water in coil ?

Gday guys, been detecting a creek bed recently and I got a bit over zealous with putting my coil (14" nf mono coil) into a couple of water holes. Problem is now my 4000 won't balance and is very noisy. Have I got water in my coil, if so how can I fix this ?

Cheers. Matt

G'day Matt

Is the coil the charcol grey one the Advantage model? because if it is they are supposed to be water proof to maybe 1/2 a metre to a metre.

If its an older model you will need to dry the inside of the coil before it will be much use again. getting the 2 halfs apart can be a bit of a problem.

cheers dave

Yep, the grey coil, but I guess all water proof seals can fail after time

If its still under warranty then send it back and they should fix it.

If its out of warranty then try and carefully open part of the 2 halves and prop them apart a bit, and sit it in the sun all day and when your sure its dry use some superglue and stick it back together.

cheers dave

Well I've tried sitting the coil in the sun for a couple of days to try and dry it out. Now to go and test it.

I did that first day out with my 8' mono coil. I let it dry in the sun a couple of days then it was fine for 9 months. Then it just went dead. unable to balance as if the windings were moving inside the housing. Minelab cut it open and pronounced it dead. mould and corrosion on the inside.

I've been advised I should have drilled into the housing top and bottom and let it in the sun for a couple of weeks then glue the holes shut again.

Good luck hope your coil's ok.

Dicko..

I believe some Advantage coils are said to have been tested in 0.5M of water but that doesn't mean they're all waterproof. It also doesn't mean they'd be covered by warranty because i don't think I've seen anything that states on paper that they're designed to be used under water. Someone once told me that some coils can handle water but not all of them.

If the coil is suddenly noisy when it wasn't before, it's possible water has made it into the coil housing.

I don't know how you can test this though. I once saw a coil with water contamination and the thing just kept wailing non-stop.

You'd be better to buy a waterproof coil like a "Platypus" if you want to use one on a PI detector.

Ok, Ive let it sit in the sun for a day, still no good. I think im going to drill and air it out. Problem is I don't know where exactly to drill without ruining the windings etc. Anyone done this before ?

Goodday All.
I have the sametrouble with my 14x9 n/f advantage, I just take off the skidplate cover & clean & it is as good as gold
Cheers Greg

i dont have a skid plate fitted. I always remove them from smaller coils..

I would leave it for a lot longer than a day! I had moisture get into one of my home made coils and that took 3 months to dry out and that was just from rain no immersed in water. If it was me I would use a stanley knife and slide it into the join on the side of the coil and gradually and carefully work your way right around the coil until you can pull the 2 halfs apart. Then let it dry properly. To close it get some pieces of ABS plastic put them in a jar with some Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) for around 24 hours until disolved, you should have a paste. When the coil is dry put the 2 halfs back together and paint the MEK mixture on the join. This will reseal the coil. Make sure you do it sparingly and maybe a couple of times until you are satisfied it is sealed again. This is how most coil manufacturers seal the coils. Hope this helps...

Where to drill........remove skid plate, drill a 5/16 hole in the back of the coil (heal) where the skid plate fits round.. right on the rear point.
Do the same with the front. Keep coil in the sun for a few days in and upright position. (hole at bottom hole at top)
When working again, melt a cable tie over the holes with soldering iron and clean up with stanley knife. Refit skid plate and go find some gold.

i dont have a skid plate fitted. I always remove them from smaller coils..

Id suggest you use the skid plate with these models, they are very thin trust me...i have one and my partner has wore out a few skiddies for this model and its now into the coil skin.

As you are only assuming it's water damaged and if it's not too much trouble-you're not in the middle of the back-of-beyond for instance-have it sent back to Rohan and let him sort it. I'm sure that drilling holes in it will certainly void the warranty.
The skid plate is there for a reason too. As Narrawa says, use it. Just remember to tape it on and remove and clean under ir regularly.

Robert

Narrawa wrote:Where to drill........remove skid plate, drill a 5/16 hole in the back of the coil (heal) where the skid plate fits round.. right on the rear point.
Do the same with the front. Keep coil in the sun for a few days in and upright position. (hole at bottom hole at top)
When working again, melt a cable tie over the holes with soldering iron and clean up with stanley knife. Refit skid plate and go find some gold.

i dont have a skid plate fitted. I always remove them from smaller coils..

Id suggest you use the skid plate with these models, they are very thin trust me...i have one and my partner has wore out a few skiddies for this model and its now into the coil skin.

Not to disagree harshly with Narrawa but this would be the very last thing I would do. Most coils are manufactured with the coil around 5 - 10mm away from the edge of coil housing. There is a very big chance you would nick the coil windings and that would definitely render the coil useless. If you want to drill holes in the coil I would look at where the coil cable comes out of the coil (mono) and drill a hole through the top diagonally opposite towards the top left (if cable is at bottom right). The hole should be close to the centre away from the edges by at least 20%. If a DD then the same but you would have to estimate where the coils overlap and drill in the middle of one side. What I said in a previous post is the best method of drying it out. Another less obtrusive method would be to leave in a very hot place for a few days or a week. If you could make sure it would not warp or melt putting in an oven at the lowest possible temperature for an hour or so may help. When water has got into a coil you really need to open it and dry it out especially if it has foam or something similar inside. I personally would either open it or send it back as suggested and pay whatever you will be charged. I think next time don't submerge a coil in water unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose.

Forgot to mention to be careful..i have used this method with the commander 10x5 in the past and the ML 8" mono, and used masking tape 2-3mm back from the tip of the drill bit.
Another way would be to use the tip of the soldering iron to melt a small hole in either end.??

Undoing the thread to the cable area and pulling up the O ring might help some too if it has one.?

Ismael,
Sorry to get off topic, but do you think you will ever get back to producing the "Little Ripper wireless transmitter and battery pack again? I would really be interested in a couple.