Help! Sov GT Broken?

[Chaz]

My Sov Gt has been working fine, then the other day, when I turned it on, there was just a loud constant tone. First thing I thought was the battery, so changed that to the alkyline pack with new batteries, and same thing. I wonder if anyone has any suggestions as to what the problem might be. Here's what it does: When turned on, there is a loud tone, as if the threshold was turned to max, and the volume was turned to max. It still works, though with decreased sensitivity, as it is difficult to hear a good signal against full volume threshold. I can run it in disc or all metal with the same results. Volume control has no effect. The threshold control has no effect except when it is in the complete lowest position, in which case it gets quiet. But as soon as the threshold control is turned the slightest amount it goes back to full volume. None of the other controls or switches seem to have any effect at all- there is just a loud tone. The tone does change in tone occasionally, just as it would when hunting and passing over targets. I tried a different coil with the same results. I've opened the unit, and everything looks tight, and no obvious problems. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

 

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[jeff of pa]

have you checked your battery connectors ?

The Sovereign Screams like that when the
Batteries are low, Which makes me Think it's in
that line somewhere

 

[Chaz]

I didn't check them per se, but tried different batteries in the unit. I'll clean the connectors, as that can never hurt...

I may be onto something else- I always look for something loose, and so torque the board slightly, and just push on things to see if symptoms change. I found that if I press quite hard on the back of the threshold pot that it seems to go normal for an instant. So now to disassemble the faceplate so I can get to the solder side of that board.

As a side note, These things seem to be built with quite high quality. everything is coated, and wires go into little sockets, solder flow is good even on the manual connections. These are not hacked together. Makes me happier with the high price. Now if it would just work...

 

[sniffer]

you could try a a hard reset. turn it on and let it go through the check, then remove the battery, wait a little while and reinstall the batteries and try it again

 

[Chaz]

Hard reset on a GT Are you thinking an exII or something? I'm not aware of a power on check on the Sov...

 

[sniffer]

it's not a power check. turn the machine on, even if it's making noise, once it's on, pull the batteries out. that's the hard reset. then put the batteries back in, if it doesn't clear the problem, I would send it in

 

[49r Relics]

Leave it on for a bit . . . . along with the constant sound . . is it making that loud low battery sound every 15 seconds (or so)? Sounds like a power issue to me too.

HH, Mark

 

[Sandman]

I think it is a power issue too. It is hard to do any real testing without proper equipment and you might send it in to be sure. No sense hunting for hours thinking it is working perfectly. Good Luck.

 

[joecoin]

Clean that threshold pot with some contact cleaner. IF that doesn't work, remove it from the circuit and see what happens.

 

[Deepdiger60]

I had a similar problem a very loud threshold no adjustment it turned out it was between my coil and coil cover lots of dirt maybe mineralization ,once i cleaned the hold machine it was fine ,those fields can get all kinds of bad soil ,that was my problem hope yours works out . Jim

 

[Chaz]

Well, I think I found the problem- defective threshold pot. I desoldered and removed it from the board, and tested it. From the center lead to one side the resistance varies as it should. From the center lead to the other side, there is several meg resistance which is way high. From side to side, it is around 4 meg, and if I read the numbers on the pot correctly, it should only be 100k. So, I removed the metal case on the back of the pot, and checked out the innards with a magnifying glass. There is the slightest hairline crack visible right at the beginning of the carbon trace over to the edge of the little circuit board! The way this thing was soldered and screwed in, this could not have been caused by anything, but must have been a manufacture defect that was all but cracked through, and just needed a few thermal expansion cycles or some such thing to cause the crack to work across.

So, the long and short is that I now need a new pot for the threshold control. Does anyone here stock these, or know where to get one? I could go one of the mail order routs, but the physical dimensions seem rather critical here, and not sure that I could get the right thing. Does Minelab sell parts?

 

[Keppy]

The only one that has parts for minelab is minelab......... No dealer or repair shop can get them so that means that it has to be sent to minelab for repairs..... They have the repair market closed to everyone so they get the work......... about the only one that might fix it is Keith Wills at www.brokendetector.com phone 903-734-7773

 

[Chaz]

Problem Solved!!!

I ordered replacement parts from ebay of all places. Cost just shy of $7 for 5 of them, shipped from Thialand. This is almost an exact replacement. Same manufacturer and part number, but the shaft was a couple millimeters longer, and the contacts were offset by about a millimeter. I could saw it shorter if I want, but it is hardly noticeable- the knob sticks out just a tiny bit. I may trim it sometime so the knob is flush. I had to use bus wire to solder the contacts, as the fit is pretty tight, and this replacement would not allow the pins to be bent to fit, but no biggie- it is good as new!

So that's all it was was the threshold pot had a tiny crack in the circuit board, internal to that component. It does make me wonder what else will fail without notice... There is no way this could have been broken from the outside- I'm sure it was a defect from the factory that just took a bit of time to crack the whole way through and show up.

Anyway, I'm happy that I was able to repair it w/o shipping it to minelab

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I ordered replacement parts from ebay of all places. Cost just shy of $7 for 5 of them, shipped from Thialand. This is almost an exact replacement. Same manufacturer and part number, but the shaft was a couple millimeters longer, and the contacts were offset by about a millimeter. I could saw it shorter if I want, but it is hardly noticeable- the knob sticks out just a tiny bit. I may trim it sometime so the knob is flush. I had to use bus wire to solder the contacts, as the fit is pretty tight, and this replacement would not allow the pins to be bent to fit, but no biggie- it is good as new!

So that's all it was was the threshold pot had a tiny crack in the circuit board, internal to that component. It does make me wonder what else will fail without notice... There is no way this could have been broken from the outside- I'm sure it was a defect from the factory that just took a bit of time to crack the whole way through and show up.

Anyway, I'm happy that I was able to repair it w/o shipping it to minelab

Wow Chaz!

Way to fix it your own my friend!

 

[joecoin]

You're welcome.

 

[sniffer]

awesome fix it