"USB Connected" - Moisture in USB Port

[Jackalope]

Has anyone fixed the USB Port error "USB Connected" on the CTX without sending to ML for repair? The dampness should be gone but the error persists upon turn on. Thanks. Jackalope

 

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[Sandscoopdan]

"USB Connected" - Moisture in USB Port

Yea, happened to me in salt water this year. I use q tips and also fold a paper towel up and use ceramic tweezers to work part of the paper towels into the USB port and get it dry. When I got home from the beach I sprayed small amount of electrical component cleaner to get any salt water residue out then used paper towels to dry using same method I mentioned at beginning of this post. I haven’t had any problems since. Now I use this silicone sealant using a spatula to shape it around to seal oring to completely seal around the entire cap. The nice thing is that this silicone sealant pulls off without any problem and it stays on perfectly. The only thing about it is that it may take 24hrs to dry but takes 1week to completely cure. So I just plan ahead you know. If I am going to be home this weekend and not go out in any water to hunt for a week then I will take care of what I need to and then reseal usb cap (outside of cap only) and then let it do it’s thing for a week. This way I feel more confident about taking it in the water. I had to get into this swamp last weekend and then I am going again this next Sunday to help this lady find her white gold wedding ring. The water was up to my chest this last weekend so I had the CTX about 2ft under water. It did not get any water in it. Just waiting for the water to go down a little now before I go in again. It is just too deep for me right now.

 

[smokeythecat]

You can put the part (s) in a plastic bag with dry rice in it. The rice will suck the moisture out of the unit. It takes a few days. I have done it successfully. If around a shaft, use duct tape to seal it up.

 

[Jackalope]

Yes, thanks for the replies. I had squashed a Q-tip with pliers and slipped it around the USB port to get the moisture. Then I sprayed a coating of silicone lubricant in the port and wiped it with more Q-tips. I let it sit and tried it occasionally during the following week. Today if finally stopped giving the error on startup and seems to be back to normal. I've always been careful and used silicone grease on the port threads and a larger washer/ring so the cap tightens better. For whatever reason, the cap had loosened and when I cleaned the CTX with a hose it forced water into the loose cap. It's a bad design that port.

 

[smokeythecat]

Glad it worked out. I saved two cameras using my rice method, also tried a hair dryer once.

 

[Sandscoopdan]

Yea, I have noticed the cap will back out slightly. That is why I silicone the outside of the usb cap and let it cure for a week. It peels off easy after I am done in the salt water.

 

[Jackalope]

gcmsdan, the cap design is a setup for failure. The detector works again, sort of ... it will still occasionally fail, it tries to remove the USB (pop-up window starts) and then re-boots, repeating. If the coil picks up a target first, the USB reboot does not appear to happen, so it works.

I use an oversized O-ring on the port to help lock the cap down and always add silicone to the threads to keep out the water. It works, but, like you said if the stupid cap backs itself out just a bit it is over. I'm going to the beach tomorrow, hopefully, it will work and not be a wasted trip.

 

[Sandscoopdan]

Ok, hope everything goes well for you tomorrow. I also use two zip loc bags and use electrical tape to wrap around the battery compartment. I put camo cover over the whole body and battery housing so it hides the ziploc bags. I think I will do the same thing with the screen of the CTX- put two ziplocks over it and use electrical tape on it to seal it. Then put the camo cover over the screen to hide ziploc bags

 

[Jackalope]

CTX decided to behave

The CTX flashed and rebooted its "USB Connected" and auto-rebooted as it tried removing the USB port repeatedly (it is trying to remove the fault) ... turned it off/on several dozen times in the dark standing on the beach. Thought it was going to be a loss but finally got a normal bootup display. Was able to use it without any problems for the rest of the day (though I was shy about shutting it off until I was done lest the problem return.

Here's my haul ... nice looking tungsten Koa inlaid men's ring found on the seafloor in 5' of water at about 4" into the sand. Any water detector could have found that (sounded like a dime or quarter).

 

[Jackalope]

I slide that black sackcloth over the battery compartment - works perfectly at keeping the sand out (used to be a problem with sand stuck to the silicone grease along the battery edge). The swing arm is for another ML detector but it works great in the water to glide the search head along. Otherwise, the 17" coil would require me to amputate my arm after an hour in the water; with the harness strap (goes around the shoulder) I can hunt pretty much all day - in or out of the water.

I use a heavier gasket for the battery than the one's ML supplies (even the updated one is a bit narrow). The battery closes tight, the silicone is just added precaution.

But, if the USB port cap backs itself out, then it is all for naught. It probably got loose due to the constant toggling of the trigger switch, which is right next to the port and easy to hit with the finger.

Looks like you've taken your precautions too.

 

[bklein]

There are replacement parts online. I had mine go and had ML repair center replace it - I couldn't believe it caused the boot issue but they said it was the culprit.
They replaced several mechanical components covered by ML cost even though traditional warranty had expired. Been working fine since.

 

[cjc]

Theres a nice product called "Coaxseal" that you can roll a chunk of out then thread it though the cap keeper and down around the entire cap. This will lock it up and the product comes off when you want to plug in. Reusable too.
cjc

 

[bklein]

I had this happen to mine and believed I dried the port sufficiently, but no, it wouldn’t work. I thought something on the board fried so I sent it to ML. They just replaced the port and it worked. So you could try just ordering the part and replacing it if all else fails. I regret not just disconnecting the port to be sure the detector works without it.