Fixed Equinox stock coil ears (snapped off under no use)

[Bajanick]

My stock Nox coil ears broke off while doing nothing, just sitting. I keep it connected to an extra lower rod for quicker coil
changes and I have A feeling, that was the problem coupled by soft rubber spacers and poor quality ABS.

I was going to swap out the 6" coil and to my surprise both ears on the stock coil were broken off

I did a quick search, found a ton of info and went to work.

First I 3d printed a few spacers to allow the rubber spacers to protrude out more from the lower rod.

Then 3d printed a coil ear saver out of ABS just to get some measurements, then using a simple and common Cad program (

TinkerCad) I modified the coil ear saver by doubling the thickness of the ears and adding lower supports.

Then I ground down most of what was left of the ears but left just enough for an epoxy to surround them.

I roughed up all the mating surfaces with a small wire wheel on a dremel tool.

Using a very good epoxy made by the same company that makes gorilla glue, I went ahead and epoxied the new coil

ears to the coil and strapped it on with zip ties then filled in all the gaps and anywhere I could get the epoxy in.

Its not going to win a beauty contest but it seems to have worked. I am going to give it a try this weekend.

 

[GroundSweeper]

Wow, that sucks they broke - but nice to have the equipment, skills, and know-how to get it fixed in such a nice way as you've done.

 

[metaladdict]

Regular gorilla glue is lousy. I hope the epoxy works.

 

[Martin_V3i]

I simply do not understand a way in the world that they broke off "doing nothing." Do you have rug rats. crumb snatchers in the house? Good job on the repair though.

 

[TorqueMaster]

I simply do not understand a way in the world that they broke off "doing nothing." Do you have rug rats. crumb snatchers in the house? Good job on the repair though.

Nice repair. As long as the epoxy is ok for ABS ("some plastics*") should hold well.

You'll notice he added thin spacers, and mentioned the soft rubber friction pads...

As designed, with the coil bolt just reasonably tight, the coil ears get bent inwards from their natural position, and live their lives under that constant bending stress. The thin spacers help reduce/eliminate the bend, and firmer rubber pads would also help reduce deflection. Add to that the relatively thin ears, with questionable quality control... It's easy to see all this in hindsight -- possible reasons why they fail. I've heard of several other owners having similar issues -- sitting in a garage, sitting in a trunk -- pick it up and the ears are cracked.

Covered under warranty, but to my knowledge ML never admitted there was a problem. But then they spontaneously decided to redesign the these coil ears for the 700/900 release... Hmmmmmm....

 

[Bajanick]

Wow, that sucks they broke - but nice to have the equipment, skills, and know-how to get it fixed in such a nice way as you've done.

Thanks GroundSweeper

 

[Bajanick]

Regular gorilla glue is lousy. I hope the epoxy works.

Yes, Regular gorilla glue foams and is difficullt to work with but they have a newer one that does not foam.
This one is gorilla brand epoxy and I was skeptical just because of the name brand, but it is very strong. A Detectorist by the name of Gigmaster did a test of several different adhesives/epoxies and this came out on top, so I gave it a try and it it seems to be very strong and cures very quick as well.

 

[Bajanick]

I simply do not understand a way in the world that they broke off "doing nothing." Do you have rug rats. crumb snatchers in the house? Good job on the repair though.

Yes I understand how you feel. When I removed the bolt and nut from the lower rod the rubber spacers were completely compressed and it was plastic on plastic contact. Not sure how this happened just sitting but it did.
Maybe poor ABS plastic formula. Most of my hunting is with the 6" coil. I was going to use the stock coil for a large new site I found.

 

[Bajanick]

Nice repair. As long as the epoxy is ok for ABS ("some plastics*") should hold well.

You'll notice he added thin spacers, and mentioned the soft rubber friction pads...

As designed, with the coil bolt just reasonably tight, the coil ears get bent inwards from their natural position, and live their lives under that constant bending stress. The thin spacers help reduce/eliminate the bend, and firmer rubber pads would also help reduce deflection. Add to that the relatively thin ears, with questionable quality control... It's easy to see all this in hindsight -- possible reasons why they fail. I've heard of several other owners having similar issues -- sitting in a garage, sitting in a trunk -- pick it up and the ears are cracked.

Covered under warranty, but to my knowledge ML never admitted there was a problem. But then they spontaneously decided to redesign the these coil ears for the 700/900 release... Hmmmmmm....

Yes, this particular epoxy is good for ABS, just not polyethelene or polypropylene (sp). Ive read many stories of broken Equinox coil ears and I had assumed that it was from abuse.
One of the first things i did was look at the Manticore and Nox 700/900 coils ears and of course they are redesigned and very different from the original Nox coils.

 

[cellrdwellr]

Nice work! I have all 3 main coil sizes for the equinox. All have had 3D ear protectors and beefier teardrop grommets from day 1. So far, so good. It would be nice to not need to these steps for an already expensive set up though. Glad they redesigned the new line up. Let us know how it holds up for ya, please!

 

[hoser]

Glad you were able to get it repaired. Now go find the poltergeist that broke it.

 

[Surf Master]

Same thing happened to me a few days ago , I hurd you can get a kit on ebay , has anyone found this , Earl

 

[Jelly_936]

I did basically the same repair on my AT Max stock coil ears. I didn't have the convenience of a 3D printer but I was able to cut the new pieces out of 1/4" plexiglass and epoxy them onto the coil. Like you said, it wont win any beauty contests but I am back out swinging with it and thus far no issues! It is crazy that these expensive machines have such lower quality parts on areas that receive the most stress.

 

[Surf Master]

Same here , new ears , plus added new pvc 1/8 inch then epoxied with Gorilla two tube , up to 3/8 ear's , like you said no beauty contests , but way stronger than stock now , being I sold the Equinox before fixing the coil , it's up for grabs in the classified , happy hunting Earl

 

[sube]

I will play the part of minelab , Caller my ears broke on my coil . Minelab really never heard of that before lol . sube