Coiltek Camo 14"Ceases To Work

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Nov 2, 2013
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My favourite coil suddenly stopped working, i thought ,i can fix this , no problem!!

I am fairly sure i got no readings from my LCR meter so decided to remove a couple of inches from the coax near the plug

I tugged on the wires thinking that there was a break in the wire but they wouldn't budge

I removed the first lot and no result so did it again, so its 4" shorter on the coax at the plug end

No result again so its got to be inside the coil, probably right where the coax enters the coil

Disassemble the coil and remove the coax...couldn't find anything wrong with the coils coax...totally removed the outer covering and could find no fault with the coax wires except where i nicked the shielding wire a couple of times when removing the outer covering

I have since put a new coax cable back on and i have the correct ohms resistance and inductance according to my LCR meter
BUT....it dont work on the detector

I was fairly careful making sure that the two wires were returned to the same connections on the small printed circuit
which was inside the coil...what this is or does i have no idea!

So, my favourite coil aint working on the detector but the resistance and inductance says it should

Can anyone help....

This is my third coil as Coiltek have very kindly replaced the former coils because the ears and top of coil were cracking badly so im reluctant to try my luck a forth time and i have pulled the coil apart to fix it...and since put it all back the way it was originally

Cheers,Ron
 
My favourite coil suddenly stopped working, i thought ,i can fix this , no problem!!

I am fairly sure i got no readings from my LCR meter so decided to remove a couple of inches from the coax near the plug

I tugged on the wires thinking that there was a break in the wire but they wouldn't budge

I removed the first lot and no result so did it again, so its 4" shorter on the coax at the plug end

No result again so its got to be inside the coil, probably right where the coax enters the coil

Disassemble the coil and remove the coax...couldn't find anything wrong with the coils coax...totally removed the outer covering and could find no fault with the coax wires except where i nicked the shielding wire a couple of times when removing the outer covering

I have since put a new coax cable back on and i have the correct ohms resistance and inductance according to my LCR meter
BUT....it dont work on the detector

I was fairly careful making sure that the two wires were returned to the same connections on the small printed circuit
which was inside the coil...what this is or does i have no idea!

So, my favourite coil aint working on the detector but the resistance and inductance says it should

Can anyone help....

This is my third coil as Coiltek have very kindly replaced the former coils because the ears and top of coil were cracking badly so im reluctant to try my luck a forth time and i have pulled the coil apart to fix it...and since put it all back the way it was originally

Cheers,Ron
Ron is this for a GPX6000?

Regards, Ian.
 
Hi Ian, It's for use with my GPX 4000 mainly but also use it with my GPX 5000 ...and nearly spot on Grubstake!!!

I'm thinking it's something to do with the small printed circuit thingy that the two coil wires and the shielding wire were connected in line with the coax wires...maybe i have crossed over the coax wires ,but fairly sure i put it back right....oh, and i dont know what is on that printed circuit card, it's about 16mmx6mm with two terminals at each end

Wierdest thing is that i can get the right readings at the plug but won't work on the detector!!

Ron
 
I'd say the first thing you should do is try a different coil on the detector. The fault could be somewhere else.

Next if that doesn't work Id give it back to Coiltek to fix. They are very good to deal with.
 
Hi Moneybox, Are you back from your aeroplane adventure yet!, as i already have said that i have recieved two replacement coils for my original investment i'm not sure theywill look at this as i've pulled it apart and all

Cheers,Ron
 
Hi Moneybox, Are you back from your aeroplane adventure yet!, as i already have said that i have recieved two replacement coils for my original investment i'm not sure theywill look at this as i've pulled it apart and all

Cheers,Ron

Yes Ron I'm home now with a plane in the back yard. Now I'm trying to navigate the legalities of getting it in the air. I had to remove the wings to bring it over but I've been told I'm not qualified to do that. Then the next aircraft engineer says "why not it's unregistered, you can do what you want". Then one engineer tells me that I have a Rotax engine that has run over it's time life even though it's done very little work and is in perfect condition its engine must be replaced with new or fully overhauled. The next says "no that's a lot of bull, you just have to convert it to Experimental and then you can run on condition not time-life".

So it's time to take a look at the rules and regulations in detail. If you read the rules carefully an LSA (light sports aircraft) that is factory built cannot be converted to experimental, only owner built can be classified as experimental. Now it's time to consult my CASA engineer who looks after the Evektor Harmony that I fly in training. He looked into it for me and confirmed that a factory built LSA cannot be changed to experimental so it would seem I'm stuck with a $35,000 new engine purchase plus installation and I'm not allowed to install it.

Now I'm never happy to be told I can't do something so I dig into it a bit further. In actual fact my plane must have been built prior to the LSA category being born. Mine although identical to an LSA a little newer is not an LSA but a Type-Certified aircraft therefore it does not come under the LSA regulations. RAAus have sent me the paperwork to apply to have my Type-Certified aircraft reclassified to run on Condition not Time-life. It's not done yet but looking promising.

My CASA engineer can't believe it so has declined the job of registering my aircraft. He said it's beyond his paygrade and he works for Qantas....
 
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Hi Moneybox, Jees Phil you picked a good project to do this time, i hope you get a good outcome that your chasing

I have similar problem building my 6m ali plate boat in that i picked someone elses problems ,stripped his rubish out and started again

Very much an ongoing project for me but nearly complete.....in the process of fitting the fuel tank and all its pipework..motors on but not bolted up and just the gauges to be wired up BUT i just got my right eye catarac and a new lense fitted to my right eye and as soon as this heals i get my left eye done...so everything is on hold again ....4th time i've been to hospital this year but all is good

Anyways stick with it Phil you get there sooner or later

With my Camo coil i have a GP3000 which i bought for $20 used for testing as i muck around building coils all the time i used that to test the camo...so should have worked ok....or the Camo is not suited to the GP3000 and i still should retry on my GPX 5000

Cheers,Ron
 
I think you'll find that the Coiltek camo 14" is the Elite series coil for the GPX4500/5000.
Mine always worked fine on the gpx 4500 but my vehicle was stolen 4 yrs and it got burnt in my vehicle, but bought another one and it works fine on the gpx4500
 
Hi Ian, It's for use with my GPX 4000 mainly but also use it with my GPX 5000 ...and nearly spot on Grubstake!!!

I'm thinking it's something to do with the small printed circuit thingy that the two coil wires and the shielding wire were connected in line with the coax wires...maybe i have crossed over the coax wires ,but fairly sure i put it back right....oh, and i dont know what is on that printed circuit card, it's about 16mmx6mm with two terminals at each end

Wierdest thing is that i can get the right readings at the plug but won't work on the detector!!

Ron
Can you send it back for testing or get their advise from the coil manufacturer
 
Hi All, All fixed....When testing the coil the only space left close to the detector i was using was on the 60l fridge we have for camping/detecting and i inadvertantly layed the coil on top of the fridge to test it.......sucked up all the signal and i got no reaction out of the coil...funny that!!!!....and yes it worked the GPX 5000 and also on the GP3000 when retested

I still have a problem in that i dont have a source for coax cable ..be it mono or DD...so if anyone knows anyone or of a company to buy it from please let me know

Cheers Ron
 
Hi Ron how much do you need I have a very limited amount of genuine mono cable and some ex Detech DD cable that they use on mono's I have three coils to finish for myself and I am finished building and I have the cables already prepared for them and at 78 the Boss says that is enough.

Regards, Ian.
 
Hi Ian, I would really like to take what you dont need anymore..let me know what lengths i can have and how much and we will get it sorted out

I had great success with making my own coax for my large mono tow coil thanks to your advice but that was a one off and it worked a treat

I'm still not having success with my large DD or AI coils as i seem to lose the small nuggets when i connect the RX coil ...still good with the coke can...i'm using 4 strands of 0.2mm dia and tried snipping out one strand at a time to see if that helped but the inductance stayed the same but no change in detecting small nuggets

Work in progress!!!......and the coax i'm using with these coils has been coax from jaycar which had low capacitance per foot but too small a diameter( ..i'm thinking !!!!)...RG58 cu is the coax

I was indirectly sold some of nuggetfinders DD coax but it apperantly got damaged in transit and it was not useable so it would be good to get hold of some from you

Cheers,Ron

PS: I''m only 68 so should have 10 yrs left of mucking around with coils just cant get these DD and AI to function
 
Hi Ian, I would really like to take what you dont need anymore..let me know what lengths i can have and how much and we will get it sorted out

I had great success with making my own coax for my large mono tow coil thanks to your advice but that was a one off and it worked a treat

I'm still not having success with my large DD or AI coils as i seem to lose the small nuggets when i connect the RX coil ...still good with the coke can...i'm using 4 strands of 0.2mm dia and tried snipping out one strand at a time to see if that helped but the inductance stayed the same but no change in detecting small nuggets

Work in progress!!!......and the coax i'm using with these coils has been coax from jaycar which had low capacitance per foot but too small a diameter( ..i'm thinking !!!!)...RG58 cu is the coax

I was indirectly sold some of nuggetfinders DD coax but it apperantly got damaged in transit and it was not useable so it would be good to get hold of some from you

Cheers,Ron

PS: I''m only 68 so should have 10 yrs left of mucking around with coils just cant get these DD and AI to function
Ron I think you have my direct email I will have a look at what I have left and it is yours I am just trying to source some Litz to finish my coils only problem I am pretty specific on what I want once I have found that I will be finished.

Your amount of strands is not the problem I will try and work through it all with you I need to pass on the knowledge sometime.

Regards, Ian.
 
Hi Ian, I will have to check to see if ive still got your email address...i have some litz wire from nuggetfinder, let me know what your after and i can have a look

I would really appreciate some of your wisdom as i have had a good crack at making AI and DD coild but it hasnt rubbed off as yet

On another forum a guy helped me out making large mono's with a smallish figure eight inside for RX some would work and some wouldn't but the main thing was that you would be dragging a 6-700mm wide coil instead of a 1200mm wide coil and that didn't make sense for me....cost a packet to set up with litz wires coax shielding paint oscilloscopes and sig gens and wood and glues frames behind quad bike and the friggin list went on!!! Fun doin though

Cheers,Ron
 
Yes Ron I'm home now with a plane in the back yard. Now I'm trying to navigate the legalities of getting it in the air. I had to remove the wings to bring it over but I've been told I'm not qualified to do that. Then the next aircraft engineer says "why not it's unregistered, you can do what you want". Then one engineer tells me that I have a Rotax engine that has run over it's time life even though it's done very little work and is in perfect condition its engine must be replaced with new or fully overhauled. The next says "no that's a lot of bull, you just have to convert it to Experimental and then you can run on condition not time-life".

So it's time to take a look at the rules and regulations in detail. If you read the rules carefully an LSA (light sports aircraft) that is factory built cannot be converted to experimental, only owner built can be classified as experimental. Now it's time to consult my CASA engineer who looks after the Evektor Harmony that I fly in training. He looked into it for me and confirmed that a factory built LSA cannot be changed to experimental so it would seem I'm stuck with a $35,000 new engine purchase plus installation and I'm not allowed to install it.

Now I'm never happy to be told I can't do something so I dig into it a bit further. In actual fact my plane must have been built prior to the LSA category being born. Mine although identical to an LSA a little newer is not an LSA but a Type-Certified aircraft therefore it does not come under the LSA regulations. RAAus have sent me the paperwork to apply to have my Type-Certified aircraft reclassified to run on Condition not Time-life. It's not done yet but looking promising.

My CASA engineer can't believe it so has declined the job of registering my aircraft. He said it's beyond his paygrade and he works for Qantas....
I feel your pain mate.
Engineers are a breed of their own & Governed by so many Rules they have become ridged to say the least.
What i cannot understand more relative to Auto Vehicle Modifications is one Engineers report is not excepted in All States.
I know vehicle compliance's may vary inter-state but the Engineers are qualified which ever side of the state boarders they operate.
It cost me over 2k for a NSW Compliance Certificate for a modified troopy that had it remained registered in S.A or WA was still allowed tobe driven in NSW.
The term revenue dollars comes to mind and so does the term drinking money ... .😉
Outrageous it is but in your case The Gravity Effect is of a higher concern.
Hope it all works out for you though & Find those Loop Holes for a worthy project worth persuing.
Back on Topic though. cheers.
 
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Hi Ian, I will have to check to see if ive still got your email address...i have some litz wire from nuggetfinder, let me know what your after and i can have a look

I would really appreciate some of your wisdom as i have had a good crack at making AI and DD coild but it hasnt rubbed off as yet

On another forum a guy helped me out making large mono's with a smallish figure eight inside for RX some would work and some wouldn't but the main thing was that you would be dragging a 6-700mm wide coil instead of a 1200mm wide coil and that didn't make sense for me....cost a packet to set up with litz wires coax shielding paint oscilloscopes and sig gens and wood and glues frames behind quad bike and the friggin list went on!!! Fun doin though

Cheers,Ron
Check your email Ron.

Regards, Ian.
 
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