Minelab Excalibur 1000 Metal Detector
A Review Of The Minelab Excalibur 1000
The Minelab Excalibur 1000 is intended to be used on land even though it's also waterproof. While the design and balance is perfect for use on land, the underwater design is not that great ( I suggest the Excalibur II for underwater).
Excalibur 1000 - Too Heavy
The weight will quickly make your arm tired even if you're using a shorter shaft under the water. (If you want to test that theory just lay on your stomach on the floor while holding the Excalibur out in front of you with your arm outstretched, and then try sweeping it back and forth,imagining what that would feel like if you did it for an hour or more, as a diver would do.)
The cause of this problem is the majority of the weight is too far in front of your hand. It would have been better to design this with the instrument pod and battery pack positioned back further over your forearm (I've already made this modification to my own unit and found it made a HUGE improvement).
The Excalibur 1000 Has Another Design Flaw Adding To Underwater Drag
Another bad decision Minelab made was mounting the battery pack, as well as the instrument pack, on the side of the tubing arm vertically - which ends up creating a definite drag when the user is underwater and sweeping horizontally. If these two packs are laid out in a horizontal plane that problem is corrected and and the unit becomes much easier to handle when underwater.
An addition flaw in the design is the kind of knob/shaft combination that's used on the controls. After a certain time of using these controls they seem to become a bit stiff, and the knobs on the metal shaft start to spin.
When you're underwater it's harder for you to feel when the knobs are slipping on the shaft, which could mean that your detector isn't actually on the setting that's indicated. When it comes to the electronics, though, I'm willing to give high praise for all but one area. The charging system for the battery reminds me of something created in the 1960s.
Battery Life of the Excalibur 1000
There is NO battery charge indicator that tells you the unit is actually being charged when it's plugged in, as well as NO status indication for the battery charger! Plus they've chosen to go with the cheapest solution -- battery charger connection plugs released in 2008 for underwater devices -- which are just plain sub standard.
My overall summary is that it's a terrific unit when it comes to it's detection ability, sensitivity, and screening and worth the price of $1,000+ as long as you use it on the beach or when you're just wading through the water.
However, if you're planning to work a wreck site, and intend to use it underwater for extended periods of time, you'll find it will definitely wear you out. And suffice to say, the battery charging system is simply junk. I do not recommend Minelab's Excalibur 1000 for underwater use.
Click here for more Minelab metal detector reviews.
|
