Metal Detector Repair, Safety, And Using Your Eyes
November 14th 2006 15:31
Using Your Eyes While Metal Detecting
While out metal detecting it always pays to watch the ground around yourself carefully. Many times you can find things like marbles, porcelain doll parts, or even coins and buttons, just laying out exposed. Be aware and concentrate! While diving with underwater detectors I have found three or four gold rings just by seeing them out in the open, where the tide had obligingly removed a layer of sand. I kid you not. Many of the most successful treasure hunters do not even use metal detectors. They are just aware that there really are all types of things lying on the surface of the world, or right below the surface, left behind for various obscure reasons.
Safety Is Fun When Metal Detecting
Safety is fun because it doesn't hurt -- which means safety is fun when its done right. Always be aware of the many things that can mess up your day while out metal detecting, and like ALL trouble, do your best to avoid these things. Rest assured that no matter how hard you try though, there will be some stuff that just happens anyway. Nobody can anticipate everything, and this is what makes reality interesting, but also dangerous too. Make sure you do not set yourself up for danger. Use tools and methods that you have studied and practiced with. Be aware of power lines both above and below ground, Poisonous plants, snakes, and especially the possibility of old wells. Many times the latter occurences are well grown over and invisible to the eye. Sometimes they are manifest as a lush area where one would expect to find some sort of water oasis. Wells are around all old houses and many times were hand dug and deep. Any wood coverings are generally rotted wood but may still retain some shape. Ghost towns are rife with this type of thing. Wear gloves whenever possible, and do be aware of the suns dessicating and radiative effects on you. Drink plenty of water whenever doing anything outside in the heat. Conversely, extreme cold is something to be VERY careful about, especially if one happens to get wet by accident. Finally, perception and concentration are your greatest assets when doing anything, especially metal detecting. By exercising those two attributes you will find a lot more and live a lot longer.
Metal Detectors and Field Repairs
Metal detectors requiring repairs are a real problem. The machines themselves are highly specialised, and though I won't say that the maintenance of them has been intentionally defeated by the manufacturers, I will say this: No efforts have been made to make repairs easy. None whatsoever! Replacement parts can be had in total, but as to repair of individual items like plugs and coils and circuits, you are on your own! And problems with circuit boards usually mean a very expensive trip to the technicians bench. Fortunately, the circuit boards themselves are rarely the problem, in spite of what some technicians say.
Many years ago, I sent a detector to 2 different technicians, on three separate occasions, for a recurring problem which was driving me crazy. Every time I sent the metal detector in for repairs it cost over $75, and I was without my machine for some months. Each time I was told it was a chip on the circuit board. Finally this same problem happened in the field again, and I accidently hit the cable hookup to the box as I was moving the machine around trying to spot any problems I could see. The unit was a hip mount. I got a good tone for a second when I hit that plug, and that was enough to let me know the problem was the plug. I fixed it then, and have fixed it several times since. It causes the very same symptoms that the -- technicians -- told me was a circuit board chip.
Live and learn.
So. Not only is metal detector repair daunting, it is doubly hard in the field, and let me say right here that even though I have had some success in the field with on-the-spot repairs, success has been nowhere near 100%. When it comes to the point of being able to metal detect, or not, any attempts at repair are better than none at all as far as I am concerned, and thats what this article is about. If you have a machine thats still under warranty though, do not try ANY repairs on your own, or that will void your warranty, more than likely. Take it back to where you bought it, pronto.
Most metal detector problems, or many at least, take place wherever there is a wire allowed to move around freely, like where a wand cable hooks up to the box on a hipmounted unit. Where the headphones plug into the box is a real troublesome area too, or where the headphone wires actually hook up to the headphone earpieces themselves.
I have also had some intermittent problems caused by dirt or corrosion on or in the rheostats which are used to adjust the various levels of the machines circuitry. The volume, tuner, discrimination levels, and so on. So far, a quick squirt of electronic lubricant directly onto the stem of the rheostat, so it seeps inward, then a few quick turns of said rheostat, has cleared up any problems that way. Hurray for our side.
Most problems in my experience with detectors occur anywhere a wire is free to move about, especially near a plug. That spells TROUBLE. It pays to fasten these wires with cable ties, electrical tape, or twist ties ahead of time, whenever possible. This is all made worse by the fact that many times the wires inside the actual cables are very tiny and thin, and they are easily fatigued, worn out.
Here is a partial list of things to make repairs in the field:
Pocket knife
Needle nosed pliers
Small screwdriver set
Cable ties
Twist ties
Hot Glue Stix
Electrical Tape
Extra wire of various sizes and lengths
Strong metal foil
Regular aluminum foil
Electronic lubricant in can
Electronic pressurised air in a can
Anything else you can think of
Carry this kit in a small tacklebox
The best you can do in the field is repair a wire. Or two. But repairs like that many times are the difference between being able to metal detect and not. Your worst case scenario, as far as I am concerned, would entail having to reattach one or more wires to say, a five pin plug. difficult, but possible. Not exactly rocket science. Don't be skeered.
The best cold solder I know of is to twist two wires together so there is no chance of them coming apart, then coat and hold in place with hot glue, from a hot glue stick. That glue can be melted easily with a lighter. Don't get it on ya.
The foil is on the list because it is a conducting material and easily molded. Hopefully you will never need any of this stuff, but foil is better to have, than need it and not.
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