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GP 3000 ground balance button
Topic Started: Saturday 23-01-2010, 15:46 (138 Views)
silverback
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Hi all, ihave just got a 3000 and wish to put the ground balance switch on the handle.any body done this and how easy was it or any problems.also will have my 2100 for sale soon,will put the ad up later.
All the best,
Peter
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Nightjar
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Hi Peter,

take a look here at this link


http://golddetecting.4umer.net/gp-series-f26/gp-3000-extreme-fitting-a-ground-balance-button-t672.htm?highlight=quick+track+button+for+3000



Peter
Good luck & safe travels
Peter


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"Aging seems to be the only available way to live a long life."
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silverback
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Hi Peter, thanks for that.willhead down to jaycar and pick up some bits.have you done this mod or know anyone that has,just interrested if any problems down the track or will mine lab repair or service my detector at a later date with this mod done. :-/
All the best,
Peter
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davsgold
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silverback
Saturday 23-01-2010, 16:25
Hi Peter, thanks for that.willhead down to jaycar and pick up some bits.have you done this mod or know anyone that has,just interrested if any problems down the track or will mine lab repair or service my detector at a later date with this mod done. :-/
G'day this is how I down the mod on my GP Extreme which is basicly the same mavhine as the GP 3000. Just follow the instructions carefully and it should work for you, it worked for me and others.

The link that Nightjar has put up has all the info and a few links to others that have done it as well.

Here is a copy of the post I put up there and followed.

................................................................................................................

Below is a set of instructions that I used to do the mod on my GP extreme

The parts came from Dick Smiths and are only a few dollars

This is a copy of the set of instructions that I ussed for mine, (thanks to Chris, Cactus)

Disclaimer: I accept no blame if you fry your machine. You do it at your own risk like I did!

"You're going to need a reasonable soldering iron. It doesn't need to be one of the real fancy units. I have done a couple of certificates in electronics and I still don't have a fancy one! ;o) A 20-25 watter should do the trick... one that doesn't get too hot. You're mucking around with some delicate stuff there that doesn't like getting hot so don't be under the impression that bigger is better. Sorry if some of this is a bit basic, but I have no idea as to how much that you know. A reasonable multi-meter is also mandatory, and you can get a good one that wont break the bank and will also serve you in keeping a check on your batteries and the like. You'll need it to make sure that your circuits are sound.

You'll need a 3.5mm mono panel mount socket, a momentary switch (have a look at the one in Martin R's pics), some wire of the right diameter, a roll of good quality solder, some heat shrink tubing to do a proper job, and a mono 3.5mm jack plug. Oh, and of course some decent drill-bits and a small drill.

And don't feel too scared of dismantling the box... it's not that much rocket science in there compared to the average computer.

Six Phillips-head screws will remove the front cover off the box. Remove the box from the shaft to make your job easier. Gently pull the cover out... you may have to jiggle the wiring loom out to get enough room to work. There is sufficient wire there but it's pretty well poked in and can snag on the components on the PCB’s. Treat it with respect as it's all pretty much jammed in that small box and you don't want to pull any wires from where they live.

Now comes the scariest bit... well, for me anyway. Drilling the panel. Stuff this up and you will make a mess, and you don't want to do that! Look at Martin's pic of the panel... I changed the spot a bit to make it neater. Just remember that the socket must not foul the circuit boards. Choose your spot, and drill from the outside in as you will tear the front panel material if you do it the other way around. You might like to start the hole off with the drill-bit in your fingers for accuracy... that's what I did.

Don't worry if you tear the shield foil on the back of the panel as you are going to trim that back to make sure you don't have any shorts. Once you have drilled your hole successfully... which I should add should be the right diameter to take the socket, you are ready to progress to removing the wire to the tracking/fixed switch. When you are removing these wires just do one side at a time so you don’t forget where the wires came from. Cut the shrink wrap around the termination and carefully apply heat with the iron until the wire comes off the switch, remembering which terminal you removed it from. Cut two lengths of your wire that will safely reach from the switch to where you have positioned your jack socket. Grab one piece of wire and solder it to the wire you have removed and then place a piece of heat-shrink tubing over that then resolder these wires to the terminal you removed it from originally. Do the same for the other side. Once that is done, jiggle the heat-shrink tube down over the terminations so they can be shrunk after you have finished.

One of your new wires goes to the lug on the jack that is closest to the front panel. You will notice that there are three lugs on the jack socket. One is a switch for other circumstances... you don't need to use that one. Which one? Well, that's where your multi-meter comes in handy. It will go out of circuit when you push a plug into the socket. This is tested by pushing the plug into the socket and testing with the meter in low OHMS mode. It will beep when you have a completed circuit. If the terminal does not beep on that terminal with the plug inserted then that is the one that you don't use.

Solder one of the wires to the lug nearest the socket that goes through the faceplate. The other wire goes to the terminal that beeps with the plug inserted. Make sure that you have put a small piece of heat shrink tubing over both of these wires before you solder them onto the jack socket.

So you will have the socket now soldered to the wires and it is wired in parallel. You might be asking isn't there a right and wrong way of wiring the socket in? There isn't... It's not polarity driven, it's just a dumb switch in a circuit. What you have done is created a parallel switch that only works if the main switch is set to "fixed". The fixed/tracking switch basically switches the machine to ground balance in the tracking mode and when it is in the fixed position the circuit is non operational. You have added another switch that will do the same thing when the button you will install in the handle is depressed. The reason for fitting a jack plug rather than hard wiring the whole show in place is so that if the handle switch becomes defective you remove the plug from the jack and the machine can still operate as it did before the mod, to keep you running in the field.

So now is the time to fit the socket to the faceplate and then to test the circuit with the multi-meter to see if you've done the right thing. You might have read in Martin R's thread on this that he had trouble getting enough thread to go through the faceplate... well, yes there is barely enough, but you can get a bit more. You'll notice that there is a bit of raised plastic on the socket which prevents the socket from sitting flush on the faceplate. What we do here is get a larger drill-bit than the one we used on the hole, one that is a bit bigger than the plastic bit I mentioned. Using this drill-bit just held in the hand... we don't want to get too serious here, drill a little bit of the faceplate material off the back (inside the machine where the foil is) just so that the socket will now sit flush to the faceplate. Basically a small countersink.

Sit the socket in situ and mark around the foil. We need to remove that foil so that it won’t come into contact with any part of the socket to eliminate any chances of a short occurring. Once you have cleared the foil (a hobby knife or single edged razor blade will do the trick) it's time to fit the socket. Get it nice and tight but don't overdo it! They are not that strong. Needle-nosed pliers do the trick.

Now it is time for the test. Connect the multi-meter to the two poles on the fixed/tracking switch which have the wires on them. You should again be in the low OHMS mode (circuit continuity tester). When the switch is in fixed position the circuit is not complete hence no beep. Switch to tracking and the meter should now beep (circuit completed). If all is well there test from the wires soldered to the lugs on the newly installed socket. The results will be the same there when the fixed/tracking switch is operated. If all reads properly you have a successful installation.

Don't put the box back together as there is one more test to be done.

You'll now need a piece of two conductor wire about a foot long (300mm). I used a piece which had a central wire and a shield somewhat like co-ax. Bare the wires and solder one to the centre lug on the 3.5mm jack-plug that you have and the other wire to the other lug on said plug. Make sure this is a robust connection and then screw the shield back over the plug. Now bare the wires on the other end of this cable... this is the one that will be connected to the switch you are going to fit in the handle. Plug the jack-plug into the socket you have fitted to the Extreme/3000. Connect the meter to the bared wires on the other end and do the same test before. Beeps when the switch is in tracking and silent when in fixed. If this is the case all is well. Now it's time to shrink those little pieces of heat-shrink tubing on the socket you installed and on the switch. Use either a cigarette lighter or hair drier set on high but be careful not to get things too hot. I used a lighter... it was just easier to apply the heat in the confined area. Don't overdo it! Just enough to make the tube shrink nicely into place. You can now re-assemble the box being careful how you stuff the wiring loom back in there... it's pretty packed!

The box should be together now and it's time to remove the handle off the shaft to fit the new switch.

Once you have the handle off remove the top of the hand-strap if it is still fitted. You'll have to dispense with the strap as you need the space for the switch. Remove the foam grip as well. You'll need a file to take the material from the underside of the top of the handle. It's worth having a good look now at Martin R's pics to see how this is done and it's something I really can't explain that well. It's something you have to work out yourself.

File the underside of the top of the handle flat so it is the right thickness to accommodate the switches shaft you are going to install. You'll need to remove a fair amount of material below that on one side as well so that you can get the switch to slide into place. Use a drill for this purpose but don't go right through the handle as you don't want to weaken the structure of the handle. Mark a spot dead centre on top of the handle and drill a hole the right diameter to accommodate the switch. Do a few dry runs to test that the switch will fit into the hole from underneath... remembering that there needs to be room for the wires as well. Once you are satisfied the switch will fit you need to drill holes in the handle to accommodate the wire to the switch. Refer to the pictures again as it's a bit hard to explain. Get it so that it's nice and neat and so that the wire is routed neatly as well. Once you are satisfied there, grab the wire with the jack-plug on it and feed the bare wired ends through the holes you have drilled so that the bare wires are in situ where the switch will be.

Now solder the switch to the two wires... one to each lug un the switch and fit the switch to the handle and screw the retaining ring on the top of the switch. Connect the meter to the end of the jack-plug, one to the tip and one to the sleeve. Press the button and the meter will beep. If it beeps without pressing the button you have a problem and will need to backtrack to find where the short is. You may want to do this before you put the box back together as you can test with the new handle switch plugged into the machine. Same thing... do the test from the lugs on the socket or the fixed/tracking switch. When you press the button on the handle the meter will beep. If all is well, then you are complete!!

Put the foam back on the handle and re-assemble the whole machine and you're in business!

Use some tape to secure the new cable to the shaft and plug it all in. Ground balance is now just a matter of pumping the coil and holding down the new switch on the handle rather than searching for the fixed/track switch. You can also search in tracking mode by continuously holding the button down. It is the general consensus that the machine is best operated in fixed mode unless the ground is extremely variable."



cheers davsgold



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davsgold
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Here is a pic of the finished mod, it worked very well and caused no problems.

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silverback
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Hi Davsgold,thanks for the reply and instructions,i have now done the mod and will have to get somewhere away where i can test it,too much interference around here.If it blows up i can blame the wife as its her machine now :D :D .thanks again for your replies and Peters.
All the best,
Peter
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