On the board in spite of myself!

Good job getting out there and finding some silver!

Congrats on your first silver fty and the wheat. Good start. I like using the 6 in. coil also. It forces me to slow down a little and when I do that my good finds seem to increase. Good luck, Mark

Plus, you incorrectly have those oblong washers on the outside of your coil ears. ...and your gloves don't match!? To use an old expression, you're a hot mess!
Just kidding. Nice pull! That coil is a joy to use.

Note: I do see you have the oblong coil washers inside the lower shaft yoke, where they belong, but you also have that second pair of washers on the outside of the coil ears, where they don't belong. You may want to add thin plastic washers to the inside, to protect the ears from excess strain, but no washers should be outside the ears. Save those oblongs for spares!

Congrats on the silver Rosie and Wheatie!

Foragist said:

Plus, you incorrectly have those oblong washers on the outside of your coil ears. ...and your gloves don't match!? To use an old expression, you're a hot mess!
Just kidding. Nice pull! That coil is a joy to use.

Note: I do see you have the oblong coil washers inside the lower shaft yoke, where they belong, but you also have that second pair of washers on the outside of the coil ears, where they don't belong. You may want to add thin plastic washers to the inside, to protect the ears from excess strain, but no washers should be outside the ears. Save those oblongs for spares!

Click to expand...

I was clueless about the washers.... thanks for the tip!

Congrats on the silver! Way to get on the board!

Congrats on the silver!

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Congrats again, Kevin! That’s a great start with the “new” coil, and I’m glad to see it getting put to good use. I know you said that you were “doing a pretty half-@$$ed job” in our emails about this hunt, but you failed to paint a thorough picture of just how much of an entertaining sight you presented for any passerbys!! Maybe some co-workers got some video? Either way, that Rosie was surely the prettiest thing along that sidewalk that day

Glad you’re enjoying the coil - it’s a darn good one overall! Again, I only parted with it because it was essentially redundant with my 10x5, and the shape of the 10x5 better suits my hunting style. I can’t wait to see what else the 6” helps you find!

Foragist said:

…You may want to add thin plastic washers to the inside, to protect the ears from excess strain, but no washers should be outside the ears. Save those oblongs for spares!

Click to expand...

I’ve seen this suggested in a few other places as a better option than the coil ear “stiffeners” that got popular for the Equinox, and as a former engineer, it makes a lot of sense for all Equinox coil sizes. I use Steve’s aftermarket shafts, and I noticed right away that his shafts use a completely different washer. Not only is the shape different (standard round rubber washer), but they extend out slightly further from the head of the shaft than stock, serving the same purpose as an extra washer. Anyways, I don’t use a stiffener on any of my coils, and have had exactly zero coil ear issues after 3 years of use.

AirmetTango said:

I’ve seen this suggested in a few other places as a better option than the coil ear “stiffeners” that got popular for the Equinox, and as a former engineer, it makes a lot of sense for all Equinox coil sizes. I use Steve’s aftermarket shafts, and I noticed right away that his shafts use a completely different washer. Not only is the shape different (standard round rubber washer), but they extend out slightly further from the head of the shaft than stock, serving the same purpose as an extra washer. Anyways, I don’t use a stiffener on any of my coils, and have had exactly zero coil ear issues after 3 years of use.

Click to expand...

As I've heard it explained, the problem of broken coil ears happens when, due to a combination of poor tolerances, there is too much flex-strain caused in the ears when the bolt is tightened down to proper friction(or over tightened). To remedy this, one should watch very closely when snugging down the bolt, to see if their coil ears are flexing noticeably. If they are flexing, you can reduce this by adding to the thickness of the shaft yoke between those ears. This can be done with thin washers or anything to build up the space UNDER the original rubber washers. Masking tape? Other tape? Liquid electric tape? Whatever you use, put it under the rubber washers, so the outer sides of the rubber washers are the friction contact point, and your home remedy material is hidden away under the stationary oblong rubber washers, making no moving contact. If you replace the oblongs with round rubber washers, they may rotate within the yoke, causing interior friction to your tape or whatever, so consider that. Make sense?

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

Foragist said:

As I've heard it explained, the problem of broken coil ears happens when, due to a combination of poor tolerances, there is too much flex-strain caused in the ears when the bolt is tightened down to proper friction(or over tightened). To remedy this, one should watch very closely when snugging down the bolt, to see if their coil ears are flexing noticeably. If they are flexing, you can reduce this by adding to the thickness of the shaft yoke between those ears. This can be done with thin washers or anything to build up the space UNDER the original rubber washers. Masking tape? Other tape? Liquid electric tape? Whatever you use, put it under the rubber washers, so the outer sides of the rubber washers are the friction contact point, and your home remedy material is hidden away under the stationary oblong rubber washers, making no moving contact. If you replace the oblongs with round rubber washers, they may rotate within the yoke, causing interior friction to your tape or whatever, so consider that. Make sense?

Click to expand...

Yep, makes perfect sense - that's essentially the same explanation that I've seen...in fact, I found the post where I originally saw it mentioned:

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showpost.php?p=3251978&postcount=9

Interesting point on the rotation with round washers vs teardrop washers if used with a spacer...I don't use a spacer, but I wonder if the round washers rotate in the shaft head on my aftermarket shaft, which would lead to increased wear over time. Bottom line, it's worth inspecting the washers every so often regardless which type you use, and replace them as necessary. They need to be considered a wear and tear item.