Equinox shaft mod to run the cable INSIDE the shaft

[sgoss66]

Dew --

Thanks for the kind words, on the shaft. Tom did some field-testing for me, and the cam locks were one of the places I wanted him to pay particular attention, in his testing, so I am fully confident with the locks. AND, I agree with you on the shaft diameter; I wouldn't want to make the shaft any larger, but fortunately the cable would fit inside the shaft, at the current diameter.

BUT, I agree with you; for anyone that already has a shaft, purchasing ANOTHER one, just to get the coil cable on the inside, likely wouldn't make sense, financially, for most hunters. I guess my question would be this...if you were interested in buying a carbon-fiber shaft, and you were given the option of both, side-by-side -- one with cable running up the inside, and one where you wrap the cable outside -- is the "running the cable on the inside" a selling point, vs. the other shaft?

It's something that would not be that hard to do...

Steve

 

[dewcon4414]

Steve as a maker of shafts for the Nox..... if i were you id figure out how i could mod them and sell as requested rather than order a several at a time. Little more time consuming..... but money saving to you. Steve is Tom using your locks on his MDT 8000?

 

[sgoss66]

Dew --

Are you saying customized, one-at-a-time, per each customer's wishes?

If so, I DO do that, to some degree. I have the "standard" configurations, but I also take "custom" orders, to what degree that is possible, from anyone who requests it...

Also, no -- Tom's MDT 8000 cam locks are not identical; we sourced them from two different producers at slightly different times, but once he studied mine, he told me they are very, very similar to his functionally (and obviously, in appearance as well). Basically, the impression that I got from him is that he considered them to be eseentially "interchangeable," so to speak, in terms of functionality/quality. The sizes of the MDT 8000 shafts, and the Equinox shafts, are different, and so each machine takes a cam lock of slightly different size...

Steve

 

[WaterWalker]

I liked the idea of the cable inside the shaft until I purchased a detector that has its cable inside. The problem was when the shaft was slid in and out...the cable got pinched, cut and then leaked. The coil, with cable was replaced by the manufacturer and then I modified the ID of the shafts fo they did NOT have a sharp edge that was cutting into the cable and I am now very careful in collapsing the shaft.

The athletic tape sounds and looks nice, but I am not sure of its life expectancy in salt / fresh waters. therefore I have, for many years, run the cable from the coil to the lower shaft then straight up just past the camlock / meeting area of the lower and the next shaft piece. This section of the cable is taped with a high quality electrical tape to the lower shaft leaving enough of a loop so the coil can be rotated throughout its entire range and being kept in a straight line. Above the camlock I start the coiling of the cable around the second section of rod and then on to the control box. The coils are taped at both points were the coil starts and ends. No loose, flopping wires to create false signals and less resistance in the water if the straight section of the cable is kept to the "side" of the lower shaft when taped in place.

A hint for making "cheap" prototype shafts is to use schedule 80 PVC pipe. I got this from using a JWFisher 8X. And as such have built several 8X shaft for different environments.

Good Luck, love the discussions/threads

 

[sgoss66]

WaterWalker,

Interesting; I'm a little surprised to hear that this happened to you; I have used Minelab FBS detectors for years, the "inside-the-shaft" cable is something I have learned to really like.

If you are at liberty to say, was your issue experienced with an FBS unit?

Steve

 

[WaterWalker]

No not a Minelab, an ATX.

 

[sgoss66]

WaterWalker,

Thanks. I was not aware that the ATX was designed to have the cable inside the shaft...

I will have a look at it’s design...

Steve