My Bad.......Neglected Maintenance! :nono:

[bob.oz]

Out this morning with the Xcal for an early morning sunup hunt..................almost did not happen.
Got down to the waters edge, headphones on, slipped arm in cuff, turned on MD; Nothing!
I Knew the battery was charged, but I also knew my connections were not looking good since I had been putting off the usual daily if not weekly routine of cleaning/drying the plug connections after each use and dabbing some silicone lube on them. Just needed a little fingernail scratching and on off with the connector plug till I had the Xcal up and going luckily!!
I've been getting out day and night these past few weeks for the low tides and the summer crush of vacation tourist packing the beaches and just got complacent coming home, unloading my finds and recharging the batteries...... without paying attention to the connectors.
When I got home this afternoon I dried the connections with a hair dryer, dremel wire wheeled the male contact points and cleaned out the female connections, lubed it with silicone lube and made plans for the next time out. GL ALL

 

[sdesic]

How much time and salt water did that?

 

[Tinfoil]

I used a small brass wire brush for the holes and the posts on my Excell. Only takes a minute to clean up after I come back. The brush will fit down in the holes and works great. I got CRS so don't remember where I got them just bought a bunch though. LOL HH Jerry aka Tinfoil

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Wow thats ones rough bob... i dont think your rubber is quite making a perfect seal and your also getting a little seepage into the cracked plastic on the battery pod but im sure you're aware of that... i had one simular to yours and some moisture got inside and corroded the wire off inside the pod... great learning experience there... my problem is forgetting to disconnect the lower shaft.....

 

[bob.oz]

sdesic...I hate to admit it but I was first thinking a couple of weeks, but I've been on a tear with the great hunting opportunities we've had here since after Memorial Day (end of May) and TS Colin moved through here (June 6) so it's been a month with nothing more than a fresh water rinse of the Xcal after each outing.

Tinfoil...I use a small wire cone brush like that also and have some dremel honing like attachments that fit in the holes easily. I used some wet/dry sandpaper in between the splits in the prongs too. The Dremel & attachments I use I got at Harbor Freight, the small wet/dry sandpaper strips I get from my dentist.

BHP....no seepage inside, yet, that I can see moisture, but you're right, it's not good!!. Those cracks have been there for a couple years, since the battery was new. Be looking for a new one soon, need a backup just in case.

 

[Cameraniac]

Yikes! Makes me glad that I clean mine after every hunt. I find that the worst part of the cleaning process is struggling to remove the lower rod. The time before last cleaning it, I decided to drill a small hole into the back of the rod, just above the iso-rod, to give the water and sand a place to drain out. Tore the detector apart last night to clean it, and for the first time, the rod came right out! Makes the detector a little lighter when moving from the water to the beach, too, because the lower rod is no longer holding water, like it used to. Just thought I'd pass that along.