Waterproofed Sovereign GT

DocBeav

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Jul 8, 2012
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Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800, Minelab CTX 3030 (17", 11", 6" coils), Minelab Excalibur 800, Minelab Excalibur 1000 (w/OBN's Remote Pinpoint mod and CTX headphone connector)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Finally got off the stick and went and made a waterproof set-up for my GT. (Kinda had to as both excals are down and with OBN for repairs (or burial if things don't work out...."sniff") and now that the storms are here and the beach will NEED to be hunted!)

Similar to what others have done, but not as sophisticated as the Ikelite camera housing with external knobs. Way outta my area of skill! Got my hands on the perfect sized Plano box (seen em from $15-30 depending on new/used or where you buy it) and a medium sized cable clam from West marine. Thanks to Max (gravediggermax, virginiabeachmax.....whatever alias he happens to be using this week!) for having the box for me in his garage (owe ya $$ bro...) and of course when I screwed up the vertical cut in the rubber stopper of cable clam and it wouldn't seal, Max of course had a spare in his garage already cut to size and I was in business!

Easy to install. Put silicone in each of the holes before setting the screws in all the way (on the bottom piece) and cut/ground down the pointy ends inside the box and sealed/padded them with silicone as well. I am using some cheap headphones that for some reason I just haven't destroyed yet and routed them through the same clam. (small wire, shouldn't cause any issues (fingers crossed)). Put the yellow rubber "bathtub" that came with the box back in and it works well to keep the GT in place and provides some shock absorption. Need to add a desiccant pouch or two and we're ready! Mounted the whole thing on the camelback that I have been mounting my excal 800 on it it works great!
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Thanks to everyone who has posted their mods here as it gave me some great ideas and a place to start. Special thanks to Max for his guidance, expertise, and equipment! He is the MD Yoda!
 

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Thanks! Hope it works out too. Will know in the next few days....
 

Doc how is she doing? Real nice job!!
 

The machine has been doing GREAT! I still have not gone out too deep with it yet and completely submerged it yet but it has withstood rain and a few wave smacks with no issues! Even the non-waterproof earbuds I put on it have stood up will till I get some proper, waterproof ear buds for it. Really happy with how it is working and being able to use this on the beach and in the water has really paid off in the last few hunts (see recent posts) and the GT has been hitting some nice deep tgts that I fear would have been missed by my 2 excals (8" and 10") but we will see how they are after both getting new coils (both falsing and reduced sensitivity) and some TLC up with OBN. Hope to hear back soon on how the field test went before they come back home.

Have to say though, this GT hs been hitting real nice and it is pretty comfortable strapping it to the small camel back pack and heading out! Easy mod to do and not that expensive. ($50 tops depending on where you get your equipment). I'm no expert handyman but I was able to do this in less than an hour with minimal cursing and talking to myself out in the garage!
 

I have a feeling a few people will follow your example when deciding to waterproof their Sovereign. :thumbsup:
 

DOC- Great job on that waterproofing job.

AL CON, is the SOveriegn GT a good machine to use on the beach with Med to High Mineralization? Is it better than the Excal or AT Pro or CZ21? thanks bombguy
 

DOC- Great job on that waterproofing job.

AL CON, is the SOveriegn GT a good machine to use on the beach with Med to High Mineralization? Is it better than the Excal or AT Pro or CZ21? thanks bombguy

Thanks Bombguy! It has been working great for me the last few weeks. It really does hit some deep targets! Dug a crapped up penny today off the beach that was at least 12" down or more in the wet sand. I really have been having a blast with it on the beach and will keep going back to it I'm sure even after the excals are back home!
 

doc..that's awesome...what settings are you using? I regularly dig deep coins on the beach now..I love this GT!!!- BOMBGUY
 

Yeah, me too! Usually keep to the same settings most others seem to use:
Switches:
Disc/Iron Mask-On
Fix
Threshold
Band 1

Dials:
Discriminate: 2-3
Notch:0
Volume: 3/4
Sensitivity: just off of Auto
Threshold: down just to where I can't hear it.

Only ones I usually mess with will be Threshold and Sensitivity, depending on the beach conditions.

Sovereign GT.jpg
 

Looks nice Doc, great job!! It's sure a relief not having to worry about the control box getting splashed. I had one to many close calls with my GT and that's why I modified mine, very cheap insurance. Good luck and HH!

Dave
 

Looks nice Doc, great job!! It's sure a relief not having to worry about the control box getting splashed. I had one to many close calls with my GT and that's why I modified mine, very cheap insurance. Good luck and HH!

Dave
Likewise man! Maybe we will run into each other my next trip up to loot YOUR beaches!
 

All con... I recently made a waterproof box for my GT. I took it out today and found that I did not check the 6-pin CB Extention Cable and when I got out to my spot and got everything all ready to go, i got nothing!!! I did not make sure it worked prior to assembleing my box becasue I thought that since it was a 6 pin cable it would work... I dont know that much about this kinda stuff so as a result I had to run the S-12 coil right out of the GT box and not my homemade waterproof unit. I get back home and end up looking at my 10' tornado connection to see the pattern and color scheme. I then take apart the CB cable to find that Minelab used 1,2,3,4 and left 5*6 free. The CB Cable used 1,2,3,5 and left 4*6 free. Its a simple fix ...I snipped number 5 and put it on 4 at both ends... problem solved... But that opened another issue! I used the 10" tornado and did an air test with a quarter... got between 8-10' with solid tones when the coil was hooked directly to the back of the box.... I then used CB Extension cable and it dropped WAY OFF, down to 2" before I got a solid repeatable tone. I was careful not to touch wires or anything and I only used liquid tape to hold my connections in place. My thought is that the CB wire is not a heavy enough gauge to transmit the signal from the coil to the box.... Is my suspicion correct? if so what gauge wire should I use? - bombguy
 

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I'd run that past OBN. He'd be the one to answer that.
 

Best to check with OBM, but anytime you splice you put resistance in it....I would use the same size that is on the stock coil....
 

I sent a PM to OBN, I'm sure he will weigh in soon.....
 

I would say your correct.................I can post a parts list and would suggest making your own that way you know it is all correct. Like Treasure Hunter said resistance / bottle neck / issues. I have even noticed the PCB of the Excalibur from point A to Point B can lack. I have bypassed some of the coil connections and found I have better performance.

OBN0098.jpg
 

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