Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix em.

[stetson]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

I finally got mine in the mail after being back ordered for a few weeks.

I put the battery in, pressed the on button and got a loud tone. The problem is that the tone never goes away and never changes even when you put the probe near metal OR when I adjust the sensitivity

Anyone else have this problem or is mine just broken

I had the same prob with one I bought last week. with it adjusted to lowest sensitivity
it would continually go off.. I took mine back to the store and exchanged it yesturday.
Will see how this one works this weekend.

by the way it did work great for one hunt befor I had the prob.

 

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[JOE(USA)]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

Back in the day, everybody learned to keep one hand clean while detecting. Once you figure it out it's really just second nature. Joe

 

[RebelRod]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

After reading this thread I went out and bought two CT's. They are great! I have another pinpointer that I bought from a popular metal detector manufacturer for 50 bucks and it is useless. Range about an inch. Heck if I am that close I don't need a pinpointer! These CT's have the features and sensitivity that I wish the other had.

 

[stetson]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

I finally got mine in the mail after being back ordered for a few weeks.

I put the battery in, pressed the on button and got a loud tone. The problem is that the tone never goes away and never changes even when you put the probe near metal OR when I adjust the sensitivity

Anyone else have this problem or is mine just broken

I had the same prob with one I bought last week. with it adjusted to lowest sensitivity
it would continually go off.. I took mine back to the store and exchanged it yesturday.
Will see how this one works this weekend.

by the way it did work great for one hunt befor I had the prob.

Update:
Took the new one out and it worked great until the weather warmed up.
With the sensitivity at its lowest, it would just go off on a consistant tone.

I removed the 4 screws on the back set the sensitivity to about 3/4
and adjusted the pot screw till the tone stopped.

It works great now!

 

[boogeyman]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

As stated above. Had the problem with dirt in the switch. Got POed and drove to RAT Shack picked up a toggle switch & the neat little rubber boot that screws on over it. Didn't realize I'd solved two problems. Solved the problem of no matter where I put it in my carry bag something got up against the switch, you guessed it low battery next trip The next mod was to dip the probe in some Insul-Dip. Seals the tip and gives some protection from abrasion. Oh, it comes in different colors.

As a side note Insul-Dip works great for keeping the gunkies from loading up between skid plates & the coil. Take some on a toothpick & flow it around the seam between the coil & plate. If you need to remove the skid plate for some reason run an X-acto knife around the seam and the plate pops off just fine.

 

[Bev]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

I just completed the operation on my own Cen-Tech and it's now drying out. Should I be hitting it with a little WD-40 or PB Blaster too before putting it together again?

If I can get this to work for a few more months, I may ask Santa for the Garrett Pro Pointer for Christmas.

 

[dld]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

I have had to reattach the wires on the switch several times, they seem prone to breaking
It is a good little pinpointer for the price

 

[boogeyman]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

I just completed the operation on my own Cen-Tech and it's now drying out. Should I be hitting it with a little WD-40 or PB Blaster too before putting it together again?

If I can get this to work for a few more months, I may ask Santa for the Garrett Pro Pointer for Christmas.

No No NO! Don't put WD in anything electronic! Wd will insulate contacts and act as a magnet for anything even resembling dust in the universe. If you feel the need to spritz, get a can of electronic contact cleaner. It doesn't leave any film or residue.

In response to above posts:
If you feel confident soldering, you can replace the wires to the switch with a larger guage wire. If it won't fit the holes find a couple short pieces of solid wire that'll fit the holes in the board. Clip them off so there is a short stub left. Solder the new wires to the switch to these stubs.

Another hint: I found a small knob in the junk [aheeemmmm] goodie box. It fit the shaft from the pot. added a disk of felt between the case and bottom of the switch. Pressed the knob down fairly tight & tightened the set screw. So far has seemed to cut down on a lot of the dust inside.

Even with an hour or two of mods, I don't think you can beat these for the money

 

[Bev]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

Ok boogeyman! I wont! Thanks for letting me know that- and I didnt do it so I'm in good shape!
I like the felt idea. I think I could do that. Soldering- not so much but I know some people that could probably assist me. With all the modifications, you'd think they come out with a little better model but I guess for the money they don't really care.
I appreciate you getting back to me! Sounds like I couldve made a horrible mistake!

 

[boogeyman]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

Good to hear! Can't count how many locks & other things I've repaired over the years that were spritzed with WD. Guess I should be thankful WD is out tere

I think Rat (Radio) Shack has replacement knobs for stereos etc. Not really sure with them anymore. The ones out here dropped a lot of their parts and stuff. Seems like they're only interested in selling cell phone contracts and toys. If you cruise the thrift stores & swap meets you can usually find something a knob that can be salvaged for a buck or two.

HF has some really good stuff, I've been really lucky with them. have only had two things take a dump over the years & they've replaced them even without the extended warranties. My buddy found some 20% off coupons on one of those "every coupon known to man sites" the day after I bought an electric demo hammer. I took the receipt down with the coupon a couple days later & told em I forgot I had the coupon. The manager gave me the difference, and even smiled when he did it

Replacing the push on switch with a rocker type has worked out really well. I'd recommend that mod to everyone, as the PB switch they put in them was prety cheap. And yes, you can drop them out of your goodie bag & kick them halfway across a parking lot & they'll come up ticking Don't ask....

 

[Bev]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.


You are the BEST!

Thank you so much for your insight! I'll start looking around for a rocker type switch that'll work out!

(see all you have to do is scoop up a bunch when you see 'em and throw them on here in the classified ads- make a little profit!)

 

[boogeyman]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

Was thinking about grabbing a few & modding them to sell but that would be 23001 projects on the list

Is that a cherokee or wagoneer in your avatar?

 

[Bev]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

That is "Grouchy" and Grouchy is a 1979 AMC/Jeep Cherokee narrow track. 360 v8 was quadratrac but with her new mile marker kit, it's not 4 wheel drive all the time anymore - thank God!

 

[boogeyman]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

That is "Grouchy" and Grouchy is a 1979 AMC/Jeep Cherokee narrow track. 360 v8 was quadratrac but with her new mile marker kit, it's not 4 wheel drive all the time anymore - thank God!

Got a 76 wagoneer & an 86 Grand Wagoneer. Can't beat em. I hear ya bout the quadra track.

 

[Bev]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

oooh don't get me started, my friend! I love Jeeps and can be quite long winded! Maybe we can start a forum subject on metal detecting rigs! How you get there can be just as much fun as arriving there! New forum subject name: "Treasure Transportation"!

 

[Bev]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

I have a good question about the cen-tech. I need to keep this one alive for a little while longer. The biggest culprit seems to be debris in the button that is causing it to cut in and out, etc. Would it be worth it to put it in a plain plastic storage baggie, twist tie the opening and cut a tiny hole so the probe could stick out, maybe a little tape so the hole wont tear larger with use? Would bagging it cause it to "overheat"?

 

[boogeyman]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

A baggie would be OK for when you're caught out in rain but I think leaving it in a baggie for long periods might be a problem with condensation especially back east where you're going from cold damp into a warm dry house. I replaced my switch with a Rat Shack rocker type switch that had the rubber boot on it. So far no problems, and I haven't had the dead battery problem from it getting up against stuff in my hunt bag. Can't speak for others but I kinda like not having to hold the push button down. I usually carry a handful of the 1 gal & snack size ziplocks, they come in handy a lot more than you'd think. Goodies, emergency rain covers, spare batteries (the ones that make it to the bottom of the bag never to be found till they leak).

 

[Bev]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

Sounds like my bag! Batteries, ziplocks, bandaids, compass, lighter, extra sweatshirt skicap, turniquet, 3ft long badger shovel, maps, 1 pair of Mechanix gloves, 1 pair of knit gloves with just the thumb, pointer and middle finger tips cut off (I wear plastic surgical gloves under the knit ones- I have a ton of those since hubby is a mechanic.) folded up paper towels and kleenex....can't be too careful!

 

[boogeyman]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

Hmmm........ Maybe I should start carrying surgical gloves for the sandwich break. An I always thought that was pepper on my sandwich

 

[dogpound]

Re: Problems with your Harbor Freight Cen-tech pinpointer? How to fix 'em.

i recently just replaced my power button with one from radio shack (forget what model i got) but its more flush with the case and seems better sealed than the factory button, i also cut my speaker wire and installed the mini vibrating motor, works awesome. i also put a piece of heat shrink around the endcap of the probe to keep dirt out. this is how i did the vibrating motor upgrade http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,178515.0.html
one other thing i did was put a drop of loc-tite on that nut which holds the probe, now ya don't gotta worry about that gettin loose.