Recently purchased a used Excalibur. Was not it the conditioned as described. Right off the bat had headphone cable cracked and the coil had fracture crack. With the help of some old timers and their advice I got this back together.
Learned a few things in the process. Seems to work well, and found some junkers. Oh well, if it would have been the real thing I would have got it.
Planning to go hunting soon...
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Thanks for looking.
That top one is a damn nice junker!! Congrats on the new used machine!
Ed
Cool digs anyway.
Is that your mod - putting on the GG Headphones?
I purchased an Ecal II last year and it has original headphones
(05-03-2016 07:25 PM)Ohio Dirt Fisher Wrote: [ -> ]That top one is a damn nice junker!! Congrats on the new used machine!
Ed
Yes, it might be my best gold plated junker. Lol. It looked nice in the scoop and it got me excited. Better than a pulltab.
(05-03-2016 08:24 PM)Bigtony Wrote: [ -> ]Cool digs anyway.
Is that your mod - putting on the GG Headphones?
I purchased an Ecal II last year and it has original headphones
Yes, the gga have been added. Not sure who first did this mod, probably OBN since he has used and modified excal for years. There is some pros and cons with this mod. Headphones are only good for 30ft in depth. I'm a surf hunter, doubtful I see 10ft. They feel better than the Yellow koss and like the volume knob. I mount my excal on cpvc rack in backpack. So this knob is nice. Minelab will not work on modified equipment. So it is best to do the mods with new end caps. That way you could bring it back to stock quickly. I know a guy that sells endcaps with the heyco connectors.
I would recommend you check those orings under the knobs. This is the most likely spot for water intrusion. They are easy to replace, once you know how. First inspect them for cracks.. OBN has a nice video on how to replace. But we found using a plastic pen helps to install new ones.
Sorry to hear your purchase was not as described
But I'm glad you were able to fix it.
Pretty sweet finds too!
That's the set up I'd like to have for the beach. Or the cz-21. Let us know how it goes!
(05-03-2016 07:18 PM)updownup Wrote: [ -> ]Recently purchased a used Excalibur. Was not it the conditioned as described. Right off the bat had headphone cable cracked and the coil had fracture crack. With the help of some old timers and their advice I got this back together.
Learned a few things in the process. Seems to work well, and found some junkers. Oh well, if it would have been the real thing I would have got it.
Planning to go hunting soon...
Thanks for looking.
Nice ones for junkers! Shame about the detector! How much was it?
Nice ones for junkers! Shame about the detector! How much was it?
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Vipemc that is the way it goes, hit and miss buying used equipment online. I paid 775 shipped and stuck another 200 in it. For 995 I know I could have gotten one in better condition. Oh well, maybe this one is special and reaches deeper. lol. However, the headphones I added is better in my opinion than Koss using 50mm piezo for my type of hunting.
I'm working to obtain a few end caps. I have a friend that runs a CNC shop and I can purchase the materials. Right now I know another guy that will sell some. Since this is not something I need often might be best to get them from Dave. Plus remember guys, not everyone is equal in repairing. You can easily ruining the machine. Sometimes it is best to pay someone with more experience.
I might put a different coil on it in the future. The stock coil on the excal works great, but they are lacking in their construction. You take a solid poured land coil off a Sovereign BBS and it is built better in my opinion.
I did learn a few things when repairing machine. Fiberglass resin did NOT bond to the epoxy coil. Used two part epoxy and fiber mesh to repair the cracks. Then I coated it with bedliner coating. Plus still use the coil cover. Don't suspect any problems from it now.
Note: I was pleasantly surprised the knob seals looked good. I replaced one just to know how to do the job in the future. With this being said, it was a good machine it just had problems and should have cost less in my opinion.
My friend, bought a brand new excal 3 yrs ago. Had it in the water only a few times. I told him about what I read from other guys using the machine. And encouraged him to look at his. He was shocked, one was popping out and all of them were cracked dry rotten. This machine was almost new. He was thankful I told him about this and we are thankful the information was on a MD forum. Wish I say it was from here. But as this site grows this information will be on here too. Maybe we make a video showing this process. It is suggest if in the water more than 30 times a year you use replace them annually. Inspect once a month to be safe.
Thanks for everyone's comments and when buying online pictures mean the most. Lack of means "Caveat Emptor"