z118
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- Joined
- Sep 30, 2006
- Messages
- 3,180
Quite a while ago I bought a 10" coil for my BH Tracker IV. At some point the coil became a little loose on the shaft, so that if would not maintain its position and instead sag downward under its own weight. Ever now and then I would tighten the nut which would fix the issue for a bit and I'd forget about it. For the most part the problem was easy to ignore anyway as I only use the Tracker in tot lots where it really doesn't matter if the coil drags on the wood chips anyway. If anything, a loose coil was kind of a perk as it would automatically flatten out when i was sweeping under equipment without me having to adjust it.
Well recently it became quite bad, such that no amount of tightening would help. So I finally got around to taking it apart and having a look. At it turns out, the shaft was actually wearing a groove into the part of the coil that the bolt goes through, and it had gotten so bad that no no amount of tightening was going to help. The whole issue only came about because the end of the shaft has a hollow area to it where the bolt goes through. You can see what I mean in the pics. The groove in the first pic was never there to begin with; it was completely cause by the round part of the shaft rubbing against it when the coil would rotate up and down.
At any rate, I found a couple of metal washers that fit the whole perfectly, and when I put the coil back on with the washers in there the problems was perfectly resolved... or so I thought. I tested the Tracker using a dime in my driveway and it seemed fine. But out in the tot lots today there was an obvious impact - depth and sensitivity were reduced and the tones were messed up. When I switched to all metal the detector beeped all over where there were obviously no targets.
I was working on the assumption that as the washers would not be moving in relation to the coil that they would not affect the detector. In fact, part of the bolt that holds the coil on is metal too. But this was not the case.
I guess I will check out a hardware store tomorrow for some plastic washers.
Well recently it became quite bad, such that no amount of tightening would help. So I finally got around to taking it apart and having a look. At it turns out, the shaft was actually wearing a groove into the part of the coil that the bolt goes through, and it had gotten so bad that no no amount of tightening was going to help. The whole issue only came about because the end of the shaft has a hollow area to it where the bolt goes through. You can see what I mean in the pics. The groove in the first pic was never there to begin with; it was completely cause by the round part of the shaft rubbing against it when the coil would rotate up and down.
At any rate, I found a couple of metal washers that fit the whole perfectly, and when I put the coil back on with the washers in there the problems was perfectly resolved... or so I thought. I tested the Tracker using a dime in my driveway and it seemed fine. But out in the tot lots today there was an obvious impact - depth and sensitivity were reduced and the tones were messed up. When I switched to all metal the detector beeped all over where there were obviously no targets.
I was working on the assumption that as the washers would not be moving in relation to the coil that they would not affect the detector. In fact, part of the bolt that holds the coil on is metal too. But this was not the case.
I guess I will check out a hardware store tomorrow for some plastic washers.
