Ever since I bought a used Excal 1000 (Merlin), and had all the work done on it, I have very inconsistent hunts especially when the unit has been submerged. The inconsistencies were due to various issues that I’ve taken care of one by one. Broken Ikelite connector, broken battery pod cover, etc. Last Friday, I went out with Merlin right after work and 20 minutes into the hunt I again had some major threshold issues and went home. 
Later, that evening, I again turned Merlin and wiggled the waterproof connector and noticed that it affected the threshold greatly. 
I believed the culprit to be right there! I spoke with my buddy that did all the work on it and we agreed that I‘d take it to him on Saturday. Well, long story short, he saw melted threads on the waterproof connector. He believes the soldering iron must’ve slipped when he was connecting the wires a few months back. I now believe this had been causing ALL my issues except the water that had entered the battery pod recently. Well he put on the new connector and Merlin was ready for launch.
The weather has continued to be very windy with onshore winds that have made for a rough, unworkable surf for almost 2 weeks. I decided to go back to the more protected beach that I had gone on Friday for today’s 2pm low tide. I arrived to the beach at 10am and hunted for 4½ hours. Today was a miserable, overcast, rainy day which made it perfect for me for a midday hunt. I started off working an eroded section that had I previously detected recently. After 1½-2 hours there I decided to go to the section that was a bit further North where Merlin had failed last Friday. About 30 minutes into working that section I get that nice PT sound…I look in the scoop and….
Merlin has now scored his 1st completely gold item!!! Even though I couldn’t make out any markings I knew by the design and weight that it would be good. At home I see a well-worn “750” and jeweler’s mark that I can’t make out. The 4.2 grs ring passes the 18K acid test beautifully. 
My guess is the stones are garnets but I can never tell them apart from rubies. Over $5 at this beach for a water hunt is pretty good. (And fret not, the crematory tag will be returned to waters offshore to be hopefully never found again 
). Overall, I am happy that Merlin seems to be 100% although I am not ready to call that yet. However, a good 1st step was scoring that beauty today. 
Later, that evening, I again turned Merlin and wiggled the waterproof connector and noticed that it affected the threshold greatly. I believed the culprit to be right there! I spoke with my buddy that did all the work on it and we agreed that I‘d take it to him on Saturday. Well, long story short, he saw melted threads on the waterproof connector. He believes the soldering iron must’ve slipped when he was connecting the wires a few months back. I now believe this had been causing ALL my issues except the water that had entered the battery pod recently. Well he put on the new connector and Merlin was ready for launch.The weather has continued to be very windy with onshore winds that have made for a rough, unworkable surf for almost 2 weeks. I decided to go back to the more protected beach that I had gone on Friday for today’s 2pm low tide. I arrived to the beach at 10am and hunted for 4½ hours. Today was a miserable, overcast, rainy day which made it perfect for me for a midday hunt. I started off working an eroded section that had I previously detected recently. After 1½-2 hours there I decided to go to the section that was a bit further North where Merlin had failed last Friday. About 30 minutes into working that section I get that nice PT sound…I look in the scoop and….
Merlin has now scored his 1st completely gold item!!! Even though I couldn’t make out any markings I knew by the design and weight that it would be good. At home I see a well-worn “750” and jeweler’s mark that I can’t make out. The 4.2 grs ring passes the 18K acid test beautifully. My guess is the stones are garnets but I can never tell them apart from rubies. Over $5 at this beach for a water hunt is pretty good. (And fret not, the crematory tag will be returned to waters offshore to be hopefully never found again ). Overall, I am happy that Merlin seems to be 100% although I am not ready to call that yet. However, a good 1st step was scoring that beauty today. 
Believe it or not I love hunting in that kind of weather. Nobody's out there and I find it peaceful. I only hate when it's thundering & lightening (in the summers) and the lifeguards whistle me to come in. 
