Has anyone lengthened (added sleeve) to their 7000 shaft?

I am tall and getting a back ache from stooping with the 7000 because the shaft is too short to allow me to walk with a natural upright stance. I think it will be worse with the new bigger coil. Getting the coil a few inches further out front will also cut down on the interference from my pick and other metal I may be carrying.

I am thinking of getting a spare lower shaft and cutting it and added a strong poly pipe type sleeve to lengthen the shaft a couple inches. I think an extra 2 inch stretch to the coil cable won't be an issue.

Has anyone done this or does anyone have a better idea, ie lengthen upper shaft ?

Separately, I have written to Minelab about the issue,(gotta try), however given their history of never lengthening their lower shafts with all the earlier models I do not expect them to listen.

cheers Tributer.

Now that would be nice.
Is there enough cord to accommodate another 2"or so?
Mine came pre assembled so never got to have a gander.

Hey Tributer,
Just had a look at my 7000 and from what I can "see"; given there is enough coil cable to accommodate the extra length, it should not be too much trouble to turn-up an extender sleeve from a suitable length of strong plastic/nylon to do the job.
Given that most of the material would be drilled/bored out there would only be minimal additional weight; If you wish to have a go at this mod give me a call when you're up this way and we can crank the lathe up and do the job.
Cheers, AUoptimist

My mate who is 6'6", lengthened his by cutting the bottom shaft and inserting and glueing with araldite, a length of 1" PVC pipe. I think he made the shaft 4" inches longer and it has held together perfectly and stopped the constant backaches he was getting. He tried to get some satisfaction from Minelab before taking this action, but without success. You need to cut the bottom shaft in the right place as the internal diameter of the shaft is not the same over its length. There is sufficient length in the curly lead to accommodate this lengthening. He coloured the PVC pipe which was showing, black and to look at his detector you wouldn't know it has been lengthened.
Good luck.
Johnno

Tributer wrote:
Has anyone done this or does anyone have a better idea, ie lengthen upper shaft ?

Mate I don`t know if you will think this is a better idea or not but something else you might want to consider is replace the upper shaft. That way you don`t have to cut anything and the detector can be returned to standard at any time.  
About 4-5 months ago the plastic clip on the top of the upper shaft that stops the shaft coming all the way out or rotating more than 90º, broke on my detector.   I phoned Minelab to see if they could send me a new clip but they said I had to send my upper shaft back and they would replace it. I will send it back before the warrenty expires but for the last 4-5 months my upper shaft has been nothing more than a straight tube.     I have a pencil mark on the shaft so I know how far I can pull it out and I make sure I never rotate the shaft one way or the other more than 90º.
From memory, the OD of the upper shaft is 27mm or 28mm.
Hope this helps
dave
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_odkw=carbon+fibre+tube&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=carbon+fibre+tube&_sacat=0t=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=carbon+fibre+tube&_sacat=0

Sorry mate, I now realise my idea wont work, I didnt think about the plastic sleeve on the lower end of the top shaft
dave

Thanks Dave/Phoenix , after pulling the detector apart I think the upper shaft fix is the way to go (as you suggest). I have ordered a 1 metre length of the exact same rolled tube Minelab use (28mm) from "play with carbon" ($55 + $7 postage) and I will glue locating tabs/guides on both ends. I also noticed the curley lead (held by a keeper) can simply have the lead fed through the keeper so the connection plugs end up being right at the connectors when the new longer shaft is added.

I will assemble the new shaft when it arrives and post the results.
Thanks everyone, Tributer

Got my 1M length of 28mm OD rolled carbon fibre tube yesterday. Its exactly the same tube Minelab use on their GPZ shaft.
I have cut it down to 810mm (160mm/6+inches longer then the existing shaft).  
I needed some thin auto cable to pull the coil cable connector up the shaft a few inches so I could connect it. I checked out the coil cable stretch/tension on a tape measure before I cut the shaft to length. The extra length is stretching the curley coil lead to about the max tension that I am happy with.
The shaft clamps hold the tube snuggly in place with no guides needed to be glued on the tube. Actually had to sand off the tube slightly where the lower clamp risers make contact to allow the clamp to be locked down.   I have marked the upper end of the tube to tell me when it is extended to the max length I can have. (not having the positioning guides on the shaft like the Minelab one does not seem to matter at all)

I have swung in the back yard only, but it should be fine in the field. I like the extra coil bounce/feel I get with the longer bungy cord I have fitted. Having the bungy connection point a few inches above the shoulder (e.g. high hip stick) would help the physics a bit.

I am happy now, being able to detect in my normal upright stance and the extra distance the coil is away will help the coil not see my pick as often I hope. Tributer

just a reminder guys of the issues with the curly cord pulling on the socket that it can cause issues with some gpz 7000 detectors.
this is why some people had to back off the length a little with just the minelab shafts.

Tributer wrote:
The shaft clamps hold the tube snuggly in place with no guides needed to be glued on the tube. Actually had to sand off the tube slightly where the lower clamp risers make contact to allow the clamp to be locked down.   I have marked the upper end of the tube to tell me when it is extended to the max length I can have. (not having the positioning guides on the shaft like the Minelab one does not seem to matter at all)

Good on you Tributer, I`m glad it worked out mate.
That surprises me that the bottom end of the shaft locks in OK. I thought the shaft wouldn`t lock without that sleeve.
cheers dave

Why not ask QLDSandy when he is going to make some longer shafts for the Z
He's already making all the shafts for the GP's out there

Marty

Martin R wrote:Why not ask QLDSandy when he is going to make some longer shafts for the Z
He's already making all the shafts for the GP's out there

Marty

That's a top idea Martin, why not ask him, he probably has the technology.

cheers dave

Great work Tributer! we have just fitted the longer shaft, tall man needed a longer shaft! very useful post thanks.

Hi Kim, after going to WA for a couple months and detecting long days I can report that having the longer shaft made my stance comfortable and I never pulled up sore in the morning like I did with the standard length shaft.

The extra length with the coil about an extra 10 inches or so further in front of me also made a big difference with less or no interference from my pick. The Zed is so sensitive you just got to have a belt with plastic buckle and trousers with no rivets... the 7000 seems to pick up on every bit of metal when you squat to recover a target and I think it does not help the ground balance program).

When the 19 inch coil finally arrives, the extra length shaft will almost be a must I think if I run the sensitivity at maximum when detecting.
cheers Tributer