Damaging machines

During my recent trip I was told that if I was continually running my detector back and forth over strong signals like Ali cans with the detector screaming its head off that it would be damaging the machine. Apart from speaker wear and tear, I could not understand why. Is this true?

What ways do you know that do cause damage to our precious machines?

broc113559 wrote:Is this true?

I suppose it's theoretically possible but improbable. These detectors were designed to be able to do the job they perform and to withstand normal use and even considerable abuse. There's a strong signal being broadcast from the coil although placing a metal target close to the coil for prolonged periods of time shouldn't be a problem... yet in other types of experiments with devices that work on the same principal as a metal detector, I would expect some increase in wear. This is entirely speculative though and only relates to my personal experience with HF and HV experiments. The first thing that "MIGHT" occur is a disintegration of the insulation between the strands of wire on a coil. Again, I personally wouldn't expect this to happen simply by waving a coil over a can for long periods. I feel pretty confident the detectors are simply outputting an electromagnetic field and responding to the signals that are received.

broc113559 wrote:What ways do you know that do cause damage to our precious machines?

* Don't turn your detectors on without a coil being plugged in to complete the circuit. Some people say it's not a problem but others say you're powering the device without completing the circuit and that this is BAD. Your call.

* Disconnect battery when not in use.

* Wipe off dirt and clean down your detector after use.

* Do NOT stick your tongue on the battery leads.





Cheers,

M.

broc113559 wrote:
What ways do you know that do cause damage to our precious machines?

drive over it in your ute

come a gutser off your quad with it on your lap

wrap it round your detecting partners head

fend off a marauding buffalo with it

send it to Frankston to get modded

[quote="nero_design"]
* Don't turn your detectors on without a coil being plugged in to complete the circuit.
quote]

JP ran one in his vid's without a coil connected, I've read a post by him saying this won't harm it. So long as it is not connected/disconnected while powered up.

A buffalo surely would have consequences!!

Don't turn your detectors on without a coil being plugged in to complete
the circuit. Some people say it's not a problem but others say you're
powering the device without completing the circuit and that this is BAD.

Its maybe OK with the newer machines, but I guarantee that if you do this with an old GP Extreme that it will fry a diode and you will have a busted machine that needs to be sent in for repairs. I found this out the hard way.

madtuna wrote:

Send it to Frankston to get modded

Damages the bank balance too now !!
PS; its Frankston South now...

MADTUNA, That was so funny... i had visuals running through my head reading that....

Running your coil over large signals like coke cans Will Not Damage your machine, it says so in your instruction manual.

Granite

Yeah, I can't imagine anything that would cause damage to a detector although the field coming off the coils seems quite capable of erasing Flash memory from mobile phones and GPS devices. Note though that the coils themselves seem to have a use-by date if they are run for years at a time.

Cheers,

M.

Reno Chris wrote:

Don't turn your detectors on without a coil being plugged in to complete
the circuit. Some people say it's not a problem but others say you're
powering the device without completing the circuit and that this is BAD.

Its maybe OK with the newer machines, but I guarantee that if you do this with an old GP Extreme that it will fry a diode and you will have a busted machine that needs to be sent in for repairs. I found this out the hard way.

Thats weird Chris, never tried it with mine but I would have thought you would have to remove the coil plug
while the detector was on to do that damage.

LOL @ Madtuna.

I presume getting your control box near the magnet on your pick would kill the electronics?


Dicko..

Gday


Being that I have limited knowledge of electronics, how is the memory of the 4500 stored?, is it stored in a similar way to the information stored on flash discs and sim cards?.

The reason I ask is that I have a small laptop that I take bush and a telstra next g wireless modem, on the front of the carry bag for the laptop is a small pouch where I put the extension cable and modem when not in use, the top of the pouch has a magnet which keeps the opening of the pouch closed, I used to put the modem at the top of the pouch in easy reach until one time I went to use it and it had been wiped, and I had to get another card in the end, so I put it down to being close to the magnet.

So if magnets have the ability to erase memory from these sorts of cards you could reason that it could possibly have an effect on a memory chip of any type would that be right?

If that were the case then you would want to make sure that your rare earth magnet was kept well away from your detectors electronics, as it is many times stronger than the one I was referring to on the pouch, so I guess to be on the safe side it would be better to just keep it away from it I suppose.

cheers

stayyerAU

"That's weird Chris, never tried it with mine but I would have thought you
would have to remove the coil plug
while the detector was on to do
that damage."

Right - That's basically what happened. I found a new patch and pulled out a couple nuggets, and was all excited. I decided to change coils. Turned off the unit, disconnected the first coil and plugged in the second (but did not screw it down). I got distracted and shortly flipped on the power. A slight bump and the coil that was merely plugged in lost its connection, and in a second or two, the machine started making weird noises and was unusable until it was repaired.

its interesting that a magnet can clear the gps memory. thanks everyone for the info.