Grand Cayman Trip (14K)

[Jed in NC]

I just returned from Grand Cayman yesterday. I took my Excal II and had no problems what so ever with customs. All the beaches in Cayman are public, so there are tons of places to hunt. This is the first time I did all of my hunting in the water. I found lots of US and CI clad, a small silver ring, a silver bracelet, and a 14K engagement ring. I have not had the stone checked yet. I hope it is real. Most of my finds came from the areas that are frequented by the cruise ship crowd. I did have a few stability problems when my control unit was completely submerged. I feel like I had enough silicone grease on my battery connection and I removed the coil cover. Other than that the machine ran like a top! Any ideas what may have caused the stability issues? Thanks to all of the folks for the many tips on this site. It made my vacation much more enjoyable! HH

 

[deerman]

Nice one there looks like you had a good time too

 

[lazyaussie]

wow that a nice looking ring

 

[OldBeechnut]

Very Nice! 14k...Great Find,,,,



love the Yo Ho Yo Ho A pirate's life for me......Deerman...that's great! Obn/joe

 

[Gulf Hunter]

Jed that is a great find and possibly could have funded the whole vacation! Could have been you had the Sensitivity up too high, what # were you set on?

 

[Jed in NC]

Thanks for the reply GH. I was running at the following settings:

When you guys apply the silicone grease to your battery connection, how much do you normally use? I am putting a good coating just on the rubber o-ring/washer. Should I apply grease to the pins as well, or will this effect the the transfer of current from the battery to the machine? The machine started out somewhat unstable, I then removed the coil cover and that made all the difference in the world. From then on out the machine ran very well except when I got deep enough for the control pod to become submerged. I also noticed that rocking the coil from side to side would cause the machine to false some, but I figured this was caused by the machine trying to balance. It was pretty much like the machine would do when you were dealing with a lot of wave action. Thanks again for you insight!

 

[Gulf Hunter]

Jed, the settings look OK, but I would back off on the Sensitivity just a touch to around 4-5 or where the threshold is unwavering. You MAY be too hot set to 6, savvy? The ikelite washer should be moistened with silicone grease, but I try and not get to much on the pins though. Make sure to keep the gasket and attachment points clean of any grit or debris. You may want to back off on the volume some too, I have found this kinda smoothes things out some too, about 3 o'clock on the dial face should be fine, savvy?

If you are running an Excal II, there have been some instability issues with the units. Coil failure and general instabilities have been common. In the even this does not settle the unit, write a detailed letter outlining the issues for the tech and send the unit to Vegas. Be sure to include as much information as possible, so they will know how to proceed. If you are still in warranty, then all charges including returned shipping should be covered. You WILL have to pay freight out there though, unfortunately. Best of luck to ya mate!

PS-Running without the coil cover will wear through the coil's underside and cause eventual coil failure. I would NEVER recommend running without it, or at least protecting it with Loctite Marine Epoxy, but this will void the coil portion of your warranty. The best bet is to wash the coil cover out after each hunt and possibly during the hunt, if instabilities rear their ugly head.

 

[Barry NY]

another point about the individual battery pins that i learned from a local dealer:
you will see there is a tight space between each pin making each pin look like a 2 prong fork..
make sure that there is a space between the prongs as the pins have a tendency to squeeze together and close up that space.
carefully work a very thin knife blade between each pin to make sure there is no sand or debris in there and the two individual prongs are not close to touching.

 

[John LA]

Were you on a cruise or were down there for several days? I'm taking a cruise that stops there but can't tell how far the beach is from the cruise terminal.
Thanks John

 

[Jed in NC]

John,
We were staying at the Westin on Seven Mile Beach which is north of the cruise terminal. We were down in Cayman for a little over a week. The cruise terminal is in downtown Georgetown. Seven Mile Beach is the tourist beach area. I included an image from google maps to give you an idea. The Royal Palm was an area that a lot of the cruise folks used while in port. There are lots of public accesses and as I said all of the beaches are public. Right next door to the Westin to the north is the Governor's home and next door to that to the north is a public beach access that would give you access to the Westin. The picture of me above, is in front of the governor's home. The new Ritz Carlton is two resorts down from the Westin to the south. For me to walk from the Westin to the Royal Palms, took me about 20 minutes to walk at an easy pace.
I hope his helps. Enjoy your cruise. HH
Jed

PS: If you expand the picture of me hunting, the large public beach access is where you see the building/bar with the white roof.

 

[Jim Robertson]

I think most of the time when its gold the stone is usually real. At least that is what I have seen. Good Luck.