Plugger's Carbon Fiber Equinox shaft review

[metaldetectingforum.com]

Thread talking about plugger shaft for Equinox.
[www.findmall.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 07:51PM by tnsharpshooter.

This is not a synopsis, it’s not even a Cliff’s note - it’s a quote from the first referenced thread which sums it up nicely IMHO - and by my reading of learned opinions of copyright “fair use” doctrine - is OK for me to post it here.

“Somewhere about 50 hours of use, swinging by Equinox was like swinging a cross between a wet noodle and an old man; it flopped around like crazy and the creaking noises were driving me nuts. As great a detector as it is, was kind of killing the fun of using it. Sucks I had to pay $100 to fix that, but is what it is, and the Plugger's is a great product. ”

Apparently, the Plugger a nice shaft,

P.S. if you’re into sampling learned opinion of the fair use doctrine, I can recommend the following link - it’s a kind of compendium of serious opinion - sort of like a synopsis of thought on the subject, all sort of shrink wrapped - like some paper products.

[www.copyrightlaws.com]

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 09:21PM by lytle78.

I've had a 2 piece shaft by Plugger for nearly 3 months on my 800... Damn good shaft.

Reported as spam

Well, even spam is edible...

Charmin, while often handy - is inedible,

Doc, are we having fun yet?

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/2018 08:38PM by lytle78.

Ive got the Andersons which Pete sent me to test. Pete's travel shafts all say......... its not intended as a daily use shaft. Neither is the ML if you use it in the water...... just to much torque movement even on the cuff....... that salt water is hard on aluminum as well it blisters from the inside. Ive got a Plunger shaft or two....... you cant go wrong with either, but id highly recommend if you water hunt swap it out. We do it on the Xcal for the same reason...... just not the right shaft for the job.

Dew

Uncle Joe Biden say he "don't need no stinkin' copyrights".

I have used Plugger's shafts in the past along with Anderson. They both rate very good in my book. As already stated one has to wonder why we keep accepting inferior designs from the manufacturers. I am talking shafts in general not just the Equinox. Even with the price of the CTX the shaft was crap. Any twist cams absolutely don't belong in the sand. Most cuff designs are terrible. The added costs can make that new purchase a budget breaker. But it happens over and over again. Can't wait for the next S shaft detector with the foam grip that spins in my hand.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2018 05:25PM by goodmore.

goodmore --

I'm curious on your thoughts as to why you feel the Minelab shaft on the CTX was "crap." I build and sell custom carbon-fiber CTX lower shafts, which I feel are of a better design than the stock CTX shafts. But -- my thoughts on the "flaws" found on a stock Minelab CTX shaft, and yours, might be different. I'd be interested to hear your take...

Steve

Well I had three issues on two different CTX units. On one the cap ring broke off at the end of the shaft. Replaced by Minelab. The second was shaft slippage. It would not stay at the proper adjustment. And lastly I had cable wear down at the insert slot from the edge rubbing it. Salt water is very hard on equipment. But I figure if you are going to design a salt water detector you need to think it through.

I keep plugging my pet theory that Minelab outsources their detectors’ mechanical design. The SDC, CTX, GoFind and now Nox all look to me like the designer has never used a detector. Just my pet theory mind you, but every one of these machines has had more or less ugly design features from the usage point of view.

The SDC has poor battery fit, terrible placement of the speaker and headphone connector and wear-prone “Knuckle” where the coil attaches
The CTX leaks, Shaft problems are well documented and it weighs a ton.
The GoFind - well, just look at it - if you can find one
The Nox - straight shaft - which imposes twisting forces on the rod joints which they have trouble dealing with (aftermarket straight rod makers recommend one-piece models unless travel packing is a priority), control box rubs uncomfortably in top of hand when in use, nose heavy with the only coil available at present, headphone connector badly placed, making cord foul in use.

Many, maybe most will disagree - like I said, it’s a pet theory - but they outsource production of the devices to Malaysia,

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

And people said I was crazy. Now the " Weeble " won't wobble and it won't fall down. Add another 100 to the cost.

The shaft on my Nox is ok under general use, yes you can can twist the shaft if you put your foot on the coil, but it's no worse than my Signum which cost lots more money, it's lower shaft is like jelly.
For myself performance overrides a few niggles.

Money is money. There is no reason that we should continue continue to accept inferior products. We should call out manufacturers and their products. The only way we make things better is to stick together and force them to make it right. They can do it cheaper for their customers than us buying third party products to correct it. Turning the other way saying mine is ok thank goodness is contributing to the problem. The Garrett pinpointer comes to mind. I had numerous arguments over the quality of that piece of trash. Even with many many people reporting falsing issues on the forums. Sorry for hijacking the thread. But if enough people do complain about the Equinox shaft I'm sure Minelab would at least make sure the Equinox 1600 or what ever was at least a step up in that area.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2018 09:27AM by goodmore.

If i feel that the shaft isn't a problem for me personally, then how am i contributing to a problem, i won't be jumping on any bandwagon over what i feel is a minor issue, many manufacturers have similar or worse shafts.
Like i said, for me performance over a few niggles is preferred.

goodmore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> saying mine is ok thank goodness is contributi
> ng to the problem.

Probably no real secret that companies like Minelab outsource or collaborate with external industrial desginers with their products. Katapult Design and Planet Innovation worked on both the new and older version of the GoFind, and even far back as the F1A4 Mine detector they had a company called Proen Design work on that particular product. A company called Applidyne Engineering Design also worked on the folding Minelab F3 countermine detector (eventually resulting in the SDC2300).

I think the guts of the in-house Minelab operations is more involved with developing the technology and electronics side of things.

Whilst it may be easy to "shootdown" Minelab in their choices of design, they are not alone in that respect. The Garrett ATX immediately comes to mind as a less than ideal product design, developed initially for the military market and then reconfigured for the civilian market. It has shortcomings both in weight and ergonomics - something that could well be re-packaged in a more ideal form, though seems no interest has been shown by Garrett to further develop it.

Early AT Pros leaked, Whites MX Sport leaked and had issues with cracked screens, Nokta/Makro has issues with plastic quality on their coils, I could go on and on, but you get the picture - no manufacturer is immune from design or production flaws.

Whilst I do not own an Equinox, you do have to give Minelab credit for listening to customers and producing an affordable multi-frequency detector in a lightweight platform. They could have produced it with a stronger carbon fibre shaft and possibly made it completely wireless, though that would have likely had prices heading well and truly into Etrac territory.

As for the production facility in Malaysia manufacturing Minelab detectors, it is run by the US company Plexus Corp, based out of Wisconsin, not some second rate factory.

Well what do you know - it looks like for once at least, one of my hunches turned out to be correct.

When I pointed out that all ML manufacturing was outsourced to Malaysia, it’s wasn’t to imply that the quality was therefore impacted, just that their strategy on production might be a hint that they followed the same path on outsourcing mechanical design,

Lord knows the metal detector industry needs bringing into the 21st century when it comes to mechanical design, but when form starts to drive function, rather than the other way around, it isn’t likely to lead to true innovation in performance in the field,

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

It seems to me that there has been a lot of talk about innovation on this forum and yet to me there has only been two innovations that have clearly led to more finds. The first is the implementation of multi frequency. This allowed for stable use in a wide variety of conditions. Minelab continues to be the biggest proponent of this technology even though Fisher and Whites were in the game from almost the beginning, but have since seemed to drop out of this market. The second innovation was the implementation of fast recovery speeds which seems to have been enabled by the development of faster processors. This allowed for good targets being found that couldn't have before because of iron masking. It seems from this threads original subject that many people are looking for innovation in a detectors structural reliability and ergonomics and may be happy with the level of performance.

As far as the Nox goes...... it met most of what the beach hunters were wanting as a replacement for the Xcal. We did a LOT of modifications to that puppy that ML never would implement....... and they made the machine better. I dont believe we have nearly the leak problems with the CTX....... why because some of the guys using it FIXED it..... ML came along later. As far as the shaft...... have we ever been happy with the one that came with the machine lol. It was a good thought IMO to provide a travel style shaft......... thats what a lot of hunters wanted..... now we beat um up for it. BUT......salt water hunters really can put some torque on both the shaft and cuff not to mention the sand and what salt water does to aluminum. Ive never liked the twist locks....... but thats me and i rarely adjust my shaft once set. Not having but one button hole was bad as well allowing the coil to move. I like having that travel shaft...... look at it in reverse......id have to buy one then complain about it lol. Kind of like the throw away Nox......i dont have to change say O rings..... battery pods and knobs and numerous other parts. I get virtually a new machine.

goodmore --

Gotcha, on the CTX lower shafts. As it turns out, what I see as a flaw with the stock shaft (the potential for rubbing/wear on the coil cable where it enters the rod, and also unnecessary bends/stress on the cable being required in order to insert it into the rod -- both of these things being due to the "entry" for the coil cable being located on the underside of the rod) is in agreement with one of the flaws you mentioned. My rod design does address that issue, as the "entry" for the coil cable is on the right-hand side of the rod, a more "natural" position. Also, for extra/additional "protection" against any rubbing, I include a roughly one foot length of protective cable wrap for the coil cable.

As for the "slippage" you mention, sometimes those rubber "boots" that are a part of the clamping mechanism will wear down (due to abrasion/sand), and then won't clamp the rod securely. That seems to be an issue with salt-water users; Minelab does sell replacement clamps, FWIW.

Finally, not sure about that end cap issue. I hadn't heard that one before.

Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts. I wanted to hear of your opinion on Minelab's CTX shafts, so as to see if there might be another flaw I was not aware of, that I could address when building mine...

Steve