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11 inch Gold Bug coil issues
lifejockey  
Posted : Saturday, 30 March 2013 5:12:34 PM(UTC)
lifejockey

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Originally Posted by: 1864hatter Go to Quoted Post
Yeah sure does. sadly coz it is a very good coil


You did warn me about that too... but I ignored your advice :) I have had mine in salt water about a dozen times now for an hour or so each time... No leaks as yet. Haven't done anything special to it. I reckon you got a bad one.

Having said that, it is a very good coil.... but I still prefer the 5 inch. Basically 'cause I have found more interesting/valuable stuff with it.

I did some serious testing to compare them and...

The 10x5 is more susceptible to EMI, especially underground cables..and stormy/electrical weather, not real bad but it's subtly there.
The extra coverage on the sweep is negated once the target is deeper than a few inches... seems to fade away from the rear of the coil.
The depth one can achieve is basically the same at 8 inches on a ball bearing in disc, couple inches deeper in all metal.
The 5" is of course lighter and easier to poke into tight places.
The 5" is a dream for pinpointing
The 5" gives more stable numbers deeper

The 10x5 has the advantage in the shallow salt water though....it's a very good coil for that...as long as it doesn't leak. Basically 'cause it does cover more ground and doesn't lose depth at the rear like it does in the dirt. Strange.

I do a lot of shallow hunting in these dry conditions in parks etc.... so spendable's and jewellery at no more than 3 inches (sensitivity 25 or less) are perfect for the 10x5 coil and a screwdriver. But if I had to choose only one it would be the 5" which I have never heard of leaking and can find the deep stuff..albeit more slowly.

A lot of waffle just to say I think they fixed the leaking issue :)

Mike

ps, I hate, hate I say, the 11inch.
Gold Bug Pro and Lots of Hope
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ShoreScot  
Posted : Saturday, 30 March 2013 6:30:43 PM(UTC)
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ps, I hate, hate I say, the 11inch.


Why do you hate the 11 inch so much? I have one, but this is my first ever machine, so may be able to get better performance with something else???
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latch  
Posted : Saturday, 30 March 2013 6:51:41 PM(UTC)
latch

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yes ms silicone will wear itself to leak u could try simpson isr sealer,we use it for sealing boats but u will never be able to remove it properly it needs to be cut away with saying that never had a warrenty claim at work for leaks with that sealer
fiend hard and find all
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Bruce  
Posted : Saturday, 30 March 2013 7:42:28 PM(UTC)
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Most coils are able to be stripped down to where the wire is by grinding away the bottom with a power file. Leave it out in the sun bottom up and allow it to dry for a number of days and when it works ok it should be dry inside. Make a little masking tape dam around the area that has been ground off and mix up a brew of clear araldite clear resin and pour this over the ground off area to form a skin about 2mm thick. Real slow setting araldite is the best as it will slightly penetrate the windings. Before siliconing up the other possible leak areas clean them with meths or something similar and using the nozzle on the silicone tube force the silicon down into the suspect areas.
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lifejockey  
Posted : Saturday, 30 March 2013 8:10:42 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: ShoreScot Go to Quoted Post
ps, I hate, hate I say, the 11inch.


Why do you hate the 11 inch so much? I have one, but this is my first ever machine, so may be able to get better performance with something else???


Leaks :)
It's heavy on a machine that is nice and light.
Gets caught up in the bush/stubble etc.
Doesn't offer much extra depth that's usable in disc mode. OK for all metal.
Numbers all over the show.
Difficult pinpointing accurately
Heavy drag in water
Does not like the wet sand
No sensitivity to small gold
Not as good in trashy ground as the 5" by a zillion miles.
Impossible to poke into small places
...... and it's ugly :)

Using the 5" also forces you to think about where you detect, you can't cover a great area so you have to cherry pick your spots. Which is probably why I have more success with the 5" by a very long way.

But really it comes down to where and what you hunt... If in open paddocks then it's fine, for the rest The 10x5 as an all rounder or if like me you hunt in areas where people drop rubbish as well as good stuff then the 5" is a dream to use. If I go out with the 5" I enjoy the experience more than the others, which is what it's all about.

Mike
.

Gold Bug Pro and Lots of Hope
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ShoreScot  
Posted : Sunday, 31 March 2013 11:11:09 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: lifejockey Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: ShoreScot Go to Quoted Post
ps, I hate, hate I say, the 11inch.


Why do you hate the 11 inch so much? I have one, but this is my first ever machine, so may be able to get better performance with something else???


Leaks :)
It's heavy on a machine that is nice and light.
Gets caught up in the bush/stubble etc.
Doesn't offer much extra depth that's usable in disc mode. OK for all metal.
Numbers all over the show.
Difficult pinpointing accurately
Heavy drag in water
Does not like the wet sand
No sensitivity to small gold
Not as good in trashy ground as the 5" by a zillion miles.
Impossible to poke into small places
...... and it's ugly :)

Using the 5" also forces you to think about where you detect, you can't cover a great area so you have to cherry pick your spots. Which is probably why I have more success with the 5" by a very long way.

But really it comes down to where and what you hunt... If in open paddocks then it's fine, for the rest The 10x5 as an all rounder or if like me you hunt in areas where people drop rubbish as well as good stuff then the 5" is a dream to use. If I go out with the 5" I enjoy the experience more than the others, which is what it's all about.

Mike
.


I think you've just sold me on the 5 inch coil. My experience so far is that all coins show up in the 70's except for an old penny that came up as 66. I have two different pieces of jewellery that both show up in the 70's, and I'm too scared to put the coil in the water after what I've read.
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sycotoad  
Posted : Monday, 1 April 2013 12:47:25 AM(UTC)
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if you look closely at the heal of the 11"DD coil you will see a seam around where the coil Logo is - from looking at the slap up repair jobs FT are doing it appears the water is getting in there -

I am going to get a mate to plastic weld the seam so hopefully that might stop the problem (hopefully) ......

You may also experience the same problems with the Teknetics 11"DD ........ but then again you wont know until you have parted out your hard earned cash first to know whether you have got a lemon..........

Edited by user Monday, 1 April 2013 12:48:07 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Makro - Nokta - deteknix - GoldFinder
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lifejockey  
Posted : Monday, 1 April 2013 1:18:07 AM(UTC)
lifejockey

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Originally Posted by: ShoreScot Go to Quoted Post

I think you've just sold me on the 5 inch coil. My experience so far is that all coins show up in the 70's except for an old penny that came up as 66. I have two different pieces of jewellery that both show up in the 70's, and I'm too scared to put the coil in the water after what I've read.


Yes well numbers don't actually mean much on deeper targets. the surrounding ground effects and things off to the side etc will affect the numbers. Before you give up on it (I wouldn't want to put you wrong) try checking the numbers with reduced sensitivity, like 25 or so, you should find the numbers get more accurate and stable. You will still find recently dropped targets like spendable's/rings etc down to 3 inches or more and be much less affected by any close lying or deep trash. I use this method with the 5" or 10" all the time in parks and find plenty of valuables.

Now another thing you can try is to work out the sink rate of the ground you hunt, to see if you really need lots of depth or not. The dollar coins were introduced in early 1991 so figure out the deepest one you have found and assume it was lost in 1993. If it is 2 inches down then it took 20 years to get there...so 1 inch a decade. You get the idea. (don't count the grass in your calculations)

So as the 5" coil will give easily at least 5" in depth that's a 50 year span you can get to easily. Do the same for pre-decimals and 1 and 2 cent coins etc to form a depth/date/sink rate map. The 5 cent coin was last dropped around ten years ago... Here in Thames it averages about twenty years or more per inch..... Just a quick and dirty method but it's a rough guide in normal clean (cut grass) dirt. Most items slow when they hit clay or stop at rock/stone.

NOTE:Gold rings sinks 2 to 3 times faster than anything else.

Now of course the 5" max depth on coins is 7" or 8" in disc mode or 9" or 10" in all metal... I don't even try to dig that deep in areas of manicured ground now anyway. But then that's where the sovereigns/1935 threepence's could be hiding :) If you hunt in the bush/farmland/dry sand etc then you do need depth and the 11" in all metal is very good for that.

Figure out the best spots in an area to hunt using research/local knowledge/observation and lateral thinking

So think about that... and then buy the 5"

Mike
Gold Bug Pro and Lots of Hope
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ShoreScot  
Posted : Monday, 1 April 2013 3:59:30 PM(UTC)
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Many many thanks. I need to go to less trashy places I think.
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latch  
Posted : Monday, 1 April 2013 11:50:54 PM(UTC)
latch

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just bought a 4.5 inch coil,playgrounds and walkways i'm thinking will be best place for this,plastic welding the coil is the solution to be waterproof,try plastic bag wrapped around your coil and taped round the stem i've done it in streams with my f2 8 inch take a spare bag and tape coz it will rip at some stage
fiend hard and find all
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Guest  
Posted : Sunday, 28 July 2013 5:19:07 PM(UTC)
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