My SAFARI COIL SNAKE to run coil cord inside the lower rod

[MIssouri Secessionist]

Pardon me if this is not an original idea. It is to me, so, please indulge me.

Probably like everyone else, I tried to snake the the coil cable up inside the lower rod of the Safari, as the manual suggests, with little success. My next move was to grab a coat hanger make a hook at one end and snag the cable up inside the lower rod. It worked, but I thought that it may be rough on the cable, if I did this all the time.

I went to ACE HARDWARE intending to buy a bunch of long cable ties and link them together. Then, I spotted some clear plastic cable tubing which I thought would be easier to guide up inside the lower rod, than thin cable ties with a looped end.. They were out of 1/4 inch, so I bought 3/16ths. It worked. However, I thought that 1/4 inch might work even better. One Quarter inch plastic tubing is what I used for this demonstration. I used cheap cable ties from a dollar type store, like ONLY A DOLLAR, THE DOLLAR TREE, or, in this case, SIMPLY A DOLLAR. Of course, it might work better, and the snake last longer if you were using a better grade of cable ties.

MY SAFARI COIL SNAKE

Materials
1/4" clear plastic tubing .19 cents a foot..... THREE FEET cost .57 cents
Cable Ties $1.00 a bundle at a Dollar store (SIMPLY A DOLLAR) cost $1.00

Total Cost of Materials [size=large]$1.57[/size]


Take one of the cable ties and make a loop and insert one end of the plastic tubing through the loop.

Take another cable tie, and insert the tip of the tie into the BLOCKY side of the tip fastener end. If you put it through the regular side, the smooth side, it will lock, but if you insert the tip into the BLOCKY side of the fastener it is a slip loop.

Insert the long end of the slip loop tie through the loop that you have around the plastic tubing.

Leave enough end on the slip loop tie, draw the tubing loop as tight as possible fastening the slip loop tie to the tubing. Then, take that excess end of the slip loop tie, and double it over the tie that you just fastened and poke the end into the tubing to keep it from eventually slipping out.

Take the other end of the plastic tubing, and run it through the slot on the lower rod of the Safari, up though the tube, pull plastic tubing through the lower rod, insert into upper rod, pull through, then, unfasten the slip loop on the coil plug. Notice the position of the slip loop. It is on the plug, not on the cord. That's it.

Again, forgive me if someone has done a better snake, or, has a better way of guiding the coiled coil cable into the lower rod of the Safari. I am open to other ideas, I just developed this out of necessity.


See photos.

 

[diggin jimmy hoffa]

Good idea.

I used a braided string found in the hardware department. Tied a loop on one end and a nut to the other for weight. The loop end I cinched around the cable plug like you show and drop the nut through the shaft then gently pull it through.

I no longer have to go through all that, as I have a lower rod for each of my coils.

 

[pelanj]

I have a Quattro, but I guess the mechanics of the lower rod is the same. I have never had even a slight problem with getting the cable through without any helpers. I just use the gravity and a gentle shake

 

[MIssouri Secessionist]

Pelanj.....the QUATTRO

Couldn't say about the lower rods of the QUATTRO, I have never seen one. I have been on a binge to buy up lower rods, and in doing so, asked on this forum if one could use other Minelab lower rods on the SAFARI. Those who know more than I do, said that you could not. Maybe some mods, or, whatnot, but no one recommended modding.

So, I am going to assume that the lower rods are different. There is a cutout on the side of lower rod that the cable is inserted into then you must push the cord up though the lower rod, but it more like stuffing it up there because, at least for me, the SUNRAY X-5 coil cable did not all go quietly into the night,err, up the lower shaft. So, this method works best for me. I am a bit impatient, don't have all day to fart around and stuff the cable, others, may choose to do so, but it is just no for me. So, I made this.

 

[MIssouri Secessionist]

diggin jimmy hoffa,

Sounds like your ingenious method worked great for you! Congratulations on getting extra lower shafts and mounting your coils on them. That sure makes changing coils a lot faster and easier, doesn't it?

I am on a quest to locate enough shafts to do what you did. At about $35 to $45 each, for lower shafts, there is going to be a coil, or, two that, even when I get the lower shafts for some of them, I will use this snake to change those shaft-less coils that I use less often.

 

[pelanj]

I thought that the shaft was the same (as for E-Trac and Explorers), what I think (while reading your post) might be different is the cable. The cable from the stock coil and even from the SEF I have just slides in very easily. There is a different/newer coil on Safari AFAIK and that might be the difference. And also the Sunray cable can be different. Anyway, it is good that you have a solution for yourself to use.

 

[sopg1155]

Hello fellows,I always used a long shoelace and tied it to the cable and pulled it thru the shaft and it worked like
a charm. Gary

 

[MIssouri Secessionist]

I like my cable snake because it is stiff enough to easily push up the rod, and it is flexible enough too.

A string with a weight on it, as someone posted, and your shoe lace would work well. I just wanted something that I could guide easily into the slot on the lower end of the lower shaft, and push it up through the rod with little effort after carefully positioning the plug in the slot as to not stress it, nor, the cable that I was pulling through. My cables are coiled on the plug end, and do not, in my case, afford themselves to be easily stuffed up the lower shaft in a timely manner, and with little exertion. My cable snake makes it a near effortless exchange.

Again, that is in my case. If they push through nicely for you, great. Feel blessed.

 

[fpgrind]

Or just buy a Sun Ray X-1 Probe! I bought one when I first got my Safari about a year ago and absolutely love it! The best probe out there and no more fishing the cable through the shaft. Makes switching coils a 30 second breeze.

Happy hunting all!

 

[MIssouri Secessionist]

I like the way that you think! I had planned to buy a Sunray probe for my Safari, but a poster discouraged me from doing so. Since I hunt in brush, and overgrowth, he said that the cord gets easily snagged on the brush.

I listened to him, and didn't buy it. Someone did though, wonder if it was him, and he was just trying to wave me off from getting it so that he could? a

I actually like my $1.57 coil snake. As for me, it makes threading the cable faster. I just wondered if anyone else had the cable threading problem that I did, so that is why I posted it here in case anyone wanted to make it, too.

I was having problems threading the Sun Ray X-5 cable up the lower shaft, and that problem resulted in my doing this to make it go faster for me.

Dex

 

[Virgile in Okla.]

n/t

 

[MIssouri Secessionist]

That it could, Virgie. Others have said that they used a shoe lace, or, other piece of string, but for only $1.57 in materials, this coil snake was so easy to make and threading the cable up the lower rod is so fast.

I say whatever works for you. This just seemed to be what I needed when I tried to shove the coiled cable of the Sun Ray X-5 up the lower shaft.

HH

dex

 

[fpgrind]

Hi Dex,

I completely understand your need to figure out a faster solution for switching coils. Yeah I used to fish the cable through with a metal coat hanger or whatever I could find and then I heard that with a Sun Ray probe that problem would be eliminated so I thought "That's the one for me". I've never looked back and I've tried other probes. Nothing comes close. The awesome thing about the X-1 is that in addition to being a killer probe it also becomes an extension of your Safari meaning 1 you won't lose it accidentally and 2 you can use the "pinpoint" function with it and that is just seriously deadly for really zeroing in on your target and saving you time on the dig. I've never had a problem with the cable getting tied up in brush or any nonsense like that. Bottom line is whatever works ya know. Thanks for sharing the good info with us all!!

BTW (sorry a little off topic) I have an SEF 6x8 and love it but was really thinking of adding the X-5 for possibly even better separation. How you liking yours? Most people really love them.

Frank.

 

[MIssouri Secessionist]

fpgrind,

Thank you for the good report on the X-1 Sun Ray probe, and it taking care of any cable snaking up the lower rod problems. I had read that about the exterior probes like the Sun Ray getting snagged on brush at a couple places. I feared buying a high dollar probe and ripping the cord right out of it. It is good to hear from you, a user of the X-1 on the Safari, that those fears are unfounded. I had the high bid on an X-1 on feeBay and let it go when I read those reports. I feel like a made a mistake now. Maybe one, reasonably priced, will come up again on the forums or on that auction site of last resort. I have seen people using them in videos on YouTube, and some of them are in the woods, like I plan to hunt more of this fall and spring. If they aren't snagging their probe cable, then, I shouldn't be so wary of doing so.

The snake was just a last minute inspiration. I had planned to just thread a couple of long cable ties together and went to ACE hardware with that in mind. I got back in the aisles and found this really flexible tubing. It appeared to me to be a lot more easy to thread up the lower rod than a long tied together cable tie, or, a string for that matter, so I bought it and used the small cable ties to make my loop. The snake easily fits in a pocket, and it is so flexible, or, in a gear, coil, or, detector bag. I thought that only spending $1.57 for the materials that it was a pretty neat thing to have.

I guess that now, I will have to start a fund to buy a X-1 probe. I have a DetectorPro Pistol Probe that I bought used in great condition because it interfered with that guys detector, that I have never used. I had the chance to buy a 470 probe and loved it, except for the fact that it keeps turning on if you carry it in the upright position. It came without a holster. I went out to ChinaMart and bought a slim water bottle holder and carry it in that in an upright position, thus, the annoying turn ons while carrying.

Thanks again, fpgrind . Good to hear from you, and your experience with using the X-1.

Oh, as far as the Sun Ray X-5 coil. I like it. It really cut down on the trash when I hunted a fairgrounds after the fair this year. That place is TRASHY, AND has been beat to death in the past, and was this year, but I did notice a difference in target separation from the stock coil.

I have read so many reviews about the 6 x 8 SEF, and have considered it. Don't know if I "need" it since I have the X-5, the Excelerator 4.5 x 7, a 8 inch FSB slimline, and a 10 and a 11 slimline, but I have thought of getting the 6 x 8. I have only had the X-5 and the 11 inch on my Safari, so, I feel that I should give the other coils a try and start weeding out the ones that I really, really don't need, need, before I buy coils in their size range. Wish that I had bought Sun Ray 8, instead of the slimline 8, because so many have commented on it being good, but, oh, well.