Is there any way to stabilize a lower rod from flexing while swinging?

Trickworm

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I am wondering if there is a way to prevent my detector shaft from flexing back and forth while swinging my coil. I was thinking maybe some kind of fiberglass tape of maybe even Flexseal. I dunno, what do you guys think? I have an At Pro with a soon to come NEL Thunder Coil.
 
Home Depot sells a water activated fiberglass tape that you could wrap around the exposed portion of the lower rod to keep it from flexing. You wouldn't be able to collapse the shaft, though.
 
I would look into a Carbon Fiber Lower rod .. you really dont want to be adding more weight on to your machine .. keep the stock one for the stock coil ..

It comes with everything you need to just plug it in to the rest of the machine
there are fiberglass no flex lower rods .. but for a few dollars more you can have a lower rod that will do the job looks great too :)
 
here is a video I saw with the AtPro and the Nel Thunder coil .. about 3:45 into it .. you will see what looks like flexing to me .. .. tell me what you think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f24KwBXGbVg

Wow,I see it too, I might be a tad concerned. Is agree with the carbon fiber lower. The ATPRO is very unbalanced, and putting the big ole coil on the end can't help.
 
FWIW, I run my AtPro with No camlocks and the Thunder...I hunt in the water and beach, sometimes in very strong currents, I dont have a problem with the flex...I got rid of the camlocks since they quickly jam up with silt and its about IMPOSSIBLE to get the thing apart!...I did a post about it, took a couple of Channelloks and a hammer! :laughing: That was a few years ago...no trouble with the flex, just hunt...
Mud
 

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The rod is always going to flex. That is the way physics works. It just comes down to how much a flex there is. Bigger, heavier coils swung at a rapid rate are of course going to cause more visible flex.

Slower swing speed and/or a carbon fiber rod will help a lot.

You just need to be careful about adding weight away from the detector's center of gravity. The heavier you make the coil side of the detector, the shorter your hunting days will become. Swinging something that is not properly balances is .... hard.
 
here is a video I saw with the AtPro and the Nel Thunder coil .. about 3:45 into it .. you will see what looks like flexing to me .. .. tell me what you think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f24KwBXGbVg




He has no camlock in the shaft and its actually wiggling back and forth from being loose.

They do all flex a little. The longer you have the shaft extended the more it will flex. Should only extend the shaft far enough to get just barely past your feet when walking , you don't want it sticking way out there ahead of you ,....keep the shaft as short as possible and slow the swing speed down some.
 
He has no camlock in the shaft and its actually wiggling back and forth from being loose.

They do all flex a little. The longer you have the shaft extended the more it will flex. Should only extend the shaft far enough to get just barely past your feet when walking , you don't want it sticking way out there ahead of you ,....keep the shaft as short as possible and slow the swing speed down some.

if you look further into the video at about 4:11 in you can see the cam locks on the shaft ..


I replaced the stock lower rod with a anderson carbon fiber one .. I can swing it silly and I see none of that on my AtPro
 
I suggest you wait and see. Make sure your cam locks are tight and see if any problem really exists before investing in anything. Don't try to solve a non-existent problem. For sure don't put Flexseal on it - that stuff may be good for water leaks, but it's mostly rubber and will not make the shaft more rigid. GL
 
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