Should I calulk the coil cover or not????

[beachguy777]

Ok, I'm back again with the "should I put scilicone caulking around the edge of the coil cover or not", question. I have to admit, I really believe that getting wet, salty sand under the cover makes it "start to freak out, noise, and sporatic, noise wise", and since I read that post from the "Minelab guy", I think it's a REAL, problem, but......., would it be more of a porblem if I caulked the top edge of the cover to try and not let in sand and salt water, or would I regret it later, and/or, not be able to get the cover off, (by scraping off the scillicone caulking), if I wanted too. Any takers on this little ordeal???

 

[Wirechief]

If I was to go to beaches to detect I would leave it off. But I wouldn't caulk my scuff cover to the coil. Ok happy hunting Beachguy!

John Tomlinson,CET

 

[JHM]

Some minelab coils will leak! I read a post where someone got water inside and would get a signal when they turned the coil upside down. If I was going to submerge the coil I would caulk it.

 

[jjwest]

I always silicone the coil cover to the coil now. A couple of years ago one of my gold detecting friends said his detector starting acting up and it took a long time to figure out that black sand had accumulated insided the coil cover and causing the problem. I looked inside my coil covers and black sand was starting to accumulate. So I cleaned out the cover wiped the the coil and cover with alchol and then laid a bead of silicone. There are different types of silicones. I try to use the aquarium or automobile type specific but, if they're not available then any silicone is better than nothing.

 

[beachguy777]

Right on, JJWEST!!!!. Thank you for the response. I love to here from a guy that's "already done it", and so, can I assume that it's working out OK for you? I'm a "worry wart", by nature, so I wondered if some of the water might "sneak", back under the coil, or, worst case scenereo, I wouldn't be able to get the silicone off to fix it if I needed to, but it sounds like it's working out for you Ok. Thanks for the post. Marc. That makes sense about using the aquarium type, I would think if it's good enough for an aquarium, it's good enough for us. Thanks again.

 

[beachguy777]

Thank you Wirechief. That makes sense too, except I can see how much the sand grates on my coil cover, and I'd be afraid to wear down the coil itself, so I'll probably either try it out with the silicone, or if I have problems, just keep cleaning the cover out. Thanks for the post. P.S. Maybe, I'm wrong about the sand wearing out the plastic. When I say that, I'm talking about "all around use of the coil cover, i.e., parks, beach, etc., so I'm not absolutuly sure how bad beach sand could wear on it.

 

[Wirechief]

Hello Beachguy, no problem and I understand your reasoning too. I'm glad that you have gotten different ideas for your question and that is what makes the world go around. My suggestion goes for me only and if you need to seal the cover to your coil then I feel it will work just fine. I just wish I had an ocean beach to go detecting on but no such thing here in West Texas haha! Ok CU later Beach and God Bless.

John Tomlinson,CET
John's Detectors

 

[Golden]

I never take my cover off the coil when detecting in the water (mind you, I don't go any further than a foot deep). You need to ensure that you noise cancel each time you go from the sand to the water, as if you don't, it might be causing a bit of irratic behaviour. But generally, you shouldn't be having a problem with detecting in the water. But a build up of sand can be a pain, so I just take the cover off, and rinse it if I'm getting a build up of silly signals. I never thought of the silicone idea before, and, yes, my cover is a bit scratched, but then it's had a lot of use, and I prefer to keep it on always, and protect the coil itself. It's cheaper to replace a cover!
Angela
ps: watch out for the little waves that can ride up the stem!

 

[JT in Virginia]

Beachguy,
I took the coil cover off my Quattro completely and I never use it. I noticed that dirt and mud would get in between the coil and the cover, so I dont use it at all. The bottom of my coil is scratched but it seems to be holding up ok. I dont use a coil cover on my Excal either, which is the detector I use for beach hunting. Sand and saltwater will get in there even worse at the beach. I think Gravedigger Max said they make good frizbees and I agree with him.

 

[beachguy777]

Thanks JT, and your absolutely right about the beach. That's the worst place to get sand and salt water under it. Thanks for the tip. I don't think the sand is nearly as hard on it at the beach as in some dirt and gravel field somewhere. Thanks, again.

 

[beachguy777]

Thanks Wirecheif. Wow, you'd have to drive a "a few", :|miles in order to get to Galveston or somewhere on the beach. I didn't know you lived in the "country", called Texas. That's just a joke, but I know it's no joke to a Texan. Heck, your state is so big, it might as well be it's own country. I hope our country and western band can play Texas sometime. That's one of the states I've always wanted to play in. Remember the Alamo, and wouldn't that be exciting to search around the Alamo, if they'd let you do it to find some relics for a museum or something.:| Take care, Wirecheif. Marc Trainor.

 

[Wirechief]

Hey Marc, that is really cool playing in a CW band. You guys would be very welcome in the great Republic of Texas! I don't know how to play anything but I have a Fender Strat and Fender 65 twin reverb amp. Yep it is a huge state and takes awhile to get across it. Blackwell is about 50 miles SW of Abilene. The pop. in Blackwell is about 300. Your right about being in the country Marc. I killed 3 or 4 rattlers in the yard this last summer. We had 3 people bitten in town! Blackwell is sort of like a ghost town. The ranchers still carry their Winchesters and six shooters with them. Lots of varmints out here too haha! Ok Marc I enjoy reading your posts and glad I have met ya. Ok God Bless for now and don't break a string!

John Tomlinson,CET

 

[beachguy777]

Thanks Wirechief. I knew I liked you for some reason!:|You're a good old country boy and that's fine with me. Even though I grew up here in "the big city" of San Diego, I got some of that country "attitude" in me over the years, and I still dig it. We're honestly trying to get some gigs out of town, so, who knows, it could happen, we could play somewhere in Texas. Sounds like a nice little town you have there, and much more laid back that this big, crazy city I'm living in right now. I wish I could afford to retire to a smaller town, that's slower going. I love the fact that those guys still carry winchesters around with them to shoot the varmets and/or for protection. I'm wondering if you do most of your detecting in Blackwell or do you venture out to some of the surrounding areas. I'm afraid to take my dog out with me too far into the country for fear of her getting bitten by a rattler. I know one guy that did, and by the grace of God and him carrying her to a vet, $2000. later, the dog survived. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. It's great to hear some of your personal life too. I know a lot of us, Golden, and some of the others, share some of their personal experiences, along with the detector stuff, and to me it makes it that much more interesting. The way I look at it, you talk to somebody on the forum for a while about detector stuff, and enjoy the communication about it, but when they send some pictures or tell you about their dog, or house or whatever, it starts to put a face on the person in a sense. You realize he's got a life and a place he lives too. I think you know what I mean here. Well, take care, and watch out for those mean, nasty, rattlesnakes. Whewwww. :|They may say snakes can be our friends, but I'd rather that rattlers be my friend at somewhat of a distance. At least striking distance.:O:|

 

[beachguy777]

You betcha, Golden. I agree again to everything your saying, except, Oh, gee whiz, I'm just toooooooooooo,,,,, tired to bend over and keep cllllllleeeeeaning my coil cover off. Boy if that isn't the height of laziness, I don't know what is, but......, maybe,,,,,,,, the silicone, could work, if it didn't leak too much!:| In all seriousness, I really don't know till I try, but acording to jjwest, it seems to work ok. He says, use the aquarium type sealer, so I may try it. Of course, I'd clean the heck out of everything first, let it dry thoroughly, then apply a bead of sealer around the top edges where it looks like the water could get in. I think I may try it, because, I've fooled around with silicone before and it seems like you could get it off again if you needed too. Might be a tough job, but I'm hoping and thinking that you could scrape it off if you needed to later. You know the other MAJOR FEAR, I have is dropping the detector housing in the water while I'm trying to dig in about a foot deep water. I've done it, and it's scary to me. Don't know if the bread bag thing around the housing would do the trick or not. I need to look further into that angle. Marc.

 

[Wirechief]

Hey Marc, Yes I think you would like it especially if you had your band out here! Actually I was born in Coleman,Tx. but my Dad moved us all to Tucson, Az. when I was in the 4th grade. My Brother and I ran with an oldtimer and boy did we cover some ground in the desert! He had a homemade drywasher and we would go prospecting with him too. Believe me there is gold out there. I miss the desert but forget Tucson! I am hoping to go to central Az. and do some nuggethunting with Chris at AZO. I am a metal detector dealer and sell Minelab. Ok Marc I hope you find a gold cache! CU later amigo.

John Tomlinson,CET

 

[beachguy777]

Sorry Wirecheif, if I'm wrong on the town your living in. Ok, let's talk Tuscon? Just kidding, a bit, but our bass player is from Tuscon, and he's told me some hair raising stories about "out running" the cops with some hopped up cars he had, when he was a teenager. I'd like to detect in Tuscon sometime, but that's exciting about the dry wash thing. I'm not that up on gold prospecting yet, but I have a friend that is that lives out in the desert in Ocitillo, just this side of El Centro. He had a suction dealy he used to suck up the sand and get down to the gold some way. He's also an old time metal detectorist too and all around treasure hunter. There's something about that desert that is a magnet. I've always been intrigued by the desert, and I believe there's gold out there too, some where. It's a magical place in my opinion, and what about that Lost Dutchman Mine? I'll bet there's some gold out there, wherever that is. I didn't know you were a dealer and sell Mine lab. I can't say enough about Mine lab, and when your talking gold detectors, can you do much better than Mine lab? I don't think so, from what I've heard, so that's pretty exciting too. Somehow I feel I'm being led into some kind of gold hunting, whether it be with detectors, gold pan, or dredge. It's pretty addictive, I admit, and my gold hound friend, who already showed me his gold and diamond rings he'd found with a metal detector, also showed me a good amount of gold he'd found by gold panning, and dredging,so it got me excited. Hope to give you some good stories in the future here, because he said he'd take me out treasure and gold hunting in the near future. Marc.