The Quest for Depth in an Underwater Coil - BUT - Which Coil??? :shrug:

[bdahunter]

I've been thinking about changing coils to a 15" WOT from the stock 10" on my Excalibur. As many of you already know, I only hunt in the water and plan to incorporate scuba into my hunts as soon as I get PADI certified.
My question is which coil gives you the most punch while still being useable in the water. Is the 15" WOT worth the upgrade price? I live in Bermuda so warranty is not an issue as I can't use it anyway.
All opinions appreciated and respected.

Regards,

BDA

 

[JoeSWFLA]

Hi bda, I just noticed a remark recently to a potential excal
buyer from an owner.He said to get the 8" coil if you're diving
as it pinpoints easier.This made me think as I am considering
an excal myself,and love the 10"on land.Wonder if the WOT would
be a bit much under water.Had one on my land machine,but I think
the 10" is the best all around size,as a lot of the pro salvage
divers seem to use that size on there pulse machines,though they
have 15-18" coils available and interchangable-but permanent on
the excal.As I would use the excal diving,I might get the 10"
and hit a happy average.By the way,like that big brass weight
you got recently.Cool find.Looks like you're doing fine with
what you've got.HH Joe

 

[bdahunter]

Thanks for responding Joe. I would like something that allows for interchangeable coils so I could use either the 10" or the 15" (though the 18" sounds interesting). It looks like that could be possible with the waterproof connectors, or am I mistaken?
The brass thingy is soaking right now as I try to clean it up. I will post it when it has been cleaned.

Cheers,

BDA

 

[Gulf Hunter]

I was told recently by a Minelab technician that the waterproof connectors will leak in a diving application. I was thinking of doing the same thing with regard to the Sunray 12" or WOT 15". I did not want to void my warranty as I still have 2 years of ESP and I have sent the unit back 2 times in my 1st year. I understand your not worried about warranty, but if you want to do this coil swap, then I would encourage you to have it hard wired on the unit. This of course will really suck, if you decide that this was a poor decision. I had an 11" on the Aquasearch and it was very difficult to hold on the bottom in the surf. I also had to back off on the pulse delay to get it to stabilize (therefore losing sensitivity). Had it swapped out for the 8" and I love it and I am able to run the pulse delay at 10uS (maximum). I understand that this is a pulse, but the Excal could possibly be affected similarly. My Excal has a 10" and I think it is sufficient. Have I not heard you say that you are finding targets at 12"+? I think you are getting better depth than the rest of us, due to your lack of mineralization. My vote is leave well enough alone my pirate looter! Good luck with your decision.
[attachment 44235 emblem.JPG]

 

[saltwater jim]

hmm i would really think before u made a change like that i have found the deeper you go the higher the pressure a big coil might run really unstable the deeper u go. my 10 inch coil goes 12 inches or more and if you are diving i dont think you would fan more than that. what u may gain in depth by a bigger coil in the excal you also may lose targets from unit running unstable. imho i would leave the excal alone the way it is for diving , for hunting the beach then i would think about a bigger coil HH jim:clsoedeyes:

 

[Waterman]

but would not a larger coil over 10" pick up your tanks/equipment if you are using a dive shaft on your detector? H.H.

 

[bdahunter]

Dooohhh! I hadn't thought of that Waterman and of course I should have. Thanks for pointing out that forest hidden amongst the trees. I've been thinking about the Atocha wreck again and it has thrown my perspective out of whack. The sand is also shifting around here at the moment so targets are being uncovered but some are being buried just out of range of my 10", so the desire for extra depth begins to play on the back back of your brain. (I dug a top from an aluminium can yesterday morning that should have been made in Hong Kong it was so deep)
Time to rethink this again!

Cheers,

BDA

 

[bdahunter]

n/t

 

[RobRcer]

Maybe you could use the bigger coil to get the deeper targets when your not using SCUBA. But why do all the other treasure hunters that use detectors while diving seem not affected by their SCUBA gear? On the discovery channel there has been a special on Treasure hunting, they did meteorite detecting, and shipwreck detecting. I dont know what the under water detectors were, but i know the coil was about 10 or 11 inches. But remember, the deeper you dig the more tired you will become. HH

 

[tomtowns]

Hi bdahunter...Just a couple thoughts, first you might want to consider Hookah instead of scuba...Scuba, in my OPINION is more for SPORT diveing where you will be moveing greater distances & are unteathered. Also tanks strapped to your back will make it a little more difficult to handle your detector & make excavations a little harder. I haven't got an underwater unit yet but plan on getting one by this comeing summer...I also plan on useing hookah & enough weight to be firmly anchored to the bottom, speaking of which, the heavier you are up to a point it is easier to move around on the bottom while trying to use any kind of gear that you are trying to manuver in a controlled manner...also be prepared to drop just enough weight (2 weight belts) 1 to make you just SLIGHTLY positive bouyant to be able to make a controled ascent in case of any problems...I have dredged for gold here in Northern Ca. for over 30 years, & have been certified scuba for about 35...WORKING underwater can be very strenuous & with scuba you will use up your air very quickly...With hookah, you may even use up the limited supply you will have in your reciever tank which will be on the surface but relaxing for a minute or so & regaining your breath & all will be good...If you have access to somebody with a hookah set-up, after you are certified give it a try you'll see what I mean...I know this does'nt have diddly to do with coil size so here is my take on that...unless you have a venturi type sucker to move the overburden away, I don't think you'll want to be trying to dig deeper than 10-12 inches anyway, as the sand and gravels underwater will tend to try to collapse back in to any hole you try to dig....IMHO...TT

 

[7scooter]

I own a 15" WOT. Its great on land, but always get falsing in or near the water. So I called the company and they told me that it was not water friendly. You might want to double check me and check into it first. Good luck!

 

[bdahunter]

I am rethinking my ideas about greater depth, especially since I am plum tuckered out from 3 hours in the water at Hoseshoe Bay this afternoon. I had to dig some mighty deep holes today with just the 10" coil and getting bounced around by the swell didn't help, the surf wasn't bad but I was working in neck deep water so even a 1 -2 foot swell will bounce you around without having weights on. I don't want to wear weight when I am neck deep for obvious reasons.
The excessive air consumption while hunting using scuba is something I had in the back of my mind so I was pleased to get confirmation of my concerns. Hookah is a possible solution to that probnlem as I have a strong feeling that a lot of targets are just outside of my reach while wading (targets were concentrated around the neck deep level once again). I can only assume by how the targets came up that the heavier gold is in the 6 - 8 foot deep zone.
I had thought about the suction line as well but this is just too much equipment for a hobby, I am a builder not a treasure salvage guy and it's supposed to be about having fun not more work.

Once again, my heartfelt thanks to all who responded;

BDA

 

[lammi]

As far as weight is concerned my thoughts are : Just start shallow and find enough Gold to weigh you down as you go deeper

HH Lammi

 

[lammi]

I bought a WOT coil for a GT and cannot beleive it would be possible to dig in water as deep as it seems to get targets.

It is great for wet sand but a the 10 inch I have on my Excalibur is just fine for the water .

Keep it Fun HH Lammi

 

[tomtowns]

As long as you don't have to scuttle your treasure belt...

 

[mjg]

Hi bdahunter
I'm new here,but no stranger to water hunting.
I have been shallow water diving { a.k.a. MUD DIVING}
for many years,I use a 25' line on my 2nd stage from
my 80 cf tank which floats on a couple 2' noodles
perfect for 15'+ and great in 3' or less
very comfortable 12lbs of weight, fins and off you go.
I would love to know if anybody has tried the wot on an xcal
i have considered this myself for sometime now.