Minelab Announcement about Equinox Repairs

[Rick K]

In spite of having no particular interest in the link which someone posted on another forum to Minelab’s announcement of esptablishing a repair facility in France, I looked at it anyway.

Buried three paragraphs down in this announcement from Minelab about a new repair facility in France was a “gold nugget” which I thought might be of general interest. I have posted the link as well if anyone is interested. I expect that the statement will apply generally - not just for French customers - and it’s very good news in that case.

”We have recently received several queries about after warranty support for the Equinox detector and will publish information about how this will be handled. We would like to reassure French Equinox users that fixed cost and affordable repairs will be available for Equinox outside of the warranty period as well as items such as lithium ion battery replacement.”

[www.minelab.com]

 

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[smokeythecat]

Ok, is this good or bad? Seems somebody is worried about the machines breaking down the line.

 

[1942 merc]

There was some fake news going around that the equinox was a throw away detector a while back . I think this is clearing that up . The only bad thing I have to report is the shaft wobble . I do not want to be with out my equinox for more than a day or so . I know the turn around is fast but I am waiting anyway .

 

[vferrari]

Ok, is this good or bad? Seems somebody is worried about the machines breaking down the line.

I think the issue was mainly battery replacement down the road when the machine is out of warranty (the cell should last around 4 to 5 years plus). Pretty easy to get a replacement battery (it is a standard Li cell type) but changing it out is tricky because you have to make sure you don't inadvertently disturb the o-ring seals. So some folks might opt to just have ML do it out of warranty.

I'll probably already be using the Equinox Frankentector 8000 Mark II with optional shiatsu massage/Lidar module by that time.

 

[Rick K]

The control housing is a completely welded shut unit and the possibility of repair is nil as far as can be determined by a tear down on YouTube. So when somebody backs over their Nox (which I understand already happened) we will find out what an out-or-warranty replacement of the handle/control box will cost.

Minelab committing publicly to reasonable fixed price “repairs” is a good thing. When your Rottweiler chews yours, you should expect a replacement to be “reasonable”.

 

[vferrari]

I guess also that since the ML Equinox is reasonably priced when new, we will get a glimpse as to their cost-to-price margin when we find out what the "reasonable" out-of-warranty repair/replacement cost is. Not sure that there should be an expectation of a reasonable out-of-warranty cost by the end user if the unit is damaged due to the user's fault (accident, negligence, or not). That is why people pay so much for phone insurance and on top of that pay a $100 to $200 deductible just to get their cracked phone screens replaced. So (depending on whatever this out-of-warranty reasonable repair cost turns out to be) good on ML for offering it up instead of making users pay for extended warranties and insurance. Also interested if there will be any out-of-warranty cost delta between replacing the 600 vs. 800 control head.

 

[Iron Patch]

The control housing is a completely welded shut unit and the possibility of repair is nil as far as can be determined by a tear down on YouTube. So when somebody backs over their Nox (which I understand already happened) we will find out what an out-or-warranty replacement of the handle/control box will cost.

Minelab committing publicly to reasonable fixed price “repairs” is a good thing. When your Rottweiler chews yours, you should expect a replacement to be “reasonable”.

I'll believe in the reasonable prices when I see it. The whole rechargeable battery thing was probably strategy to nail hard on replacement, so much so it makes used detectors near worthless and makes people buy new ones. We have seen all this before, and it no doubt worked so well they figured they could cash in with the same approach.

 

[vferrari]

The sealed rechargeable battery thing enables the battery to be recharged in place without having to repeatedly open the detector battery compartment and increasing the chances of seal damage which is simply a lesson learned from the CTX leak issue and has nothing to with battery replacement gouging as far as I can tell. In general, using rechargeables in watertight equipment that can be sealed and charged in place is just a smart way to minimize chances of water getting into the detector through seal damage vs. using non-rechargeable batteries that have to be constantly removed and replaced or rechargeables that have to be externally charged (CTX).

 

[Rick K]

Again, my point was that ML has now officially committed themselves to fixed and reasonable charges for repair and replacement outside of warranty - that included the battery. This is a good thing and frankly a sign that Minelab is beginning to understand what they need to do in a post-goldrush detector world.

 

[smokeythecat]

I have two concerns, just call me paranoid. "Reasonable" to a multi million dollar company may not be that to you. I think it will be ok, but I had my Garrett fixed for $50 and I paid one way shipping only. I don't think Minelab is going to be in that "reasonable" range. With shipping (and full insurance coverage) both ways, lets see if I'm right...$125 minimum on most any repair with max of $250 unless you run over it with a truck. Shipping will probably be $50 of the total bill.

In four or five years no one will probably want it anymore as something better will have come along. I wouldn't sweat it. And if a repair is over $200, I'd just buy a new machine.

The only machine I ever had over 4 years was that first Tesoro Lobo and now the Tesoro Cibola. You however can't break them. I've tried.

I think there's nothing to worry about, time to worry about the weather...taxes...contagious diseases...gas cramping...you know, the fun stuff.

 

[sprailroad]

I'll believe in the reasonable prices when I see it. The whole rechargeable battery thing was probably strategy to nail hard on replacement, so much so it makes used detectors near worthless and makes people buy new ones. We have seen all this before, and it no doubt worked so well they figured they could cash in with the same approach.

I would not think that to be the case, in that Minelab is a well established and well known company for there detectors, as are many others. Reputation and word of mouth can be everything. I would not think they would want to jeopardize that in order to run a kind of "cash in" scam. Just a thought.

 

[smokeythecat]

Reputation and word of mouth can be everything. I would not think they would want to jeopardize that in order to run a kind of "cash in" scam. Just a thought.

Reputation and word of mouth? Nice company, nice machine. Two errors. This did not make other machines obsolete as stated, just look at the banner list (above) for evidence to the contrary. And wobble...wobble...wobble...quality control was having a nap. Word of mouth is very loud there. Seems for every good find report there is a wobble in there. Maybe they were in a hurry to release it.

 

[charlives]

I'll probably already be using the Equinox Frankentector 8000 Mark II with optional shiatsu massage/Lidar module by that time.

 

[Ronzie]

This is why I never jump at a new detector when it comes out. I wait a year and see how it does with performance, reviews and in this case problems. I'll see how this unfolds and make my decision by next March when I planned on getting the 800.

 

[smokeythecat]

I really REALLY wanted one for the wet salt beach. Veferrari likes his and that was good enough for me. As I have posted before it hurt my arm to use it so had to go.