Etrac upper cam lock failure

[TrpnBils]

Anybody else experience this? I have had mine for a little over a year and have only been taking the upper shaft off to switch coils for 7 months. Now if i dont keep pushing it back in the shaft falls out when i detect especially in high grass where the coil catches more. I have it shimmed right now but relying on a piece of paper to hold a $1500 detector together seems kind of stupid...on the other hand i dont want to send it in and be without a detector for 3 months while it gets fixed. Is it even covered under a warranty?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Anybody else experience this? I have had mine for a little over a year and have only been taking the upper shaft off to switch coils for 7 months. Now if i dont keep pushing it back in the shaft falls out when i detect especially in high grass where the coil catches more. I have it shimmed right now but relying on a piece of paper to hold a $1500 detector together seems kind of stupid...on the other hand i dont want to send it in and be without a detector for 3 months while it gets fixed. Is it even covered under a warranty?

I just talked to Barry in Minelab repair at Kellyco, it is a simple fix, he said he can fix it and turn it around in one day.

If your interested take the lower shaft off and ship it to Kellyco and include your info. If you bought the ETrac new a year ago it is covered under the warranty...

 

[TrpnBils]

Sounds good. Do you happen to know if it's a replacement of the whole screen area too? It all seems to be one piece and I have a Zagg screen protector on there that I heard they don't make anymore. I might wait until October....my wife is due then so I'll definitely be taking a break from detecting for awhile around then and wouldn't really be missing it even if it took awhile to get back.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

No they just replace the cam lock not screen, he said there is metal bracket that most likely snapped, he advised he would have it repaired and ready to return ship in one day from your description so what ever the time takes to ship round trip is basically your down time. What one week maybe round trip shipping...?

 

[TrpnBils]

Nice - I can deal with that. Thank you very much!

 

[cudamark]

First, check to see that you have the upper shaft installed correctly. It will go into the control housing two ways. If you get it 180 degrees off, it won't stay in, even with a good latch. Make sure the lower latch is facing down. not up.

 

[Iron Patch]

Sounds good. Do you happen to know if it's a replacement of the whole screen area too? It all seems to be one piece and I have a Zagg screen protector on there that I heard they don't make anymore. I might wait until October....my wife is due then so I'll definitely be taking a break from detecting for awhile around then and wouldn't really be missing it even if it took awhile to get back.

It's a housing replacement. 5 minutes. I think you have to detach, and reattach the boards but little more than that. I think Minelab is pretty sticky about mailing out parts, well more like they just won't, but maybe they would to a dealer.

 

[gollum]

Simple enough job.



Mike

 

[Iron Patch]

Simple enough job.



Mike

That's good as long as you don't have any cracks... and cracks is usually why the lock loses its grip. I don't hear much about the SE cracking so maybe that's all that's needed. Easy to check.

 

[TrpnBils]

First, check to see that you have the upper shaft installed correctly. It will go into the control housing two ways. If you get it 180 degrees off, it won't stay in, even with a good latch. Make sure the lower latch is facing down. not up.

I'll tell you what, that made all the difference in the world right there. I always kept it facing up and flipped it around tonight. It's tight now to the point where I was almost nervous locking the upper one because I thought it might snap the plastic. Switched coils a few times tonight and it was tight the whole time. Thank you!

 

[cudamark]

You're welcome!