Coil covers on the beach

I'm curious if anyone uses coil covers on the beaches or surf while detecting. The equinox has sharp edges on the coils to hold the covers on but they fill with sand and debris fast . Most all detectors I never use a cover but have smooth edges . The 15x12 equinox coil does great on the beach but to save a few ounces would be helpful on an 8 hr hunt ...thanks

Coil protection depends on a few factors. How often are you beach hunting? What is your beach comprised of? Rocks or sand? And do you drag the coil?


Myself? I never use a coil cover. I used bed liner for a while, but decided it wad the pretty much useless. Epoxy? Just too messy. If a coil wears out I buy a new one.

Things were more expensive in the Excal days. That hard wired coil required expertise I didn't have.

One thing is certain...A coil cover will fill with sand and produce erratic sounds and false signals.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2021 05:28PM by goodmore.

goodmore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Coil protection depends on a few factors. How ofte
> n are you beach hunting? What is your beach compri
> sed of? Rocks or sand? And do you drag the coil?
>
>
> Myself? I never use a coil cover. I used bed liner
> for a while, but decided it wad the pretty much us
> eless. Epoxy? Just too messy. If a coil wears out
> I buy a new one.
>
> Things were more expensive in the Excal days. That
> hard wired coil required expertise I didn't have.
>
> One thing is certain...A coil cover will fill with
> sand and produce erratic sounds and false signals.

Agree with everything. I never use a cover on any of my detectors. But I did on equinox only due to the sharp edges on coils. I also never bang coils against rocks or poles. I'm usually pretty careful. Where I live it's just white sugar sand beaches , really nothing to cause any damage to coil. The only reason I used the cover on the nox was detecting in 3-5 inch grass and coil was hanging up due to sharp edges. When I put cover back on it seems to glide better and made it easier to swing.

I use a coating of Locktite Marine Epoxy on the bottom of my coil. No coil cover for me EVER!

Then there’s me. I use coil covers.... why I’m really scrub that coil. I’ve not had a coil cover yet I didn’t have to replace. When I first started about ever 6 mos it wore thru. Now I also add loctite marine epoxy on it. When the machine starts getting chatty and I know I’m not close to the hard pan.... I clean it out.

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then there’s me. I use coil covers.... why I’m re
> ally scrub that coil. I’ve not had a coil cover y
> et I didn’t have to replace. When I first started
> about ever 6 mos it wore thru. Now I also add loc
> tite marine epoxy on it. When the machine starts
> getting chatty and I know I’m not close to the har
> d pan.... I clean it out.

See this is the info I needed . My coils hit the sand fairly often while swinging since the sand is almost never flat. The cover on the tarsacci is a pain to get off. Lol. The nox is thin and flimsy and seems to suck sand inside it with every swing of the coil . Maybe I will have to suck it up and use them on the beach.

basstrackerman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dewcon4414 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Then there’s me. I use coil covers.... why I’m
> re
> > ally scrub that coil. I’ve not had a coil cover
> y
> > et I didn’t have to replace. When I first start
> ed
> > about ever 6 mos it wore thru. Now I also add l
> oc
> > tite marine epoxy on it. When the machine start
> s
> > getting chatty and I know I’m not close to the h
> ar
> > d pan.... I clean it out.
>
> See this is the info I needed . My coils hit the
> sand fairly often while swinging since the sand is
> almost never flat. The cover on the tarsacci is a
> pain to get off. Lol. The nox is thin and flimsy
> and seems to suck sand inside it with every swing
> of the coil . Maybe I will have to suck it up and
> use them on the beach.

I keep the coil glued to the beach. Scrub every target signal.

midalake Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> basstrackerman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > dewcon4414 Wrote:
> > ------------------------------------------------
> --
> > -----
> > > Then there’s me. I use coil covers.... why I’
> m
> > re
> > > ally scrub that coil. I’ve not had a coil cov
> er
> > y
> > > et I didn’t have to replace. When I first sta
> rt
> > ed
> > > about ever 6 mos it wore thru. Now I also add
> l
> > oc
> > > tite marine epoxy on it. When the machine sta
> rt
> > s
> > > getting chatty and I know I’m not close to the
> h
> > ar
> > > d pan.... I clean it out.
> >
> > See this is the info I needed . My coils hit th
> e
> > sand fairly often while swinging since the sand
> is
> > almost never flat. The cover on the tarsacci is
> a
> > pain to get off. Lol. The nox is thin and flims
> y
> > and seems to suck sand inside it with every swin
> g
> > of the coil . Maybe I will have to suck it up a
> nd
> > use them on the beach.
>
> I keep the coil glued to the beach. Scrub every ta
> rget signal.
How often do you need to re-epoxy the bottom of coil.?

I never use a coil coil. Lakes are all sandy.

I can tell you i have to re-epoxy my cover about ones a quarter. That stuff is TUFF..... a disadvantage is the cover has a little flex to it in the water so if i were just dry sand hunting like only once a year. Those coils now days are rock hard...... but they are also expensive to replace.... and i have no doubt id have to replace them without using the method i do.

I never use a coil cover.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
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> I never use a coil cover.


[place thumbs up symbol here]

NASA-Tom Wrote:
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> I never use a coil cover.

Tom,

Respectfully curious why you do not use coil covers? I have often wondered if the cover itself could interfere with the TX or RX signal.

Regards

My thoughts on coil covers:

A coil cover is only about 1/8" of an inch thick. Not a big deal. But........ I have yet to see a coil cover snap on to the bottom of a coil so tightly that there is zero air-gap between coil and cover. Usually there's about a 1/8" air-gap between coil and cover. Now you have 1/8" + 1/8" = 1/4". This is to say..... you now have a 1/4" less distance of detection depth imposed on the detector. Now add dirt, grit, mineralization, saltwater........and sloshing around inside that coil cover at a different rate/speed of the coil. This imposes more of a electronic hinderance to the performance of the detector. Bottom line: You lose some depth/performance with a coil cover installed.

Today's coils are built with very rugged (usually 3M two-part epoxy) materials....... and are very hard to 'wear out'.
Example: It took me 11 years to wear through the bottom of a 10.5" Fisher CZ coil.......hunting the beach on a regular basis. And I'm a coil scrubber. Constant sand abrasion on the coil. Truthfully......the coil cable sheath dry-rotted first.....before the coil posed issues. Also: New technology replaced the CZ for wet-salt hunting.
IF you hunt in jagged rock territory; by all means...... hunt with a coil cover!

Never used a coil cover that didn't fill with grit and grime. .. . .. I don't use them anymore, for that reason.

Coil covers catch blacksand

Makes sense, thanks Tom. Going to put that in play.

thanks for the responses .. I ended up using a dremel to smooth down the sharp lips around the equinox coils edges .. I never use coils covers on any detector mainly because of what Tom just explained ... Then equinox has that lip all around the coils edge and several places on inside edge that would hang up on grass and make it tough to hunt in certain conditions.

I'm going to try the Equinox without a cover and see how it goes. It might be all in my mind but it seems to feel lighter now when I swing it.

I've been using my 8" CZ20 without a cover in the rocks at the beach for a couple of months and I don't see that it's hurting it.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2021 07:47PM by Badger in NH.

Badger in NH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm going to try the Equinox without a cover and s
> ee how it goes. It might be all in my mind but it
> seems to feel lighter now when I swing it.
>
> I've been using my 8" CZ20 without a cover in the
> rocks at the beach for a couple of months and I do
> n't see that it's hurting it.


Dang,
Badger, I tried it today and thought the same. Thought it was just in my mind. Glad you agree.

basstrackerman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> thanks for the responses .. I ended up using a dre
> mel to smooth down the sharp lips around the equin
> ox coils edges .. I never use coils covers on any
> detector mainly because of what Tom just explained
> ... Then equinox has that lip all around the coils
> edge and several places on inside edge that would
> hang up on grass and make it tough to hunt in cert
> ain conditions.

Same thought, I will be doing that tomorrow. That lip catches the sand all right.

FloridaSon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> basstrackerman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > thanks for the responses .. I ended up using a d
> re
> > mel to smooth down the sharp lips around the equ
> in
> > ox coils edges .. I never use coils covers on an
> y
> > detector mainly because of what Tom just explain
> ed
> > ... Then equinox has that lip all around the coi
> ls
> > edge and several places on inside edge that woul
> d
> > hang up on grass and make it tough to hunt in ce
> rt
> > ain conditions.
>
> Same thought, I will be doing that tomorrow. That
> lip catches the sand all right.


Exactly it's like a weed wacker and glides over nothing. Lol. Now the 11" weighs exactly 16oz and glides very nice over everything. My 15" I also did and I think it weighs 22.5oz now so still very light compared to the coiltek coils coming out.