Déus Charging Check & Confirmation

[Fisher1266X]

With regards to the coil charging (or not in some cases) I constantly check the progress of all three units over the charge period. When the coil indicates it is charged I then look at the control box and headphones to ensure that they are charged too whilst still connected and the current flowing.

Check that the charging pins are dead straight and the contact points on the coil are clean as well as the clamp fitting area.

As you can see from the picture below, my contacts aren't the most perfect surfaces at all

P1040298.JPG

I connect all three units, then switch on the power and observe how the coil reacts as it is usually at this point where you notice something might not be correct with the coil connection, ie; the light may flicker, flash irregularly or not come on at all.

I once saw that the control box was still charging when the other two units were fully charged! I switched off the current, unplugged the leads and connected a different lead to the control box. After 45 minutes it was fully charged.

The best way to avoid any disasters would be to switch everything on at home and check that the battery levels on all three units show a fully charged state. After all, this only takes 30 seconds

Best
Paul

[lord lovell]

yep I charge mine the evening before each visit regardless

[Steve_T]

Paul

I've had issues twice now with coil not fully charging, agree with your conclusion

You can clean the coil charging points with a contact cleaning pen, made from fibreglass threads, that cleans and takes any tarnish off

Regards Steve

[oldartefact]

Excellent tips ... but we continuously hear of people getting out to the field only to find that their recently charged kit is low on juice. Its happened to me. I have even found that my phones and coil switch themselves On at the end of charging. Thus discharging over night or on the way to the dig. So I am in the habit of manually switching the whole Kit And Kaboodle on at the end of charging... and then switching the whole KAK off again.

[Nigel at regtons]

Not sure why the unit would turn on when you disconnect charger, maybe caught the on button ? I've done that myself by accident.

Now then, those charging tips, they are gold plated, do NOT use any form of abrasive on them, a wipe with finger or cloth will be fine unless you have already worn through the gold to the silver underneath & subsequently the brass under that.

[lord lovell]

my deus turns its self off after about 4hrs in the field then I have too turn it back on again and all is fine fully charged does it have a auto switch off if a area is low on targets hence machine is inactive?

[oldartefact]

Not sure why the unit would turn on when you disconnect charger, maybe caught the on button ? I've done that myself by accident.

Now then, those charging tips, they are gold plated, do NOT use any form of abrasive on them, a wipe with finger or cloth will be fine unless you have already worn through the gold to the silver underneath & subsequently the brass under that.

That would explain the "switching on" problem Nigel.. thank-you.

[Fisher1266X]

Thank you Nigel for the added comments and indeed everyone else for theirs too.

My contacts have probably worn through the plating as the coils are in constant use and the machine is 6 years old.
The damaged was caused by the pins failing in a previous charging clamp with one of the pins bent at a slight angle therefor digging into the coil plastic instead of the contact point.

Even though the contacts 'look' iffy, I've never had the problem of an uncharged coil
Touch wood of course.

I have however had the control unit shut down a couple of times but this is unrelated to the charging problem.

As Lord Lovell says, ensure the units are fully charged the day/night before you go out. This is so important to us as we don't want to travel 3 hours to a site only to find that one of the units haven't charged up properly. We do carry spare coils too.

[samuraitrev]

Good advice folks. I charged all three parts of the detector. The coil was flashing indicating the charging process was complete. However, thinking about it, perhaps the contacts had come off somehow and it had stopped charging. I will be more attentive this weekend and keep checking it. There shouldn't be a problem with the battery (it's just been replaced). I'll put it down to user error for now. It wouldn't be the first time. Won't be the last rl;

[Oxgirl36]

I've been caught out once and so now I check everything has charged the night before by switching everything on to confirm full charge. Then I double check they are off before I go to bed - paranoid!! Nothing worse than a low coil battery

Whilst we are on the topic of charging I'm assuming any decent battery pack (like the emergency ones you have to top up mobile phones) are fine to use to charge in the field? Can't see anything special about the XP one...?

[sweepstick47]

Although I'm not a 'Deus' user, I've always had the greatest respect both for it's design and functionality. However, it's true to say that since it's inception, so many users have voiced their concerns regarding the fickleness of the charging system that there are quite a number of otherwise potential Deus users out there who remain hesitant to make the leap.

Perhaps a future model will feature a modified, more robust charging system to allay concerns and tempt those in the wings to join with the Deus movement. I for one would then be a Deus convert'

Roll on such an up-dated model. Regards ss47.

[Chilgrove]

I noticed once that after connecting headphones, control unit and coil for charging that the coil light lit up brightly showing it was charging ok. I bet if I had looked again after 15 minutes I would have seen the coil bright charging light had gone off, but I did not and suffered a low coil charge the next day. The slightest disturbance can interfere with the coil connection.

Make sure if you charge the coil when it is on a hard floor or table that you put a pencil or similar under the coil to keep the bottom parts of the coil clip in fresh air. The last thing you need is any force acting upwards on the bottom of the clip. My detector sits on the carpet when charging and even then I put something under the coil. Before putting on the coil clip give the coil contacts a brisk rub with a moistened thumb. (But not the clip contacts !)

I see the latest clip has more sturdy contacts and so far my new clip is performing well.

[Phil2401]

I was a bit miffed last weekend when my Deus coil did its 'fully charged' flash and then in the field the following day it showed only a 30% charge. Isn't this commonly reported problem a design fault with the charging clip rather than user error? We shouldn't have to swap connections and double check that the thing has or hasn't charged - hope XP are taking notice.

Phil

[Giz]

I was a bit miffed last weekend when my Deus coil did its 'fully charged' flash and then in the field the following day it showed only a 30% charge. Isn't this commonly reported problem a design fault with the charging clip rather than user error? We shouldn't have to swap connections and double check that the thing has or hasn't charged - hope XP are taking notice.

Phil

Read all the posts on this subject, I to have had the control box turn off on its own, but mainly have exactly the same problem as Phil2401. Now when the coil flashes as to show a full charge. I turn on the control box so to check that the coil is fully charged, sometimes it is, sometimes not, so I just re connect the clip to the coil, then after a course of time a fully charged coil, so to me this points to a problem with the clip, never had a problem charging the control box or the WS5 headphones

[Stillburning]

I experienced a similar problem with charging the coil fully the night before then almost out of charge on the field. After reading some posts on the internet I did a reinstall of the current software (3.2) and that cured the problem.

I have also had problems with the charging clips and now have one of the blocks available that is much more reliable.