bloody power leads

Hi Stoppsy
I have stuffed one lead up sofar and I always Carry a spare now
Regards Neale

Gday mate. Ive got ta same problem with my power lead. Find if I bend it in acertain way and tape it with some electrical tape I find I dont get that eating out sound through the head fones. Gunna havta buy a new one I think.

Earthing out sound. Dam fone lol.

Hey Stopsy I have also gone through 3 leads due to the same problem. When will they get their act together and resolve such a simple problem hey !!!
I think Deez is correct. I also formed a loop and taped it to hold the loop in place then put the velcroe strap from the detector cover through the loop. This keeps it in place so no wobbling occurs,hence no strain on the join.
keep up the good work.
cheers bill

Not heard about "Patch Leads" mate .... heavy duty and reinforced ... on ebay ...

Hi Stoppsy
I went through two leads , then bought the same lead you have from coiltek but now form a loop and pass it under the Velcro cover which I also put on the detector to protect the box and now this takes away the bending and stress from the plug connection to the detector, this has now lasted for years with no problems at all, when I pack up I leave the cord on the detector and unplug from the battery only.
Its always a good idea to carry spares in the vehicle, ear phones, lower stem, nylon coil bolts and nuts, power cable ect.
Don't let a simple field failure spoil your detecting time especially when your on gold like you are, having spares on hand will pay off in more detecting time and less frustration.
Cheers Mark

bloody power leads.
Tell me about it. Just put a big freezer in the shed, welded up something, didn't realise it blew the fuse, More fat dog meat! I'm gone

Gday

It makes sense to have spares on hand, the failure of a lead or battery or whatever can be the end of your detecting for the day, its even more important when you have to drive 600 klms to your closest goldfields as you cant just run home and pick one up.

Its almost always accessory items that will fail when detecting, leads are notoriously dodgy so apart from carrying a spare you also have to take great care when connecting and disconnecting them from the detector, make sure that you grip the metal section of the plug and dont pull it from the cord to get it out, care should be taken when storing things like leads when they are not in use, and they are better removed from the machine when you are driving about.

Where I store my bits and pieces in the car is in those two litre cardboard port boxes, I have about six of them that ride inside a plastic crate, they are an ideal size to keep say leads in one, headphones in another etc, it stops the stuff from rattling around and getting damaged from rubbing against other things.

I know it seems like an uneccessary cost to some people to carry at least two of everything but it will seem like a very worthwhile tactic if you have a failure of something and all you have to do is wander back to the car, fit another and get on with it.

cheers

stayyerAU

Yes stoppsy i agree!....after suffering from the signal interruptess condition again I had the troublesome metal battery connection plug on my B&Z booster replaced at Coiltek for a straight gold pin connector for $15 fixed So then i started getting SI again and this time it was the power lead failing at the battery connection end...

So out with the original Minelab spare and this time set it up as stoppsy and others have done,just looped it up and passed it under the velcroe strap on the detector control box cover..(as described by others here too) and no wiggles now.I also leave the cord attached when a detecting session is over,and just wrap the lead around the armrest..My detecting mate Bergs has been doing this for ages...i finally saw the light

Cheers Bill

Hi guys, I have only had one malfunction of a power lead. Ok.....I know I arent as active detecting wise as a lot of you guys. I living in the north island of NZ & my detecting for gold is done down in the south island. I try to get down there 2-3 times a year. I have just got back from 5 weeks down there with 3.5 weeks of detecting every day all day from dawn till dusk. I make the most of my time in my beloved goldfields when down there.

I stll run my GP 3000 which I have had from new & very soon learnt that I needed two power cords if I was going to be detecting & charging the spare battery at the same time. One needed for the detector & one needed to go from the 240 volt charger to the battery. I dont know why Minelab designed the mains charger that way, where you need to use the two female fittings of the curly corn instead of just being able to plug the charger directly into the battery with a female plug on the charger & not a male one. The end result was that I always had a spare power lead, so not so silly after all I guess.

A couple of years ago I was detecting about an hours walk from my camp. Had a nice positive signal & was down on my hands & knees getting into it. Grabbed the detector to pinpoint & there was noting but silince. OHHH 5hit WTF Checked all connections, power leads, earphones, coil. Wiggled this & that....NOTHING. My first thought was the earphones, as I know over the years they had got caught up in the odd bush & had the odd pull stressed on to them. Over the years this must have added up. So I de rigged & made the walk back to my camp for the spare set of headphones I had back there. One hour walk back & one hour walk/run back to the detector. Two hours hours later wacked on the spare earphones & still nothing. That left only the power lead that I though was ok. So guess what.....yep another two hours later & BINGO.....back in action. Luckily for me the signal was a bit of gold.

On getting home I put a multi meter on to the plugs of the disfuctional power cord. Discovered a broken wire inside its casing but pulled the plug fittings off & cut back the wires on both ends of the cord & re soldered. Like new again & still going strong. That is the original cord from when I bought the detector. The spare curly cord I got was a heavy duty one, but I dont like using that for general detecting as it is quite a bit heavier & when it gets caught up in a bush (as they do) it really creates more pull on the fittings. It isnt until you fell that pull that you realise you are caught up. I now carry, or have very hand that spare cord & earphones. That two hour walk twice has taught me that.

Good luck out there & happy hunting

JW

Hey stoppsy, try these he makes a patch lead for a 4500 and is also a member of this forum gef50.


$45 plus $5 postage, I bought and used the treasure mate 2 he makes on the 3500 and it was a great system.


http://www.vkteksolutions.com/


https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/t7873-vktek-solutions

What do you blokes do to your power leads??? The old Minelab leads were horrible and sometimes didn't last a week but their new ones are pretty good. We use Coiltek heavy duty curly cords and have never had a problem. And this is over the last 7 years detecting. This consists of about 4 to 5 months solid detecting in WA each year plus a bit in Vic.

To make our curly cords last we support the lead by looping it back under the velcro on the box cover. This leaves the battery end unsupported but to compensate for that we swap ends about once a week.

I have seen some blokes doing some strange things with their leads, even saw one disgruntled detectorist dragging his detector across the ground with the lead.

Cheers, Jim

i cut two rubber bands off asmall car tube and thread them about curl back from the end of the lead put the other end of the rubber band around the control box and the other around the battery iget out 100 times a year and have done lead in 10 years

I have always tucked my lead up under the cover since owning the 4500 new...im still using the original 4500 lead and battery.
As MS said, disconnect from the battery and wrap the lead round the arm cup when not in use.
Having had to repair a few leads out on the job for both my partner and friends...they all were broken around 2-3" from the plug on the control box side.

Bought one of those you beaut CT leads for the 3000 yrs ago which failed within weeks....they said heavy duty...only the outer casing was heavy, the wires inside were the same rubbish used in the budget leads.

I tuck my lead under the velcrose of the cover and just disconect from the battery end which I carry in a Camelback. Have still got the original Minelab lead which is over 5 years old. I do carry a spare just in case.
I have killed a set of head phones and a fast track button in that time though!
Staples

Speaking of dragging your detector along by the lead, I did that today for about 15 metres at a run. I was having trouble pinpointing a target so I was down on one knee for longer than normal only to discover I was covered in giant ants who all started biting at the same time. They got onto me from behind as there was not a single ant in front of me or on my pile of dirt. I didn't know where the nest was so I just ran towards a clear patch where I could see there was no ants.

They turned out to be those pebble mound ants that I read about on this forum last week. Bloody Mongrels! Anyway it was pretty funny after the fact. I got bitten or stung on both butt cheeks. So I was walking funny for about 30 minutes.

Dicko..

dicko that would been funny to see
cheers
stoppsy

These days its good insurance to carry spares of everything.
I have spare Koss headphones,a spare power lead,spare nylon wing nuts and bolts and even spare velcro fasteners.
The only thing I dont carry is a spare GPX battery,but I always used to when I was swinging the GP series.
Think I have only buggered 2 leads in about 8 years. One time I thought my headphones had an epic fail,turns out the detector had power,just no sound. Quick change and I was back in the game. Lucky, as I was 5kms from camp.
I think it comes down to how you place your Tecta when digging holes. Put the control box on the ground right next to your right foot,with the coil at Max distance from the hole.I also disconnect the power lead from the detector and tuck it thru the waist band of the battery harness when Im walking to the next spot.
Im a tall unit,so by rights,i should be killing more leads than most.

granite2 wrote:What do you blokes do to your power leads??? The old Minelab leads were horrible and sometimes didn't last a week but their new ones are pretty good. We use Coiltek heavy duty curly cords and have never had a problem. And this is over the last 7 years detecting. This consists of about 4 to 5 months solid detecting in WA each year plus a bit in Vic.

To make our curly cords last we support the lead by looping it back under the velcro on the box cover. This leaves the battery end unsupported but to compensate for that we swap ends about once a week.

I have seen some blokes doing some strange things with their leads, even saw one disgruntled detectorist dragging his detector across the ground with the lead.

Cheers, Jim

I agree. I have used the Coiltek leads but found they stretch and lose their elasticity to recoil. Since the 3000 I have never had a power lead fail, and I don't carry a spare. I also loop the control box end up and under the rear velcro of the box cover to stop the constant flexing (and breakage) at the connector, and the battery end just does it's own thing. Cheers.

I haven’t had any problems with the current Coiltek power leads. Admittedly I don’t have the opportunity to go out detecting as much as some of you but I have been using the current one for the past three years.

I haven’t done anything about supporting the cord at the control box end but at the battery end I run the lead up through one of the spare loops in the harness webbing and then connect to the battery. Any cord movement is restricted at the loop and any hard tug is transferred to the connection as a ‘direct pull’ rather than a sideways tug.

Must try the method of running the control box end through the Velcro of the cover.

Scrat

Hi Stoppsy,

Instead of dangling out the back i run it over the top in front of the arm rest and then put my arm thru, this shortens the lead somewhat and gives the full length for digging by just lifting over.

Always carry spare detector as well

Ron

gday all,
i have had two coiltek lead failures and it was not from being excessively rough. both times when cut open it has shown they were poor soldering on the pins. they are also mother@#$%^*s to get apart and fix.

think i saw one of sandys posts a while back and run my lead the same.never had a prob.heavy duty coilteks dont seem so heavy duty .i went back to standard lead

granite2 wrote:What do you blokes do to your power leads??? The old Minelab leads were horrible and sometimes didn't last a week but their new ones are pretty good. We use Coiltek heavy duty curly cords and have never had a problem. And this is over the last 7 years detecting. This consists of about 4 to 5 months solid detecting in WA each year plus a bit in Vic.

To make our curly cords last we support the lead by looping it back under the velcro on the box cover. This leaves the battery end unsupported but to compensate for that we swap ends about once a week.

I have seen some blokes doing some strange things with their leads, even saw one disgruntled detectorist dragging his detector across the ground with the lead.

Cheers, Jim

I'm with Jim, we disconnect the leads each night while charging batteries. This means the leads are connected and tightened in different positions every day which means the leads aren't stressed in same position for extended periods. The original 4500 leads are still in use.
Have also seen these expensive machines bouncing around in the back of vehicles with leads still connected?

Cheers
Peter

Hi guys I have only ever had one lead fail since sd2000 have always carried a spare one, then the GPXs came and they decided to change the plugs, so had to buy new spare lead still have not had to use this one touch wood anyway as Jim and Peter have said I always disconnect the lead when I switch off detector.
Cheers
Mike.

Ps detectors I have had 2000,3000,3500,4000,4500&5000.