Minelab GPZ 7000, The Controversy Ends?

[jasong]

If I take the middle carbon fiber shaft out there is often a powdery substance on it where the clamp holds the shaft. I think it's dust from either the clamp or the shaft being ground down from the twisting. It slowly gets easier and easier for the twist to happen and I think that is why - a thousandth of a mm every week or so getting ground off and decreasing the diameter of the shaft. When I first got my detector it seemed like I was correcting the twist 1 or 2 times a day, now it's maybe every 10 minutes.

 

So, hopefully this post here can be used as reference that the problem existed at least for some of us basically out of the box. Because I have a feeling that eventually it'll get worn down enough that the shaft will not be held in at all, and it'll probably happen past my warranty phase as luck generally goes. So it's good to get it documented.

 

Looks like from that presentation that they've done most their expected sales of the 7000 in Australia and the US and now they are concentrating on Africa. The engineering costs were not too out of this world from their graphs, and considering you can build entire computers on palm sized boards for $20 now I don't think the materials costs are much of the $10k equation either. Sounds like your explanation is probably right Rick.

[Tortuga]

If I take the middle carbon fiber shaft out there is often a powdery substance on it where the clamp holds the shaft. I think it's dust from either the clamp or the shaft being ground down from the twisting. It slowly gets easier and easier for the twist to happen and I think that is why - a thousandth of a mm every week or so getting ground off and decreasing the diameter of the shaft. When I first got my detector it seemed like I was correcting the twist 1 or 2 times a day, now it's maybe every 10 minutes.

So, hopefully this post here can be used as reference that the problem existed at least for some of us basically out of the box. Because I have a feeling that eventually it'll get worn down enough that the shaft will not be held in at all, and it'll probably happen past my warranty phase as luck generally goes. So it's good to get it documented.

Looks like from that presentation that they've done most their expected sales of the 7000 in Australia and the US and now they are concentrating on Africa. The engineering costs were not too out of this world from their graphs, and considering you can build entire computers on palm sized boards for $20 now I don't think the materials costs are much of the $10k equation either. Sounds like your explanation is probably right Rick.

When I first got mine I didn't think the "shaft twist" was that bad either, just chalked it up to the overall "floppy" design of the coil the GPZ has now that Minelab got away from using plastic wing nuts you can tighten down. However like you said I think mine's gotten worse too. I've logged a lot of hours on mine since I got it and I'm frequently adjusting the length of the shaft for when I'm hiking in/out and detecting up/down slopes and stuff. I do like that you can adjust the shaft fast and easy like the SDC.

Is there a way to disassemble the shaft and wrap some tape around it to increase the diameter a little so the clamp can "grab" it better?

[flakmagnet]

I am interested to hear what JP may have to say about some of these questions that have been raised.

Normally he is pretty quick to tend to the issues that he has knowledge of - and he has a lot of knowledge.

 

Some of what I read sounds uncomfortably like other corporate moves that have been made in recent times:

Basically they let the customer base be the beta-testers. 

 

I am disappointed to see the lack of follow-through or even clarification of 

the batteries and coils that were supposedly forthcoming.

Sadly Minelab seems to have become just another for-profit-only-and-the customer-be-d*mned business entity.

 

Most glaringly, the cost of remedying most of these issues is EASY AND CHEAP to fix.

What is up MineLab?

[jasong]

Tortuga, I tried electrical tape at first to increase the diameter a bit and it was too thick to get the shaft back in. I tried duct taping it on the outside but that only works for about half a day.

 

I'll be back out in the field again soon, will let you know if I run across anything that works, let me know if you find something too.

 

On another 7000 note, I break 2 or 3 nylon bolts a year on my GPX. I keep a little bag of them in my pack. Does anyone know if they sell replacement uh...thingmajigs...to hold the 7000 coil to the lower shaft? I wouldn't mind having at least one in my pack just in case because that would suck to have to wait however many weeks or months to get one shipped while out in the field.

[Ivansgarage]

Jasong, check Ace-true value hardware they carry all kinds of nylon all thread bolt nuts, probably a lot cheaper. I was good at loosing bolts and nut when I use to carry my MD on my bike, a stick would get me through the day.

 

Ivan

[WesD]

The mid shaft on mine always had a bit of swivel from the get go. Then recently I  was extending the shaft, and the cam looking piece on the end of the tube broke off - separated.  Lesson here is to be gentle when extending the shaft from the collapsed travel position.

[flakmagnet]

Steve I agree with you entirely, but what about something like what Wes is talking about?

 

This may seem picky (but it's not).

On a mulit-thousand dollar piece of equipment

supposedly built for rugged use in remote areas, 

why in the world should the customer have to be "gentle"

when extending a shaft from the collapsed travel position?

Shouldn't these detectors be rugged enough to withstand thousands of times extending that shaft?

 

If we do not demand equipment that works

we are going to get caught out in the middle of nowhere

with some plastic piece that breaks if it is not used gently.

 

A badly designed part is something a customer should not have to accept

on a multi-thousand dollar product.

Minelab should jump all over issues like this.

They should acknowledge problems and correct them immediately.

The customer confidence that would build is incalculable.

Instead, we have silence.

[Road Dog]

I feel the GPZ is a great gold getting machine! But they do have some issues. Like the wireless module loosing connection with your head phones. This was a ongoing issue with mine and I called minelab and they sent me a new module out to check if that was the issue. That was not the issue so I called them again and they said send your detector back and we will replace it. I'm thinking wow ok. Why can't they just fix it. So they send me a new machine and it's doing the same thing as the last one. So where is quality control.

This also goes with the SDC and the batteries loosing connection and shutting the machine off every time

you bump a rock or something. We pay a lot for these detectors and you would think these issues would not

leave the factory.

[wirelessguy]

I have been very very pleased with my GPZ 7000.   I don't use it in trashy environments and I love its ability to see deep stuff and small stuff and wiry gold in quartz in one machine with one coil.   Now that I'm used to the controls and audio it absolutely is my go to detector.   I've got several hundred hours on it now and I have absolutely zero regrets about the purchase.

 

Is it perfect? No, and neither is my iPhone 5s.   I am not plagued by early catastrophic failures or twisting shafts.  (Maybe cause there is so much grit on mine the shaft doesn't twist.   Stop cleaning it!  :-)  )   There are a few user interface things that make me go "huh?", however all are very workable once you're used to it like so many other modern devices.  It's heavy and the harness is not practical where I hunt.

 

I don't share the views of others who are unsatisfied with general ruggedness.  I am sure I am as hard on mine as the vast majority of users and mine is used every week 2-4 days.  

 

Some ferrous discrimination in the future would be awesome. It was fairly advertised as an all metal detector.  

New timings for heavily mineralized environments people are having trouble in (me included a small minority of my time) would be a big win for the future.  I can understand this could be very frustrating if it was the majority of your hunting .   To the point of Minelab not listening to the customers, they came out with the ferrite ring and ground balance procedure a few months after release on this issue.

 

Admittedly I've only been doing electronic prospecting for a year, the last 9 months very intensely.   Therefore I don't have a long history on many predecessor VLF and PI detectors.  (I own three other detectors and have used two others belonging to colleagues.)  I have been designing military, industrial and consumer wireless electronics for 30+ years and I am quite impressed with the Zed overall.

 

I'm a very satisfied customer.    It is "worth $10K" to me and my budget.   I find it completely reasonable that someone else in their environment, their existing investment in detectors and their budget might not think it is worth $10K to them.   It's justifiable business that Minelab would price it at $10K and see how that goes - basic economics supply and demand.