Whites Trx Getting Stuck

[phrunt]

I have two Whites TRX's, one seemed to not be as sensitive as it should even on sensitivity 4 it wasn't sensitive so I bought another before they disappeared from the face of the planet.

This new one will pick up a number 9 lead pellet, when it feels like it that is, so it's got the sensitivity I wanted, sometimes.  Turn it off and on and it might find the pellet, it's random.    It's very prone to falsing in sensitivity 4 (highest) so it's pretty unusable when it is in the highest sensitivity mode which is the one that hits the #9 pellet so really that modes useful for virtually nothing other than testing, it drives you mad trying to use the highest sensitivity mode in the field with all the falsing.  I always turn it on with it touching the soil and press the button to retune every time it starts going crazy and that calms it down but in doing so the sensitivity seems to drop also.

In sensitivity 3 and 4 just moving it around in the air can set it off easily, lower sensitivities it happens too, but again less than in higher sensitivities.  Is it possible that's EMI? I've never had a pointer affected by EMI before that I've noticed.

One weird quirk is the TRX gets stuck, I can find a target, it goes nuts on it as desired but it doesn't stop, you pull it away from the target and its still going crazy, even in the air.  This happens on all sensitivity settings, but more so on 3 or 4.    This is by far the most annoying thing with it as it happens a lot.  Recovering any target with it is a chore.

I stumbled across an old thread with others with the problem but they never got to a resolution, the main guy with the problem got a replacement but it did the same thing so he was forced to get a refund.  See the link below.

https://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=210737

So, what are my options, use it in sensitivity 1 so it happens less and have its performance neutered whereby I'd be better off using a fake Chinese Carrot as it'd give me better performance, just use my real Carrot AT and give up on the TRX or is there something I don't know that will fix it?  I've tried factory resets and everything else I can think of.

I've tried various batteries, currently settled on a 9.4v Maha battery so it can't be too low power, surely? I've tried AA's and not just rechargable, various Alkalines too.  Do any specific batteries work better than others, is it better off with a 9v than AA's when it comes to stability?

I bought it for it's small gold sensitivity and it has that, if it would work properly.

From what I'm seeing on my research what I'm experiencing is pretty normal and not a fault, would this be correct?   If so I can't see why anyone would say it was a good pointer. 

I assume in this instruction sheet when it says you can change frequency that's just the audio frequency of the sound and not the operating frequency.  I've tried moving the frequency a bit and it does nothing other than change the sound so to me that's just the audio frequency.   Also, it's not my detector causing any interference, I experience the same when not even using a detector.

I've basically given up with this being my second attempt to have a reliable TRX but if anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it.   I'll take some video in the next day or so, I haven't bothered to do that so far but I've 100% confidence it will get stuck for me within under 5 minutes so I'll get a video easily.

[GB_Amateur]

You didn't mention sending it in for repair.  (Uh, oh.  I have a feeling you aren't going to be impressed with their webpage.  Please go easy on them as they are all we've got left of White's, other than memories and whatever Garrett decides....)

Carl (Geotech) would likely have some good answers for you.  You could '@' him.  Or maybe he'll see this post.

It sounds like you have a lemon.  It seems their quality control/assurance wasn't great, but maybe the problem didn't happen in post-assembly-line inspection.

I'm one of the 'TRX lovers' but mine have never been this hot or this erratic.  (I need to check which sensitivity setting I'm on.)  If you can't get it repaired, at least you have spare parts for the other one.  (Now I duck to avoid the "slings and arrows..."  )

 

[phrunt]

5 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

You didn't mention sending it in for repair.  (Uh, oh.  I have a feeling you aren't going to be impressed with their webpage.  Please go easy on them as they are all we've got left of White's, other than memories and whatever Garrett decides....)

Funny you should mention them, they're who I bought it off 🙂

I'd rather throw it out and send it back to the US, it'd likely be the same result, I'd send it there, they're do what they need to do with it and send it back to me and it'd get lost in the post. 

Hopefully someone knows if its a fault or I'm doing something wrong.  It might be EMI, I've never bothered to take it out in the middle of nowhere for a prospecting trip to see if it performs better as I don't trust it and want to carry as little with me as possible when I do go on the big hikes.  I just take my Carrot as it works, and works well.

Maybe Carl will know which part causes this fault if it is a fault and tell me what the part is and I'll fix it myself.

[locator]

Hello Simon.

Inside the battery compartment has to be some foam which will hold the battery in place (as there is one on the 9V adapter, too). May be when the foam becomes weak that will cause some issue?

[phrunt]

Thanks for your reply, yes I have that in there, I even tried adding some extra packing in there to ensure the battery is firmly down and can't move.  I should get around to filming it, I've been distracted lately. 🙂

[Geotech]

Simon, the issue with level 4 falsing is not unusual. Level 3 was stable on all the units, level 4 was often iffy. I always run mine on level 3 and it still (barely) detects the #9.

Getting stuck after detecting a target is highly unusual, I don't recall that happening during production. I saw it in development of the F-Pulse and it was caused by the beeper/motor creating enough power supply bounce to screw up the detection signal. Are you running both speaker & motor? If so, turn one of them off, that will lighten the load. On batteries, I always recommend the 2-AA over the 9V.

[phrunt]

26 minutes ago, Geotech said:

Simon, the issue with level 4 falsing is not unusual. Level 3 was stable on all the units, level 4 was often iffy. I always run mine on level 3 and it still (barely) detects the #9.

Getting stuck after detecting a target is highly unusual, I don't recall that happening during production. I saw it in development of the F-Pulse and it was caused by the beeper/motor creating enough power supply bounce to screw up the detection signal. Are you running both speaker & motor? If so, turn one of them off, that will lighten the load. On batteries, I always recommend the 2-AA over the 9V.

Thanks Carl, yes I'm running both speaker and vibration, I'll ditch vibration and see how it goes as I don't really care about that feature.  Sensitivity 4 just seems relatively unusual for me but if that's normal I'm OK with it.  I can get away with sensitivity 3. 

My aim here is to find out if I've got another faulty one or if what I'm experiencing is normal.

Wouldn't you know it, I went outside to film it on a known shallow junk target in my yard where it was constantly getting stuck the other day which prompted me to do the post and today it refuses to get stuck 🙂 It's made a liar out of me.  I'll catch it next time it does it on video.  The other oddity is the same problem I had with the Minelab Pro Find 35, if I face the ground with it it's ok, turn it upside down for any reason and it goes off.  I did manage to capture that on video no problem as it does it every time without fail.  This is the exact same thing I get with the Minelab unit.  I had my Minelab replaced under warranty for this and the new one did the same thing.

I'm currently using a 9.4v battery so I'll change over to 1.5 volt batteries and see if it helps, now the next question in my detectors I use Panasonic Eneloop 1.2v batteries with great success. Are these going to be suitable for the TRX or would I be better off not using any form of rechargeable and using Alkaline batteries instead to give the proper 1.5v rating?

Here is a video I just filmed now of the odd upside down thing going on.

 

[DIG5050]

From watching your video,  I’d guess it’s EMI.  Take it on a hunt and try it elsewhere.  From the instructions you posted, it looks like the audio frequency changes, not the detection frequency, unless the two are somehow related.  

Any idea when the pp was maunufactured?

Depending on Whites design of the TRX, the Panasonic batteries might work, but as batteries discharge, the voltage may drop enough to cause instability as well.  As Carl stated, turning off the vibe motor will reduce current draw and lengthen time between battery changes.  I wish I could turn off the vibe motor on my Garrett carrots to conserve the battery power.

Good luck!

[phrunt]

Hi Dig5050, I've experienced the same upside down issues everywhere I go with the TRX, even in the middle of nowhere it does the same thing.

The Carrot allows you to turn off vibrate, see the manual https://garrett.com/sites/default/files/2019-11/1538800_propointer_at_english.pdf

The Carrot AT is the only pinpointer I've found functions as intended without weird issues.  It just works.

I bought the TRX from Centerville Electronics in the USA under a year ago, it was a refurbished unit they claimed was working perfectly so I had them ship me it from USA to NZ at great expense.  I paid more for it than a new one cost when they were available in the end.  It's had all these same issues since the day I got it, it wasn't worth sending it back to USA to be checked, they gave me a 6 month warranty on it but it's not viable to try and claim warranty with shipping costs.

https://www.centrevilleelectronics.net/

[mh9162013]

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

I use Panasonic Eneloop 1.2v batteries with great success. Are these going to be suitable for the TRX or would I be better off not using any form of rechargeable and using Alkaline batteries instead to give the proper 1.5v rating?

According to the TRX manual, it should be able to run off of NiMH AA cells. And b/c Eneloops are some of the best consumer-grade AA NiMHs readily available, I imagine they should work.

If it's worth anything, Eneloops work just as well in my F-Pulse as alkalines...and didn't Geotech design that pinpointer, too?