I think I have a problem with my new CTX 3030

[Erick Byrne]

I switched on my new CTX 3030 tonight and it went completely nuts! Targets started to show on the screen at a very fast rate in many different positions on the screen, even when the coil was held high in the air. It acts as if someone were swinging a bucket of nails and coins in front of the coil. I really didn't think much of it and turned the machine off and back on, and it happened again, and again, and again. So I removed the coil cover and cleaned the coil & cover, I checked all connections and I reset the machine, twice! And it didn't solve my problem. I moved 25 feet away from my house to make sure it wasn't some environmental or electrical interference, but it didn't make any difference. I changed out the 11" coil for my 6" coil, with the same results. I only have about 30 hours of experience with the CTX but I am sure this isn't right.

It didn't appear to be damaged in transit, and I am VERY careful while using and cleaning it.

After a night of charging the battery (I wanted to make sure that wasn't the problem) I took it out again this morning, and again, the same problem. Then I played with the sensitivity adjustment; In Auto mode the machine still acts up, but if I set it to Manual and adjust the setting really low (1-5) it seems to quiet down.

I am very new to MD'ing and Minelab machines, so I took everyone's advice and stuck with the stock coin & silver programs with no edits,so I could learn the basics of the machine before I started to experiment with the settings.

Now that I think back, I do get a lot of strong, repeatable signals that I dig that result in empty holes. I live in Virginia, and we have a lot of iron in the soil, so I expect to see a few false hits, but I seem to see more than my fair share of false "good" signals. I've read that many people find coins within the first few hours of owning this particular machine, but I have only found 2 modern pennies in about 30 hours of use, even after hunting around several houses that were at least 100 years old. Does anyone think I have a machine that might be defective?

 

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[Longhair]

Try this.
Disconnect the coil and turn it on. It should show CE (coil error) because the coil and main unit aren't communicating, but other than that it shouldn't do anything. If it still goes all jumpy and stupid, then you're probably looking at sending it in. If it behaves as it should, then chances are good that it's the coil, not the control head. If you have access to another coil (maybe you know another CTX owner?), it would be worth screwing it on before sending the whole thing in.

 

[Sandman]

About what Longhair said. I think you are not experiencing EMI fields unless a new one started up in your area, like a new ham operator. if it still misbehaves a long ways away from the home, for piece of mind you need to send it in. Sorry when you spend this much money and it goes crazy. But UPS might have damaged the thing the way they throw things around. A reason why I need to carry it home from a dealer. But sometimes that isn't possible.

 

[Erick Byrne]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I think I figured out the problem; I took my CTX 3030 about 30 yards into the woods around my house and all of a sudden, it quieted down. I turned around and walked back to the house and it went nuts again. So there must be something at my house that the machine just doesn't like. It gets especially noisy in the 25 yard area between my house and my neighbors house. So I'm guessing the buried electrical & telephone cables, the dog containment "fence" or maybe a strong WiFi signal from one of the surrounding houses is causing the problem. I guess I never noticed it before and now that I have a little more experience with it, I am beginning to more readily notice any odd behavior.

This problem sucks, I can't run my machine in my own yard! I'm going to experiment by turning on and off the electrical "things" at and around my house and see if I can find out exactly what is causing the interference. When I find out, I will post it here.

For now my dream machine seems to be fine. Thanks again for all the suggestions, I'm sure I will have many more questions in the future.

 

[Longhair]

EMI certainly is the cheapest thing to fix, and it doesn't require sending the machine in.
Have you Noise Cancelled near the problem area to see if it clears it up any?

Underground "fences" are often the culprit, and where I'd start. A nearby neighbor with a new Wi-fi router could also be the problem. It's doubtful that it is burried underground powerlines, but burried phone lines are another possible issue.

In any case, I'm glad for you that there's nothing wrong with your machine.

 

[parkgt]

Turn off your fence for awhile and test. When I got my CTX the underground fence had me convinced that I had a big problem for a couple of hours; the fence had never bothered my 705. Shut it off and problem went away.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I think I figured out the problem; I took my CTX 3030 about 30 yards into the woods around my house and all of a sudden, it quieted down. I turned around and walked back to the house and it went nuts again. So there must be something at my house that the machine just doesn't like. It gets especially noisy in the 25 yard area between my house and my neighbors house. So I'm guessing the buried electrical & telephone cables, the dog containment "fence" or maybe a strong WiFi signal from one of the surrounding houses is causing the problem. I guess I never noticed it before and now that I have a little more experience with it, I am beginning to more readily notice any odd behavior.

This problem sucks, I can't run my machine in my own yard! I'm going to experiment by turning on and off the electrical "things" at and around my house and see if I can find out exactly what is causing the interference. When I find out, I will post it here.

For now my dream machine seems to be fine. Thanks again for all the suggestions, I'm sure I will have many more questions in the future.

I bet 90% its a wi fi signal or electrical fence. They are killer on machines.

 

[Overvoltage]

I have had this problem also, especially around running AC units, i try to noise cancel and that usually works. I also get static noise in my headphones periodically, Noise cancel usually helps that also.

 

[metal.mulisha]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I think I figured out the problem; I took my CTX 3030 about 30 yards into the woods around my house and all of a sudden, it quieted down. I turned around and walked back to the house and it went nuts again. So there must be something at my house that the machine just doesn't like. It gets especially noisy in the 25 yard area between my house and my neighbors house. So I'm guessing the buried electrical & telephone cables, the dog containment "fence" or maybe a strong WiFi signal from one of the surrounding houses is causing the problem. I guess I never noticed it before and now that I have a little more experience with it, I am beginning to more readily notice any odd behavior.

This problem sucks, I can't run my machine in my own yard! I'm going to experiment by turning on and off the electrical "things" at and around my house and see if I can find out exactly what is causing the interference. When I find out, I will post it here.

For now my dream machine seems to be fine. Thanks again for all the suggestions, I'm sure I will have many more questions in the future.

Do you have a alarm on your home? Or a electric fence close by. The house alarm screws with my etrac the most.

 

[telix]

I switched on my new CTX 3030 tonight and it went completely nuts! Targets started to show on the screen at a very fast rate in many different positions on the screen, even when the coil was held high in the air. It acts as if someone were swinging a bucket of nails and coins in front of the coil. I really didn't think much of it and turned the machine off and back on, and it happened again, and again, and again. So I removed the coil cover and cleaned the coil & cover, I checked all connections and I reset the machine, twice! And it didn't solve my problem. I moved 25 feet away from my house to make sure it wasn't some environmental or electrical interference, but it didn't make any difference. I changed out the 11" coil for my 6" coil, with the same results. I only have about 30 hours of experience with the CTX but I am sure this isn't right.

It didn't appear to be damaged in transit, and I am VERY careful while using and cleaning it.

After a night of charging the battery (I wanted to make sure that wasn't the problem) I took it out again this morning, and again, the same problem. Then I played with the sensitivity adjustment; In Auto mode the machine still acts up, but if I set it to Manual and adjust the setting really low (1-5) it seems to quiet down.

I am very new to MD'ing and Minelab machines, so I took everyone's advice and stuck with the stock coin & silver programs with no edits,so I could learn the basics of the machine before I started to experiment with the settings.

Now that I think back, I do get a lot of strong, repeatable signals that I dig that result in empty holes. I live in Virginia, and we have a lot of iron in the soil, so I expect to see a few false hits, but I seem to see more than my fair share of false "good" signals. I've read that many people find coins within the first few hours of owning this particular machine, but I have only found 2 modern pennies in about 30 hours of use, even after hunting around several houses that were at least 100 years old. Does anyone think I have a machine that might be defective?

Have you tried resetting, buddy? https://www.19216811.biz

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Thread is 6 years old.