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camlocks
- Thread starter siggy
- Start date
dewcon4414
Well-known member
ML doesnt seem to have a lot of things now days. Have you checked some of the dealers like Kellyco? Take a look at some of the dealers on the ML site that are near you as well.
Dew
Dew
PryorCreekJoe
Member
Siggy,
Is it the camlock or the red rubber/metal T shaped piece that the camlock presses down onto the other shaft? On my Explorer SE, the camlock suddenly quit tightening properly. Upon inspection, I saw that the piece of metal (about 3/8 inch by 3/4 inch) had come unglued from the T shaped red rubber piece and fallen out. The red rubber piece was still there but need the extra thickness and stiffness of the metal piece to "lock" the shafts together. My dealer didn't have and couldn't get them from Minelab but Minelab would sell him the whole shaft with the camlock on it. I had bought a Sun Ray probe when I got my detector so I took the rubber/metal T shaped piece out of the "extra" shaft and put it in the shaft with the Sun Ray and was back in business. In the mean time, my dealer had taken in an older Explorer on trade that had an extra shaft with it and sold it to me so that now I have myself covered on all the shafts. Later I found a small piece of metal and ground it to the right shape and super glued it to the red rubber T shape piece and installed it back in my extra shaft.
Long story but check and see if anyone who has a Sun Ray probe will sell you their extra shaft with a camlock on it.
PryorCreekJoe
Is it the camlock or the red rubber/metal T shaped piece that the camlock presses down onto the other shaft? On my Explorer SE, the camlock suddenly quit tightening properly. Upon inspection, I saw that the piece of metal (about 3/8 inch by 3/4 inch) had come unglued from the T shaped red rubber piece and fallen out. The red rubber piece was still there but need the extra thickness and stiffness of the metal piece to "lock" the shafts together. My dealer didn't have and couldn't get them from Minelab but Minelab would sell him the whole shaft with the camlock on it. I had bought a Sun Ray probe when I got my detector so I took the rubber/metal T shaped piece out of the "extra" shaft and put it in the shaft with the Sun Ray and was back in business. In the mean time, my dealer had taken in an older Explorer on trade that had an extra shaft with it and sold it to me so that now I have myself covered on all the shafts. Later I found a small piece of metal and ground it to the right shape and super glued it to the red rubber T shape piece and installed it back in my extra shaft.
Long story but check and see if anyone who has a Sun Ray probe will sell you their extra shaft with a camlock on it.
PryorCreekJoe
Got tired of the cam-lock problem with my SE and decided since I'm the only one who uses it a little modification was in order. Went to home depot and bought a 2" pin that looks kinda like a safety pin or diaper pin for $1.50. Removed coil cable from shaft and drilled a small hole through cam and shaft assembly making sure shafts were where I wanted them while using the detector as far as length. Put a mark with a permanent marker on the lower shaft to make it easy to re-align the holes for the pin. No more cheap junk cam problem on my expense detector. Very embarrassing to have your SE shaft fall out of upper shaft while hunting with friends or keep sliding up every time you stand up to resume swinging after digging a target. Now I just slide the lower shaft out to my mark, put the pin through and I'm detecting without a worry anymore. If you decide to do this to your shaft, make sure you remove the coil wire first and to offset the pin hole enough to not interfere with it when reinstalling pin with coil wire in the shaft. If you use the Sun Ray X-1 probe like I do, then the coil wire will be outside the shaft at that point anyway. If anyone is interested I could post a picture but have not taken any yet.
The missing pressure plate is usually the case when a cam won't tighten. Finding a small piece of metal and super gluing it on is the answer. A folded piece of foil will make for a quick fix in the field.....just unlock the cam, insert foil and lock the cam back. When replacing the pressure plate, make sure to remove the lower rod so you can get to the rubber piece. I will post the exact OEM measurements of the plate one day this week.
treasure_hunter
New member
It would still be nice to know where to buy replacement cam locks.
Was unable to get new pressure blocks for the Camlocks for the Explorer that I recently purchased second hand. The owner had jammed some pieces of plastic in them to keep em tight. I believe I have come up with a solution for this dilemma. The are three problems with these locks, the nylon lugs on the cam levers wear, the metal pressure plates come away from the rubber and falls out and the pad that presses up against the shafts compresses, the three problems contribute to shaky shafts.
Solution: apply a small amount of araldite to the cam lever lugs that contact the pressure plate (let it dry before you engage) and make sure the coat it smooth and conforms to the shape of the lugs, if your metal plate is loose glue it to the rubber with araldite, if not put a layer of araldite across the top of the plate make sure it is smooth and doesn't sit over the edges (you have to remove the pressure block to do this.) Let it set hard. Then turn it over so that the face that contacts the shaft is facing up, apply a small amount of silicone to cover the contact area maybe 1-1.5 mm thick in the general shape of the block face and let dry. Put the pad back into the camlock body. Presto, almost as good as new. Just watch when replacing the shafts that the camlock lever is fully open and that the face that contact the shaft is flush with the tube so you don't push the bottom shaft in and force your silicon to give way. Seems to work great, don't know how long it will last if you are constantly pulling your machine down ( i always leave mine set up anyway) but i expect that it will be a while. the silicone is probably the weakest point .
Should work with all minelabs that have Camlocks if you can't find the new pads
Solution: apply a small amount of araldite to the cam lever lugs that contact the pressure plate (let it dry before you engage) and make sure the coat it smooth and conforms to the shape of the lugs, if your metal plate is loose glue it to the rubber with araldite, if not put a layer of araldite across the top of the plate make sure it is smooth and doesn't sit over the edges (you have to remove the pressure block to do this.) Let it set hard. Then turn it over so that the face that contacts the shaft is facing up, apply a small amount of silicone to cover the contact area maybe 1-1.5 mm thick in the general shape of the block face and let dry. Put the pad back into the camlock body. Presto, almost as good as new. Just watch when replacing the shafts that the camlock lever is fully open and that the face that contact the shaft is flush with the tube so you don't push the bottom shaft in and force your silicon to give way. Seems to work great, don't know how long it will last if you are constantly pulling your machine down ( i always leave mine set up anyway) but i expect that it will be a while. the silicone is probably the weakest point .
Should work with all minelabs that have Camlocks if you can't find the new pads
john sullivan
New member
i posted this before, had trouble with shaft falling out, shaft is in wrong turn it 180.
Badger in NH
New member
With the SE, it's usually not the camloc that is the problem.
Over time, the tubing that goes into it gets compressed. The camloc is probably fine.
What I did was take a small dowel, put it in the end of the tube and slightly widen the end of the tube. Do it just a tiny bit at a time and check the fit.
Last spring my upper tube was falling out a lot, but once I widened the end a bit, it fit nice and tight and hasn't had a problem since. I change coils often and it still fits good as new.
Over time, the tubing that goes into it gets compressed. The camloc is probably fine.
What I did was take a small dowel, put it in the end of the tube and slightly widen the end of the tube. Do it just a tiny bit at a time and check the fit.
Last spring my upper tube was falling out a lot, but once I widened the end a bit, it fit nice and tight and hasn't had a problem since. I change coils often and it still fits good as new.
Ground_Hog_MD
New member
The cam lock likely lost the small metal shim.
You can fix it by replacing just the red plastic T shaped pressure plate, or simply make a new shim.
Look inside the top working cam lock and you can see the shape and size of the shim.
Or order new replacements here.
http://www.joanallen.co.uk/metal-detector-spares-s/68.htm
You can fix it by replacing just the red plastic T shaped pressure plate, or simply make a new shim.
Look inside the top working cam lock and you can see the shape and size of the shim.
Or order new replacements here.
http://www.joanallen.co.uk/metal-detector-spares-s/68.htm
braveheart1954
New member
If dealers here dont have them try major Internet sales/bid sites. They have them for $10!