Comparing Minelab carbon fibre shafts with metal shafts

[wiley coyote]

I've got an older 4500 which came with a metal upper shaft. But a guy I know has a later model, which has a carbon fibre shaft, which he said it came with. Does a metal shaft affect the detector at all? Is there a reason why Minelab would change to a carbon fibre shaft, as they would be more expensive than the metal type? Could It be the newer 4500 gets a bit more depth because it doesn't react to the carbon fibre shaft? Has anyone done any tests to compare the difference between the two? wiley.

 

[ProspectorPete]

I bought my 4500 new in late 2017 and it came with a metal upper shaft, I bought a carbon fiber upper for it but don't think it would make much difference unless using big coils in high settings.

 

[old hand]

All 45s i have seen use a metal upper shaft .

 

[mbasko]

As far as I know the Minelab stock upper GPX shaft is still metal? Never seen one stock that isn't.
My 4500 is the new model & came with metal upper.
I do use a Sandy Shaft composite upper now but can't confirm that it's any better for depth?
As the shaft moves with the coil in normal circumstances it shouldn't have much, if any, detrimental effect but many believe that it does? Personally I'm not sure? If that were the case then your control box, arm cuff & metal screws in the handle etc. would all need to be removed.
Slightly lower weight & a lot better lock nut system are my main pluses for the Sandy Shaft.

 

[Deepseeker]

Yes, I have a GPX 5000 that came with a metal upper shaft, and I've recently gone the Sandy Shafts carbon composite Upper and Lower. Firstly, just to get rid of that ridiculous Minelab shaft lock is worth the expense. But if you are using a big DD then it definitely makes a difference. With a 25" DD on the end of Minelabs GPX shafts, there is that much twisting, turning, and flexing going on, that if you are running in sharp with a high gain, anything above midway had better be moving in sync with the coil if you don't want it to be picked up or affect the coils sensitivity. Even more so if there is extra flopping and twisting caused by Minelabs shaft lock, seemingly made with a Plasticine/Blu-Tack composite layful:

I'm so happy with my Sandy Shafts. Docs make a composite shaft for the GPX, but the photo I saw showed that it too had a Minelab shaft lock, which really defeats the purpose and expense of the exercise if you are trying to increase rigidity mainly.

D.S

 

[EVIE/BEE]

I would be surprised if a metal shaft affects the signal when you consider the box itself is aluminium and a much bigger target. :|