My Nox has just flooded.

[vferrari]

When I am trying to think something through,... I tend to look at odds.

So,.......
what are the odds that the buyer is going to get in the water deep enough that the housing is submerged?

In a sense,
"of all the units sold, what are the odds the owner is going to use it solely as land Machine?

What are the odds that the owner will do some shoreline and shallow water searching?

100% is all sold

Use is land or shallow water, (coil and lower submerged, not the housing), unknown %

Percent of users that take the unit diving, snorkeling, or chest high, etc unknown %

Until you figure in "the odds",....."the percent", look at the numbers, do the math,......


Until you do that, you're just guessing.

You are right, we don't know the percentage of users who are actually regularly using their machines in the water. What I DO know is that those who have leakage problems are: (1) usually experiencing the problem after the first or second submersion and (2) not complaining again about leakage after they get their machine replaced. I DO know that the repair center supervisor/owner is seeing a return for repair rate for ALL reasons (not just flooding) of less than 1%. I DO know that myself and several others here have used their machines in the water without incident and that some have repeatedly used theirs at depth without incident. I DO know that ML has stood behind their machine and honored the warranty repair in every instance of flooding reported here and elsewhere regardless of circumstance (dropped on the rocks, etc.).

Those are facts that give me confidence that the issue appears to be related to factory manufacturing quality vs. design and that they may have gotten a handle on that issue because the replacement units generally appear to be sound. I conclude, based on the facts, that if I test the unit the way I intend to use it in the water and don't experience the problem, I likely won't have an issue beyond the warranty period unless I myself damage the seals, because this doesn't appear to be a problem that causes watertight integrity to degrade with time as long as you do what is necessary to protect the machine from the rigors of salt water usage (rinse thoroughly after use, etc). In other words, if I verify the machine works as intended during the warranty period and it survives, I have high confidence that machine will continue to be watertight beyond the warranty period if I don't subject it to damage.

So you can continue to stir the pot or logically look at the facts. Either way, I am not personally loosing sleep over this, especially when I consider where detector prices are now headed with Simplex and Vanquish. I reckon I will be able to get a more caoable machine than Equinox for less money by the time my Equinox is out of warranty.

 

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[smokeythecat]

Vferrari is correct as usual. It probably is a small amount of units and I'd assume they have dealt with it. One thing never changes however, if you get a bad burger, car, detector, etc. it can still leave a bad "taste in your mouth" and a lingering doubt.

Time to go detect.

 

[Donut]

We here are a small amount of all the 600/800 owners and there are many many owner out there that do not belong or even know about boards like this so for the few here that have reported flooding. So what few here that has had the problem it act is a lot. In my opinion it seems to be a lot.
I don’t know how many have been sold but there are more owners out their that don’t belong to this board.

 

[Bayoutalker]

I belong to several forums and FB groups and this is the only one with these posts about flooding so what does that say about the issue? There are very few people that have actually had the problem and even fewer that just can't let it go. They all seem to be on here. Until several have repeat failures it is time to move on to other things.

 

[sandmartin]

I can only offer my own experiences with the Equinox. If Minelab's claimed figure of less than 1% faulty machines is correct(I wouldn't bet my house on it) then personally having had 4 Equinox's and 3 were faulty then that's a fault rate of 75%, boy have I been unlucky!

 

[Donut]

From what I’ve heard they flood fast I think. So I’m wondering. Something not glues properly, wrong not waterproof material for speaker. A step missed on assembly, new person on assembly. None off this makes any sense. I wish there was a way to check our detectors so we could be assured were ok. Dunking it is not the answer. My problem is I really like Minelab and hate seeing this happen. I wish Minelab would say something rather than just being quiet about it.
Another board I’m on is the same way.
Doug

 

[sandmartin]

I belong to several forums and FB groups and this is the only one with these posts about flooding so what does that say about the issue? There are very few people that have actually had the problem and even fewer that just can't let it go. They all seem to be on here. Until several have repeat failures it is time to move on to other things.

I only heard about Equinox's flooding through this site, that's the reason I dunked mine. They all seem to be on here because maybe these were the first known cases and people got the idea to 'dunk' their machines, as I did. Maybe in time owners on other forums will produce similar findings once people start dunking their machines, who knows, so not sure what your point is.
I have let it go, Minelab gave me a brand new machine (been given a new bill of sale so maybe a new warranty?) and I say again Minelab's warranty and service is first class.

 

[Donut]

I only heard about Equinox's flooding through this site, that's the reason I dunked mine. They all seem to be on here because maybe these were the first known cases and people got the idea to 'dunk' their machines, as I did. Maybe in time owners on other forums will produce similar findings once people start dunking their machines, who knows, so not sure what your point is.
I have let it go, Minelab gave me a brand new machine (been given a new bill of sale so maybe a new warranty?) and I say again Minelab's warranty and service is first class.

Pretty much the same on the other board I belong to and on a metal Detecting forum I’m on on Facebook

 

[Bayoutalker]

My point is that it is not as widespread as it seems on here. One other forum that has many more water hunters than this one, has had far less reports of flooding and as far as I can see no repeats. If a person only frequents this one they would get the impression that this is a major issue when in fact it is not.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I use to work sales and customer service for Minelab, there were thousands of equinoxes sold and over 50% were sold to owners on the atlantic and gulf coasts, many of the others were sold to fresh water hunters. At At least 8 out of 10 of the equinox calls I fielded were from people wanting them to hunt water. Minelab has sold thousands of the equinoxes, if only half were water hunters there were still over a thousand sold to water hunters and very few leaked. Kellyco alone sold over a thousand equinoxes before they were sold and sold hundreds under the new company owners.

 

[sandmartin]

I think I have made my point as have others, maybe time to close this thread and move on?

 

[Birop]

After my 800 flooded ML was quick to send me a new one. Customer service was great.
Now I wonder where the problem was. What is the weak spot? Where it leaked?
I guess I will never know. Anyway, my nox did not leak the first time underwater. It endured several diving (1-2m depth) each lasting about 2-3 hours. And the last time i dove with it it leaked very small amount of water after few hours of being submerged. So I think dunking test is not always good way of proving its waterproofness.
After receiving a new one I decided to make it more waterproof.
Since I do not use the speaker I sealed it off. Also, I applied some sealant around the coil jack as it also looked "weak spot" to me. Actually it is enigma to me. I do not know how it is sealed (between jack and the housing) against water, with O ring or something else. Another thing I did is sealed the battery cover against sand. I think the battery compartment is pretty much safe from water intrusion (it has double O-rings) but I noticed that it is the place where a lot of fine sand is being accumulated. So maybe this fine sand goes into the O-rings and causing the leakage.

 

[Bayoutalker]

After my 800 flooded ML was quick to send me a new one. Customer service was great.
Now I wonder where the problem was. What is the weak spot? Where it leaked?
I guess I will never know. Anyway, my nox did not leak the first time underwater. It endured several diving (1-2m depth) each lasting about 2-3 hours. And the last time i dove with it it leaked very small amount of water after few hours of being submerged. So I think dunking test is not always good way of proving its waterproofness.
After receiving a new one I decided to make it more waterproof.
Since I do not use the speaker I sealed it off. Also, I applied some sealant around the coil jack as it also looked "weak spot" to me. Actually it is enigma to me. I do not know how it is sealed (between jack and the housing) against water, with O ring or something else. Another thing I did is sealed the battery cover against sand. I think the battery compartment is pretty much safe from water intrusion (it has double O-rings) but I noticed that it is the place where a lot of fine sand is being accumulated. So maybe this fine sand goes into the O-rings and causing the leakage.

That might be good info to pass on to ML. It might help them fix the problem for good.