Ticket On Ml-105 Manticore Headphones...

[cuniagau]

I logged into Minelab's "Detector Center" to file out a ticket on the ML-105 headphones today.  I used them yesterday, charged them yesterday evening and they were dead as a doornail this morning when I got to the beach.  I was lucky enough to have the headphone cable in my car, so my hunt was not totally spoiled as the headphones worked with the cable.  When I got back from the beach, I tried to charge them.  I even tried with three different USB cables and with different USB to 120V outlets.  The results were the same as there was never a red led light to show that they were charging.  It appears that the battery is dead.  That's when I logged in and started a ticket at the Detector Center.    So, we will see how Minelab handles the ML-105 problems.   

Joe

 

PS  I have been using the Manticore since the middle of Jan. 

[cuniagau]

I put the ML-105 headphones in the US Priority mail this morning.  We will see how long it takes the service center to have me back wirelessly detecting.

Joe

[TampaBayBrad]

Let us know what they say the problem was. Can't believe it would be the battery in that short of time.

I'm thinking the USB port went bad or the connecting wire to the battery got jostled open. Maybe the circuit that shuts down charging when full went bad.

[tr1500]

Just bought a manticore and the headphones are DOA.  Have tried multiple chargers and cables and the indicator light never comes on.   Sent them an email waiting for response.

[cuniagau]

The repair center sent an email this morning (Monday July 10) to inform me that they received the headphones and would respond again when they have diagnosed the issue.   

[phrunt]

Mine charge forever, the same as my ML100's that came with my GPX 6000, I don't care, I'm never going to use them but not all that impressed with such expensive products being faulty out of the box on two detectors.

I'd never used them and I only even charged them up so I could use them to put the new firmware on them, and left them on overnight and still charging the next day, left them on all day charging and still didn't charge.  I got the new firmware on them hoping it would fix it and it didn't.  Put them back in the cupboard where they'll spend the rest of their life.

[Hunterjunk]

Interesting seeing these issues with the 105's . I have no trouble charging mine , doesn't take long .  When I disconnect the power from mine when fully charged about 50% of the time they then go onto WiFi search .  At first I did not notice the little blue light was on , and still was the next day . Wondered why they went flat very quickly at the beach ! Now I always check and often have to turn the headphones off . Seems that we will see more of these issues over time .

[schoolofhardNox]

4 hours ago, Hunterjunk said:

Interesting seeing these issues with the 105's . I have no trouble charging mine , doesn't take long .  When I disconnect the power from mine when fully charged about 50% of the time they then go onto WiFi search .  At first I did not notice the little blue light was on , and still was the next day . Wondered why they went flat very quickly at the beach ! Now I always check and often have to turn the headphones off . Seems that we will see more of these issues over time .

Mine do the same. I now disconnect the headphones first, before pulling the plug from the wall. If I pull the plug from the wall first, they turn on and I have to shut them off, other wise they drain power.

[TampaBayBrad]

Mine charge fairly quickly but my Manticore takes forever to charge after a 4 1/2 hour hunt. Not a problem for me, but seems odd that Manticore takes like 4 hours to charge after 4 hours of use and you can charge a full size laptop in an hour and a half with a MUCH bigger battery.

[Chase Goldman]

38 minutes ago, TampaBayBrad said:

Mine charge fairly quickly but my Manticore takes forever to charge after a 4 1/2 hour hunt. Not a problem for me, but seems odd that Manticore takes like 4 hours to charge after 4 hours of use and you can charge a full size laptop in an hour and a half with a MUCH bigger battery.

It’s a typical limitation of magnetic style connectors and an input voltage limit of five volts because a USB Type A connector is used.  The magnetic interface point of the connector which is great for creating a waterproof electrical connection point, is also a relatively high resistance point which will overheat if you crank too much current through it (these are known as I-squared-R power losses and temperature at that connector “gap” rapidly increases as the square (power of 2) of current increases) and the exposed contact points can arc over if too much voltage is applied.   Computers use power delivery USB C type connectors with high voltage series and parallel connected battery cell combinations to support the high power and long endurance demands of laptops, this also enables higher voltages and currents to be applied to enable rapid charging.  The Manticore charge power limit is probably around 15 watts or less (5 volts at less than 3 amps), whereas laptops can draw 150 watts or more from their brick chargers.