Just a little food for thought on my AT PRO

[Doug H]

Thought I'd post this, maybe it could help some others, or may just give others who have an AT PRO something to think about. I posted some of these things in other people's threads. I got my AT PRO in February and not knowing what to expect, I figured I was just on a learning curve. Most, not all but most of my signals had more than one tone. My depth has always seemed to have been off and bounced a lot. If the target was four inches down, then the depth reading might bounce between two and four or four and six. Using the AT PRO in the salt was utter useless...no combination of ground balancing and setting would do anything to help. In May, I was out hunting in a fresh water lake when all of a sudden the AT PRO went crazy. Constant signals with erratic vdi no matter where the coil was pointing. After all the normal things to try to fix the problem(factory reset, changing batteries, etc.) I called Garrett who sent out a new coil. New coil got me back to where I was to start with so as far as I knew everything was fine. Last week same problem happened again so Garrett told me to send in the control unit and coil. This time Garrett said they put a new circuit board in the main unit. Got everything back today so figured I'd put it back together and go out and try it out. Well, now it seems to be a whole different animal. Most all of my signals were steady tones not changing like before. My depth indicator didn't bounce on signals and the targets were a lot closer to the depth it was saying. No phantom signals...it was quiet unless I was hitting a target. VDI numbers were a lot more steady. So all in all what I'm trying to say is it seemed like it was working how you would think it was supposed to work. Now I'm eager to get back to the salt and see if it's any better there. I think I have been on a learning curve with a machine that wasn't up to par right from the start so I thought maybe this info might be of some help to others if they are having some of the same problems. And as everyone knows...thanks to Garrett for great customer service.

 

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[lookindown]

Many of the first batch of AT pros had that problem. Shame you hunted with it that long when it wasn't working properly. At least you got it straightened out now and can have some enjoyable hunts in the future. Good luck and glad you got it fixed.

 

[Doug H]

Thanks lookindown. Thing is that mine is a 2014 serial number. I thought all those problems were back around 2011?

 

[madforclad]

Thanks lookindown. Thing is that mine is a 2014 serial number. I thought all those problems were back around 2011?

Not sure but mine has been acting erratic lately and it is a 2013 sin #.

 

[Doug H]

Not sure but mine has been acting erratic lately and it is a 2013 sin #.

madforclad that's why I started this thread really...just for newbies like me that might not realize their machine is not operating properly. I thought the way it was acting was normal till I got it back this time and its nothing like its ever been. So much better and cleaner.

 

[CladGrabber]

Must be frustrating after dropping $600 on a machine, quality control standards should be much more stringent before they ever leave the factory.

 

[Doug H]

I'm just happy it's straight now and that Garrett didn't give me any problems with the warranty. Some places nowadays don't want to stand behind the warranty they use to suck you into buying their product.

 

[Eureka!]

Does anybody know of or have a list of serial #'s that may qualify for a recall?

I remember reading about this problem before I bought my AT PRO and I read the same; that the problem was on units sold before 2012. I bought mine in Feb 2014 too, and now I'm concerned because every now and then mine acts up too. I thought to myself; maybe it's me and maybe I need to learn the unit but now I'm starting to wonder. Maybe it's not me!

Is there a Garrett rep on TreasureNet who can address this issue and inform us of what the problem is?

 

[Eureka!]

FOUND IT (by Metal Detecting Stuff on this Forum -Supporting Vendor www, Metaldetectingstuff.com):

The first generation units (2010) were the ones that Garrett updated , serial numbers were 500xxxxx. Units that weren't updated still work.

I think I'll call Garrett to see if they have any updates for 2012, 2013 and 2014 units.

 

[CladGrabber]

Let us know what they say.

 

[dale68]

U may have to manually ground bal for salt if the reg procedure doesn't run quiet enough , bal it in the area where u r searching probably will balance about 11 on the balance window

 

[masterjedi]

If I remember I will ask for you. I am from Oregon and have been in Texas all week... I have an appointment to tour the Garrett factory tomorrow afternoon...
Gary from Oregon

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Masterjedi, have fun on the tour. If Sue gives you the tour, say hi from me!

I haven't heard of any other upgrades, they have been replacing some of the control boards on a few first generations that I have sent in.

Wayne

www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[masterjedi]

Ah... I got this too late to say hi to Sue for you she gave a really great tour too... I took some pics of their museum that I will post...at the airport now heading back from Texas to Oregon... :-)

 

[CladGrabber]

Thank you for the write up Doug, my at pro is exhibiting the same behavior as you describe. Since the pro-pointer died saturday (2 days short of 1yr) and is getting sent back I figure it would be an opportune time to get the AT checked out.

 

[CladGrabber]

At pro and pro pointer day 2 at the hospital (garrett factory) still no word:/
I'm impatient especially with the long holiday weekend coming up,I can't imagine not tecting. May go to the local shop and get a bulleyes trx and dust off the ol trusty ace 350.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Turnaround time is usually a week unless you walk in. It will be fixed quickly.

Wayne

www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[CladGrabber]

Shipped it out monday midday, they recieved it tuesday midday.
Got notification thursday midday it was shipping out on its way back to me, to be delivered friday.
Excellent turnaround time, it helps I only live a few hours away as well.
Getting rain now so saturday morning is looking good for swinging a coil.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

I got mine in February too and it ended up going crazy as well. I don't know if we got a bad batch or what. I sent it in forrepair and it came back no longer going crazy. Still, I am just not certain about it...it still seems very jumpy on the numbers, the depth is useless (not that depth guesses are ever good...or are they?). It just really sucks I have a machine I can't be confident in.

 

[Doug H]

Well, like I said before...I started this thread for people not knowing any better like myself that if your having a lot of problems with unsteadiness, don't mislead yourself into thinking your just on a learning curve. I believe my machine was not right, right out of the box. I kept telling myself I just had to learn the machine. Ever since I got it back the last time it has been steady as a rock. I realize that there are things you have to learn on a machine but overcoming erratic behavior is not one of them, atleast not the way my AT Pro is now. I'm was worried that they dumbed down my pro to overcome the problems I was having but now it will hit things on an air test at twelve or so inches that I was only getting about seven...maybe eight at most. And lastly, Garrett gave me no problems in trying to find out what the problem was. They were always helpful on the phone and never once tried to blame the problems on me. Sometimes things are just faulty right out of the box. If I were to buy another machine at this point I would get a cz21...I think it would just fit my type of hunting the best. But if Garrett had a comparable machine I would not be opposed to possibly buying that machine. I plan to get a pro pointer. So what I'm trying to say is that I would definitely buy another Garrett product.