saanich2018
Sr. Member
- Apr 25, 2018
- 283
- 533
- Detector(s) used
- Equinox 800
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Hello,
Just to refresh everyone, I purchased my 800 back in January. From the beginning, I had issues where it would lock on a tone and would not release until I turned the unit off. The pin pointer would do the same thing.
Finally, after three trips back to Minelab, along with videos showing the problem, they replaced both the coil and the head. This was back in the spring. After that everything worked fine, until my trip to the beach in late August. It worked fine until the last day and the pin pointer started going crazy again. It would either not give me a signal at all or would lock onto one tone and free and squeal, even if it was pointed up to the sky. When I posted about this on this site, the general response was the pin pointer is not very good and do not worry about it. I did not buy into this as when it works, it seems to work well.
1) I just returned from the beach this afternoon. I was there all last week. My 800 is doing the same thing it was doing when I first got it. It will lock on a signal and just squeal. The only way to stop it is to turn the unit off. When I turn on the pin pointer it may or may not work. Lots of time I will just get two dash lines “- -” and no signal or number. Once again, I took videos to send to Minelab.
2) The ground balance will not change from “0”. I can do it manually, but when trying to set it, it just stays on “0”. I tried it on the beach, in the condo and even in the parking lot and it just always stays on “0”. I know the auto balance is not turned on. Why
3) I know these units are suppose to be water proof, however I had never fully submerged my unit until two days ago. I was walking on the edge of a sand bar and the sand gave way and I sat down. I did not get my head phones wet, but my 800 went completely under water (about 8”) for two or three seconds. When I got it up, I started checking it and there did not seem to any water inside of it. However, it was turned off and I know I did not hit the on/off button. Then it would not turn back on. I tried multiple times. Finally, it came back on. It did not indicate a “FP”, however, all my settings were wiped out. I even had to re-sync my head phones. Why would it do this?
4) It seemed strange to me that every time I have gone to the beach and the areas I go to; I generally find about the same amount of stuff. However, this trip I only found about ¼ of the usually number of items. I know there can be multiple reasons for this, but it just seemed strange to me like my unit is just not working correctly.
5) Strange story – In Florida, they have a weird law that people own the beaches behind their property, down to the high-water line, which is then public beach access. The other night I was behind my condo unit, on the beach which we technically own, but I was down at the water’s edge. Suddenly, I heard someone screaming at me and when I turned around there was man yelling at me saying that I cannot use a metal detector on the beach and I cannot dig holes in the sand. I thought he was trying to be funny, then realized he was serious. He said the places where I had dug holes, the sand was not level anymore and piled up on the holes. I told him to look at all the holes on the beach where people and kids had dug holes all day building sand castles and playing. Then, I just walked away. I was headed in anyway, but then he started following me, yelling at me. Finally, he said he was going to call the police. I turned to him and said,”Go ahead. I am sure they will rush down here to arrest a high priority criminal like me, for digging a hole in the sand on the beach!” Then, he tried to get in my face, but was about 8” shorter than I am, and started yelling incoherent things. It was this point I realized he smelled like he had just been thrown out of a bar somewhere. I just walked off and he followed me for a few minutes then finally left me alone. Weird. Has anyone else had an experience like this?
Just to refresh everyone, I purchased my 800 back in January. From the beginning, I had issues where it would lock on a tone and would not release until I turned the unit off. The pin pointer would do the same thing.
Finally, after three trips back to Minelab, along with videos showing the problem, they replaced both the coil and the head. This was back in the spring. After that everything worked fine, until my trip to the beach in late August. It worked fine until the last day and the pin pointer started going crazy again. It would either not give me a signal at all or would lock onto one tone and free and squeal, even if it was pointed up to the sky. When I posted about this on this site, the general response was the pin pointer is not very good and do not worry about it. I did not buy into this as when it works, it seems to work well.
1) I just returned from the beach this afternoon. I was there all last week. My 800 is doing the same thing it was doing when I first got it. It will lock on a signal and just squeal. The only way to stop it is to turn the unit off. When I turn on the pin pointer it may or may not work. Lots of time I will just get two dash lines “- -” and no signal or number. Once again, I took videos to send to Minelab.
2) The ground balance will not change from “0”. I can do it manually, but when trying to set it, it just stays on “0”. I tried it on the beach, in the condo and even in the parking lot and it just always stays on “0”. I know the auto balance is not turned on. Why
3) I know these units are suppose to be water proof, however I had never fully submerged my unit until two days ago. I was walking on the edge of a sand bar and the sand gave way and I sat down. I did not get my head phones wet, but my 800 went completely under water (about 8”) for two or three seconds. When I got it up, I started checking it and there did not seem to any water inside of it. However, it was turned off and I know I did not hit the on/off button. Then it would not turn back on. I tried multiple times. Finally, it came back on. It did not indicate a “FP”, however, all my settings were wiped out. I even had to re-sync my head phones. Why would it do this?
4) It seemed strange to me that every time I have gone to the beach and the areas I go to; I generally find about the same amount of stuff. However, this trip I only found about ¼ of the usually number of items. I know there can be multiple reasons for this, but it just seemed strange to me like my unit is just not working correctly.
5) Strange story – In Florida, they have a weird law that people own the beaches behind their property, down to the high-water line, which is then public beach access. The other night I was behind my condo unit, on the beach which we technically own, but I was down at the water’s edge. Suddenly, I heard someone screaming at me and when I turned around there was man yelling at me saying that I cannot use a metal detector on the beach and I cannot dig holes in the sand. I thought he was trying to be funny, then realized he was serious. He said the places where I had dug holes, the sand was not level anymore and piled up on the holes. I told him to look at all the holes on the beach where people and kids had dug holes all day building sand castles and playing. Then, I just walked away. I was headed in anyway, but then he started following me, yelling at me. Finally, he said he was going to call the police. I turned to him and said,”Go ahead. I am sure they will rush down here to arrest a high priority criminal like me, for digging a hole in the sand on the beach!” Then, he tried to get in my face, but was about 8” shorter than I am, and started yelling incoherent things. It was this point I realized he smelled like he had just been thrown out of a bar somewhere. I just walked off and he followed me for a few minutes then finally left me alone. Weird. Has anyone else had an experience like this?
