800 - DIED - graveyard dead

[WaterWalker]

A half an hour into my second salt water hunt, while digging a target the Equinox’s audio went wild, multiple beeps of different tones and would not stop. I saw the Cd error code, powered the unit OFF and went back to the car where I dried it off. Checked both the connectors for water, they were perfectly dry. I turned the Equinox back ON and got the Cd error again. Then I could not turn the detector OFF. I tried holding the power switch down for 8 second for a factory reset, no help. I headed straight to my dealer. On the 8 mile ride the detector first kept cycling and giving the Cd error, about half way it stopped and then 3 miles later it started to cycle again. This time the error was FP. FP is not listed as an Error code in the manual.

At the dealer’s shop the Equinox kept cycling, stopping with a FP error for a minute or so. We tried my coil on an Equinox 600 with no problems. We then connected the 600’s coil to my control panel with no difference between the two coils. I left and at home I connected my Equinox 800 to the charger. The green light was on solid in about 3 minutes it started to flicker – not a normal blinking. Another two minutes and the green light went completely OFF. Another two minutes and it the green light started to blink as if the detector was charging. Note: the detector was in use for only 30 minutes since it had been fully charged. Infantile Mortality - it happens with electronics, I do not and can not blame Minelab.

About 20 minutes into the charge the FP error message disappeared and the unit remained charging as the green light was still blinking. Between an hour and a half and two hours of charging the green light stopped flashing. I disconnected the charger and tried to turn the detector ON, no sign of life at all.

I called Minelab Monday left message 4/30 at 5:35pm. An E-mail reply with Two Day UPS call tag came on 5/1 in time for me to ship the Equinox back on Tuesday. The unit was received at Minelab in Naperville, Illinois - not the PA repair center! One day for Minelab process the failed unit and ship it back by Ground UPS which took 5 days. Yes, in 8 days I was back in the water. I could not believe that the replacement detector along with a new Good Luck Charm from a fellow detectorist lead me to a faint signal reading 4 on the display. I could not believe it I have read of the Equinox’s ability to find gold chains, well IT DID. A beautiful 14K 27gr bracelet. Equinox is now paid for and in less than 3 hours of detecting in salt water and two trips to Minelab. The first trip back was for the shaft slop.

Two problems, two rapid fixes, three hours fo detecting and I am almost a believer that the Equinox will obsolete some of my other detectors. But each detector I have has its own special use so no commitment to sell is still many hours of detecting with the Equinox away.

Two thumbs up for the Equinox and Minelab!

 

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[vferrari]

Glad that worked out. How many hours did you have on it before it flipped out?

I get what you are saying about hanging on to some of your detectors because of specialized features they each bring to the table and looking at your profile, I can hazard a guess for each one. Curious as to what do you think the AT Pro still brings to the table vs. Equinox? Are you hanging on to it until if and when the Equinox fully proves out in terms of overall performance and reliability or is there something ATP does better than Equinox (e.g., you have a sniper coil for the AT vs. being stuck with the 11" (for now) on the Equinox). Thanks.

 

[Rick K]

“One day for Minelab process the failed unit and ship it back by Ground UPS which took 5 days. “

Did they repair it in one day or did they ship you a replacement unit?

How about the 1st one with the shaft issue - did they replace the whole unit?

 

[glenn37216]

I have got the CD error code 2x already on my new Nox 600 I've had for about 2 weeks. . Both times mine randomly shut down but upon rebooting I was able to factory reset and the detector started working normally again. Basically the same thing happened to Mike P in this thread here: (link deleted for rule violation, no links to competing forums)

I'm thinking Im just going to send this thing back for a warranty check. In 2 weeks I'm off to NC for a vacation and wanted to bring this Nox with me... now I' not sure I trust it enough.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

FYI, the "FP" stands for factory preset. I am willing to bet they sent you a replacement Nox as there are no repair facilities in Chicago.

 

[Normsel]

Waterwalker I have had two failures and mine were the pinpoint button stuck. I sent them in and had a new one back in 7 days..The service is awesome..

I am on my 3rd control unit. I am not sure whether the pinpoint switch is weak or what but I am sure Minelab will address the problem.. Mine screamed like you described and no matter what i did I couldn't make it stop.

Glad to hear you had the same service as I did..

 

[flgliderpilot]

Great news. No so good news that a completely sealed unit flooded, but good news that it was replaced. Did you get a new coil or the original, or did you get an entirely new unit in a new box?

Did you already have it registered for warranty and did they want original receipt to verify you were the original owner or purchase data (just future reference in case I pick up another one used).

Thanks

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Minelab warranty is transferable so even buy a Nox used the warranty is still valid.

 

[flgliderpilot]

Minelab warranty is transferable so even buy a Nox used the warranty is still valid.

Thanks for that info. I'll be buying another!

 

[Normsel]

Minelab has you send in the complete detector including headphones and WM08. They only replace the defective part but check everything to make sure it all works. A note of caution even if you buy one used detector register it with Minelab. A receipt will not be accepted as proof of purchase. You only need to register the serial number on the control box because the serial number on the coil etc is tied to the control box.

Since the control box is sealed I am not sure they can be repaired. I would guess they send the defective control boxes back to the factory to diagnose and then decide if it is something they need to improve or if it was just something that would normally fail only on a rare occasion.

 

[Hawks88]

Thanks to everyone for all that important information.

 

[vferrari]

Great news. No so good news that a completely sealed unit flooded, but good news that it was replaced. Did you get a new coil or the original, or did you get an entirely new unit in a new box?

Did you already have it registered for warranty and did they want original receipt to verify you were the original owner or purchase data (just future reference in case I pick up another one used).

Thanks

Even though it happened in the water, OP never said it was definitely flooded, he never disassembled the control pod (good move because even though that would not technically void the warranty, it would just likely result in more questions asked). Since ML doesn't tell you what happened, we will never really know for sure if the problem was water intrusion due to a failed seal, though that is the most likely cause based on the circumstances.

 

[WaterWalker]

Veferari: Rick K.:
Two hours one day before only the shaft was replaced. A bit over a week passed...
Then a half hour in salt water a week later the "diad" failure occurred. The entire upper shaft and control box/handle were replaced.
I have the sniper and notch filters which are marvelous for searching between the joists in attics for lost rings. I belong to TheRingFinders and am asked to search some unbelievable areas where one needs a 4 inch coil.

Glenn37216:
Check the coil connection first, take it off carefully brush the contacts off and reconnect, try again.
Call Minelab at [FONT=&quot]630-401-8159 [/FONT]for a UPS call tag and RMA, the RMA number will be on the Call Tag.

Normsel:
I know you know, but I have to say it...The pinpoint button is an ON / OFF button, not a momentary button like more pinpoint ones are.
Once for ON and then again for OFF....I LOVE this feature, especially when in winter waters with gauntlet gloves on. I have to agree with your posting at 3:58 today #10.

flgliderpilot:
First unit registered. They did check but no receipt was needed with either return. Got the replacement and could not register it as there was a problem with Minelab's system. They were looking into it and were going to register it for me. My thought is that the S/N was entered into my data before it was shipped to me.