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Nox Is Headed To Minelab, 4th Machine Since May Of 2018


Dan(NM)

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15 hours ago, Joe D. said:

That would be more of a "truth" in advertising! And maybe tweek the price!  JMO👍👍

 

7 hours ago, Joe D. said:

Now, will it hurt sales down the road??  I'm guessing that they are not overly concerned about it,

They already DID tweak the price.  They raised it by $50 this year with no discernable structural improvements.  That should tell you how concerned they are about bad press on failures affecting sales.

The fact is, the number of folks that take the Nox into chest deep water or to depths that challenge the rating is a relatively miniscule percentage of Nox owners.  

That being said, I agree that calling the Nox waterproof to 3M or whatever the specs say, is a stretch.

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Also, Dan provided us with key information here regarding the out-of-warranty costs of new or refurbished replacement control pods.  As long as ML is willing to provide a decent warranty on those control pods (3 years for a new control pod at $350 and 1 year for the refurbished pod at $225) it almost does not make sense to by an entirely brand new Equinox to "refresh" the warranty unless you simply want a backup unit.   By buying a new detector you are casting your fate to the wind on the build quality of the new detector vs. the one you already have in hand.

I also have a theory that ML perhaps did indeed successfully qualify their design to the static pressure head associated with a 3M column of water but neglected to take into account the hydrodynamic loads associated with swinging that detector under water. Hence you are seeing failures due to hydrodynamic twisting forces on the control pod that are causing seals to leak and of course there is the broken coil ear issue.

They can invest in improvements but publically admitting a flawed design opens them up to claims not to mention increased costs that will get passed on to the consumer.  No, ML might be content to let it all just be taken care of under the radar and keep the few customers who encounter these issues supported through no-questions-asked warranty repairs and reasonable replacement part costs.

All of the above is simply speculation, of course.  There are no published statistics on Equinox failure rates.  All we have is the anecdotal evidence of several users like Dan who have suffered through multiple failures and the other more public multiple failures experienced by prominent users such as Calabash Digger who have a sizable internet following.

Anyway, Dan, hope you get the Equinox fixed soon and get back up and running.  I too tend to agree with others here who say you should just bite the bullet and get your unit shipped into the repair shop now as it is already compromised.  Hopefully they can get it turned around quickly.  Good luck either way and hope you have a productive and fun trip.

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I decided to take the Nox out for another dip since it was compromised anyway. It ran flawless until about 2 hours in when it started chirping and acting erratic. ct first I thought it was emi, buy, I knew the writing was on the wall lol.  Got home and fired the machine up, totally unstable and then it starting making a constant squeal then up pops a ER message and it shut down. I did this 3-4 times until it displayed the no coil message and shut down. So, I took a picture of it,  took off the shaft and have it boxed and ready to go as soon as I get the RMA#

IMG_20210711_140644078_HDR.jpg

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I had my machine  under the water for over 100 hours before it went.It is usually in  pretty calm conditions. I got  fog in it after  i  used it in a   surging Lake   Ontario which also  broke my arm cuff.Hunting in the hot dry sand and then going in the cooler  water without gradually cooling off my machine probably made it worse( I usually don't do that). Also the wear and tear on this heavily used machine  probably also compromised it a bit.They took care of me well so they will get my praise for their  customer  service.

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2 minutes ago, Dances With Doves said:

I had my machine  under the water for over 100 hours before it went.It is usually in  pretty calm conditions. I got  fog in it after  i  used it in a   surging Lake   Ontario which also  broke my arm cuff.Hunting in the hot dry sand and then going in the cooler  water without gradually cooling off my machine probably made it worse( I usually don't do that). Also the wear and tear on this heavily used machine  probably also compromised it a bit.They took care of me well so they will get my praise for their  customer  service.

This was the first time in water for this machine. It was bought April 2020 and was used maybe 5-6 times before it hit the calm fresh water lake. Total time in waist to chest deep water maybe 4 hours before she took on water.  It was cloudy and maybe 85 when I hit the water with it.

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5 minutes ago, Dan(NM) said:

This was the first time in water for this machine. It was bought April 2020 and was used maybe 5-6 times before it hit the calm fresh water lake. Total time in waist to chest deep water maybe 4 hours before she took on water.  It was cloudy and maybe 85 when I hit the water with it.

I hope you get a better machine.I put a piece of a pool noodle between the pod and cuff so it does not sink if a let my machine go.The  less  pressure on the pod the  better it should hold up.

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57 minutes ago, Dances With Doves said:

I hope you get a better machine.I put a piece of a pool noodle between the pod and cuff so it does not sink if a let my machine go.The  less  pressure on the pod the  better it should hold up.

The first time out, I didn't have that on mine, it sank like the Titanic. I went straight home and put some on the back part of the shaft, works like a charm. 

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5 hours ago, stevejhgla said:

How many of you use a detected ed shaft? 

2 of my control pods have drowned since using this shaft. 

Probably a coincidence.  Nothing about that shaft should matter because you are still using the same original mounting base bracket, I believe.

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10 hours ago, stevejhgla said:

How many of you use a detected ed shaft? 

2 of my control pods have drowned since using this shaft

   I have one that I have used before! Makes no difference concerning a leaking pod, as none of the shafts have a seal! The battery compartment in the handle,  has it's own seal with a small white membrane "breather" hole for; I'm guessing, gas relief! 

   ML has not, to my knowledge, ever given an exact cause, or location for leaks! 

   I've had two pods replaced under warranty, without any problem, or explanation of what was wrong! Neither pod was a leaker; they had other issues! And while slightly inconvenient not having my Nox to use, their service turnaround time was about a week or two, with the Covid delays! Not bad!!👍👍

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  • The title was changed to Nox Is Headed To Minelab, 4th Machine Since May Of 2018

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