Vallon VMH3CS Mine Detector

[Ferric Toes]

Thanks for the response, very much appreciated! I believe my machine is in great condition all round. I've inspected the o ring on the 7 pin female connector and the guide pin, all seems well. I'm confident enough to at least go past that 7 pin connector. To be safe I won't take it past the housing!

Many thanks

Can you post a picture of your machine? It is rare to get one in good condition. Perhaps your's never saw active service on the battlefield.

Eric.

[Ferric Toes]

Quick question on this machines water ability. I know the manual says the coil is waterproof up to 4m. Does this include the entire machine including the housing? Basically, can I submerse this detector?

Thanks,
James

Hi James,
I would add to Carolina's excellent description the following points -

All the shaft sections are designed to flood and drain via small holes in the end plate and shaft swivel which are often blocked by dust/mud in used machines. Clear these out with a blunted toothpick or similar item. If these tubes do not flood, particularly the one at the coil end, it will be too buoyant

The section in the shaft where the 7 pin connector is, is protected internally by O rings on both the male and female connector bodies so that the enclosed area where the pins and sockets are, remains dry. Any leaks into this space would cause big problems, so as Carolina says, check the visible O ring on the female connector inside the locking collar of the upper shaft. I have had a couple of machines where this was missing. The internal O rings first mentioned are certain to be sound as they are well protected, and anyway are not possible to check without a total dismantling of the shafts.

The black tube that takes the coil cable into the main box where it screws onto a compression seal, is often a bit loose on used units. This can be tightened as the tube has spanner flats at the far end, but to get at these the rear battery tube with bulkhead has to be released to get at it.

Finally, there are two small drain holes on the underside of the control/display housing that is on the handle. Check these are clear as even rain water can get in around the edge of the control panel. Internally the electronic parts are sealed with a conformal coating but these drain holes do seem to be rather on the small side. Often the inside of this housing and the circuit board is coated with Afghan dust.

Eric.

[James_LR]

Thanks for the response, very much appreciated! I believe my machine is in great condition all round. I've inspected the o ring on the 7 pin female connector and the guide pin, all seems well. I'm confident enough to at least go past that 7 pin connector. To be safe I won't take it past the housing!

Many thanks

[Carolina]

Hi James: Believe it or not that is a trick question. The VMH3CS housing can be submerged to six feet before the tactile switches are effected by water pressure. If it was not for this the housing could be submerged deeper. These detectors are used in irrigation canals chest deep, to clear mines for troop movement. The trick part is........ is your detector in waterproof condition? First, there is a small O ring that seals the lower shaft 7 pin male connector to the upper shaft 7 pin female connector. This O ring is located around the female connector inside the locking collar of the upper shaft. You should check the guide pin in the lower shaft for proper alignment and any damage of the upper and lower shaft. A slite smearing of silicon and you should be safe up to the body of the detector. Now it becomes more critical. The tactile switches are sealed in silicon so if they are in good shape now you should check the date seal located on the top of the detector body. If the seal is broken then the back of the detector body may be compromised. There is a black rubber gasket that seals this area with two bolts. One on each side of the back plate. Lastly the black tube that runs parallel to the battery housing carries the coil wire into the body of the detector. This tube is seated in a rubber grommet to prevent water from entering the body of the detector. This is the most common area of water damage.
I know for sure that Eric has photo's of these area's that he can post. I sent my detectors to VALLON for pressure checks and new gaskets and seals. They perform vacume test on the coil as well as the body to determine water tightness. Finally there is a O ring on the battery cap as well as the battery housing itself. So my answer to your question is, if VALLON has not checked out your detector
DO NOT SUBMERGE YOUR VALLON PAST THE LOCKING COLLAR OF THE LOWER SHAFT IF YOU FEEL YOUR COIL IS IN GOOD SHAPE.
I submerge my VALLON for 3 to 4 hours in chest deep salt water on a regular basis but only after it was certified water tight by VALLON. Good luck to all of you.

Carolina

[James_LR]

Quick question on this machines water ability. I know the manual says the coil is waterproof up to 4m. Does this include the entire machine including the housing? Basically, can I submerse this detector?

Thanks,
James

[kingswood]

Try the edges of the salt lakes, the old timers all way camped on the edge of them 1800s, found plenty of pennies and a brass set of scales. Pick any old big shady tree that's really aged, also any old ash pile as the old timers use to throw a penny in the fire for good luck.

I am still hoping to get onto the closest salt lake to me...its only about 60 K's away....Lot of gold has come from it
I did take the vallon over some salty clay mixed with magnetite and it didnt like it at all....just could not GB it
Even the 7000 struggles on salt lakes apparently. May have to use the GP3000 and a DD/salt coil

[Chiv]

Try the edges of the salt lakes, the old timers all way camped on the edge of them 1800s, found plenty of pennies and a brass set of scales. Pick any old big shady tree that's really aged, also any old ash pile as the old timers use to throw a penny in the fire for good luck.

[kingswood]

I bought a Vallon 30cm coil Only used it on the goldfields a couple of times. It seemed harder to GB, not sure why....But it was quite sensitive, it still detected very small pieces of metal, like slithers of rusted tin!
I think it was around $1300 AUD from Vallon...very well made.
I will try it on a beach one of these days....but the closest one is 400 kilometres away ha ha

[Carolina]

I do not own that search coil but do have a friend who works for VALLON. He told me that if I want that coil for small targets such as jewelry and coins, it would not perform well. I was looking for greater depth. That coil is suited for soup can size objects and larger so it would be a cache or artifact coil I think. There are those on this forum that do wind coils for the VALLON but I have not seen one of that size yet. There is also the difficulty of replicating the coil so that the VALLON recognizes the coil. I do remember someone buying the 38cm VALLON coil here though and have seen aftermarket 38cm coils. Maybe someone will chime in.

Carolina

[James_LR]

Dear all,

Glad to see so many Vallon owners about, this is a great thread. I've had mine for a few months now and very happy with it's performance as a beach detector (2010 model with standard coil). I've not yet give it a good run on land as of yet.

What I am interested in is, has anyone managed to get hold of a 60cm UXO search head at all? I'm not much of a techie so fabricating a coil myself is pretty much out of the question but I'm keen to give the other search head options a whirl.

Cheers,
James

[Ferric Toes]

Ray's problem was outside interference. He reports that changing to a different channel cured the problem.
I expect that this could be a frequent occurrence for new owners of the VMH3CS and it is definitely worth getting a copy of the full manual to study and experiment with the various settings.

Eric.

[Ferric Toes]

Eric i cant log in for long as if i post a long message i get a message saying i am not logged in. So i put a personal message on teck forum findmall.

Regards Ray.

This is Ray's message -

"Hi Eric,

I got my vallon yesterday and it is in pretty good condition, Apart from when i start it up in normal and mineral . in normal it will go through the process of checking everything and will have a beep every 2 seconds but all the lights flick on and off and it constant beeps. It will pick up a target in between the beeps.

I have tried turning the sensitivity down to 3 but the lights still flash and the beeps. Out of say 50 times turning it on it only went as it should with no lights flashing and no beeping with the beep every 2 seconds and flashing no,13.

Same with mineral will give all the beeps when it should but starts back with with flashing lights and beeping'

What do you think.

Regards Ray".

I will give it some thought and come back to you later. Meanwhile, try another set of new batteries.

Eric.

[6666]

Eric i cant log in for long as if i post a long message i get a message saying i am not logged in. So i put a personal message on teck forum findmall.

Regards Ray.

try logging out, then log back in and click remember me

[below2doe]

Eric i cant log in for long as if i post a long message i get a message saying i am not logged in. So i put a personal message on teck forum findmall.

Regards Ray.

[below2doe]

Well guys,
The Vallon arrived today from Poland. in top order new set of batteries how they got through customs i will ever know. The arm cuffs are complete and it all works. Did have a scare as the the on switch is a little bit ticklish but it fires up so i am a happy chappy.

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year.

Regards Ray