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GPX 6000 Faults - The Definitive Poll


Have you had a fault with your GPX 6000  

44 members have voted

  1. 1. Have you had a fault with your GPX 6000 coils

    • Yes, I've had to have one replaced
      8
    • No, all good for me
      36
  2. 2. Has your detector itself had a fault, this includes intermittant errors like an ! mark error on the screen and batteries

    • Yes
      10
    • Not yet
      34
  3. 3. Does your GPX 6000 shaft twist?

    • Yes, it does
      20
    • Not yet
      24


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The poll seems to have reached its peak now with little change in days so probably captured a bulk of the forums GPX 6000 owners, 34 people have responded to the poll, without including the shaft issue 7 have had a faulty detector, 5 have had faulty coils and this is without including the people that have had two coils fail, or sent their detector back in twice for faults, we know for a fact these people exist that were unable to vote twice with their problems.

So at least 12 people have had a faulty GPX 6000 with the coil or detector combined out of 34 people.  I'm pretty bad at maths but I'd say that is a 1/3 of the people who have bought one have had a major fault with it.

Then as I predicted 50% of the 34 people have had a shaft that twists, so that one can either be put down as a fault or just a poor build quality shaft and I'm sure the other 50% will join that club with some more use especially if they use larger coils for it.

Those who haven't yet had a coil die or their detector fault remember, it is early days yet, I just hope if it is going to happen it happens inside your warranty period rather than outside of it so clock up those miles with it while you can just in case.

I don't see how it's anything but logical people would have a right to feel angry about this for a $6000 USD metal detector, with the competitions nearest performance detector although widely acknowledged the performance isn't near as good is I guess the Garrett ATX at about $2300 so we are paying a massive premium to be Minelab owners which is OK as long as we get the performance we know they deliver, and the quality we deserve for the price.

I'll ride out the rough patch and hopefully different coils and a new shaft make it into what I want from it.  The Aussies already have shaft replacement kits appearing at their dealers to resolve the twisting problem and they even say they're essential when using the larger coils.  The one they have doesn't shrink the detector down as small so I'm holding out for a better one as one of the attributes I like and that is an improvement over the GPZ is that it shrinks down small for my backpack.

I can tell why Steve's business in Alaska was so successful, any person can sell a product, customer service makes or breaks a businesses reputation and he knew exactly how to run a service department, as someone myself that spent many years involved with service departments his statement above was exactly how a good business deals with the difficult task of disgruntled customers with faults.  You'd be surprised what having a heart and some empathy can do with turning the most furious customer into a happy one and it makes you feel good when you achieve that.

I don't expect Minelab will acknowledge the problems as there are ramifications for them if they do, I'm quite surprised this far into the release the problems still exist as if we are at day one of the release though.  It's like they believe if they ignore problems they'll go away. They did this with the CTX coil ears breaking, they used the same damn ears on the Equinox and look at the grief that caused, and now they've used the same ears on the Vanquish.   It must be cheaper for them to just keep replacing faulty stuff than it is to actually fix the problem and if anyone has any idea about actual manufacturing costs they'd know the GPX is really not even remotely a $6000 USD metal detector so swapping it out for someone doesn't cost them all that much 🙂

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1 minute ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I’ll also point out 34 people is a very small sample, and people who have problems more likely to answer polls like this, than those out happily detecting. This is not definitive by a long shot. But a lot of very experienced detectorists here have had issues, there is no denying that, and in numbers I think are larger than anyone, Minelab included, would like to see.

I personally am getting burned out by new metal detector introductions. I remember when it was fun, something to look forward to. Exciting new toys. Something has changed, and not for the better. Now it seems to be more about fights developing over this and that issue, first and foremost being the “this machine is better than that machine” type stuff. For those who rarely stick their nose outside the nugget detecting world, the new XP Deus 2 Vs new Nokta Legend Vs Equinox debate, has been a real roll in the mud, with hard feelings all around. I’m doing my best these days to just sit it all out.

Even allowing for a 5% to 10%  margin of error for that poll.....those numbers are not very good.

Being someone that often has to use the 14" DD coil, will shaft fix/replacements be offered under warranty in North America or will any shaft fix be an upgrade that needs to be purchased?

Add the Rutus Atrex to the list of Deus 2, Legend and Equinox mud rolling. It is getting pounded on several USA forums and YouTube channels by people who may or may not own one or really know how to use it..

At least this poll seems to have been used by people that have plenty of gold prospecting experience with the GPX 6000.

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Yes, it seems the competition between users is more fierce than between manufacturers with the VLF's 🙂

The Nox/Legend/Deus 2 thing has gone wildly out of control with even manufacturers stepping in to argue with users and really makes this GPX thing look pretty tame.

Even with 70% margin of error those numbers aren't good.   It's bound to be something that was beyond their control, and I'm sure it will improve.  Prior releases although there have been problems have not been anywhere near like this one.  They did this release during a really challenging time around the World and surely that has played a role in the problems.  Malaysia was and still is a very hard hit country with Covid.

On the plus side it's a great metal detector and plenty of people really like it and we all have our warranties to get problems resolved if and when they pop up.

Right now I'm looking forward to trying out some aftermarket coils on it and I'm glad it has a good range of them, a very positive change.

JW used a bit of sand paper on his shaft and improved it a lot, if mine bothers me too much I'll do that but it's only twisted a few times so far so I'm not too bothered by it yet and over time plenty of aftermarket alternatives will appear I'm sure.

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A Purchase date would show a lot relative to any issues. There is no doubt there were problems at release with rightfully unhappy customers, I personally as a dealer have gone above and beyond to help those few people as best I can. Who you buy your detector from can have a big bearing on your experience. 

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1 minute ago, Jonathan Porter said:

A Purchase date would show a lot relative to problems. There is no doubt there were issues at release with rightfully unhappy customers, I personally as a dealer have gone above and beyond to help those few people as best I can. Who you buy your detector from can have a big bearing on your experience. 

That's true, it's impossible to know by a poll like this if any improvements have been made with later release detectors.  I've no doubt you look after your customers, I've had some contact me saying you were great with their GPX problems.

My dealer was also fantastic and just as annoyed as I was with my problems, my problems become his problems so it's not a win for anybody and it costs him money when things go wrong.

On a positive note let's be happy we even have Minelab making our detectors, without them we'd be in trouble 🙂

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In addition to date purchased as JP mentioned, amount of use would be also be an important factor for a poll like this.  I have only owned mine for a couple months, but decided to wait to answer the poll until after I have had more time using it.

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46 minutes ago, Jonathan Porter said:

A Purchase date would show a lot relative to any issues. There is no doubt there were problems at release with rightfully unhappy customers, I personally as a dealer have gone above and beyond to help those few people as best I can. Who you buy your detector from can have a big bearing on your experience. 

How the detector is used would be another one. I remember a person that came in with a ‘faulting coil’ while I was dropping by your shop, turned out to be he was getting overly excited, and throwing his waste dirt back over the detector and it contaminated the plug on the control box. You cleaned the machine up, sorted the problem out there and then and he was on his way. Not many other dealers would’ve done that. 
 

I’m also certainly not implying that incorrect use is the issue with many of these faults, especially the DOA machines, but sometimes a step back by users and analysing the issue will very likely help. I’m also not defending Minelab, as there isn’t an excuse for the number of DOA machines that there has been. 
 

I guess I’ve been one of the lucky ones to get a good machine straight out of the box 🤷‍♂️

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And instances like Bill Southern where his GPX was introduced to a rock in a bad way.

I linked the video to start at the juicy bit 🙂

That's one where he should answer NO to the poll question about shaft problems 🙂

I love his attitude in the video, the show must go on!

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