Second Faulty 6000

[oldcoinhunter]

In response to Steve on what was going on with the detector. Imagine the worst possible EMI and going over hot rocks at the same time and then having the detector go back to perfectly normal after a few minutes and doing this all day long. If anyone would like the videos of the problem pm me with an email address or cellphone number and I’ll get them to you. Just so everyone knows there was no EMI, airplanes flying overhead and no cellular towers in that area. Factory reset numerous times, ground balanced numerous times, quick track numerous times and adjusting sensitivity from lowest up to auto 2. I told DC the same and also sent them the videos in hopes it might help them to identify the problem. Jim

[oldcoinhunter]

In my above post i see i misspoke. I said ground balance instead of noise cancel, still old school thought process i guess. Jim

[oldcoinhunter]

After reading Phrunt's post about his problems with the 6000 and several people giving him grief about what he is saying about Minelab, i for one totally agree with him as Minelab knew there were problems with the 6000 back in late APRIL or May last year and i had two replaced with the third one working as it should, so far. I think him bringing up the issues is totally right. Jim

[Aureous]

Touch wood....mine is absolutely flawless, stable, both coils work 100%, stem doesnt lose lock, headphones are quiet plus it finds gold where it shouldn't be.... Mine is so good that I suggested a mate sell his 1st release one and buy a current one! If mine is anything to go by, the current run is excellent. The dealer I got it from suggested he hasn't had any issues with any 6000's so far this year. They must have gotten the issues solved at Plexus finally 

[mn90403]

How much do you think it costs now to just return a warranty/defective detector?  Then there is an evaluation cost.  Then there is a cost for repair or replacement.  Then it has to be tested and returned to sender.

When coming up with a price for the 6000 there must have been an 'assumed' percentage of problems/returns.  We really don't have any way of knowing the actual percentage of faulty units but just from a public relations perspective the number of bad units reported is high.  Total sales may be affected because some users don't want to deal with warranty returns.

Someone in each of the ML divisions is keeping track of this stuff and is responsible for reporting it to management/shareholders.  It would be one of the factors used in determining price increases.  I'm sure all of the users want this info used to reduce problems.

Dealers want the problems solved because they are in the middle and probably can't say what they really want to say because it would challenge their marketing relationship.

We're supposed to be happy that we have anything to buy.  Welcome to the new world.

[Dutchman4]

My 6K was purchased new in Nov-2021 and I have had no problems with it other than the same problem others have had with the two shaft mounting screws, behind the speaker panel, coming loose.  At first I was concerned if the 6000 was going to be rugged enough considering how light it is but mine has held up well.  I actually prefer the light yet strong design concept for everything mechanical as long as it is engineered well.

I spent 38 years in semi-conductor manufacturing as a maintenance tech/eng for high throughput automated test equipment.  The older equipment tended to be more reliable because it was put together well.  Also the older circuit board technology using "through hole" vs todays "surface mount" resulted in very reliable solder connections.  It is the type of technology that took us to the moon and back many times.  The newer assembly/manufacturing technologies are much more automated and can also be high quality and robust but relies heavily on QC inspections and testing to ensure there are no "Quality Leaks" if there is a quality issue on the production line.  Ensuring quality takes time/resource/money but customers like Aerospace, Defense and Automotive demand it from their suppliers.  It appears that the 6K is utilizing modern manufacturing methods but is lacking in the outgoing QC at the factory.  With this perceived level of 6K failures it would behoove Minelab to perform a QC audit at the factory where the 6K is produced.  QC is well worth the investment when it comes to protecting Minelab's reputation for putting out quality products and retaining customer loyalty.

  

[sturt]

Hi All. Thought I would put in my 2 bobs worth as well. I have used the 4500.5000,7000 as well. Decided to purchase the GPX 6000 in November last year. I was able to try out the new machine back in August last year with a mate who brought one and I was using the 7000. This trip was his first time using the new detector. It worked well, but I was a little surprised how often the machine lost its stability using the 11 inch coil. But I was well aware reading the forums that continuing the resetting/balancing etc. was normal to get the stability. Comparing to the GPZ 7000 that is.

It didnt take long to realize the 6000 was out performing my 7000. This location we were at has been flogged for years by all types of machines including my own 7000. I have found plenty there over the years and I was confident that the 7000 had cleaned out the nuggets. But my mate still picked up bits and pieces.

This sealed it for me and I went ahead a purchased the 6000 in November.

My first opportunity to use the detector was in mid December 2021. Went to the same area, bloody hot 43+ in the shade early start and done by 11.30am each day. Spent 5 days there. Found about 50 small nuggets approx. 4 to a gram. Good pickings.

However, now some issues started to show during this trip with the detector going off its tree if you touched the coil on a branch or ground. Continuing to reset all the time just wouldnt work some times. I was on my own this trip and being only 5 days I thought I would wait until after the next trip and experiment with settings and different heat/humidity etc.

The second trip with the 6000 was with my mate in early February 2022. This gave us two detectors to compare. We both found gold technically the same size working 50 meters apart, sometimes closer so you could hear the tone variations between the detectors, but my 6000 played up big time again. We took some video of it to keep.

When I went back home I contacted Minelab South Australia and gave them as much info as I could and sent it to them. I sent the controller assy and the 11 inch coil.

Minelab Service was very good. They listened to my problems and looked at the video. Spent a few days apparently running the machine but said they could not find a fault. But this is the good point, they completely replaced all the internal parts in the control housing and threw in a new coil. Got the detector back just before Easter weekend.

Went out Easter Monday to the same location and the detector was fantastic. You could not fault it. Sure you had to perform reset often but this worked once the detector found its sweet spot. I contacted Minelab to tell them the good news.

The second trip even with the unit giving me the s#@ts produced 22 grams and the last trip 26 grams. About 135 pieces. The hands are starting to get twitchy to get out there soon, cheers sturt