My Alpha coil wire pulled completely out of the coil!

[jilo]

I have only had my Teknetics Alpha for 1 month. The other night, I bent the coil head flat down so that I could store it in my trunk as I always do and I snapped the wire clear out from the coil base. I tried to splice it back, but with all the braiding, foil, wires... it was useless! I am honestly heartbroken! I could even cry! I am a "girl" so, I can say that if i want to (lol). I have become addicted to this hobby/sport and I need help NOW! I've looked on eBay for a replacement coil, but since I bought my unit for only $70.00 at a pawn shop, I am not really prepared for this expense. I thought I would ask around on this site first to see if maybe I could find something other than the exact coil that came with the unit. Are there other coils that are comparable and/or interchangeable with my unit. OR, does anyone have a replacement coil they are willing to sell?

 

[caleb]

You can use the 8" concentric and the 11" and 5" dd coils. All of which will end up costing you as much or more than you paid for the detector, Bart at big boys hobbies has a used delta up for sale for 159$ might be a worthwhile upgrade for just a bit more than a coil will cost you. I would be willing to pay shipping for a coil to deconstruct if you dont have any plans for the old one. Caleb

 

[Big Red]

n/t

 

[Dave J.]

Sorry, it's non-repairable.

In obtaining a replacement coil, there are two connector types-- push-on, and screw-on with metallic ring. Make sure you get a searchcoil that has the style of connector that matches your Alpha.

Searchcoils for the Alpha, Omega, Gamma, Delta, G2, F5, Platinum, and GB/GBPro are electrically compatible and available in a variety of sizes and geometries. .

--Dave J.

 

[jilo]

Thank you for your help! My heart skipped a beat when you told me there was a Delta for $159.00 at Bart's! Wouldn't you know... someone else grabbed it before I could get to it! Broken hearted again!
I'll find something, someday, I hope.... soon. Thanks for trying to guide me, it would have been PERFECT!

 

[caleb]

Sorry about that, I contemplated buying it just for a backup. I had a coil wire break on my omega just 2 weeks after I got it used so I know your pain, mine was in the connector though and I was able to fix it. Keep your eye out there are deals to be had. You might give Bart a call and let him know if he gets another one in to let you know first. I bet he would make you a good deal an another detector, they list for 199. Btw I forgot about the 10" concentric and 10" dd that will also work on the frat bros series. good luck Caleb

 

[Robert2300]

Isn't the detector covered by a five year warrenty? They should make good this
detector including the coil.
Robert2300

 

[caleb]

Yes Robert, IF you are the ORIGINAL purchaser. If you bought it used no warranty.

 

[jilo]

I bought it at a pawn shop so no, it's not still covered-- unless of course I had had the original receipt. Furthermore, I am a dental assistant, and I used a small drill to widen the opening of where the coil wire broke so that I could try grabbing the wires to re-wire where they broke. Now, that surely would have voided any warranty that it could have had.

 

[caleb]

Since youve already opened it up a bit you could remove the coil cover (carefully with a hacksaw blade) and dig into the encapsulant to see if you can get enough wire showing to resolder. then re seal the coil housings together with epoxy. You should have 5 wires in the cable three are grouped together and are the transmit coil and ground (red, black and shield) and the other two are your recieve coil.

 

[jilo]

@Caleb-- you have been a wealth of help to me! Thank you! You are always thinking of something! Before I read your post a few minutes ago, I was again for the 100th time looking at what I have done to the coil. I thought, "heck.. what more harm can I do if I just try opening it up even more". We think alike! I am going to try to gain greater access by opening it up. I know for sure I can fix it if I can just get my hands in there more. Like I said, I'm a Dental Assistant, my hands are constantly in mouths that are 10x smaller than a 8" detector coil. I am not willing to give up, and I am not willing to spend $150.00 to fix a $200.00 Alpha. Furthermore, at this particular time, I haven't the funds to blow, although I surely would have bought that Delta last night! I hope I can find some good, quiet, me time this weekend; to roll up my sleeves and begin the "challenge". No one can try convincing me it is not repairable. I've heard those words enough times by mechanics and repairmen when they think they are talking to a brainless blonde. No,no, no-- I can and will do it! "I'll be back".

 

[Robert2300]

GOOD LUCK with your repairs.
Hope it all works out for you.
Robert2300

 

[caleb]

I get a lot of free stuff that is "unrepairable", I have about a 75% sucess rate repairing the stuff. Often what is meant by unrepairable is that it costs more to repair than replace. I have 2 32" unrepairable lcd tvs that I fixed, sure if you have to pay the guy at the shop 120$ an hour to open it up diagnose and repair it is cheaper to replace. I put 20$ in parts in them and have two tvs. When it comes to the coil the factory isnt going to waste time digging out the epoxy to try to resolder the wires, they will just make a new coil. Just remember to beef up the strain relief as it will be prone to failure in the same spot and it probably wont be as waterproof. Good luck

 

[gravityrulz]

Caleb, you said you had the cable on your Omega break at the connector and you were able to fix it. I have a 8" round coil on my Delta and one of the small screws fell out of the connector housing, now I'm getting erratic noise in all but the lowest sensitivity settings (that's after installing a similar sized eyeglasses screw). From the detector's behavior, I'm thinking the shielding isn't right. Any suggestions for fixing the connector end? Thanks.

 

[caleb]

The wire connected to pin 2 was broken at the solder joint on mine, It would turn on just fine and even sense large metal objects (my steel toe boots) but could not ground balance or pick up coins. If you have a multimeter you can check the transmit and recieve coils to make sure they are intact. you should have a resistive short between pins 1&2 and pins 3&4, pin 5 is the shielding. you can open the connector to verify the joints are intact but the connector itself wasnt connected to ground, just the pins so the screw should have no impact unless it allowed your wire to move and break.
sorry the pic is kinda blurry but you can see the broken wire, I was able to get a little slack and just resolder and havent had a problem since. Hope this helps
@jilo any progress yet?

 

[gravityrulz]

Thanks Caleb, I will open up the connector and give it a try.
I'm wondering if the typical cable routing of coiling the cable tightly around the detector's shaft is such a great idea. It seems like both ends of the cable end up under more stress than is optimal. I have seen some folks that are routing the cable straight up the shaft (with the necessary tie-downs) and creating a bundled loop of cable near the control box.

 

[jilo]

Okay, I have to humbly confess that I have again tried to repair the coil, but "somewhat" failed. I felt I needed to gain greater access to so where I drilled out the opening just about 1" more. I was able to re-connect the green, white, black and red wires. There is a foil type material that wraps the green and white wires, and the black and red wires separately, and then a separate cluster of wires that wrap around the 2 foil wrapped wires. I assume that those wires make connection to the internal red wires that are spread out throughout the entire coil itself. THAT is where I am having difficulty making a deliberate and sound connection. I tried stuffing the entire access opening with foil, but that seemed to make the connection terribly erratic. I thought I had made a sound connection and filled the entire area that I opened with epoxy. I tried it in the morning and I seem to get a signal as I move the coil over a metal, but I am sure I am getting an incorrect depth reading. I believe it recognizes the metal (as my gold and diamond ring) read foil on my Teknetics Alpha. That reminds me; "How does gold appear on your detectors--What metal is it recognized as on your detectors?". Anyhow, I contacted someone on eBay who was very kind and informative. He told me that Teknetics, Bounty Hunter and Fisher are all made by "First Texas". I did my research, and he was correct. I ordered the 8" Bounty Hunter Search coil, with the same connector for 51.00. That was more than I wanted to pay, but-- I am lost without my detector, so I purchased it. I can return it if it is not compatible. I have nothing to lose. I'll let you know when it arrives and I connect it. I just thought I'd let you know where I stood in all this. Thanks to you well wishers and the encourage rs, I tried. I'm not finished trying though... I am taking Caleb's advice to open it completely up with a hacksaw, but it's the beginning of the week and I know that I won't have time until next weekend. By then, my new coil should be here! Oh I so hope it works again!

 

[caleb]

Gold will go all over the scale depending upon the thickness and alloy. My ring comes in at a solid 67, I dug a small 22k ring that came in at 62 and Ive heard some womens rings come in as foil. Your depth could be getting thrown off by the foil next to the coil pushing the detector into detuning. As I understand the factory uses a conductive paint for shielding (Graphite based) I havent gotten to deconstruct a coil to see how they are put together yet, but this winter I want to try winding a couple coils for mine. I really want that 5" dd and want to experiment with a ferrite rod coil for pinpointing (similar to the sunray). Dave J already warned me it would be difficult to make work properly, but it would sure be awesome to have a pinpointer tied right to the detector. I was wondering if the bounty hunter coil would work on the alpha, does yours have the push on connector?

 

[jilo]

@Caleb-- yes, it has a push 5 pin connector and that is exactly what the picture showed on the Bounty Hunter coil connector. I know you have a Delta, but I have the Alpha so I don't have the same type meter reading as yours does. My engagement and (connected) wedding ring weigh .5 gram 14k gold including the diamonds, and my Alpha detects it as foil even before I broke the coil. All the Alpha will let me know is what metal it is, and depth. It has a discrimination mode and I can notch in, but you were explaining numbers for gold (67), that I don't understand. With your Delta, what metal is it detecting? Thanks! Lori

 

[jilo]

Sorry Caleb-- You have the Omega. I said Delta. Either way-- my question remains the same.