Audio problem with headphones

[Crunchyhippo]

I have a yellow pair of Minelab waterproof headphones that I use with my Manticore. Recently, a problem has cropped up in that the only sound I hear from the detector is coming out of the box - not my headphones. I have to unplug the jack end, restart the machine, plug it back in, or a combination thereof, and after a few tries I can hear the beeping through my headphones again. But it's annoying...and worrying. I envision the day when all my connecting/reconnecting/restarting won't restore the audio for my headphones, and I'll have to head home and/or buy another pair of headphones. But I don't know if it's a detector problem or a headphones problem, and it doesn't manifest every time I go out, either. I'd hate to buy another pair of headphones, and it turn out to be a detector problem, or vice versa. Has anyone else had this issue?

 

[pepperj]

Can you try them on another machine or try another set with the detector?

 

[Crunchyhippo]

Can you try them on another machine or try another set with the detector?

Unfortunately, I don't have another machine. I do have the headphones that came with the Manticore, but they're not waterproof. I'd be relegated to hunting in the sand-only while troubleshooting, and like I said, the problem doesn't occur every time I go out. I don't know how many times I'd have to go hunting before the problem cropped up, if ever. But it may be the only option I have. I just didn't know if anyone else had this issue and figured it out which might possibly save me some time and trouble.

 

[pepperj]

Unfortunately, I don't have another machine. I do have the headphones that came with the Manticore, but they're not waterproof. I'd be relegated to hunting in the sand-only while troubleshooting, and like I said, the problem doesn't occur every time I go out. I don't know how many times I'd have to go hunting before the problem cropped up, if ever. If it's a machine problem, it would never happen again, of course, but it would leave me wondering if the problem just wasn't manifesting or it was bad headphones. But it may be the only option I have. I just didn't know if anyone else had this issue and figured it out which might possibly save me some time and trouble.

Try the set that came with the machine, plug in and out repeatedly, then do the same with the waterproof set.
Get a can of circuit board electronic spray blaster (not sure what it's called) for cleaning electrical circuits and stuff. It could be just a build up of salt or crud in the headphone input jack also. It doesn't take much to screw up a connection.
The spray will help clean it out.

 

[Crunchyhippo]

Try the set that came with the machine, plug in and out repeatedly, then do the same with the waterproof set.
Get a can of circuit board electronic spray blaster (not sure what it's called) for cleaning electrical circuits and stuff. It could be just a build up of salt or crud in the headphone input jack also. It doesn't take much to screw up a connection.
The spray will help clean it out.

This may also be the problem with my recharging point on my machine. I have to continually wiggle the cable where it magnetically attaches until the green recharging light comes on. Maybe a good scrub with a toothbrush on the connectors will help.

 

[cudamark]

Salt water is pretty hard on electrical connections. For the charging port, I clean and then wipe some silicone grease on the connection whenever I'm going to go into the water. Your headphone connection might have the same problem.

 

[Crunchyhippo]

It looks like the connectivity problem I'm having with my headphones not hearing the beeps my machine is making is a problem with the detector. I tried out the stock headphones that came with my Manticore, and they couldn't hear anything through it, either. Air spraying the jack opening hasn't helped.

After plugging my headphones in (and not hearing anything through them), I'm having to unscrew the headphones jack, turn off the detector, plug the headphones back in, turn the detector back on, then repeat that process three times now before I head the startup beeps through my headphones. I'm worried that I soon won't hear them at all soon, no matter how many times I rinse and repeat. At some point in the last year - probably last six months - the problem started. I have no idea how to address it short of sending the detector back to Minelab. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[Crunchyhippo]

I talked to Minelab customer service about my headphone issue. They were easy to deal with and said that it may be a water-in-the-port issue. If so, they'd try and clean it out, and if that failed, they would replace the unit. I only have to unscrew the unit from the shaft and mail the unit in, making it far easier to ship, too. I also mentioned the problem getting my magnetic power cable to get a charging green light to appear on the detector (I have to play with it for sometimes several minutes before I see a green light). This occurs with my both my original and new cable. They said they'd address that, too, and said once they get the unit, it shouldn't take more than a week, a week and a half, to get it taken care of. No charge, since my detector is under warranty. I wish all customer service businesses were as easy to deal with as Minelab.