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Loose Rods, Wobbly Rods, Rod Flex


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I believe that I was one of the first users to complain about the rotating shaft issue. I sent the entire unit back to Minelab and they replaced it with a new one that did the same thing. I contacted them again and they sent another one to me that works fine. no problems since.

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3 minutes ago, kiwijw said:

Hmmm...poor to no quality control?? Just pump them out & get them to market. Wouldn't you think someone would "check" a replacement one prior to sending it off??:unsure:

Good luck out there

JW :smile:

I bet they had loads made before the machines were released and didn't check them properly ? 

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Just early production run / supplier source issues. Minelab is on it and appears to have it figured out, and has been bending over backwards to address any issues for those that have them. Thankfully Minelab service at this time appears to be the best it has ever been in the U.S. They were wise to get that sorted out before Equinox shipped. These things are merely annoying if they get fixed quickly, but plain infuriating when it takes weeks or more.

Mine will twist if I turn it by hand but in normal use stays where it should so I have not messed with it.

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I was never expecting much of an improvement on the Terra stem myself . That has issues too and the camlocks break after a while and keep turning and clicking . Beach work puts machines through their paces and kills them eventually . Or at least the parts that suffer corrosion . 

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40 minutes ago, Nuke em said:

I was never expecting much of an improvement on the Terra stem myself . That has issues too and the camlocks break after a while and keep turning and clicking . Beach work puts machines through their paces and kills them eventually . Or at least the parts that suffer corrosion . 

The rod on my original unit as well as it's replacement both had poor gripping action. The fellow I sold it to was off to Galveston about now so I will soon get feedback from him to see how it stood up.

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24 minutes ago, Dusty said:

The rod on my original unit as well as it's replacement both had poor gripping action. The fellow I sold it to was off to Galveston about now so I will soon get feedback from him to see how it stood up.

Just to clarify, are you referring to an Equinox of to an Xterra unit?

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Interesting on the apparant difference in shaft diameters.....  I mic'd my 800 shafts and these are the measurements in my case:

Upper shaft O.D. = 0.870”,  I.D. = 0.790” where middle shaft connects

Middle shaft O.D. at necked down area = 0.782” where it mates with upper shaft

Middle shaft I.D. at coil end = 0.790” where it mates with coil

I wonder if any other owners who have shafts without the wobble issue might have measurements for comparison.  As I posted earlier in this discussion, I only see the wobble issue when detecting in the water at the upper shaft/middle shaft coupling and really don't see this wobble issue on dry land because there is no water torque.

Plugger solved my shaft wobble problem with a CF one piecer (very nice) and also solved any future corrosion issues with the same stroke.  Only comment was I needed to add a double wrap of electrical tape where the cuff seats on the upper shaft in two places as the cuff I.D. was a little larger than the CF shaft O.D. and I could feel some movement of the cuff when swinging.  Easy fix.  Lovin' my 800 and the CF shaft!

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1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Just to clarify, are you referring to an Equinox of to an Xterra unit?

I'm referring to the Equinox. When I mentioned the shaft wobble Jamie said she would replace the middle shaft when it was at Minelab for warranty on the screen defect. After the machine came back with the new control handle and middle rod it was immediately apparent the same issue was happening with the rotating rod and I did the "felt shim" thing again. I suspect it will deteriorate rapidly in the salt water and if the new owner has issues with it then it will be on his time.

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Got it, you quoted Nuke em an

6 minutes ago, Dusty said:

I'm referring to the Equinox. When I mentioned the shaft wobble Jamie said she would replace the middle shaft when it was at Minelab for warranty on the screen defect. After the machine came back with the new control handle and middle rod it was immediately apparent the same issue was happening with the rotating rod and I did the "felt shim" thing again. I suspect it will deteriorate rapidly in the salt water and if the new owner has issues with it then it will be on his time.

Got it.  You quoted Nuke em talking about his Xterra that's why I asked.  Since you have moved on from the Equinox are you just checking back to see if ML has addressed the problem or are you just done with it now because of all the issues you had with it?  Did it also have performance issues for you( when it was working)?

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The performance was okay just nothing that rocked my socks after using the Deus , Etrac and CTX in trashy modern parks. If I was to find some sites that were beach or relic-centric and Minelab was making a 5x10 for it I would consider getting another.

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