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Waterproof Minelab Explorer II

Saltshaker

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Joined
Apr 24, 2014
Messages
1,114
Location
NorthEast to SouthEast
Thought I would post this here in case anyone was interested:

The head unit was removed and fitted into a custom 3/4" Plexiglas frame. Then the front and back were made by vacuum forming plastic from custom molds. The front plastic cover is flexible which allows me to still use the buttons. It was mounted to an "S" shaft with a custom grip, battery pod (3 cell lipo in a waterproof tube), custom stand, waterproof headphone jack and an arm cuff made by Plugger. The original Minelab upper and lower shafts were used with a "splice" tube mounted below which allows me to change coils and currently has an 8x6 SEF coil attached. Hope you like it.
 

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That's awesome! A lot of time, work, and engineering went into that! Good job. You may have found a niche money maker retro fitting MDs to be waterproof.
 
What do my eyes see???

thats ******* epic! i like that..... complete obsessive compulsive dissorder ... but is very VERY cool! thanks for posting. :jawdrop:
 
Send me your paypal info and I'll be waiting for mine in the mail!

Actually, another forum member saw something like that in use at the beach and sent me a PM about it. How long have you been using yours? I still have the plano-box setup, but would love to do the same you.

-David
 
Send me your paypal info and I'll be waiting for mine in the mail!

Actually, another forum member saw something like that in use at the beach and sent me a PM about it. How long have you been using yours? I still have the plano-box setup, but would love to do the same you.

-David

I wish a project like this would be cost effective, I could make some money but the time involved would never justify the cost. However, knowing what I know now, I could make one 3 times as fast. There is a full parts list and frame templates on pdf so anyone (with the proper skill) can do it.

I just finished this project so no real time has been spend out in the field with this unit.
 
Hey Salt, maybe it would make sense to make a small run of these? Say 4-10 assemblies? What about giving me a price for that???
 
It would take forever to make 4-10...not even worth the time besides Im not really interested in making money from this. Everything was hand made...just one frame assembly would take 30 hours with everything, front, back and gaskets. If you have a band saw and dremel tool, anyone can do it with the templates I made. Just trace it out and cut then finish off with the dremel. The only thing I could offer is the front and back vacuum forms since I have the positive molds. You would still need to cut them down to fit but at least the tricky part is done.


Hey Salt, maybe it would make sense to make a small run of these? Say 4-10 assemblies? What about giving me a price for that???
 
The only thing I could offer is the front and back vacuum forms since I have the positive molds.

That is the hardest part for me to source. The rest just seams like making a few calls to order material and spending some time in the workshop. Well, if you ever get the opportunity to make those, let me know. :yes:

-David
 
That is the hardest part for me to source. The rest just seams like making a few calls to order material and spending some time in the workshop. Well, if you ever get the opportunity to make those, let me know. :yes:

-David

I can make the front and back in about a half an hour. Most of the time is spent cutting and trimming the parts down to fit the frame. You can order a piece of 3/4 plexi from online and then cut it down. But as I said, it takes a while to do because great care has to be given during the whole process to avoid any damage to the frame especially when drilling the holes. I came very close to ruining mine.
 
Very nice work!

I would be interested in the details of the splice tube.

I have a 5' extension cable for my Tesoro that would allow me to remote the control box inside the pocket of my chest waders but I wasn't sure how to waterproof the connection. I could use my 10x12 coil for smooth open areas and the 7 or 8 coil for tighter rocky areas of local lakes and rivers.
 
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