Question for Sand Shark owners

carioca

Newbie
Sep 14, 2016
3
3
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi all,

First post for me but I've enjoyed reading all your posts for the last few years and taking inspiration from them I bought my first metal detector, a Tesoro Sand Shark, a few months back. I used it happily and very effectively for several months until the circuit board malfunctioned. Upon closer inspection, there was brown residue on the board and it appears condensation formed and shorted out something critical. Tesoro made good on the lifetime guarantee and fixed it promptly and I should be getting it back in the mail shortly and I plan on hitting the water again as soon as possible. My question is what is the best way to keep it functional for the long-haul? I detect in the shallow water, from wet sand out to waist-deep. There is decent surf going usually as well. If the issue was condensation, how do I prevent that? Should I open the machine after every use to let it breath, or keep it sealed tightly permanently (until battery changing time) in order to maintain a good o-ring seal? I live in a humid climate so perhaps condensation is more of an issue than normal. I read somewhere someone put desiccant packs inside their machine to address that. Also, I greased the o-ring well with silicone grease and as far as I could tell it was water-tight during all my uses, though I suppose it is possible water managed it's way past the seal or through a knob hole. Any tips or advice you've got to keep my machine operational for regular water-use would be greatly appreciated.
 

Upvote 0
maybe you need scuba type silicone? i use Dow Corning 4 Electrical Insulating Compound, but i haven't taken the detector completely underwater yet
 

The main thing is a proper seal after taking the battery pack out, or putting it in. Never open it at the beach, always at home, or in a low humidity environment. Check out this vid I made after getting mine a few years ago, and I hope it helps! Just got off the phone with Rusty Henry, and funny enough we discussed Tesoro water machines. Very good convo.

 

I've owned several sand sharks over the years, never a problem with condensation. I'd bet you managed a leak, somehow. I did develop a small hairline Crack in the case once due to having dropped it and not noticed the damage which caused a trace leak similar to the looks of what you described.

Like you, Tesoro honored the lifetime warranty and I was up and running again, and that is the beauty of tesoro.
 

very instructional Terry, thanks

good music as well
 

wish I had one, bought mine used ( but got a good price)
 

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