Dear Minelab - My CTX 3030 Is Broken

slider66

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Last week I went to Jensen Beach here on the Treasurecoast with my CTX and spent a few hours in the water up to my waste. When I came out of the water I was stopped by a guy who dives some of the 1715 wrecks and we chatted a bit. I started to get a message on my machine saying the USB was connected. My machine stopped working. When I left the beach I had a text message from my friend in Orlando who was detecting in Tampa and his machine was giving him the same message. We contacted KELLYCo and MINELAB and were told we had moisture in our USB port and to buy anti-corrosion spray and contact cleaner. We were instructed to dry the port with cool air and then spray it. As an added protection to purchase some GE silicone clear caulk and use it around the USB cap. Well, it cost me 45 dollars or all of the sprays and caulk. I did that and it seemed to work until this morning.

So just like all of you I'm fired up, It's 430 am and I'm going to drive south to hit Lake Worth Pier. Here is what I see when I get there.

lake worth fix.jpg

Well you can image how I feel when I turn my machine on and get USB connected. I drove an hour, paid 10 bucks for parking only to find out that I would not be doing any detecting today. The CTX is rated 10 feet deep in water. I was 3 the first time and the second I did not make it to the water. i paid a lot of money for this machine. I love this machine and have to Excal's. My point is that the design is bad for the USB port. They should make a plug for it like the audio port and then put the cap over the plug. Now I have to send the machine in. I tried to fix it again today when I got home with the spray. Has anyone else had this problem? I know my friend in Orlando has. We bought our machines a week apart and we both keep our machines clean and take all the precautions to ensure everything is tight.
 

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kcm

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Feb 29, 2016
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Once again, I spent too long with a reply. :tongue3:

Scaupus brings up some good points, and this is what I'm referring to. For $2,500 (or somewhere thereabouts), I would think Minelab would want to re-design any weak areas of their units. If a unit is to go underwater, it makes sense that there would be a rubber seal held in place with positive pressure. There's the thread about leakage around the battery, IF the battery is not seated properly. A possible re-design would be to have a gasket-sealed cover that is held in place with positive pressure. If they have positive pressure now, it would appear it's not quite enough all the time.

Granted I'm not big into detecting, nor am I into beaches and salt water. But I "DO" have a strong history in design and manufacturing!! If something is made for use in water, then make it strong enough to handle each circumstance. Care during transport/storage? Maintenance? Care in actual use? Salt water is hard on most things, but very hard on electronics. That makes it supremely important to ensure that everything is water-"proof", not just water resistant. Features state "Waterproof in 10' of water". The only way to ensure this is to make it waterproof to 30' or more, but only warranty against 10'.

The thing I'm trying to say is, it's a lot easier to start with better engineering from the beginning than it is to fix individual units on an as-needed basis. I mean, just how many CTX 3030's will ever go underwater in the first place? Is it fair to have something that people "trust" to work, they have it for a few years, then it goes bad the first time they ever DO take it underwater or, heaven forbid, they drop it in the water?

I don't know Minelab or what they might do in that situation. I only know that if it were me, and my prized machine went bad out of warranty, and the company knew of the problem, they would lose a customer. ...Granted, there's still BILLIONS of other potential customers out there in the world.
 

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slider66

slider66

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I just looked to see when I purchased my detector. I bought at the end of June this year. That means it cost me 1200 dollars a month to use my detector until it went belly up. Oh well, at least I made enough finds to possibly pay for it. I have requested an RMA to send it back for repairs however there really is a design flaw in the detector. Once I get it back I will never use the USB Port again which sort of defeats one of the great features of the machine. It really is nice to be able to track your finds to see where all your activity is on a certain beach.
 

adamBomb

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May 30, 2014
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Just searching the forums one can see how common this issue is. Its a known problem for the machine and wasn't fixed in their 2016 update. Users should not have to add o rings and silicone to make a product work. It should work out of the box. I am never taking my CTX in the water because I don't trust it.
 

lookindown

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No fun hunting with a machine you don't trust...peace of my mind is a nice feeling.
 

Treasure_Hunter

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There is more that has to be done for you to fix this. If you send it in for repair, they will fix it, but it is very likely to happen again.

This is the procedure. First, spray with contact cleaner (I recommend you do not use WD-40 or such only contact cleaner), then clean the port of any corrosion...I use 000 steel wool...then connect the machine to your windows pc. The PC will recognize your machine. Then use the "remove device safely" icon in the tray on the right side of the toolbar to disconnect your device, in this case, your ctx. This will cause the ctx computer to release the usb and you will be good-to-go. Anyway, worked for me.

Sealing the cap with silicon is not enough to waterproof the usb in my experience. The following is what I did and it's been dry for months now and I take my ctx underwater for, I'd say, at least 20 hours a month.

Find an o-ring that is used for a scuba first stage regulator. Place it on the flat rubber disk inside the usb cap. Screw it on. If you overtighten, the thread will slip, don't worry you haven't damaged anything. Just tighten until you think it's going to slip again and stop. Now seal the space between the cap and the back of the display with silicon. The primary reason for the silicon seal, is to keep the cap from loosening. Although the silicon helps keep out most of the ocean from the port, it's not enough...the o-ring is the device that makes the seal 100% , which is what you need to avoid the USB Connected problem.

Good luck.

Just be aware....If an owner adds additional o-rings or swaps out any of the stock o-rings/gaskets installed and sends it in to Minelab for any repair issues and they see any non Minelab issued parts or if the USB port module itself has signs of being tampered with or removed where it attaches to rear display housing it will void any remaining warranty.




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gamiller

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May 20, 2013
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I really love technology and innovation but it must perform competently. The one thing about many new tech products ( no just detectors) is that they rush the product to market without all the kinks being worked out. Oh and another downside as an early adapter is that you pay too much .
 

NC Digger

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I have had a few issue's with my ctx. But I can say my contact at Mine lab has been Great. They are on thee ball!
The way I look at it is this way. If you know you are going to have a problem then you do what you must to prevent that problem. Ya it's a lot of cash but nothing is perfect in this world.
 

The Beep Goes On

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Jan 11, 2006
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Best of luck getting her fixed - I "feel your pain". I have one, but haven't taken it in the water yet. I have thought about it though...

10 feet of water isn't much when you also consider the dynamic pressure created by waves and movement.

A quick calculation shows that swinging the CTX at 25 feet per second in still water at the surface would approach the static water pressure at 10 feet. Factor in wave velocity and conditions could arise where the water pressure could spike. Could be wrong, but here you go... Dynamic Pressure

I decided that I would probably only get in the water with it up to the waist or so and take every precaution - even then it's a risk - kept the Excal II. Still water would be different.

Dynamic pressure is the kinetic energy per unit volume of a fluid particle. Dynamic pressure is in fact one of the terms of Bernoulli's equation, which can be derived from the conservation of energy for a fluid in motion. In simplified cases, the dynamic pressure is equal to the difference between the stagnation pressure and the static pressure.

Another important aspect of dynamic pressure is that, as dimensional analysis shows, the aerodynamic stress (i.e. stress within a structure subject to aerodynamic forces) experienced by an aircraft travelling at speed v is proportional to the air density and square of v, i.e. proportional to q. Therefore, by looking at the variation of q during flight, it is possible to determine how the stress will vary and in particular when it will reach its maximum value. The point of maximum aerodynamic load is often referred to as max Q and it is a critical parameter in many applications, such as during spacecraft launch.

Edit: Was thinking that some tape in the right places could reduce the effects of dynamic water pressure spikes; water would not be directly impacting seal interface/boundary.
:dontknow:
 

Last edited:

DeepseekerADS

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Here's my standing on this as a practical person. I own and LOVE my CTX.

A whole lot of people, probably a very large percentage of buyers, wanting to kill two birds with one very expensive stone, made their decisions based on the water and soil capabilities. Many are feeling betrayed and this is a very large forum here = capable of persuading or dissuading potential future purchases.

Kinda like buy & Etrac and an Excal together for the same money.

I'm a very, very satisfied Minelab customer. Great machines!

This issue should be addressed by Minelab.
 

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slider66

slider66

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This is what Minelab sent me and I followed it to the letter but it did not work.


You can flush USB with fresh water, hit it with a cold hair dryer to dry it out then spray it with QRC QD contact cleaner (sold in electronic stores), wipe it out and spray with an anti corrosion spray sold in electrical and marine stores. The brand we use here is called "B'laster", .

If you want to help prevent it from happening again you can put a bead of silicone caulking around the cap after you have tightened it by hand. It is pliable and can be easily removed..I use a tube of GE 100% Silicone clear....
 

RustyGold

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This is why I sold my CTX and "Upgraded" to the Sovereign GT! For the water I use the Excal..
 

drafter

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Jan 15, 2016
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That's bad new but I have had good luck with Kellyco getting my CTX repaired when it was down. Good luck.
 

MrMikeJackie

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I own the the first version CTX. Yes, it was apparent that the machine had some issues. I purchased a thicker o-ring for the battery and used some blue plumbers dope for the usb threads. Never had an issue. As far as the second version is concerned, those issues should have been addressed. I know most people don't understand the money/r&d involved for an entire redesign of a part(such as the USB port) but there are simple remedies for these issues which should be available to the purchaser. I believe they provided "thicker" o-rings however the usb plug/cap is still an issue. As my machine has paid itself off 3 times over/ and I have proven the mods work, I am no longer afraid of taking it in the water.
 

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slider66

slider66

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This is why I sold my CTX and "Upgraded" to the Sovereign GT! For the water I use the Excal..

I am a water guy. i live in the water and I live at the beach. I paid big bucks for this machine and it's a great machine. It just leaks that's all. There is a fix for this. They need to fix the problem and stand by their product. It's a great company. I am sure they will fix this and stand by their machine.
 

shinythings1

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Jun 1, 2016
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I own the the first version CTX. Yes, it was apparent that the machine had some issues. I purchased a thicker o-ring for the battery and used some blue plumbers dope for the usb threads. Never had an issue. As far as the second version is concerned, those issues should have been addressed. I know most people don't understand the money/r&d involved for an entire redesign of a part(such as the USB port) but there are simple remedies for these issues which should be available to the purchaser. I believe they provided "thicker" o-rings however the usb plug/cap is still an issue. As my machine has paid itself off 3 times over/ and I have proven the mods work, I am no longer afraid of taking it in the water.

I had the same problem as slider66, we bought our machines the same week. Plenty of people have several solutions that work it seems... the problem is which solution should someone implement. I've seen Frogmasters solution, there's the silicone solution, gaskets, plumbers dope etc. My feeling is that the port should be accessible, thats why its there. I would think that with all the research that the user community has done, that minelab could release an "official" solution and offer up a new cap, o-rings or whatever it may be that would solve the problem.
 

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slider66

slider66

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Nov 14, 2013
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Treasure Coast Of Florida
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EXCALS can leak too.
Anything you put in the water can leak only solution is to not hunt water.

The Excal has a problem finding chains the ctx doesn't. That makes the ctx worth it to me.


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