GP Extreme / GP3000 Modifications

[goldbug]

Just wondering if anyone has had any interesting mods performed to their GP series detector and how effective were they?

I'm currently working on a few mods for a late serial number GP Extreme which I recently purchased. First mod involves ditching the HEAVY old school SLA battery for a couple of prismatic lifePo4 cells, which will give me a nominal PD of 6.4 volts, so no need for a regulator. Next mod is silent search, in other words I wont hear anything until a target is identified. I figured this was a 'must have' mod as I keep on hearing the detector buzzing away in my ears when I'm trying to sleep

Cheers J

 

[Diggerdude]

Be careful with the mods mate. I would not be getting rid of the threshold, it plays a very important role in finding gold. A lot of nuggets don't give a clear signal and are only a slight waver in the threshhold, almost the same as ground noise. If you make it silent you won't hear any of these?
Changing the battery is a good idea the Minelab ones are too heavy, let us know how they turn out.

DD

 

[Land Rover]

G,day Goldbug , the older mod eg extremes ect run a lower voltage battery than the new detectors and according to Goanna Gold detectors some of the modern coils won't give 100% on older machines ,When I spoke to Minelab the other day they said ,,,,DO NOT SEND A MODIFIED DETECTOR TO US AS WE WILL NOT LOOK AT IT !!!! Hope I have been some help


Regards L/R

 

[goldbug]

Be careful with the mods mate. I would not be getting rid of the threshold, it plays a very important role in finding gold. A lot of nuggets don't give a clear signal and are only a slight waver in the threshhold, almost the same as ground noise. If you make it silent you won't hear any of these?
Changing the battery is a good idea the Minelab ones are too heavy, let us know how they turn out.

DD

Hi DD,

The battery pack Im building weighs in at just 860 grams so that will lighten the load up a lot ..so thats the number one problem sorted. Regarding the silent search mod, never know, if over time I become used to the threshold tone I may not even bother with the mod. At this stage the main focus is the battery, to reduce weight and increase operating time.

Im quite impressed with the detector at this stage, its my first PI detector and was a bit of an impulse buy, the plan was to get a Whites TDI but this one came up at a good price..so I snapped her up

Cheers J

 

[goldbug]

G,day Goldbug , the older mod eg extremes ect run a lower voltage battery than the new detectors and according to Goanna Gold detectors some of the modern coils won't give 100% on older machines ,When I spoke to Minelab the other day they said ,,,,DO NOT SEND A MODIFIED DETECTOR TO US AS WE WILL NOT LOOK AT IT !!!! Hope I have been some help


Regards L/R

Hey LR, thanks for the tip about the newer coils, was thinking of getting a 6 inch Coiltek or commander mono, but Ill heed your advice there and make sure they are backwards compatible with the extreme first.
Not surprised Minelab are rejecting modified detectors, I guess they are tired of fixing faults that others have induced with their bodgy workmanship. Many years ago I imported and serviced Satellite TV decoders and had quite a few come in for service with bodgy mods and I had to reject them also, so I can totally understand their stance. None of the mods Im thinking of doing require opening the case, I dont want to go down that track anyway as it devalues the unit; I intend to use this detector for a while, sell it and then get a GPX4500. The Extreme takes 6 volts and the new battery pack Im building supplies 6.4 volts, so should be sweet on GP series coils.

Have to research this coil issue a bit more, I would have thought the coil impedance would be the same across the SD/GP/GPX series..seems a sensible thing to do, but I guess ML had their reasons :/

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it

Cheers J

 

[kemjak57]

Hi There, Has anyone had any mods done to a 3000 or 3500? If so how do they perform? I am looking at a 3000 atm and I can get it at a pretty good price so it may be worth beefing it up. Nay info would be helpful. Thanks, Rick.

 

[canetoad]

Hi Rick, I have had a GP3500 modified by DetectorMods (Link Technologies) - cost $1000 - about 3 years ago. The effect was awesome - the detector is very quiet, very stable, even in the most mineralised of soils we get here in WA, and it is amazing at picking up the smallest nuggets imaginable. All-in-all I have been very happy with the mod, and would recommend it for GP3000 and GP3500 machines.

cheers, canetoad