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Minelab GPZ 7000, The Controversy Ends?


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I've been having good luck with my GPZ this year, have found about half it's cost in gold here in Arizona hunting on the weekends since I bought it in April. Don't think I'll be slowing down anytime soon either.

I can't wait for an even bigger coil to be released for it, I think that would be find some deep stuff in my area just about everyone else has missed unless they're hand-digging out patches. Can't imagine those coils will run cheap tho, based on the price of the detector maybe $2,000+.

 

Like everyone else I do have a few complaints besides the ones already mentioned like lack of control box covers, spare parts etc. (I fear for the day I actually break something on this thing...)

 

1. The lower shaft on my GPZ has an annoying "twist" to it. If there was only a way to tighten up the latch that locks it down I'm sure it would fix this but my coil likes to twist a little to the right and left and I'm constantly adjusting it so it stays at the 12 o'clock position.

 

2. I wish there was a clock on the screen! I read Steve's write up on how to get the time using the GPS but come on Minelab, update the firmware to display the time on the little bar at the top of the screen. I don't wear a wristwatch when I detect and my phone and Garmin GPS are all stashed away in my Camelbak. Just a little thing that would make life easier when detecting.

 

Oh yeah and shave a couple hundred bucks off the MSRP by dumping the GPS in it. All I wanna do is hunt for nuggets, don't need to mess with a GPS and upload crap to my computer (I've got a iMac anyways  :rolleyes: ).

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Hey Guys,

 

   As for the GPZ Batteries, we do have the standard size in stock, along with the smaller CTX battery that works fine.  We haven't placed them on our site yet, but have them in stock if anyone is interested in the standard, replacment sized GPZ battery.  

 

I did hear the larger 13ah battery is on hold.  Don't know anymore solid details beyond that.  

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Don't take the GPS off my GPZ! Yeah it could be better but by simply mapping my actions on screen as I work an area it has proven to be a huge aid in my efforts. The issues really are more in the XChange software and that can be easily upgraded in the future.

Besides, a GPS module costs between $5 - $15 at wholesale. It adds nothing to the retail cost of the detector. The only thing that would happen if they took it out is you would pay exactly the same price but get no GPS.

Thanks Rob for the comment. On hold means a whole different thing than not going to make.

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The coil is waterproof. But ironically you can hardly use it under water because it wants to float like a life vest. As a result the coil keeps pivoting and giving false signals. For me that's a real Bummer because you basically lose the advantage of having a waterproof coil.

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  AARRRRGGGG!!! I've been hacked! Jasong, you dirty rat! You snuck into my computer and stole the rough draft of my comments on the 7000!

And don't think that I don't recognize the dastardly act of plagiarism just because you have deleted the cuss words and corrected the spelling and punctuation.

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The recently released Codan Investor publication said nothing about new detectors, or upgrades/development of existing ones. Given that their general purpose detector line is now down to the wierd GoFind series, the XTerra 705 and the very expensive CTX, it is up to the existing gold machines to save the day.

http://hotcopper.com.au/documentdownload?id=uOMxKKzFkiWRTLKhOROKAxjvQkAC4g66pmOCoZlJ2%2Fk%3D

I suspect the price of the GPZ was set by deciding how much cash they needed to get in in the first 6 months after introduction divided by the number of units that they expected to sell. The result was $10k per unit. They really have no motivation to make anything cheaper or simpler out of it since they have decided that "X" times $10k is how much money they want per year where X is the quantity of GPZ's sold.

Every more rational but cheaper model would mean a GPZ sale and it's associated revenue lost.

As far as accessories, spare parts, extra coils, etc. I don't see it happening. The negative cash flow of buying in all that stuff is the last thing Codan wants right now. Every penny spent is a penny off the bottom line NOW against a possible sale later.

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Thanks Rob for the clarification. Maybe we'll still see one in the future.

 

Sorry Klunker, I can't hear you over the sound of the ocean breaking at the resort vacation I just bought with your my credit card number.  B)

 

 

1. The lower shaft on my GPZ has an annoying "twist" to it. If there was only a way to tighten up the latch that locks it down I'm sure it would fix this but my coil likes to twist a little to the right and left and I'm constantly adjusting it so it stays at the 12 o'clock position.

 

Dang I thought I was the only one, I'm glad someone else experiences this too. Well, not glad - but I stopped mentioning this because people seemed to think I was crazy and would tell me there is no way for the shaft to twist since it's keyed. But it does!

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Yeah, I`m with Steve, leave the GPS on the GPZ, Minelab, just get it up to current specs with industry standard open data format that allows us to use the mapping software of our choice. Once the practicality of a GPS are realised by prospectors, they will be included on all gold detectors.

Suspect Rick, you`ve nailed Minelabs marketing ploy, but they do give us new technology, without there R & D over the years we`d be probably be only just getting refined PIs or worse just refined VLFs.

Your not crazy Jasong the shaft does twist on mine too, annoying but it is overshadowed by the GPZs capabilities to get gold. I think Minelab may have forgotten the harsh treatment gold detectors receive in the gold field environment. It is the first detector I`ve had I transport protected in my camp mattress, normally they just rattle around loosely.

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If I take the middle carbon fiber shaft out there is often a powdery substance on it where the clamp holds the shaft. I think it's dust from either the clamp or the shaft being ground down from the twisting. It slowly gets easier and easier for the twist to happen and I think that is why - a thousandth of a mm every week or so getting ground off and decreasing the diameter of the shaft. When I first got my detector it seemed like I was correcting the twist 1 or 2 times a day, now it's maybe every 10 minutes.

 

So, hopefully this post here can be used as reference that the problem existed at least for some of us basically out of the box. Because I have a feeling that eventually it'll get worn down enough that the shaft will not be held in at all, and it'll probably happen past my warranty phase as luck generally goes. So it's good to get it documented.

 

Looks like from that presentation that they've done most their expected sales of the 7000 in Australia and the US and now they are concentrating on Africa. The engineering costs were not too out of this world from their graphs, and considering you can build entire computers on palm sized boards for $20 now I don't think the materials costs are much of the $10k equation either. Sounds like your explanation is probably right Rick.

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If I take the middle carbon fiber shaft out there is often a powdery substance on it where the clamp holds the shaft. I think it's dust from either the clamp or the shaft being ground down from the twisting. It slowly gets easier and easier for the twist to happen and I think that is why - a thousandth of a mm every week or so getting ground off and decreasing the diameter of the shaft. When I first got my detector it seemed like I was correcting the twist 1 or 2 times a day, now it's maybe every 10 minutes.

So, hopefully this post here can be used as reference that the problem existed at least for some of us basically out of the box. Because I have a feeling that eventually it'll get worn down enough that the shaft will not be held in at all, and it'll probably happen past my warranty phase as luck generally goes. So it's good to get it documented.

Looks like from that presentation that they've done most their expected sales of the 7000 in Australia and the US and now they are concentrating on Africa. The engineering costs were not too out of this world from their graphs, and considering you can build entire computers on palm sized boards for $20 now I don't think the materials costs are much of the $10k equation either. Sounds like your explanation is probably right Rick.

When I first got mine I didn't think the "shaft twist" was that bad either, just chalked it up to the overall "floppy" design of the coil the GPZ has now that Minelab got away from using plastic wing nuts you can tighten down. However like you said I think mine's gotten worse too. I've logged a lot of hours on mine since I got it and I'm frequently adjusting the length of the shaft for when I'm hiking in/out and detecting up/down slopes and stuff. I do like that you can adjust the shaft fast and easy like the SDC.

Is there a way to disassemble the shaft and wrap some tape around it to increase the diameter a little so the clamp can "grab" it better?

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