Whites Surfmaster PI - Resurrected

Slimpickuns · May 5, 2018

Picked up a non-working White's Surfmaster PI for $197. Thankfully the only real problem it had was a corroded potentiometer..Well I replaced the pot with a new one and she fired up and works good. The waterproof case also needed a new rubber gasket so I replaced that as well. Doesn't seem as deep though as my GT which is understandable since we're talking old tech here. I'm guessing the Mr. Bill mods haven't been applied to it either which might make it deeper?, not sure.... I heard a lot of good things about these old white's PI's from old timer's that still use them till this day...Anyway I thought I'd share my latest detector addition.. :grin:

Happy hunting!

DaviDs · May 5, 2018

Congrats! Depth on my pi pro isn't as good as my Sea hunter, but still impressive nonetheless. I can plant a quarter laying flat in the wet sand and hit at 15". It will hit a dental filling at 12"+ too. I've only used it a few times but will do some more tests soon. What kind if depth are you getting?

Slimpickuns · May 5, 2018

DaviDs said:
Congrats! Depth on my pi pro isn't as good as my Sea hunter, but still impressive nonetheless. I can plant a quarter laying flat in the wet sand and hit at 15". It will hit a dental filling at 12"+ too. I've only used it a few times but will do some more tests soon. What kind if depth are you getting?

Thanks DaviDs! I only did a quick back yard test with it and unfortunately the surrounding EMI is really intense and causing a steady "pulsing" on the machine, which I'm guessing hinders depth a bit. My GT suffers from the same EMI issue when I run it in the back yard, just a constant steady pulse so i need to lower the sensitivity waaaaaaay down and lose depth. Gonna need to take the PI to the beach and give it a good test.. :yes:

zeemang · May 6, 2018

Congrats man, great job resurrecting a dead machine!

OBN · May 6, 2018

That's a real nice machine and good deal

I think that maybe one of Craig's favorite PI machines, if I remember correct. There is a science to them...

Slimpickuns · May 6, 2018

zeemang said:
Congrats man, great job resurrecting a dead machine!

Thanks Z! I'm just glad it was an easy fix :yes:

OBN said:
I think that maybe one of Craig's favorite PI machines, if I remember correct. There is a science to them...

Yea from what I've read these are great machines and can be tuned to be more sensitive. I'm still reading up on Mr. Bill's mods on the machine. not sure If this machine needs it though...

Here's a few pics of it pre-repair. Just some light corrosion on the board that cleaned up easily, and just 1 of two pots needed to be replaced, the other one cleaned up with contact cleaner..The rest of the machine is in pretty clean condition other then a few corroded paint bubbles around the rod eye-letes..And another thing, theres a slight "Ocean" smell to it, maybe from the foam handle? This machine came to me from Florida..

Steve · May 6, 2018

Nice.. I recently picked up a whites surf pi pro. Waiting for it in the mail... interested to see that threshold and depth

MTJosh · May 7, 2018

Nice work Dave. Now you can hit those thick black sand beaches during erosion. All those silver coins will be waiting for you.

dirtydog · May 7, 2018

Congrats on the new machine Slim.

Whites Surfmaster PI - Resurrected

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