GPZ 7000 14 Inch Coil Problem

[Bada Bing]

G'day all. My 14 inch coil has been playing up for awhile. Basically any knock or even feathering of grass gives off a false signal. Don't get me wrong it is still usuable and I'm still finding gold but it is super frustrating. You cannot go under trees or into grassy areas. My mate has been putting up with it for more than 6 months. My advice to him was harden up girlfriend and then it happen to me ..... kharma.

Anybody else having this issue? We would have sent them in to Minelab but being unsure of the turnaround time (guessing 3 weeks) we have been waiting for the 19 inch but that is months away.......

Cheers

BB

[Reno Chris]

This may sound obvious, but you did not say anything you'd tried.

Did you pull off the coil skid cover and clean out the space underneath? Accumulated material can cause the effect you described.

The other thing is what gain are you running? Steve's max / max / max settings amplify all sorts of things in addition to the targets, including coil falsing, ground noise, etc.

I have one of the older GPZ 7000s in the US, and see nothing like you describe.

[Bada Bing]

Thanks Chris. Yes tried all that and have tried it on a mates 7000. The problem follows the coil. Settings are usually 4 to 9 on sensitivity. Mode changes nothing. This is also one of the first 7000's bought the day it came out.

Cheers

BB

[vanursepaul]

What is your address over there BB----

I'm looking at nursing jobs/....

 

[Des D]

It's fairly obvious to me - the shielding has gone bad.

Coils can fail in stages and both coils have reached the first stage. Shielding can go bad over time and cause the dreaded 'wet grass' syndrome.

Send them in for Warranty replacement.

If they are out of warranty they still should be replaced to you because it's 'a New Product' and they need to get them back anyway to work out what's happened?

[Steve Herschbach]

I am sorry to hear about your problem. No issues with mine but that is beside the point really. Good news is it is not possible for a GPZ to be out of warranty yet....

http://www.minelab.com/usa/customer-care/product-warranty/warranty-conditions

Electronic control boxes (with the exception of the Excalibur II and GO-FIND Series detectors), Minelab branded search coils, handles, shafts, headphones, bags and battery chargers are under warranty for a period of 3 years (36 months) from the date of retail purchase as set out in the Warranty Registration Card (“Date of Purchase”).

[Bada Bing]

I am sure it will end well Steve. I was just interested to see if anbody else has had the problem.

Out of interest, how many 7000 users collapse the machine to pack it away? I only started doing this 3 or so months ago. If you can imagine jumping in and out of the car possibly 10 times and extending/collapsing the shaft every time I am wondering if the problem may lay in the wiring and not the coil itself. I would guess we extend/collapse the machine on average around 30-40 times every fortnight. Just a thought.........

Cheers

BB

[Steve Herschbach]

I collapse mine every time I put it in the truck. Not as much as you but hundreds of times now. Cable issues are not uncommon in coils.

Foam filled coils can develop problems as prolonged knocking around can cause the foam to break down and the windings to become loose. The GPZ is pretty solid internally with a lot of work put into preventing that from happening. Still, something may be loose internally.

[normmcq]

Didn't have the problem myself, but my friend did. Machine ran quiet and stable for a few minutes and then everything was bad, We traded machines, I thought maybe it was his settings or maybe?????? I had the same problem with his 7K as he did. Then we changed coils, both machines started out quiet and stable. After about five minutes my machine became almost unusable and his remained normal. He contacted Minelab and they replaced the coil under warranty. Now his machine is functioning normal.  You are not the only one!

                                      NormMcQ

[Norvic]

BB, No drama with my coil as yet, I don`t collapse it just put it in ute canopy ready to go. except when using the SxS it gets collapsed and coil turned a R/A then. Son`s coil is getting a wee noisy, but he scrubs the ground and hits rocks big time, gets much more gold than I do when we are out together, so it is probably worth it.