Charge your batteries in minutes

FloridaBill

Bronze Member
Jan 24, 2008
1,541
5
Punta Gorda, Florida
Detector(s) used
Compass & Beachunter 300, Garrett Seahunter Excalibur ll
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My problem was with the Excalibur ll and it's battery system. It takes like 17 hours to fully charge the battery on it. There is nothing to show that it is in fact charging or that it has finished and is charged. How many of you have gotten to the beach an turned your machine on to find out its DEAD !!!

So here we go. I made this up after my hunting partner Pete (Erikk) showed me how to do it. I found a used one on ebay so that brought the price down on the GWS. The power supply I couldn't find so had to buy that new, but I am more than impressed.

You plug it in set the needle to 1 can go higher but I found no need to and in 15 minutes (YES) it is fully charged, And what I like is a red light is on showing that it is charging and then a green light comes on when its done.

This can be used on other systems also. I am in the process of hooking it up so I can re charge my rechargeable AA batteries for my beachhunter300 , all you need is one of those radio shack $2.00 AA plastic holder and charge away.

So you could forget to charge your machine the night before and think ,I cant go hunting today, no fear plug it in for 15 minutes and you are on your way.

I mounted mine on a board and used some goop to fasten it but thats not necessary.
Hope this helps everyone.........

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I use the "onlybatteries.com" charger too. :thumbsup:

That charging and being dead when you hit the beach problem is usually because excall II batteries need to be left to cool down for an hour or so before use. I found this out when i got to a beach only for nothing to happen,came home and it worked! Was i mad? lol. ::)
 

Rechargeable batteries are a PITA! I had two rechargeable packs for my EXCAL. Drove two hours to Sebastian Inlet and met friends to hunt the beach. These batteries had charged all night, and had two hours to cool down and both packs lasted about an hour before the low battery audible went off. >:(
I converted both tubings to Alkaline Batteries using the skinny battery holders found at Radio Shack. Had to do some grinding as the tubes are narrower than the AK tubes. I buy the 8 packs of AK batteries from Dollar Store for $2.00 and they are usually good for 20 hours. It doesn't cost me anything because I use the money I find to buy my batteries. I keep a Allen Wrench in my gearbag in case I need to change batteries in the field. I've been using this system for 10 years and it has saved me a lot of headaches. :thumbsup: :coffee2:
 

FloridaBill, I copied your Idea and even scored a new in the box Gws on ebay for ten bucks! Awesome post and thanks!

Joe
 

Probed said:
FloridaBill, I copied your Idea and even scored a new in the box Gws on ebay for ten bucks! Awesome post and thanks!

Joe

Thanks and yes that is the way to do it. I have been using mine for over a year now along with Pete (Erikk) and so far so good everything is great....
 

Will this work with an E-Trac battery? Also.. is there any chance it can damage the battery? i once read that charging certain batteries too fast can cause damage to them or decrease their life span.
 

PaDiggin said:
Will this work with an E-Trac battery? Also.. is there any chance it can damage the battery? i once read that charging certain batteries too fast can cause damage to them or decrease their life span.

I think it will work on any battery? I also got a eight pod charger holder from radio shack for my AAA batteries for my beachhunter and have been charging those also. I have been charging the ex cal ll battery for over a year now and it still working great. Even if it was to go bad now I think I am way ahead of the game. You know how many time I forgot to plug it in and then say oh shoot plug my quick charger in and in less than 20 minutes fully charged and off I go. If I had to wait the 17 hours I'd be SOL, Pete (erikk) has the same set up and has similar results....
 

I think it will work on any battery? I also got a eight pod charger holder from radio shack for my AAA batteries for my beachhunter and have been charging those also. I have been charging the ex cal ll battery for over a year now and it still working great. Even if it was to go bad now I think I am way ahead of the game. You know how many time I forgot to plug it in and then say oh shoot plug my quick charger in and in less than 20 minutes fully charged and off I go. If I had to wait the 17 hours I'd be SOL, Pete (erikk) has the same set up and has similar results....

Yeah, i can't argue that one. 18 hours for a battery to charge is wayyyyyy too long to wait.. especially if you are doing alot of detecting over a short time span. I'm going to buy the stuff and give it a shot :)

Rick
 

PaDiggin said:
I think it will work on any battery? I also got a eight pod charger holder from radio shack for my AAA batteries for my beachhunter and have been charging those also. I have been charging the ex cal ll battery for over a year now and it still working great. Even if it was to go bad now I think I am way ahead of the game. You know how many time I forgot to plug it in and then say oh shoot plug my quick charger in and in less than 20 minutes fully charged and off I go. If I had to wait the 17 hours I'd be SOL, Pete (erikk) has the same set up and has similar results....

Yeah, i can't argue that one. 18 hours for a battery to charge is wayyyyyy too long to wait.. especially if you are doing alot of detecting over a short time span. I'm going to buy the stuff and give it a shot :)

Rick


if your not in a hurry watch ebay they come along at a great price sometimes
 

PaDiggin said:
did you cut the wire off your factory charger so you could connect it to the new charger?

yes I did and its thin so I doubled it and then coated it with solder to make it stiff so its easier to put into the connection....
 

yes I did and its thin so I doubled it and then coated it with solder to make it stiff so its easier to put into the connection....

that's a great idea. I'm going to order a charger tonight. I already have a 12v DC power supply so i should be ok with that. Thanks :)
 

PaDiggin said:
yes I did and its thin so I doubled it and then coated it with solder to make it stiff so its easier to put into the connection....

that's a great idea. I'm going to order a charger tonight. I already have a 12v DC power supply so i should be ok with that. Thanks :)

Your welcome I have also cut my setting in half use to set it at 1 now I go half of that and it still takes minutes to fully charge it. What I like doing is when the light turns green I un plug it then wait a few minutes plug it in again until it turns green a second time and you should be good to go
 

I'm glad i stumbled across this thread.. the 18 hour recharging time has been annoying me for awhile. I just ordered the charger. $20 on Ebay. It's going to be well worth the money! :)
 

This is great, I like that it lets you know that it took a charge. I'll be doing this soon.
 

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