knowledgeable about detectors and detecting. He dropped off the forums about three years ago, or changed his user name and became a lot less controversal.

Changing coils on the Compadre

Go inside the Compadre and remove the strain relief that is located at the control housing. There are wrench flats (nuts) on both the inside and outside. Once that is loose, snip the coil wires between the coil cable and the PC Board, leaving enough on the board to identify what goes where. Cut the orange, grey, purple, and black wires that attach to the PC Board. Note that the black wire is actually soldered to the ground/shield wires in the coil cable.

Then, remove the 5-pin plug from the coil you want to use. and strip the outer covering back about 2 1/2 inches. Separate the orange, grey, purple, and blue wires from inside the ground/shield wire mesh, being careful to keep the mesh intact. Just twist the two sections together into a single strand.

Once you've done that, remove the coil wire from the Compadre housing and the hardware from the replacement coil. Thread the replacement coil cable back through the strain relief sections like you removed the original, and then solder each wire back to the PCB or to the sections of color-coded wire that you left on the PCB when cutting off the original coil cable..... orange to orange, grey to grey, purple to purple, and the ground/shield mesh to the black ground. It's actually just as easy (or easier) to remove and replace one wire at a time from the PCB while soldering each cable wire back directly to the PC Board points. Be sure to either wrap or use a piece of heat-shrink tubing on the exposed part of the mesh ground/shield part of the wire to avoid ground contact with the PCB inside the housing (red covering in photo). Also, the extra BLUE wire in the coil cable is not used, so just snip it off close to your strip edge where the other wires come out of the outer cable covering.

If you would like to have interchangable coils option, connectors can be installed in order to change out different coils on the Compadre. To do that you will need the Switchcraft female side of the coil cable connector plug (the part that fits in the control housing itself) and then the male end used on the actual coil cable. Just be sure to match the color-coded wires up to the standard scheme used on all of the land coils. Although the 5-pin plug hardware is used, only 4 pins are actually used. The standard pattern is as follows:

Pin 1 = Orange
Pin 2 = *not used
Pin 3 = Purple
Pin 4 = Grey
Pin 5 = Ground/Shielding (center pin)

The pins and female recepticles are numbered on each insert for easy referrence.

Also, the hole in the Compadre case where the stock cable strain relief passes through will need to be enlarged a little to accept the female side of the plug hardware. The housing is basicly the same as all of the uMax housings and everything will fit just fine.

Unless the parts number have changed the Switchcraft numbers for needed parts are:

5-pin Male coil cable plug = SL415M
5-pin Female control housing plug = SL405F
Strain relief spring for cable = SL05

 

[Lutherluke]

Thankyou JB for all the info, I will have to think on it somemore, I like Tesoro machines really well and I do have a couple other one's. Also thanks to everyone who posted.
Happy Hunting