Issues With Axiom & GPX 6000

[afaitken]

On 2/10/2024 at 2:13 AM, Jeff McClendon said:

Around $5500 AUD would be a fair price for the Axiom.

That's twice as much as the E1500 and I am starting to wonder if the Axiom is twice as good.

One day the Axiom impresses me and the next day I take it to near the same location but add in some soil moisture and things get weird.

GPX 6000 costs $9,970 AUD here in the USA. I doubt the GPX 6000 is three to four times better than an E1500.

I had similar weird occurrences with the GPX 6000. My GPX 6000 got the EMI/speaker system "fix" by Minelab USA Repair and it helped.

I like and very often need to use a DD coil for EMI and ground conditions.

You said   "Also, more after market coils for the 6000 have been released and keep coming."   So far, all of those have been Mono coils. Which super intelligent group of people created a detector with 2 soil timings normal/difficult, three modes to use them- one mode for Mono coils and two modes Salt and Cancel for DD coils then only planned to release one 14" DD coil? So two thirds of the detector’s operating modes are basically useless due to that one ridiculous DD coil which Minelab says "is not recommended for general detecting" in its own "Coil Selection" GPX 6000 video......WHAT???? 

Basically, I feel ripped off by these two giants of the metal detecting industry more often than not.

I appreciate AlgoForce releasing a PI that will satisfy a lot of people's PI needs without it costing as much as a decent used car.

 

Hi Jeff,

An update...2 of us have sent our Axioms back and waiting for a response. I hadn't heard anything after a week so emailed Garrett Australia. I got this "We have received the machine and I will be testing through the week." - so obviously we are not a priority to them.

I spoke to a Garrett dealer last week and mentioned the issues, he remained tight lipped and just rolled his eyes and said he was about ready to rip their sign off the wall.

I also spoke to a detector repair technician and again, same response - they didn't think much of them at all indicating their performance was sub par to the price. Word obviously is getting around and Garrett don't seem to be interested in listening.

From what I can see - their ground handling ability is the first major problem and without that, not much else will work. Being that the majority of detector basics come from a component level - looking for a software fix isn't going to be easy without changing the electronics.

The GPX 6000 has a lot more that needs to be corrected than the EMI speaker system fix. That's just the official recognized problem. A company called Detectormods here in Aust. offers the upgrades at a rather steep fee $$$.

https://detectormods.com/news/20/all-about-the-new-2020-upgrades

The guy "Woody" had a YouTube channel and explains further short comings of the 6000. Be aware, he rambles on for about an hours to part with 15 minutes of actual information. To his credit, I applied some of the mods from one of his videos to my old 7000 and is ran so smooth and quiet, I had to "kick the coil" to see if it was still on. I run bogenes so is dead quiet till it hits a target.

..........."Basically, I feel ripped off by these two giants of the metal detecting industry more often than not."...............

At least with the GPX 6000 you have options and a company that admits some of the detectors faults. As for the DD coils, people are always talking about needing them and our coil manufacturers "usually" listen....eventually. I'd say hang in there and maybe contact Nugget Finder, Coiltek and X-Coils to see where they are at?

Garrett just plain deny there is any problems although they always counter with "we are happy to test the detector for any possible issues" then get our detectors back "No Fault Found"???? I'd strongly suggest selling the Axiom and use the 6000 until a successor for the 7000 comes out - which could be some time yet. Maybe even send it over for the mods to fix the issues with the money from the Axiom, you will be happy you did! I'm pretty sure that is currently the only place offering them.

Ahhh, the life of a detectorist..............................

[Jeff McClendon]

1 hour ago, afaitken said:

Hi Jeff,

An update...2 of us have sent our Axioms back and waiting for a response. I hadn't heard anything after a week so emailed Garrett Australia. I got this "We have received the machine and I will be testing through the week." - so obviously we are not a priority to them.

I spoke to a Garrett dealer last week and mentioned the issues, he remained tight lipped and just rolled his eyes and said he was about ready to rip their sign off the wall.

I also spoke to a detector repair technician and again, same response - they didn't think much of them at all indicating their performance was sub par to the price. Word obviously is getting around and Garrett don't seem to be interested in listening.

From what I can see - their ground handling ability is the first major problem and without that, not much else will work. Being that the majority of detector basics come from a component level - looking for a software fix isn't going to be easy without changing the electronics.

The GPX 6000 has a lot more that needs to be corrected than the EMI speaker system fix. That's just the official recognized problem. A company called Detectormods here in Aust. offers the upgrades at a rather steep fee $$$.

https://detectormods.com/news/20/all-about-the-new-2020-upgrades

The guy "Woody" had a YouTube channel and explains further short comings of the 6000. Be aware, he rambles on for about an hours to part with 15 minutes of actual information. To his credit, I applied some of the mods from one of his videos to my old 7000 and is ran so smooth and quiet, I had to "kick the coil" to see if it was still on. I run bogenes so is dead quiet till it hits a target.

..........."Basically, I feel ripped off by these two giants of the metal detecting industry more often than not."...............

At least with the GPX 6000 you have options and a company that admits some of the detectors faults. As for the DD coils, people are always talking about needing them and our coil manufacturers "usually" listen....eventually. I'd say hang in there and maybe contact Nugget Finder, Coiltek and X-Coils to see where they are at?

Garrett just plain deny there is any problems although they always counter with "we are happy to test the detector for any possible issues" then get our detectors back "No Fault Found"???? I'd strongly suggest selling the Axiom and use the 6000 until a successor for the 7000 comes out - which could be some time yet. Maybe even send it over for the mods to fix the issues with the money from the Axiom, you will be happy you did! I'm pretty sure that is currently the only place offering them.

Ahhh, the life of a detectorist..............................

I gave up on the GPX 6000 and no longer own one and I won't be revisiting that detector. For the places I detect, it simply is not the best choice. The Axiom actually handles the USA magnetite laced ground and the EMI we have here where I most often detect, better than the 6000. I still don't care for the Axiom DD coils and find them more picky about ground balancing than the Mono coils. 

I watch Woody's videos a lot. Very informative.

No, I won't be sending him a GPX 6000 to modify or an Axiom for that matter. I would definitely watch a Woody/Axiom tear down video and testing videos too.

That perfect for me and my needs PI still has not reached my hands yet. To be perfect, I need to be able to afford it and swing it all day without needing surgery afterwards. The Axiom has come the closest for me so far with the real GPX series (not the 6000) being close behind.

When the E1500 gets to the USA, I will definitely try one.

Hope you get your Axioms fixed.

 

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Machines no matter which ones have different issues at different locations around the world. Insisting that a detector is carte blanche no good because of issues in one locale when users in other locales are just fine makes no sense to me. I consider the GPX 6000 to be a superior unit to the Axiom for most locations but do have places where it’s exactly the opposite, and it’s precisely because the Axiom handles the ground better at those places. Jeff finds that to be true for him where he is at. I ran the Axiom just fine in WA for two weeks at various locations just outside Meekatharra. Another ten days with a crew running multiple Axioms at widely spread locations in Eastern and Southern Oz. All I can say is that you seem to have ground the Axiom or your Axiom in particular does not like. So Garrett may be scratching their heads also over your reports, and rather than just blow you off want to take the time to do proper testing. Or not, maybe like you say they just don’t care, though I find that doubtful. It’s not my job to defend them or Minelab but I am sorry when people have difficulty with any machine. Do consider however that your experience does not speak for all users worldwide. It’s the experience you and your mate are having with your machines on your ground, nothing more and nothing less. I am truly sorry regardless that it is not going the way it should.

[afaitken]

On 2/13/2024 at 11:06 AM, afaitken said:

Hi Jeff,

An update...2 of us have sent our Axioms back and waiting for a response. I hadn't heard anything after a week so emailed Garrett Australia. I got this "We have received the machine and I will be testing through the week." - so obviously we are not a priority to them.

I spoke to a Garrett dealer last week and mentioned the issues, he remained tight lipped and just rolled his eyes and said he was about ready to rip their sign off the wall.

I also spoke to a detector repair technician and again, same response - they didn't think much of them at all indicating their performance was sub par to the price. Word obviously is getting around and Garrett don't seem to be interested in listening.

From what I can see - their ground handling ability is the first major problem and without that, not much else will work. Being that the majority of detector basics come from a component level - looking for a software fix isn't going to be easy without changing the electronics.

The GPX 6000 has a lot more that needs to be corrected than the EMI speaker system fix. That's just the official recognized problem. A company called Detectormods here in Aust. offers the upgrades at a rather steep fee $$$.

https://detectormods.com/news/20/all-about-the-new-2020-upgrades

The guy "Woody" had a YouTube channel and explains further short comings of the 6000. Be aware, he rambles on for about an hours to part with 15 minutes of actual information. To his credit, I applied some of the mods from one of his videos to my old 7000 and is ran so smooth and quiet, I had to "kick the coil" to see if it was still on. I run bogenes so is dead quiet till it hits a target.

..........."Basically, I feel ripped off by these two giants of the metal detecting industry more often than not."...............

At least with the GPX 6000 you have options and a company that admits some of the detectors faults. As for the DD coils, people are always talking about needing them and our coil manufacturers "usually" listen....eventually. I'd say hang in there and maybe contact Nugget Finder, Coiltek and X-Coils to see where they are at?

Garrett just plain deny there is any problems although they always counter with "we are happy to test the detector for any possible issues" then get our detectors back "No Fault Found"???? I'd strongly suggest selling the Axiom and use the 6000 until a successor for the 7000 comes out - which could be some time yet. Maybe even send it over for the mods to fix the issues with the money from the Axiom, you will be happy you did! I'm pretty sure that is currently the only place offering them.

Ahhh, the life of a detectorist..............................

More news...I have purchased another GPZ 7000 and couldn't be happier with the performance. Like night and day! ....but so is the weight. Back onto multiple targets with the 7000 instead of target free ground noise from the Axiom. I have some new x-coils on the way and might Frankenstein the 7000 internals into a custom design to combat the weight with smaller battery pack. Who knows??? To Garrett's credit, their unwavering customer service in the face of disgruntled customers (AKA - "me") they are sending a replacement (not new because they have their hands tied in Australia as to what they can deem faulty???) detector which I eagerly await testing to see if it is an idiosyncrasy of the detector or the detectorist....?

[Jin]

16 hours ago, afaitken said:

More news...I have purchased another GPZ 7000 and couldn't be happier with the performance. Like night and day! ....but so is the weight. Back onto multiple targets with the 7000 instead of target free ground noise from the Axiom. I have some new x-coils on the way and might Frankenstein the 7000 internals into a custom design to combat the weight with smaller battery pack. Who knows??? To Garrett's credit, their unwavering customer service in the face of disgruntled customers (AKA - "me") they are sending a replacement (not new because they have their hands tied in Australia as to what they can deem faulty???) detector which I eagerly await testing to see if it is an idiosyncrasy of the detector or the detectorist....?

I can't remember if you used to run the 10" X-Coils but I find it makes swinging the zed so much easier weight-wise.

Even though the zed with the 10" is lighter, I still use a Hipstick to carry the weight as it means I can detect all day. 

[phrunt]

The 10" is 950 grams with skid plate, significantly lighter than the standard coil, although smaller of course.

It's the little 8" I love, 835 grams with skid plate and 6000 like sensitivity and it still punches remarkably deep.  Combine that with the CTX 3030 battery and it's a light detector.

The good bit about the 10" is its much like running a normal size coil, with the standard GPX 6000 coil being 11" the 10" isn't all that much different, and I'd place my bets on the 7000 with the 10" being deeper than the 6000 with 11" on many targets.