As some of you know , I have been talking to Apilus for some time about a deficiencies leadimg the charge for the better mouse-trap…err probeholder! Many of you have related to me over the years that the 27 mhz probeholders seem to lose their ability to conduct power after some weeks of use. I’ve seen brand new probeholders fail within a week of implementation, all of a sudden giving weakened power or no power at all. This had lead myself and many of you, to send your machines in for service ( expensive to ship insured!) which leaves you without a machine to work with for a considerable time as well.
In my experience the majority of time this comes down to the thin inner core breaking inside the wire. These inner cores are very fine and fragile, and any bending or stress on the cable whatsoever causes them to not function correctly. The Probeholder cords are not cheap at $79 plus tax and shipping but experience tells me that replacing it is the only known fix, at least for a few days.
After years of asking for it, and troubleshooting the issue, and plain up demanding that Dectro make a probeholder that is more robust in usage, I’m happy to say, they have done exactly that. I received yesterday what I believe is the FIRST extra strong custom made probeholder.
What makes these so special? Well it starts with the most common form of failure, the wire itself. The wire on these is approximately 5 X the diameter and strength of a regular probeholder, and the shielding surrounding the inner core is much larger and sturdier as well. This leads to a stiffer , tougher product that doesn’t flex around ( and break) like the old ones did .The common failure points often are where the probeholder itself connects to the wire, and this appears to have been beefed up as well with extra heavy duty shrinkwrap around the cable and securing it stiffly in place.
Having had a chance to use this probeholder yesterday, I can make the following observations. The current was consistent. This I think is the most important aspect. Second the cord is heavier, so one shouldnt set it down anywhere but the receptical, otherwise the cord weight will pull it off the surface you set it down on. The cord is somewhat less flexible by design, but I didnt have a lot of trouble using it. You will find a textured coating on the probeholder itself that helps with maintaining grip.
I’m going to be testing this probeholder extensively over the next few weeks,and will update at that time as to how it has stood up durability wise, . If anyone has experieced issues with inconsistent current on Platinum or Xcell, then I do recommend the new style as a suitable replacement. At $10 more its still a lot cheaper than replacing a probeholder every month or so. As far as I know, these are still in a prototype/limited production at Dectro stage, so you will need to contact Dectro directly to get one.