Jump to content

Repairs Of Older Minelabs


brogansown

Recommended Posts


I actually got brave and stopped in Lisle,Illinois on my way back from panning/sluicing for gold and getting rained out in Indiana once again this past weekend.

Yes, there actually is a Minelab office here complete with a small showroom and a service center coordinator I guess is her title. She told me that Kellyco in Florida is handling Minelab USA repairs and they are looking for a 2nd repair shop as well. Apparently, they closed up their place in Nevada 6 years ago on account of their General manager lived near Chicago, which is why they are in Lisle, Illinois now.  I was shown a demo ZED so at least I know what you ZED owners are talking about now.I was also told that on the Minelab website is a list of discontinued metal detectors and none of them are being serviced by Minelab. I was also told they do have a person who monitors Internet metal detecting forums like this one, but rarely posts.

Some of these discontinued machines such as the 3500 may still be serviced by Minelab in Australia, however, but she wasn't sure on that.

  I took some photos to prove I actually visited the office altho I seem to be missing the office staff group shot...?

  That's me in the last photo. 1st photo at the entrance. Then the lady at the desk is a finance person. Shots of GoFind detector in the showroom area.

 

 --Tom V.

post-353-0-62545500-1442981315_thumb.jpg

post-353-0-04221200-1442981378_thumb.jpg

post-353-0-55356900-1442981394_thumb.jpg

post-353-0-52333000-1442981411_thumb.jpg

post-353-0-88413600-1442981429_thumb.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Reporting back on the Gp 3500 repairs.  My brother's 3500 is repaired and working very well.  The problem was located at the point where the power leads come into the circuit boards.  What appeared to be a control unit was fried, so my brother decided to fix it himself.  But he couldn't find the burnt component anywhere.

A friend gave us his broken 3500 and my brother cut out a one inch chunk of circuit board on both machines and glued the friend's still good piece into his machine.  After soldering the piece at six locations we took it for a test run.  Worked perfectly and we found gold that day.

This repair is not for the faint hearted, as the entire circuit is covered with a white coating that doesn't seem to dissolve and has to be scraped away to expose the damaged components.  And the parts don't have a known numbering system.  But remember it's just an electronic circuit though and follows all the rules of electronics.  Sure would be nice to have a circuit diagram since Minelab no longer wants to repair the older models.  We could keep them running forever.

My brothers restore old cars and since the auto dealerships, like Minelab don't and really couldn't supply parts for the old machines, search the world for parts to bring these old automobiles back to life. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...

I appreciate this is an old thread but thought I would update the information. 

In respect to current Minelab models I can recommend Kellyco in the USA and the Detectores in Brazil, both will repair older machines but its always worth checking they have stock parts for the repair before sending, as for current models the answer I am sure is yes get it booked in. 

And then I would like to mention Lunatek, we are based in the UK and cover the UK and Europe and stepped up  when Ireland service centre closed, we are the official Minelab UK and Europe service centre, you can book in online and feel free to get in touch. 

https://www.lunatek.co.uk

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

New web address for discontinued products:

http://www.minelab.com/anz/customer-care/product-notices/discontinued-products

Some machines listed can still be repaired by Minelab Australia as per the asterixis. From SD2100V2/GP Extreme onwards according to the list but as it is parts dependant contact them prior to sending.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gary,  good to hear your M.L. is up and finding gold again.  I have wondered if minelab has a support list of machines they INTEND to stop working on ahead of time.  I only have one M.L. 2300 but would consider getting rid of it if it came up on a list prior to no support if there was some warning.   Anyone know if they give such a notice or not?                   Rick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rick, from the page referenced above "All products are supported for a period of at least 7 years after they are discontinued."

The only notice you get is when the product gets listed on the page as discontinued, but you are safe for at least seven years after they are discontinued. The SDC 2300 is still current production so such a date is very far in the future.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rick, Steve,

I own a 3000, a 4500, a Gold Bug 2 and a Troy x5 and like most of us can repair the cables, make new batteries for the GP series and even fix simple circuit stuff.  But without a circuit diagram it's impossible to go much further on the old, but still usable machines.  It would be nice if Minelab or someone would release those old diagrams so enterprising talented techy types could resurrect machines that can still find gold and coins, etc.  But I understand commerce and know that isn't going to happen.  Good to hear Steve, that at least seven years of repairs are still available.  My friend(who by the way is looking for a good old GP Extreme) just sent his 4500 in for repair and was surprised to learn that it would be repaired.

A couple of days ago I took the 3000 out detecting and was totally surprised at how quiet and stable it ran.  Didn't get gold, but did find quite a few deep targets in a couple of hammered patches, which gives me hope for next spring's start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...