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Dusty

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  1. I read somewhere on their site that warranted parts carry a 6 month warranty period. It will be interesting to see how they handle this as time goes by since the control pod is the only "part". I can see a cottage industry developing as the warranty ends with methods of zapping the control pod to get a fresh one if it has another three year warranty implied. My guess will be after a year or two of use the new control handle will carry a "prorata" warranty extending it no more than 6 months beyond the original warranty product. Welcome to the world of non serviceable electronics.
  2. It will be interesting to see how the new service perception evolves in a couple of years when these issues continue to pop up after the warranty has expired and every repair requires a $500 control pod to remedy the problem.
  3. Just a guess but I expect more reports of screens developing the spots as we get deeper into the Summer months. Warmth seemed to exasperate the problem I had and I think the dryer idea may make it worse. I was surprised when Minelab told me they had neither heard of the issue , nor could they reproduce it in their facility , when I first saw the issue on a forum and they are supposedly watching the forums and even interacting with certain individuals. I casually read only two forums and their observations should be much more complete than mine. I quite frankly found the suggestion of the screen protector insulting but I understand eliminating the obvious when dealing with the public. One of the reasons I have little use for internet message rooms is that many people don't appear to have even read the manual before started a string of questions.? I believe some of that particular component of the sealed control handle may have an inherent manufacturing flaw of some kind that will work itself out as production consumes those units. It will be a costly pain in the neck for Minelab for a while and a possible glitch for buyers of used Equinoxs to be aware of in the future.
  4. The performance was okay just nothing that rocked my socks after using the Deus , Etrac and CTX in trashy modern parks. If I was to find some sites that were beach or relic-centric and Minelab was making a 5x10 for it I would consider getting another.
  5. I'm referring to the Equinox. When I mentioned the shaft wobble Jamie said she would replace the middle shaft when it was at Minelab for warranty on the screen defect. After the machine came back with the new control handle and middle rod it was immediately apparent the same issue was happening with the rotating rod and I did the "felt shim" thing again. I suspect it will deteriorate rapidly in the salt water and if the new owner has issues with it then it will be on his time.
  6. The rod on my original unit as well as it's replacement both had poor gripping action. The fellow I sold it to was off to Galveston about now so I will soon get feedback from him to see how it stood up.
  7. You have a bit of a dilemma to deal with. Years ago I was in the same pickle and decided to soak a particularly interesting piece of monzonite with blade of gold showing in HF acid. This is what I came away with
  8. steveg, Minelab's Etrac and Ctx don't give you a lot of ground info other than the sensitivity readings but the Equinox does at least give you a number which is why I inquired. The F75 and Deus both give you a mineral concentration scale as well as a numeric value and I have always tried to correlate them with the Minelabs. Apparently the Equinox "reverses" the others scales as both of the previous detectors read in the high 80's (88 to 90) and had 3 and 4 bar F75 or above half way on the Deus mineralization graph,,,,I never found a previously hunted area with the Equinox that ran above 5 when I GBed and ,of course , no real idea on the mineral concentration other than ground noise and minus readings. My dirt is dry , alkaline , high chaparral with a basis of weathered granite from Rocky Mountain alluvial fans mixed with obnoxious fill dirt with liberal doses of artificial fertilizer , all sculpted to imitate mid western grass parks. Irrigation and sprinklers use water that has a ph in the mid 8's,,,,It is abysmal ground I assure you. I should , as a good detectorist , use the GB feature on the CTX(although i do occasionally run in "seawater") but , not being a good detectorist , I'm not concerned about depth as antiquity here was obliterated years ago by urban sprawl and concrete. Discrimination is the order here which is why most park hunters rely on the V3i but I have always favored the Minelab FBS machines and have found the Etrac and CTX to give me superior ID than the Equinox under these conditions , both in my own personal use as well as with the other detectorists I have mentioned. This is not a knock on the Nox but actually a confirmation of Minelab's own corporate ratings of the machines when discrimination is considered. Mr. Dankowski often reminds us that the utmost importance when making observations is the elimination of variables and my observations have been that the absolutely most difficult variables to remove are first the dirt and second the detectorist.
  9. Steve , I'm curious what the ground balanced on the 800 during this hunt if you were able to detect with a sensitivity of 25 on your CTX. My experience in my dirt has not been exactly the opposite as both machines have been able to see the targets but the CTX has repeatedly had better ID. My dirt seldom lets me get above 15 or 18 sensitivity on the CTX (auto or manual) and balanced around 2 or 3 frequently on my ex-800. I run ground coin almost exclusively. I have noticed this both before I jettisoned the 800 and in multiple hunts with two friends that are using the 800 and comparing signals with me. They are able to see the targets just not as clearly. Did you try detecting in ground coin or do you always run in ferrous?
  10. As far as a "challenge" goes the "waterproofness" is irrelevant to me but as to the matter of ergonomics this is the only real improvement the Equinox needs , a decent arm cuff which doesn't require a strap and that allows you to slip your arm in and out with a snug fit as the result. Amazing what you can do with a heat gun a piece of ABS
  11. Minelab is certainly aware of the rod issues. They were unable to reproduce the screen flaw issue I was having but in the course of e-mails the issue of the rod came up and was resolved by replacement without hesitation. Living in the desert I never hunt water so having to search out an alternate shaft should not even have to be a consideration any more so than with any other detector. I'm sure the entire issue is a real fly in their bonnet right now. The felt pad works. Maybe in the next shipment they will include a 6 pack of felt bumpers and instructions with the first word in the instructions being ,"If".
  12. I have heard of a half dozen or so units now but the individuals who I have contacted are electing to keep the units they have and persevere , foolishly in my opinion , instead of returning them to Minelab. The spot on mine continued to grow and became very visible after about an hour of use. It sounds like it is heading eventually to Australia now. Ambient humidity here is well below 10% about 80% of the time so , if moisture was the issue , it came from the factory. I was surprised when reading the history and technical aspects involved in LCD screens , very old but very complicated as well when applied to manufacturing.
  13. Here's an example of the screen spot on a bare screen , no protector
  14. I'm in the same boat but didn't wait 7 months.Try this and see if it will help you avoid the separation. If you look inside the shaft at the lower camlock you can see a small arm that moves as you turn the knob. If you put a small felt cabinet door bumper or something similar on it the lower shaft will tighten right up. I used a small patch , about 8mm in diameter, that I cut from a piece of self adhesive velco (the hooky side) and it stopped the lower shaft from rotating. Be sure to have the knob fully loosened when you insert the lower shaft , you have to take care to get the lower rod in the upper without dislodging the "shim" but once it's beyond that it will snug right up. Unfortunately , it looks like I will be returning mine to have the screen replaced anyway. Most likely they will just send me a new unit without all the bugs this time.
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