V3i went blank

[Normsel]

I started to hunt the beach this morning and about 5 mins after I started my screen went black so I restarted and ground balanced and in about a minute it went black again. I knew I had about 10.3 volts showing so I thought maybe the batteries were weak so I went pulled out my rechargeable pack and installed my other battery pack with 8 new batteries. It started I ground balanced and it went blank again.

I went to truck and was going to try a restore but nothing would happen. All I got was black screen with some flashing. I guess I am asking do I need to send it to Whites.

 

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[RobRieman]

Set it on a table with no movement and turn it on and see how long it lasts. Sometimes the battery contacts can get slightly bent and it will cause them to shut off if it's tilted.

 

[Normsel]

Thanks

 

[Normsel]

I tried that and nothing works. I tried everything and all I get when I put the battery in is a intermittently flashing white screen with a black bar on the right side. It don't even come on to the home screen. It went from shutting down on it's own this morning after a cpl of minutes to this intermittently flashing white screen. I am thinking a send off to Whites is my only option. It worked great yesterday.

 

[victhedog]

sure battery are good?

 

[Normsel]

Yes the battery is good and I also tried the other battery pack with brand new batteries

 

[RobRieman]

Give them a call first and see if the want you to try a master reset. They will walk you through it over the phone.

 

[airscapes]

when you put the battery pack in, if the door does not spring back at you as you close it tight the contacts may be bent down from dropping in the battery . Try leaving the door open and putting slight finger pressure on the battery as you turn on the MD. If still no change and it acts the same with AA pack as the rechargeable, it is time to send it to a service center.

 

[wingmaster]

You can carefully bend the contacts out a little for better contact, what you should never do is drop the battery pack in straight down, you want to slide the battery pack in with the case horizontal so the weight of the battery isn't slamming down on those contacts. HH

 

[Normsel]

It has nothing to do with the battery, I sent it off today, there is nothing that can be done without them taking it apart and finding the cause. If it cost to much I will trash it.

 

[RobRieman]

I'll take it for a parts machine [emoji4]

 

[airscapes]

It has nothing to do with the battery, I sent it off today, there is nothing that can be done without them taking it apart and finding the cause. If it cost to much I will trash it.

I expect you will send more on shipping that the repair.

 

[Normsel]

They are charging me $70 flat fee plus parts and like I say if if cost to much I will trash it and then i will and buy something decent. When i say trash i mean i will drive over it with my truck and then grind it up in to little pieces. I was a bit taken back by them telling me it was a $70 fee just to look at it. It is no more than 3 months out of warranty.

I guess i will know this week what Whites is made of. Due to my location I had to send it to their east coast service center which is an independent whites dealer

Right now i am not very happy but I don't know the outcome yet

 

[RobRieman]

That's pretty cheap Norm. $70 won't get you an hour of labor in most places.

 

[PostalTwo]

That's not the point imo . The thing is just off warranty. It dosent look good when a machine is off for repair after 2 yrs. Then 70 bucks bs

 

[victhedog]

That's pretty cheap Norm. $70 won't get you an hour of labor in most places.

doesn't sound bad
I Get $150 for first hour to check out of Warranty repairs

 

[McKinney_5900]

Three month is what I remember hitting the limit with Whites on out of warranty. If it had been me, I'd shipped it to Oregon. Might cost more but I think the Oregon folks are more likely to let you skate at 3mos.

I'd take it apart before I trashed it. It's surely at the battery connections. If it was me now at this point, I'd let Whites repair it cuz your out shipping already. Whites is about the best in this industry in customer care. I have read about a few customers getting the runaround but it's rare.

I'm expecting you will get it done for the $70 plus your shipping costs. I don't know what I'd do if they said it was the mother board. Probably lettem keep it and save the return shipping. I've run a V3i since 2010 but it wouldn't be difficult for me to move on with different, non V3i. But I Digress,,,

Good luck. It will likely cost you $150 US when it all settles out.

 

[Davers]

Being a $1.300 + dollar machine , U must B rich to trash it if repair costs are less than $say $220.

I know most have mentioned the Battery Connection .

I have a 15 year old XLT that a Good Friend Gave Me as Dead 7 years ago.

All I did to fix the problem was to put a Wedge (plastic Cigar Tip) on one side of the battery Pack 'So it presses to the left & then I put about A Quarter inch or so of Cut rubber pieces (Guess paper would work as well) that I put against the Battery Door ,then close it & this extra pressure won't let the battery pack move.

Sometimes if i'm in the woods & the Box hit's a Tree or I fall down . The Connection will be lost & I will have to Re-Start the Machine.

Not bad IMO for a free machine that I have dug $1.000 's of Dollars worth of Stuff with.

I know yr Mad , I would be to ...Hope this Gets Fixed a Cheaply as Possible.
Davers

 

[RobRieman]

That's not the point imo . The thing is just off warranty. It dosent look good when a machine is off for repair after 2 yrs. Then 70 bucks bs

Yeah I know it sucks but companies have to draw the line on warranty times somewhere. If they are going to fix products for free out of warranty then they may as well advertise another year on the warranty and use it to draw more sales in the first place. In many cases if you call and talk to the right person you can persuade them to let it slide. White's replaced my DD coil out of warranty for the price of shipping.

 

[vu1ns33k3r]

I started to hunt the beach this morning and about 5 mins after I started my screen went black so I restarted and ground balanced and in about a minute it went black again. I knew I had about 10.3 volts showing so I thought maybe the batteries were weak so I went pulled out my rechargeable pack and installed my other battery pack with 8 new batteries. It started I ground balanced and it went blank again.

I went to truck and was going to try a restore but nothing would happen. All I got was black screen with some flashing. I guess I am asking do I need to send it to Whites.

Hey man, any update on the status of your V3i? I was just wondering because i had a proposition for you if you ended up not wanting to pay for the repairs.

Would u be interested in selling just the main box? (i say main box because i dont know if you want to keep the coil or something like that, nonethless if you dont i'd buy the entire thing)....

my interest in purchasing a defective V3I is because i am pretty confident that i have the necessary electrical and programming experience to upgrade my VX3 to a V3I...if successful i will post a manual on how to do it for everyone on the forum. it'd also be a way for you to flip the bird to Whites if you feel mistreated...I know i have since they FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER are ABSOLUTELY against allowing customers who own a VX3 TO PAY FOR AN UPGRADE to a V3i even though it has ALL THE SAME components, they just wont allow the firmware to be updated....even though they will let people upgrade their V3 to V3i but not a VX3....it really irritates me...


let me know what your thoughts are on the matter...heck i could even attempt to (no promises) fix the issue your detector is having and mail it back to you for helpng me give them the finger..from the sounds of it you may just need to solder the pin that leads from your battery output connector to your powersupply on the motherboard...(by screen blanking out, am i to assume you mean it just dies?) if it doesnt die but instead you can hear sounds coming from the detector but the screen is off then my best guess is that your connection from the lcd to the motherboard may have been compromised (also a pretty quick fix, either by soldering the connecting pin on lcd and motherboard or replacing wire leading from lcd to motherboard) unless your LCD is defective (which i HIGHLY doubt since you said when u turn it on it works for a moment)...watch out though, if its as i assume the LCD connection not the actual screen, whites will probably charge you for an entirely NEW LCD instead of a 2 minute solder job because its more economical for them if youre no longer under warranty.

anyway i completely digress from my main point

it just baffles me why they are so insistent on not allowing VX3 owners the opportunity to PAY for the same upgrade V3 owners are afforded...its angered me to the point where i almost wana go spemd 1300 just to buy a v3i and upgrade my VX3 and show the rest of the detecting world how to do it for free. let me know if they stiffle you, you would get far more vengence by doing to them what i propose than running it over (my retributive laugh) hope to hear from u.