My CTX Died [emoji24] At Least I Got Silver First

washingtonian · Mar 21, 2020

Hey folks,

What a week. Continued shutdowns and client cancellations due to the virus, a high ankle sprain on Tuesday night and my detector/extension of my arm CTX is broken.

I got out with my brother for a bit and thankfully my machine didn’t crash until near the end of the hunt. Prior to it going down I found a 1951-D Rosie and 12 wheats (including one from 1916).

I have no idea what happened to my machine. It started to wig out and give me constant “overload” signals. After a couple efforts of turning it off and on and removing the battery it seemed to be working normal. After a while I realized it had been pretty quiet and I tested a coin on the surface, it didn’t give me a signal. I continued to have issues with the overload signals and the machine being unable to sound off on objects.

I sent Minelab an email in the hopes they can point me in the right direction/fix this. Anyone ever heard of this happening before?

Thanks for looking all and good luck out there!
W

mddavis3 · Mar 21, 2020

Awesome bunch of coins!

Digger RJ · Mar 21, 2020

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

JeffInMass · Mar 21, 2020

Nice finds! Don't have a CTX so I can't help, but GL with it. My experience with ML support has always been positive.

cudamark · Mar 21, 2020

If you have another coil, I'd try that first.....even if you have to borrow one.

WHADIFIND · Mar 21, 2020

I don't have a CTX. But a few common sense checks might be:

Check the wire to the coil, especially where it feeds into the coil.
Check the coil for cracks.
If you have a coil cover on it, see if there's a problem with that.
See if holding the detector works differently according to the angle you're holding it at, even try straight overhead.
Check the battery compartment/tray etc. Maybe it loosened up somehow.
Once my Groundhog acted up and it turned out to be a loose coil connector.

Hope it gets resolved fast for you.

Nice finds!

Tuberale · Mar 21, 2020

The 1951 Roosevelt is nice, as are the wheaties,

IDXMonster · Mar 21, 2020

As suggested...firstly!...look at your connectors to make SURE you have no bent pins. Look closely with a flashlight, and if you must, use a mag glass to be SURE! If all are proper, switch out the coil for one that is known to be good. If you don’t have accessory coils, you have friends...use them! If none of that works, factory reset the machine. If it’s STILL a train wreck...call Minelab.
Good luck!

Colonial Digger · Mar 21, 2020

Always like silver with my Wheaties!!!! Great finds, hope you fix your problem, I always have a back up metal detector just in case , it suck not to be able to do what you love!!!!!

Goldiver · Mar 22, 2020

Might be a good idea to also check for corrosion on your coil connector pins and the socket too, especially if you hunt saltwater beaches.

Steve

Racso · Mar 22, 2020

Too bad your detector tapped out, you were having a good hunt. Hopefully you can get it sorted out so you can head back out there, good luck.

washingtonian · Mar 22, 2020

mddavis3 said:
Awesome bunch of coins!

Digger RJ said:
Nice!!! Congrats!!!

JeffInMass said:
Nice finds! Don't have a CTX so I can't help, but GL with it. My experience with ML support has always been positive.

cudamark said:
If you have another coil, I'd try that first.....even if you have to borrow one.

WHADIFIND said:
I don't have a CTX. But a few common sense checks might be:

Check the wire to the coil, especially where it feeds into the coil.
Check the coil for cracks.
If you have a coil cover on it, see if there's a problem with that.
See if holding the detector works differently according to the angle you're holding it at, even try straight overhead.
Check the battery compartment/tray etc. Maybe it loosened up somehow.
Once my Groundhog acted up and it turned out to be a loose coil connector.

Hope it gets resolved fast for you.

Nice finds!

Tuberale said:
The 1951 Roosevelt is nice, as are the wheaties,

IDXMonster said:
As suggested...firstly!...look at your connectors to make SURE you have no bent pins. Look closely with a flashlight, and if you must, use a mag glass to be SURE! If all are proper, switch out the coil for one that is known to be good. If you don’t have accessory coils, you have friends...use them! If none of that works, factory reset the machine. If it’s STILL a train wreck...call Minelab.
Good luck!

Colonial Digger said:
Always like silver with my Wheaties!!!! Great finds, hope you fix your problem, I always have a back up metal detector just in case , it suck not to be able to do what you love!!!!!

Thank you everyone! It was fun to get out and spend a little time with my brother. Who knew social isolation was going to be so hard?

I've tried everything I can think of. Disconnecting/reconnecting the coil. Disconnecting/reconnecting the batteries. Checking for physical damage (none). Doing a factory reset. It's still not working properly unfortunately. I think I'm going to buy an Equinox 800 while the CTX is in the shop and then sell the CTX eventually. I love the machine but I imagine I'll be without it for a while and the Nox is more economical.

washingtonian · Mar 22, 2020

Goldiver said:
Might be a good idea to also check for corrosion on your coil connector pins and the socket too, especially if you hunt saltwater beaches.

Steve

Racso said:
Too bad your detector tapped out, you were having a good hunt. Hopefully you can get it sorted out so you can head back out there, good luck.

Thanks guys! Hopefully I'll be back in action without too much of a delay soon!

IDXMonster · Mar 22, 2020

“The Nox is more economical”....explain please. Accessories and initial cost? Or economical in regard to “economics of weight”? Both? I find something to be true, because I hunt deep high conductors almost exclusively, and that is...while I’m fortunate to be able to own both, the EQX would go before the CTX if it came to that. The EQX does very well and deserves a place in my car because of weight and speed. Just don’t get the cart ahead of the horse, try the EQX for awhile to determine if it takes the place of the CTX for YOU. That’s why it’s really nice to have both, they are different machines. This is all JMHO, as always.

washingtonian · Mar 22, 2020

IDXMonster said:
“The Nox is more economical”....explain please. Accessories and initial cost? Or economical in regard to “economics of weight”? Both? I find something to be true, because I hunt deep high conductors almost exclusively, and that is...while I’m fortunate to be able to own both, the EQX would go before the CTX if it came to that. The EQX does very well and deserves a place in my car because of weight and speed. Just don’t get the cart ahead of the horse, try the EQX for awhile to determine if it takes the place of the CTX for YOU. That’s why it’s really nice to have both, they are different machines. This is all JMHO, as always.

I appreciate that insight! I have yet to use a Nox so this is based solely on observation of my two main hunting partners. I’ve had numerous occasions where they’ve come after me and found things I missed. However, the reverse can be true as well.

I imagine I probably won’t see the CTX for at least a month between shipping there, repairs and shipping back. That might normally be smaller window of time but given the state of the nation I think that’s a good expectation at a minimum. I do have a DFX still but would prefer something a bit more modern and capable for the types of sites I typically hit (High EMI/saltwater beaches).

That should give me some good time to try out the Nox. When I say “economical” I mean that I can probably sell the CTX + accessories for $1500 and the Nox + accessories may run around $1000. From my observation (not personal use) the performance is comparable. I will hopefully have a more informed opinion on the matter soon!

washingtonian · Mar 22, 2020

IDXMonster said:
“The Nox is more economical”....explain please. Accessories and initial cost? Or economical in regard to “economics of weight”? Both? I find something to be true, because I hunt deep high conductors almost exclusively, and that is...while I’m fortunate to be able to own both, the EQX would go before the CTX if it came to that. The EQX does very well and deserves a place in my car because of weight and speed. Just don’t get the cart ahead of the horse, try the EQX for awhile to determine if it takes the place of the CTX for YOU. That’s why it’s really nice to have both, they are different machines. This is all JMHO, as always.

Not anything to do with economics but I should also add that I have a bad shoulder (broken collarbone in the joint that never healed properly) so I think a lighter machine like the Nox could be better on my arm. I tried the 15” coil a few times with the CTX but it was just too painful. I’m hoping that lets me get away with longer hunts without pain.