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Excalibur Phones Swap - Notes during attempts to replace dead Koss phones

Mudwiggle		Posted : Sunday, 7 June 2015 7:37:33 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 22/10/2013(UTC) Posts: 742 Thanks: 182 times Was thanked: 683 time(s) in 317 post(s)		Original Koss phones on my Excal II finally died of the "10yr" cable sheath embrittlement leading to copper rot up into the transducer/piezo in the headset. Contacted OldBeechNut in the US, as he did Gray Ghost Amphibian phones hardwired into Excel end caps, Unfortunately he's cleared this years batch and sounds like he may not be doing another run next year :( Tried KellyCo, but they (at this stage) won't ship the kit and want the machine shipped to them for the surgery - Too expensive So... Options (in descending order of no going back) A) Use spare NiMH Excal battery pod cap and the headphones off my ancient Garrett SeaHunter XS500 (Mk1 phones have same plug on phones as Excel battery pod) Verdict: Had to Dremel Excal PCB slot into battery cap, no hassles although audio extremely quiet. NBG. Returned headphones to Seahunter in my museum, resoldered end cap back onto backup battery pack and went to plan B... B) Graft Garrett 'Master' phones onto original Excal phones cable Verdict: Audio a little more unstable, but useable as long as the phones don't get wet. Sleeved graft with two overlapping layers of glued heatshrink. Reasonable audio though. Cons: Can't get phones wet. Probably usable - to be tested. Waiting to work out option C for subsurface operations. May end up selling my stash of gold rings as scrap for a new machine (although I 'll find it hard to part with my swag). Will update as and when situation develops. MW

GoldPandemic		Posted : Saturday, 3 October 2015 1:06:46 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 27/10/2014(UTC) Posts: 350 Location: Auckland Thanks: 266 times Was thanked: 141 time(s) in 102 post(s)		Hey I wanted those headphones, but was unable to order them. I did a search and I found earplugs that go 10m deep, but no deeper as it may damage ears due to pressure. Great for me, I don't want to go that deep (Niagra I have other plans for you). I'd be happy to have a go at completely refurbishing your headphones, with only minimal cost for parts if successful.
		Treasure/coins: $1 Other artifacts: 1888 button Lead: 914g Copper: 46

Mudwiggle		Posted : Saturday, 3 October 2015 9:06:57 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered, Moderators Joined: 22/10/2013(UTC) Posts: 742 Thanks: 182 times Was thanked: 683 time(s) in 317 post(s)		Thanks for the offer, but I have access to a fully equipped electronics workshop complete with 2 tame sparkies. Unanimous verdict was that the Koss set were pooched, transducers included. The Garrett masters are working fine as long as you only go neck-deep, which is 98% of hunts. I ended up putting the GGs onto the AT Pro for river work.