Epoxy Warning

RichieSoprano

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2019
Messages
385
Location
Maine, formerly NJ
Read about epoxy coating the coil and thought, "gee! Neat idea." Proceeded prepping my coil by sanding then removing ANY residual finger oil with a light swipe of denatured alcohol. I used JB Weld Marine epoxy. Mixed according to directions and applied at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. 24 hours plus it was still tacky. I eas less than thrilled. My brand new Patriot was already messed up I thought.Fortunately a small amount protruded past the edge of the coil and i picked at it figuring i could spend the day picking pieces off. Amazingly, it started coming off in SHEETS for the most part. A scrubby pad should finish the last little bits. I will be using truck bed liner ONLY. Hopefully it will dry hard and not peel easily. Alright: how msny coats for TB liner would you use?
 
I agree with what Cellr is implying...if you use a cover,you would have to be detecting the sharpest rocks from Hell to wear through it in a lifetime. If you’re beach hunting,yeah,you might eventually be able to wear it out,but hunting turf...good luck. You want a really smooth surface for most types of hunting,truck bed lining tends to be a little “lumpy” and will not glide as well. Maybe not a big difference,but...just use a cover.
 
I agree with what Cellr is implying...if you use a cover,you would have to be detecting the sharpest rocks from Hell to wear through it in a lifetime. If you’re beach hunting,yeah,you might eventually be able to wear it out,but hunting turf...good luck. You want a really smooth surface for most types of hunting,truck bed lining tends to be a little “lumpy” and will not glide as well. Maybe not a big difference,but...just use a cover.

I've worn through 5 ATP covers..

<°)))>{
 
Never had trouble using bedliner spray paint. It is tough and durable.
If you spray it right it is not lumpy. The finish texture looks like that of many search coils.
Trick is to make sure you shake the can first time for 5 minutes.
Spray on a hot sunny day.
Spray from a distance of 15" from the coil surface. East to west direction.
Spray at a consistent speed. Overlap the spray by a little bit.
Do not stop during the spray sweep,
Let dry 5 minutes. Spray a second coat from North to South Direction.
Total of four coats will do.

If you spray too close to the coil surface or flood the coil with a too slow spray sweep, the finished look, looks like !!!! and will be lumpy.

Pictured is a search coil I made that was entirely sprayed with bedliner.
 

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I guess that means its not tacky when dry! Tho if anyone has a coil cover for the f70/patriot they aint using i might be interested...but i do like the idea of "once & done."
 
I used the water based truck bed liner from the local auto parts store. It took a few coats to build up a good layer, but it looks good and seems very durable now.
 
Just for an FYI...I've been running that 11" DD on my F70 since the day I got it over 10 years ago with NO COIL COVER...

Year round, over some of the most abrasive surfaces known to Man...Even asphault parking lots in the dust piles when the snowpiles melt...thousands of miles of sand and snow and ice and gravel totters and chips and everything without wearing a hole in it....I even took a hacksaw and sawed the fins off of it 5years ago with no trouble...It dont need a coil cover in my experience...
 
Thank you Mr. Mudpuppy! I respect your opinion very highly. I also have had contact with Digger 27 and the both of you influenced my choice of detector heavily. Its just that I want to take good care of the machine and not mess it up. Good 2 know how durable it is tho. I will be shooting the coil tomorrow afternoon with the liner stuff just in case.
I did pm digger and was just wishing you and he would put out a video on this machine. You guys could make a fortune on that alone. Teknetics would actually probably like it if u did. You'd sell a ton of f70/patriots. I am so stoked to try mine out.
BTW...its new so ima skeered a cutting fins offa anything on that new machine!
 
:wow: how many hours does it take to wear through a cover I wonder? Also, that's from underwater use correct?

Hours??? A lot!! Maybe 500?

Yes, under water scrubbing sand, rocks, and clay.. Land hunting, I wouldn't have to worry about it..

<°)))>{
 
Hours??? A lot!! Maybe 500?

Yes, under water scrubbing sand, rocks, and clay.. Land hunting, I wouldn't have to worry about it..

<°)))>{

Garrett's covers tend to be brittle, too. I've broken the edges of them quite easily. I think they are cycling their injection molding too quickly and cooling the plastic too rapidly, causing the plastic to get brittle. That's my take, anyway. Still, I'll keep using the coil cover. I'd rather that break on a rock than my actual coil.
 
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