Jump to content

Where Are The New Minelabs Made These Days?


bigtim1973

Recommended Posts

Surfing ebay and saw. So does Minelab make their products in Ireland and Australia still or have they went to outsourcing their products to the orient now?

 

 this.https://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-Detector-For-MINELAB-ExplorerSE-Keypad-Membrane-Protection-Film-/304142101125?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Most their detectors are made in Malaysia, and parts like shafts and so on come from China.  My genuine Equinox replacement shaft came in packaging with shipping documentation of made in China.  I guess this is relatively normal in this day and age, what isn't made there? not much!

What you're seeing there with that Ebay listing is Chinese manufactured clone components, the Chinese have worked out that selling parts for Minelab detectors can be very lucrative.  They sell everything now for many models of Minelab like shafts, batteries, screens, keypads and so on.  You name a part they now make it.   These will be the same parts they're using in their clone detectors so some parts might be questionable quality.

I guess because some of the parts like screens Minelab won't sell you and instead want you to pay the service center to fit them into out of warranty detectors, some people would rather save the money and do it themselves if they're capable of doing so, in that case they source aftermarket parts to do it themselves.  Often the labour on a repair can be more than the parts required.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, phrunt said:

the Chinese have worked out that selling parts for Minelab detectors can be very lucrative. 

I wondered how those CTX screens started popping up. Now I know. Right on time too. Some of the early models should soon start to experience issues. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the Chinese are pumping out replacement GPZ and CTX screens. There has to be a market for it or they wouldn't do it.  I guess sometimes it's not practical for people to send their detector in to get it fixed if they need it or when they want to do it themselves to keep costs down or maybe they just don't have a service agent nearby or even in their country.  The price of getting it fixed officially is just too high by comparison of doing it yourself and I'm sure they'd buy the genuine parts if they could, but for things like screens they won't sell them to you. 

I wasn't even able to buy the little rubber USB cover for my WM12 when it snapped in half, they wanted me to send it in to have it replaced, they were of course going to do it under warranty as it's under a year old I'd guess but they would not send me the part to do it myself even if I just offered to buy it so I can see peoples reasoning for sourcing aftermarket parts but having worked in a service center before myself I also know why they don't want people doing things themselves, it can go terribly wrong 🙂  If I was able to find that little rubber on a Chinese site I would have bought it just so I could do it myself.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is quite surprising that every damn thing is made over there now. A bit disappointing that the cost is still very expensive for the machine made elsewhere as well. I do not understand it unless they are just taking in more equity per cost of unit compared to profit. So I guess they just win even better now. I wonder how long they have been doing this?

 

 

The Xterra was much better built imo. I remember looking at the coil package for the Xterra and it was made in Ireland. I wonder if that place is still open and producing components for them.

  • Oh my! 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They used to make them in Adelaide Australia, and best I can tell almost all manufacturing is done in Malaysia but of course that doesn't mean all the parts are made in Malaysia, they'd be sourced where they can be, mostly China and Taiwan I would guess.  Even detectors made in the USA will be made with parts sourced in Asia, it's certainly not unusual.

Their investor report outlines a bit of information about manufacturing although they lumped Warehouses in with Manufacturing in the chart so it looked like they're made in many places when they're not.

1339734356_codanmanufacturing2.thumb.jpg.ba323c220a866ffe9b24b14ae0602f44.jpg

 

If you dive into it a bit deeper doing research outside of that document you can come up with this one

1705570125_CodanManufacuring.thumb.jpg.f4f2b42fa43e0b9e15ea862d8659f2d1.jpg

Which basically shows the manufacturing is done in Adelaide South Australia, Penang Malaysia and Victoria, Canada

I looked into the manufacturing in Canada and it is the radio communications equipment.

As long as the quality is there and the support I'm not bothered by where it's made.  I would hope making it in cheaper to manufacture countries would have some of the costs cut passed onto the consumers though and not just be to maximise profits. 

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, bigtim1973 said:

It is quite surprising that every damn thing is made over there now. A bit disappointing that the cost is still very expensive for the machine made elsewhere as well. I do not understand it unless they are just taking in more equity per cost of unit compared to profit. So I guess they just win even better now. I wonder how long they have been doing this?

 

 

The Xterra was much better built imo. I remember looking at the coil package for the Xterra and it was made in Ireland. I wonder if that place is still open and producing components for them.

Minelab manufactured the X-Terra 50s and X-Terra 70s in Ireland. I owned both models and found them to be as good as any mid level detector made in 2005 to 2008. When the X-Terra 705, 305 and 505s came out in 2009 they were still made in Ireland I think. When the Codan/Minelab deal was signed, Plexus Manufacturing in Malaysia started making selected Minelab detectors in 2010, including some of the X-Terras. I also owned each model for awhile…..305, 505 and 705. They were all made in Malaysia. I did not see a difference in quality or performance. The 705’s prospecting mode was outstanding………buying different coils for changing frequencies and for waterproof/not waterproof along with its kind of nebulous discrimination mode was not so outstanding. I wish I still had my XT70 just for nostalgic reasons, but the Equinox and even the Vanquish to a lesser degree, will detect rings around the XTs from my experience.

I think the facility in Cork, Ireland is for European repairs and sales now with no manufacturing.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Minelab manufactured the X-Terra 50s and X-Terra 70s in Ireland. I owned both models and found them to be as good as any mid level detector made in 2005 to 2008. When the X-Terra 705, 305 and 505s came out in 2009 they were still made in Ireland I think. When the Codan/Minelab deal was signed, Plexus Manufacturing in Malaysia started making selected Minelab detectors in 2010, including some of the X-Terras. I also owned each model for awhile…..305, 505 and 705. They were all made in Malaysia. I did not see a difference in quality or performance. The 705’s prospecting mode was outstanding………buying different coils for changing frequencies and for waterproof/not waterproof along with its kind of nebulous discrimination mode was not so outstanding. I wish I still had my XT70 just for nostalgic reasons, but the Equinox and even the Vanquish to a lesser degree, will detect rings around the XTs from my experience.

I think the facility in Cork, Ireland is for European repairs and sales now with no manufacturing.

At least now you can get 2 or 3   frequencies with one coil from Mars or  Nel .Put a big coil from those 2 companies on a xterra and it is a depth monster from what I   heard.I had a 7kz. tornado coil for a few hunts before it went bad on my x-terra 70 and to this date it gave  me my deepest wheatie in the turf.  I have found 90% of my turf gold with that machine.It sound a lot like  my Nox so to me it still lives a bit in that machine.I never tried a 3kz.  dd coil  for that machine which is something  I regret.I  might   get a 7'' 3kz. mars Lion coil for  the fun of it since it's cheap.If  I feel  like  spending more  I might get a 13'' coil with more then 1  Frequency.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too really enjoyed the Xterra. I had the 50, 505 and an older 70 that wasn't quiet right. I have been looking for another set up here and there.

And the coils that switch frequencies with a 9 volt battery it very neat. 

I did not like the 10.5 inch DD coil as it made the machine completely off balance. But if I do get another one I am going to try to find the small 18" DD HF coil for it. 

Maybe even try one of the ones that switch frequencies. 

Anyways, I am almost sure the vanquish is a better machine but I like the set up of the Xterra. I wish they would have made the vanquish on the Xterra platform. It would have been a homerun of they did that. It runs on the same amount of aa batteries.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

People imagine Asians assembling things in garages with hammers and tongs, making cheap low quality products. The truth is Malaysia etc is a high tech hotbed, where top quality things like computer processors are made in top of the line facilities. Apple iPhones another example. Obviously offshoring of manufacturing was done to lower labor costs, and evade various regulations on manufacturing. However, the breakdown of the global “just in time” supply chain, coupled with deteriorating global politics, means that companies are rethinking supply chains, and reshoring efforts are underway. People hoping this means lots of jobs will be disappointed, as AI and factory automation is largely cutting workers out of the loop, but this ironically means high labor costs are less an impediment to bringing some manufacturing back closer to the consumers being served.

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 2
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...