Jeff McClendon

Hi Carolina, Longbow may be going off my information which as you know is certainly fallible. I was under the impression that Steve has had multiple Equinox leaks and has even had replacements leak. He states in this video that he will not use any of his Equinox detectors for submerged detecting anymore because he does not trust them. Longbow is a good guy too. I think he is wrong about Steve however. But let's try to be as civil as possible here please. Maybe John Boy will chime in here too. I think he is a member.

I give up. I posted this video to let others know that if your Equinox has some cracks around the charging port area it very well may leak there if submerged. If you or I get a Manticore someday......keep an eye on that port. So, I don't watch all of Gigmaster's content....not into crab and shrimp....shellfish allergy and I don't like to watch a ton of Youtube videos anyway. I do love the Equinox.....still my favorite detector even though it has plenty of flaws. Gig loves his Equinoxes too or he wouldn't have stuck with them through all of their water ingress and coil ear failures....no matter what anybody says, the Equinox will definitely find the goods if one knows how to use it. Steve says in this video that he really hopes the Manticore won't leak. Why does he say that? Again, he really loves the Equinox and he also says he just wants to use one detector model and learn it really well instead of having to use three different ones (Nox, Deus 2 and Legend currently). All three have had and are having problems that are ongoing for him from major to minor. The type of hunting he does is not nice to detectors. After just a quick count of regularly posting members here who have experienced Nox leaks once or multiple times....11 members Longbow. You and I are luckily not among those 11. There are undoubtedly more that I could find on this forum if I wanted to spend hours looking. The Nox Leaking videos are not all produced by Gigmaster. A quick, 30 second long, YouTube search produced 5 more content creators. There are metal detector YouTube creators that only make a handful of videos in their lifetime like me who are just trying to make something I can post on a forum or send to a manufacturer. There are others like Gigmaster that may be making YouTube videos as part of their metal detecting hobby. They aren't out to prove anything or proclaim what metal detector is best. Most of Steve's videos are more like beach metal detecting journals and how too videos for mods and techniques. So, I don't get whatever animosity is pointed at Steve for whatever reason. He is one of the normal/good guys in my opinion that does this for fun and tries to make it fun and informative for his viewers too.

Was your control pod replacement due to water ingress or some other problem? I saw where you stated that it leaked. Did Mike confirm that and if so where did it leak?

Sadly, Reg passed away recently. There is lots of information on doing the Reg mods on this forum. Maybe someone a lot smarter than me will be able to link all of it and post it here.

I thought Steve's video was important enough to post it here since this is a very Equinox "friendly" forum while also being the USA forum with the most varied, "hands on", in the field information about the Equinox from beginner users to regular users like most of us to world-class experts. To actually see a control unit leaking from a specific spot on camera is good information to know. As long as the Equinox is being sold and used it would be a really good idea to keep an eye on the charging port and to keep it and the cable contacts clean just to be sure. Like some have said, it could be heat build up at the port during poor connections, it could be Steve's (and others) specific hunting conditions and it could be a bad batch of rear housing plastic........ Equinox could leak from other places too....... If I buy a used Manticore down the road, that port will be one of the first things I check......

The whole reason for Gig’s video was the similarity between the Equinox and Manticore charging port appearance and position on both control pods. All of his Nox control pods have leaked due to cracks in that area. That is all there is to Gig’s video. He is just asking a logical question about the Manticore based on his Equinox experience.

It is so amazing how detectors perform differently in different parts of the world. Everything you said in that quoted section.......for me and my experience with the 24k and the Nox..........it is completely the reverse. Just switch Nox for 24k..etc in that quote and that has been my experience.

What do you not buy about it........ I like the Equinox. It has found me more gold nuggets and gold jewelry than any other VLF times at least 20...... Mine hasn't leaked, others have. Why would I bash a detector that works well for most people and for me? Why would I post a video about the Equinox leaking on camera for any other reason than to show where it is leaking so owners can check their Equinox. If you want to go after Minelab.....and the Equinox, feel free under the appropriate forum topic. As far as accepting that Minelab will probably never release an official statement about the Equinox leaking issue or the coil ears breaking issue.....its been over 4 years and crickets. If I owned Minelab, I would have released an official statement. I don't. Instead of thinking negatively about it or complaining for the last 4 years, I have just enjoyed using my Equinox detectors and have especially enjoyed what they have found. I enjoy sunshine too....sometimes I wish the sun rose in the west but I have accepted the fact that it doesn't.

There have been no reports that I have seen of Deus 2 or the Nokta Legend control units leaking, especially in salt water. They are both excellent detectors for sure and are very similar to the Equinox in many ways as far as how they can be setup, how they sound and how they detect.

The XP branded waterproof bag shown in the photo on page 1 of this topic works just fine. It looks very similar to the ones I have from Deus 1. I have put the Deus 1 WS4 puck and the full Deus 1/ORX remote in those bags many times.....no problems with water ingress or connectivity as long as the antenna is close by. So, yeah, if you want to go near or in the water with the WS6 puck in that bag it should be fine and it's covered by the warranty that way. Put it in a zip-loc bag or don't use any kind of water protection, its probably not covered.

Right now, I would be happy with just version 0.8...............

Apart from Steve's work on the Equinox, the Equinox was not aimed at gold prospectors either from the way it was introduced, initially marketed and is still marketed today. This is why so many people still come to this forum just to ask or find out if the Gold Monster 1000 is the best VLF option of gold prospecting compared to other detectors. Most, don't even know about the Equinox unless they spend some time here.

Stating the obvious, Manticore using its Gold mode in Multi or single frequency vs Gold Monster 1000...... hard to tell since any gold prospector that has tested or used a Manticore isn't talking about it. There has been plenty of information about the Equinox 800 versus the Gold Monster 1000 on this site however and all I am going to say about that is do some research here on that subject before just going out a getting a GM 1000. The number one factor that should be considered in my opinion and from my experience is the level of iron mineralization, hot/cold rocks and variations in the ground at the sites being hunted. If the Manticore's Gold mode using the Multi frequency setting acts anything like the Equinox 800 using its 2 Gold modes set on Multi, it may have some advantages over the single frequency only Goldmonster 1000 as far as ease of ground balancing, ground handling and useable depth in more challenging ground conditions. At least the Equinox 800 can be used in ground tracking mode, ground grab or manual ground balance mode. Gold Monster 1000 is tracking ground balance only. I'm not saying that is good or bad. It is just not an option on the GM 1000. So, Manticore/Equinox 800 have a lot more possibilities for effective use at more sites (even submerged) than the Gold Monster 1000 and the overall sensitivity between the Equinox and GM 1000 especially with the Equinox in 40 kHz single frequency for air testing versus the GM 1000 is very close. As far as the features that Manticore's Gold mode may have that are the same or similar to the Equinox 800.....I just haven't looked into it much at all. For a gold prospector, the Manticore's 0 to -99 iron range has me intrigued a bit......... I will say that the Equinox 800 has many features in its Gold modes that can help a prospector which the GM 1000 does not have. That gulf may be even bigger with the Manticore. Gold Monster 1000 may be easier to make smaller in it's stock configuration, but in my opinion it is not any harder to do the same with the Equinox even in its stock configuration. Adding collapsible carbon fiber shafts to the Equinox 800 makes it super easy to backpack and very lightweight. In my opinion, you actually have more coil choices now with the Equinox than with the Gold Monster 1000 with the addition of the excellent Coiltek coils made for the Equinox. Coil choices for Manticore that are good for gold prospecting.........don't know when those will be available.

Other than EMI susceptibility which is a problem for SMFs and some single freqs, the more recently made higher quality SMFs...Equinox, Legend and Deus 2 simply outperform the older SMFs and any single frequency detector on a wider variety of targets and target sizes, trash levels, trash types and especially for target identification accuracy all the way to the extreme depth of detection....where I hunt. If EMI is overwhelming, all three detectors have plenty of selectable single frequencies to choose from. I have owned every type of earlier SMF tech except for the Fishers. These newer detectors for me are simply better.....especially when the ground has more mineralization. Hey, maybe I am just weird or have unique hunting scenarios. All I can say is that all three fit almost all of my needs as if they were tailor made for me. Finds have quadrupled in quantity and quality and these detectors have easily paid for themselves except for Deus 2 but its my most recent purchase and its getting there.

I can only echo what CPT said. If you are posting about the Vanquish 540....there is no target ID 41. Also, from my experience a 40 on any Vanquish model is usually big iron or deeper iron, large or small that is falsing in the very highest target ID numbers....39/40. Try moving around the target and see how the target ID numbers react. Also, don't use any discrimination so that the iron numbers and tones will be seen and heard. Any kind of shovel or sturdy scoop will work. Just shovel the dirt into a plastic bucket (5 gallon size in the USA) that is partially filled with water and has large rock in the bottom to keep it still in the stream. Once that target is in the bucket it should be easy to find if you can pour the contents on the bank of the stream.

I didn't post the video to bash Minelab. Neither did Gigmaster. Sure, I wish Minelab would talk to their loyal and potential customers about things like this........they don't and I can accept that. I do hope, like Gigmaster mentioned repeatedly, that the Manticore won't crack and leak in the same area.

one of my favorite quotes about the most recent SMFs=Equinox, Deus 2, Legend..... "Long story short nobody needs to defend or hype any one of these machines. They are all very capable detectors. Anyone that can’t do well with one of these models needs to go back to detecting school, rather than blame the detector. We are fortunate to have not one, but three great options to choose from, all delivering good top tier performance." I don't particularly like the detecting performance of the ACE Apex so I would not include it among those three listed.

I am not a submerged saltwater beach hunter so I have no reason to really want a Manticore. However, compared to the Equinox 800 in its stock configuration, if the Manticore absolutely does not leak, has a shaft/coil attachment system that works well submerged and in surf (doesn't need all sorts of expensive modifications) and actually out performs the Equinox in saltwater conditions, it might sell very well for serious beach/water hunters that don't want to spend $300 on Equinox water hunting mods (and it still might leak) or don't want to spend an equal amount on Deus 2 water hunting mods.

Steve (Gigmaster) does a lot of jewelry recovery in neck high saltwater surf and snorkeling for people that have lost their jewelry. So, his Equinoxes have been in some rough saltwater conditions in moderate surf and tidal pressure. Who knows, maybe that has had something to do with the cracking around the charging ports of his Noxes especially if there is a weakness or thin area in the housing around that port.

According to Gigmaster, all FIVE of the Equinoxes he has owned developed cracks around the charging port and leaked so not just one unit.

Thanks Steve for stating the obvious in your first paragraph. As far as the second paragraph.....I sure am glad that Minelab and Nokta did not follow that type of business strategy with their releases of the Equinox 800 and the Legend even though they also still have outstanding single frequency gold prospecting detectors in their current lineups.

It is not the first time that I heard of this cracking around the charging port. I have been keeping an eye on my two Noxes for awhile..... Maybe this clearly done, matter of fact video will finally at least get Minelab to say something. I would be happy with them just saying "we know about it and have fixed the issue on Manticore".

Thanks, but I often post some whining and some wrong information too. But, thanks for reading. Just for a different viewpoint. I have two Equinox 800s that are out of warranty that were manufactured in mid to late 2018. Both have been submerged in freshwater. Neither have been submerged in saltwater. They have not leaked. They do not exhibit any cracking around the charging port area of any kind under 10X magnification...........

As usual, no BS from Gigmaster. Excellent problem/diagnosis video showing where Gig's Equinox detectors all leaked and making a correlation between the similar charging port on the Manticore.........

That was a great explanation and I have no doubt that you know what your are talking about. I can totally accept those User Profile limitations and work around it. At least there are plenty of Deus Fast based programs to work with in Deus 2’s FMF program lineup. I will just need to plan better when I want to go back and forth between programs. Hopefully it really is true that there is no loss in overall performance between the two platforms .