Need help with BH Land Star

[wheres_wheatie]

I just purchased a used BH Land Star. I've been using the Lone Star till now.
I read the manual and threads on here about the machine. I found it pretty simple to operate but a few things threw me off.
When I press a mode button (All Metal, Disc, Notch, Auto Notch) the detector does not make any confirmation noise that the mode has changed. On my Lone star it did make a noise.

The machine is in good condition but I noticed when I turn the sensitivy knob close to off it starts shorting out, and restarting. Does anyone elses do this? And...
When I turn it on the manual says it will start in disc mode but sometimes it is in All Metal mode
A few times I've turned it on and it makes the start up noise but when I swing it over an area the indicator arrows show on the lcd but there is no sound indication, after a 6-7 sweeps the sound kicks in.

I'm worried this used machine might be a dud.

 

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[Jeep]

Great machine the Landstar

There is no tone indication when switching modes

Should not "short out"

Are you using headphones ?

Maybe you should send it to First Texas for a tune up. Great people there.

Should not cost much, sounds like you may have a potentiometer problem, someone may of cranked those knobs too much.

 

[slowNsteady]

I agree with Jeep. Sounds like you might have an internal problem. When you turn it on, you'll hear the start up beeps and that's it. When you turn the knob back to almost off, there should be nothing happening unless you've got something under the coil or are picking up interference from something. My Land Star is pretty chatty with the sensitivity turned all the way down. It should start up and stay in disc mode until you put it in all metal mode. Remember all metal mode sounds different than disc mode. One more thing. Make sure you're sweeping the coil slow enough. If you do sweep too fast, that could cause odd readings and missed targets. Just my thoughts....

 

[wheres_wheatie]

I think you're right about the knobs, they were caked with dirt when I got the md. I'm gonna look in to sending it in. I went out today and tested it somemore, my biggest concern is that it seems to have very little depth in air tests, and I have trouble setting it up for All Metal mode. It works sometimes in all metal and other times it makes noise nonstop when it nears the ground.

 

[Jeep]

Since it is second hand and out of warranty you may have to go a secondary route
Here is the Info From First Texas:



Should you experience any problems with your Bounty Hunter Metal Detector within the Five Year warranty period please follow these steps:

Email Hector Martinez (info@frsttx.com) explaining what problem you are experiencing. If he is unable to help...

Print this page from your browser (Go to then File menu, then select print) .

Include this form describing the problem with your Bounty Hunter metal detector. Be sure to fill out the form completely.

Send your metal detector back to our factory at this address:
First Texas Products, LP
Bounty Hunter Metal Detectors
1465 Henry Brennan-H
El Paso, Texas 79936
Attn: Repair Department
Return the unit to us insured and with a way to track the shipment should it get lost in transit (Bounty Hunter is not responsible for shipments lost in transit). We recommend UPS. Important! When returning any metal detector for warranty service be sure to include the entire unit AND the search coil.

Your metal detector will be repaired or replaced based on our repair technician's evaluation.

We will do all we can to expedite your repair. Turnaround on repairs is generally within one week. We pay the return shipping charges.

We do not service models beyond the normal 5 year warranty. For non-warranty repairs we recommend:

Keith Wells
East Texas Metal Detectors
1495 FM 49
Gilmer, Texas 75644
Phone: (903) 843-5555
Fax: (903) 843-3886
kwills@worldnet.att.net

 

[wheres_wheatie]

I'm sure they will not honor the warranty beyond the original owner and I don't know if this detector is more than 5 years old.
Has anyone ever used Keith Wells service before?
Thanks for all the great info. and help!

 

[George (MN)]

Actually, his name is Keith Wills. www.brokendetector.com When I looked many months back it said his average repair price is $100 which is about the value of a properly working Land Star. And Bounty Hunter/Fisher/Teknetics are all no warranty to 2nd owner. Minelab is that way, too.

Even if Keith Wills can fix it in 1 hour I think thats $45 labor (see his site to be sure) + any parts cost, & you'd have to pay the round trip shipping. He may or may not offer something you something for it as a trade-in on another used detector & don't have any info about his stock & prices.

*Almost* everyone on the forums is honest, & if you try eBay look for the sellers with feedback rating of 100% or very close.

I had a BH Land Star. What I didn't like was when I passed it over a coin, it beeped after I went over it, not while I was over it. So going left to right & back the beeps on same coin would be about 2 feet apart.

I'm not aware of any mid-range or lower Bounty Hunters with an impressive air test. My Land Star could detect coin-sized objects to 6" but at that depth it said everything was a silver dollar. The Sharpshooter II I think responded while over the metal & it has non-motion pinpoint, also. The Land Ranger and Time Ranger go deeper. Lots of good choices in other brands, too. Best wishes, George (MN)

 

[wheres_wheatie]

I'm gonna keep it as a backup as is. Right now i'm considering the garret ace 350 but don't know if it would be a better md then the land star.

 

[Jeep]

I'm gonna keep it as a backup as is. Right now i'm considering the garret ace 350 but don't know if it would be a better md then the land star.

It can't hurt to take it apart and clean it up. If you found caked dirt I would take it apart and carefully
spray it with some contact cleaner. Sometimes the simple things will do the trick.

If you get the Ace 350 let us know how it does, I am also looking into it but would like to see some
real world field tests first.

 

[ShovelNose]

Wouldnt recommend Keith Wills unless you got alot of wait time. Slow as a snail. When I spoke to him by e-mail he told me 2 months if I didnt need parts from FTP, longer if I did.

 

[garzen7]

I had the same problem with my LandStar I could wiggle the On/Off/Sense knob and the machine would restart with each wiggle. I opened the unit up and, sure enough, there were two cold solder connections on the rear of the "sensetivity" POT "Potentiometer" where they solder to the circuit board. These rear two are for the power switch. There three solder connections for the "Variable Sensetivity" function at the front of the board and in front of the rear two. The two rear solder joints had seperated, or cracked. these are called "Cold Solder Joints". I warmed up my trusty 35 watt sharp tipped soldering iron and VERY CAREFULLY re-melted the connection back together again. No additional solder was needed. Just re-heat.
The detector functions flawlessly now and I am a happy guy!! Lots of luck! Guy's!!

Bounty Hunter Tracker II, Two QD-II's, Landstar, Micronta 3001.

 

[thebountyhunter]

Somewhere during production they seem to have changed the circuit design of the Bounty hunter Land Star and both operate and ground balance differently. There are two manual's available online.
Older models here http://greatlakesmetaldetecting.com/pdfs/landstar.pdf
Newer models here http://www.detecting.com/manuals/Land-Star-Reader.pdf

You will notice that the earlier models start up in NO MOTION ALL METAL and not in MOTION ALL METAL DISCRIMINATE and they also ground balance differently.

As for the shorting,, mine also had cold solder points on the sensitivity switch, an easy fix as said above.

 

[roadrunner]

Mine had a problem and I have no idea when I purchased it.
But it was out of warranty Im sure maybe.
Anyway,called BH,told them the problem,they gave me a RAN.
Told me to send in the coil, and unit, no shaft.
Called me back in 3 days. Said it would be $25 to fix.
Received it back in 3 days.
Guess what, The one I sent in was a radio Shack version, the only difference was the color of the face plate, it was light and dark blue.
The one I was sent, was the light and dark brown.
The case was a brand new unit all together. I looked at the bottom of coil and there was not a mark on it.
They sent me a brand new main unit and new coil for $25.
I have nothing but great words to say about BH service.