Time for a Coil Repair for My Excal

[bdahunter]

After almost 2 years of heavy use in the waters of Bermuda it was time to replace the coil cover on my Excal. The cover was worn through around the edges and all that was holding it together was the RV silicone that I attached it to the coil with. Water and sand were leaking in between the coil and the cover and causing falsing to occur, especially in the wet sand. This is an easy fix if you have a spare coil but I don't and the shipping and customs duty makes bringing in another cover just by itself, cost prohibitive. So I went with another option that my mate, Gravedigger Max from the Va. Beach Pirates was kind enough to share with me - a Waterproof Marine Epoxy Coating.
1) Strip off the worn out cover and cleaned up the coil
2) Sand the bottom of the coil lightly to provide good adhesion
3) Tape around the edge of the coil to make a clean job of it
4) Mix up a batch of marine epoxy
5) Apply marine epoxy to the bottom of the coil
6) Peel off the tape while the epoxy is still wet
7) Allow epoxy to harden over night and then give it a light sanding
The coil is as good as new and will give me at least a season of hunting before it needs recoating. Then I just have to scuff up the epoxy and give it a thin coat wherever it has worn down.
That's what is great about forums, the sharing of knowledge as well as the friendships we build.

Cheers,

BDA

[JCWhite]

Im already thinking we could make some kind of mold and fabricate our own covers out of fiberglass that could be removed. Great idea and glad you are back up. JC

[Sanddigger]

Good luck!

[bdahunter]

I try to be as gentle with my equipment as possible but it's not easy when you are detecting in the mine when it is more like a washing machine than a mill pond. I have to drill and tap my travel scoop next because I burnt out the threads, duct tape is holding it together in the mean time.
Compared to some surf pirates I'm pretty easy on my equipment (GH and RobRCer come to mind).
Here's a copy of an e-mail from a mate of mine who detects in Hawaii, now he's EXTREME!!

Rolled my coins recovered in 2007 while searching for rings.. Got 39 rolls of quarters 1560 coins $390, 26 rolls of dimes 1300 coins $130, 16 rolls of nickels 640 coins $32 for a total of 3500 coins rolled $552. Also had 4 Suzie B's and an assortment of foreign coins. I don't roll pennies so the total number of coins would be way up if I had at least counted them.

Enough to cover the cost of the CZ repair plus a good start on the next repair job.

Add that number to 95 gold rings, about the same in silver, and at least that number of pieces of junk and sinkers and it equals at least 7200 breath holds averaging 30 seconds each, for a total of 60 hours breath holding for 2007. That equals $9.20 cents in coins per hour of breath holding. It equates to 1.583 gold rings per hour of breath holding. That averages out to 75 breath holds for each gold ring.

Wish I had kept a years worth of trash and weighed that to see the tonnage over the years. I wonder how many tons of sand I fanned out of the way to uncover the stuff? Must be truck loads.

How do you like those statistics.

Have a great day

(name deleted)

This guy is extreme and has more platinum than anyone I know (more than 50 rings) Most of his detecting is free diving but he occassional puts on the tanks and scubas at the base of waterfalls. OTT!!

Cheers Luv,

BDA

[KellycoChick]

WOW!! I am in complete shock at your friend BDA!!! Thanks for sharing that! And good for you for finding an alternative for your coil cover!! You're a serious inspiration to us all!

[pris]

I say if you're gonna use it, you may as well protect it the best way possible. I can't think of a better way than a permanant cover / protector. Too bad I'm too much of a wimp to do something like that to my own equipment. I suppose if I were swimmin' in the ocean for my finds I would do the same. Well done! Thanks for the photos, too. Helps to understand the process. Do you have any photos of the finished and sanded product or is the last photo it?

[bdahunter]

Pris - I sanded down the rough edges of the epoxy this morning after giving the epoxy time to set up over night, it's a little cleaner looking but generally the same as the last pic. I left some raised areas to see if that improves the swing, if not I'll sand it dead smooth.
Kellyco - My pirate mate in Hawaii is I heck of a guy. Ex-Navy diver who has a very interesting and active lifestyle, especially for a 71 year old. A very kewl kat and I am lucky to have the benefit of his wisdom and experience. There really is a wonderful group of people to meet and become friends with in this great hobby of ours.

Cheers,

BDA

[Lt1stone]

Marine epoxy ought to last just as long as the original did if not longer!

[SandSkimmer]

I read someplace that if you scuff up the bottom of your coil, it is supposed to be more precise..... fact or fiction?

would that pretain to a coil cover as well?

thanks
JT

[Sanddigger]

is not holding his breath the entire time!! What a crazy story!! Too funny!