I poked around with this thing and had the "usual" bounty hunter problem of the darn thing falsing at any bump or when submerged. Since I plan to build my own brain-board PI detector to replace the board in this old bounty hunter I had some learning to do. And this thing was my victim to learn on.
Always my first step: Repair and improve the existing product. It's the best crash course on how something works and thinks, usually involves serious web searching on forums like this.
Hacking equipment isn't always fun. It normally involves allot of research, then VERY careful inspection of the equipment. Almost like archeology you have to peel back the layers. Mostly it just sucks, but sometimes you find the jem.
My first discovery was the cable that attached to the box from the coil. EVERY wire but one was cold soldered and could be easily pulled out by hand. (after much pain-staking carving on the plug to remove the housing.) The only wire that wasn't cold soldered was the "common" white wire. Interesting.
Note: If your not curious why it failed, don't do this, it's a pain. Clip the damn thing off and be done with it. On BOTH sides. Remove/Replace
--I removed both sides of the plug, replacing them for now with a common 4 point plug you can get off any old computer power supply. Though the plug has six (6) pins it only requires four (4.)
That done, and happy with myself. I shot off to the beach at Tybee Island only to be defeated once my coil hit salt water. The old problem returned and with a vengeance that could not be ignored by simply moving around the coil wire.
I let this sit for a while and only today finally dug in and solved the problem.
ITS IN THE COIL ITSELF!
Yep. I found another cold solder. This time it was the "ground" silver wire. The little "tube" that the coil wire inters into the coil is NOT sealed. It's only healed in by friction. This let in salt water and created a buildup that caused an intermittent contact with the coil ground.
--I re-soldered ALL contacts inside the coil. After spending a few hours slowly picking off foam from the area. Which surprisingly wont burn off, but the plastic that forms the coil will. Don't try this as a shortcut. lol
Result:
A completely functional Bounty Hunter that now detects deeper, doesn't beep when swung too hard, or false when bumping something with the coil. I didn't seal it up again so no salt water tests. I may, or may not, depends on my whimsical nature.
Now that I have it fixed; Time to rip it's brain out and start over.
Yes, I do have pic's. Just too lazy now. It's been a long day. I will post them "soon"
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« Last Edit: October 09, 2010, 08:59:41 pm by lycidas69 »
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