How many of you run without a coil cover

[Anonymous]

and do you ever ware a coil out thinking about runing my Excal/Wot and platypus HH RonC

 

[Anonymous]

I run without coil covers for a totally different reason. Early morning dew collects under the covers and mixes with grit to false the signals on any machine I have ever used. I tried using silicone around the edges to keep moisture out and that works OK. I don't do it anymore because I never wear out coils. I stay away from rocky ground and never hunt on beaches so I can't speak to the effects of sand. I hunt in the UK quite often and the fields get dry there and are hard on coils. Bottom line, if you are careful with it and watch what your doing the coil will wear fine. I only get to hunt weekends and some guys are retired and hunt a lot more so you have to take the amount of detecting in account I would assume. Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Except for the Joey all these coils have a minimum of .100 thick bottoms which would take a long time to sand through to the windings with sandpaper let alone swinging them. Plus long before you got near the windings you could simply brush on a coat of epoxy and start over.
If you really want to get technical one could tape the edges with some masking tape, leaving 3/8 of an inch sticking up to create a simple mold and pour in as thick a bottom as you think you might need.
The area to watch is the sides, you dont' want to wear through the shell and expose the shielding paint but the sides don't see nearly as much wear.
One advantage to a coil cover, the ABS plastic has less friction than the epoxy resin but the easy fix to this is some paste wax. Another advantage to the coil cover is the edges are rounded over, try swinging a WOT in the grass without the coil cover, the sharp edges will dig in where the coil cover's rounded edges slides more easly.
So I use a coil cover with the WOT and the Minelab 8 inch but I never use one with the stock 10 inch coil which has rounded edges.

 

[Anonymous]

One might consider sealing the coil cover to the coil with RTV. I started doing that in the early seventies and have never had any problems with dirt or mud getting between the coil and cover since. RTV will seal the cover to the coil and can be removed should one desire to do so. However, it will last and you cannot tell it is there. The RTV will not harm the coil, looks as if it is part of the manufactured process of the coil, stays in a semi-hard rubber state and does and excellent job.
HH, Cody

 

[Anonymous]

What is RTV Cody?

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, we used tons of it back when I was in the Navy and Air Force. It can be purchased at Wal Mart or an automotive parts house. It is a silicon rubber that comes in a tube and is black or white. It reminds me of silicon that builders use to seal around windows. It has the same rubber feal when it cures. I just spread it on the inside of a coil cover then snap the cover on the coil. Some will come out around the cover and coil lip so I use a rag to make a fine bead of this and will use some from the tube to make sure it has a nice factory looking seal. It only takes a half hour and you can go hunting with the coil. It is then water proof and I have never had one go bad or needed to remove the cover from the coil.
HH, Cody