My Nox has just flooded.

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cudamark

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There is an o-ring built into the waterproof connector of waterproof headphones for the nox a standard audio connector does not have the o-ring and is not water proof when it is put under pressure from being put under water.

My understanding is that the seal was more to protect the headphones and keep salt water and corrosion out of the connector so it doesn't short out, and that the socket was truly waterproof whether you used sealed headphone connectors or not.
 

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cudamark

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I was thinking of buying one but not now. I'll go for the old faithfull Excalibur and if I can find a 1000 better still. That flooding scares the crap out of me. Happening to much lately, not worth the chance.

What's to fear? If it leaks, you get a new one. You figure you're going to get electrocuted or something?:icon_scratch:
 

Bayoutalker

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doesnt matter one bit. The audio plug receiver is waterproof on its own.
I've heard that but I don't know if I believe it. Is that written in the manual? I keep the plug in mine until I get waterproof phones.
 

Bayoutalker

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doesnt matter one bit. The audio plug receiver is waterproof on its own.
Here is the page from the manual. From what it says I would not believe the socket is waterproof unless something is screwed in. Screenshot_20191101-183101_Adobe%20Acrobat.jpg
 

smokeythecat

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ROFL "electrocuted?" Priceless. Needed that.
 

Jason in Enid

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Here is the page from the manual. From what it says I would not believe the socket is waterproof unless something is screwed in.


Trust me, this was all hashed out when it was first released. The designed phones have an o-ring to keep grit and saltwater out. You are supposed to use a waterproof phone connector in UW situations to keep saltwater from corroding the socket. The manual even states that if you get saltwater in the headphone socket to dry it out to prevent corrosion.
 

OBN

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My question to Minelab's is how much does it cost for a head unit?.............. for 3 years goes fast when you plan on owning a machine for many. 2021 is going to be interesting for they sold a bunch last year.

And Jason in Enid, that's a good question for Treasure Hunter on the excal, I've never seen any flood right out of the box but several once they had some time on them and mostly the knob shaft top O ring..and from use or neglect. Treasure Hunter since you worked at Minelab Kelly co was this common? I think the Nox has done well, look at all of the other issues the excals have had in time...Cable issues/cracking, headphone and coil cable......battery cable internal broken wire, bad coils........and this is in the long run, many are just getting old. Thank God I can repair my own excal, I would be broke.
 

vferrari

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smokeythecat

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OBN = maybe we should have a contest on the cost of the head - I'd say $450.00. Just a guess based on the overall cost.

No machine I have ever owned has broken, and I've tried. I sent in one of my Tesoros I purchased used for a tweaking, cost $40.
 

Jason in Enid

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My question to Minelab's is how much does it cost for a head unit?.............. for 3 years goes fast when you plan on owning a machine for many. 2021 is going to be interesting for they sold a bunch last year.

And Jason in Enid, that's a good question for Treasure Hunter on the excal, I've never seen any flood right out of the box but several once they had some time on them and mostly the knob shaft top O ring..and from use or neglect. Treasure Hunter since you worked at Minelab Kelly co was this common? I think the Nox has done well, look at all of the other issues the excals have had in time...Cable issues/cracking, headphone and coil cable......battery cable internal broken wire, bad coils........and this is in the long run, many are just getting old. Thank God I can repair my own excal, I would be broke.

You dont remember the last time ML changed the excal and made them florescent green? There were a lot of people with flooding problems on brand new machines. Even repaired machines had a higher than expected mortality rate. I dont remember what the issue was, I think it was bad coil wires or coil sealing, but they definitely had a rough patch for a year or 2.
 

SpareSomeChange

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That really sucks man, sorry to hear it. I do agree with others, you paid good money for it and one of the conditions you bought it for was that it IS waterproof....today tom. and the next. I say keep dunking it. lol maybe if you're a big enough pain in the butt they'll start testing yours before they send them to you.
 

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My question to Minelab's is how much does it cost for a head unit?.............. for 3 years goes fast when you plan on owning a machine for many. 2021 is going to be interesting for they sold a bunch last year.

And Jason in Enid, that's a good question for Treasure Hunter on the excal, I've never seen any flood right out of the box but several once they had some time on them and mostly the knob shaft top O ring..and from use or neglect. Treasure Hunter since you worked at Minelab Kelly co was this common? I think the Nox has done well, look at all of the other issues the excals have had in time...Cable issues/cracking, headphone and coil cable......battery cable internal broken wire, bad coils........and this is in the long run, many are just getting old. Thank God I can repair my own excal, I would be broke.


LOL, OBN, you know more about excal than I do, but I do know some. The florescent green one I think Jason is talking is the Excal II, it was released in 2007, I didnt start working for ML till 2015 although I got to know Gary Schafer the head of Minelab Americas at the time when they were still in Las Vegas back in 2008, that was first time I was offered job, I declined because I didnt want to move to Vegas then.

I am not aware of any bulk failures of the excal II, especially the Excal II. Some of the sword models had issue because they didnt pour resin in the end caps where the wires passed through for the coil, battery and headphone cables on the early productions.

I did see a couple of new excals where the end caps of the excals didnt have poured resin but they were only a couple exceptions, not batches.

The most common failure on the excals are the switches being bumped hard which cracks the collars around the knobs and the end caps being bumped hard cracking the end caps causing leaks.

I currently own 5 excals all with different size coils, 4 have the remote pp mode, one is stock 10", no mods. Like you either I or my hunting partner dave can fix any issue with most of our detectors.

I do know if you dont use the Nox water proof connector for headphones and just plug in a standard 3.5mm headphone jack it will leak under water pressure. I even added an extra o'ring on mine, one is stock internal and one I added fits around the external side of the HP jack so mine is protected by 2 o-rings.
 

vferrari

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I do know if you dont use the Nox water proof connector for headphones and just plug in a standard 3.5mm headphone jack it will leak under water pressure. I even added an extra o'ring on mine, one is stock internal and one I added fits around the external side of the HP jack so mine is protected by 2 o-rings.

Water will leak into the jack but not into the housing electronics as there is another o-ring behind the jack. You just need to dry out the jack as stated in the user manual section I clipped above if your headphone detection circuit is activated by the conductivity of any residual water in the jack but no circuit damage should occur and you will want to do that to prevent any long term corrosion of the metallic jack contacts by salt water. Therefore, you are still covered by warranty even if you submerge the Equinox with nothing covering the jack (no dust plug or headphone needs to be plugged in) per the user manual excerpt as long as you dry it out. Using the appropriate connector with a set of waterproof headphones will prevent this of course, but it more of an annoyance vs. detrimental to the detector if you do submerge it with a standard plug or no plug at all. Just dry it out.
 

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Iffy Signals

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The percentage of leaking Noxs could be far greater than anyone knows. I am reading that the small amount of Equinox users are having issues.. how do we know that? Small amount of Tnet users? Mine has never been submerged.. mine could be a leaker but i hunt land and shallow water. Small amount of people with flooding issues is not accurate when the OP has had two flood, Calabash one flood and a brand new one needed burping, his friends flooded and this is just in our little Tnet world.. its a huge problem that im sure ML is working on or has already corrected.
 

vferrari

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The percentage of leaking Noxs could be far greater than anyone knows. I am reading that the small amount of Equinox users are having issues.. how do we know that? Small amount of Tnet users? Mine has never been submerged.. mine could be a leaker but i hunt land and shallow water. Small amount of people with flooding issues is not accurate when the OP has had two flood, Calabash one flood and a brand new one needed burping, his friends flooded and this is just in our little Tnet world.. its a huge problem that im sure ML is working on or has already corrected.

And neither he nor his friend have had an issue since after Minelab HONORED THE WARRANTY on both those machines and replaced them. (Burping a machine is not a defect as it is designed to work that way with the one-way valve that protects the internals from water pressure as fully explained in Calabash's video).

Regardless of the actual percentage, ML is honoring the warranty, so other than the hassle of not having your detector for a couple days, what does it matter?

I will be seeing some ML people this week and will see if I can get some information on submerged unit failure rates, but frankly, if people want to fret about it so much, fine with me. The fewer Equinoxes I see on the beach, the better.
 

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Water will leak into the jack but not into the housing electronics as there is another o-ring behind the jack. You just need to dry out the jack as stated in the user manual section I clipped above if your headphone detection circuit is activated by the conductivity of any residual water in the jack but no circuit damage should occur and you will want to do that to prevent any long term corrosion of the metallic jack contacts by salt water. Therefore, you are still covered by warranty even if you submerge the Equinox with nothing covering the jack (no dust plug or headphone needs to be plugged in) per the user manual excerpt as long as you dry it out. Using the appropriate connector with a set of waterproof headphones will prevent this of course, but it more of an annoyance vs. detrimental to the detector if you do submerge it with a standard plug or no plug at all. Just dry it out.

That's if the other o-ring is there and seated properly. I want run mine with out waterproof headphones if I'm in salt water.
 

vferrari

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That's if the other o-ring is there and seated properly. I want run mine with out waterproof headphones if I'm in salt water.



Agree with you, I wouldn't actually run mine that way either because you are relying on that last o ring and who wants to hassle with making sure the connector is rinsed of salt water and dried out after submerged use, so it makes sense to add the extra protective robustness of a properly designed headphone connector. All I was trying to point out is that ML DESIGNED the detector to be able to be submerged with nothing plugged into that recessed headphone jack including that flimsy plastic screw-in dust cover. Since you've repaired your fair share Excals and other water rigs, I trust your judgment on where you are willing to roll the dice as far as watertight designs are concerned, especially on your own detector.I
 

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