GPX5000 Stuck In Special

[Twowheelchris]

My detector is working fine but the switch that goes between Special Normal and Enhance appears to not work. It stays in Special no matter what the switch position is. I’ve tried factory resets etc with no luck.  Before I send it in for repair I thought I’d see if anyone else has had this problem and what the solution might be.  Of course this happened right in the middle of great detecting season in AZ.  Thanks. 

[Dutchman4]

Might be as simple as opening up the box and then using an ohmmeter to test the switch, with no power or battery attached of course, and replacing the switch if it is defective. 

It is also possible that one of the wires going to the switch has a break in it or has come loose, once again a continuity check can test this.

If you are not capable or comfortable doing this then send it in for repair.

Regards,  Ceril

[phrunt]

If you have some electrical contact cleaner unplug the battery, spray the switch getting it right in there, move the switch into different positions and spray, wait until dry and give it a try    You can give it a go with compressed air too.  Dirt buildup can cause the switch to not respond to movement.

Failing that Cerils solution above is all you've got left, with the multimeter in continuity mode you can check the switch positions, the switches are readily available at electronics stores or online.  Little toggle switch covers are a good idea for them seeing they're exposed to a lot of dirt.

Let us know how you go and what the problem ended up being if you resolve it.

The switches themselves are a pain to replace, and it could be the mylar cable with a break more than the switch itself, either way, that's a nightmare repair.

A lot of work to replace the mylar ribbon cable.

[Mike C...]

Isn't that special Try  some electric cleaner first 🤐

[Dutchman4]

A break in a trace on mylar can be bypassed with thin multi-strand wire if you have good soldering skills and you strategically, and very carefully,  scratch off a small area of the insulation with an exacto knife. 

Stuff I used to do frequently as a repair technician and easy for me but not so easy if you havnt done it before and you dont have the right soldering equipment.

[s.young]

When I first got my 5000 I thought mine didn't go to normal until i read this   post https://forums.robsdetectors.com/topic/7661-gpx-series-confusion-on-timingssettings/ I thought it would read normal in the display, Hope you find this helpful. I did Lol

[phrunt]

1 hour ago, s.young said:

When I first got my 5000 I thought mine didn't go to normal until i read this   post https://forums.robsdetectors.com/topic/7661-gpx-series-confusion-on-timingssettings/ I thought it would read normal in the display, Hope you find this helpful. I did Lol

Yea, it's truly bizarre they didn't grey out the special menu when the switch was in enhanced or normal, I bet that confuses a lot of people as when you flick the switch to enhanced or normal it's very easy to think you're still in special as you can select special timings as if you're able to use them so you could easily think you're stuck in special.    The thing that makes me think the original poster is aware of this is they just said it just happened to them, so makes me think something has changed with the detector.   I personally wouldn't easily notice if I couldn't go into normal or enhanced but my soil doesn't need enhanced to work.  I guess going into sensitive extra in bad ground where its not working and flicking the switch to enhanced would be the test to do.

The 5000 sure has a primitive interface and control configuration setup, it's 20 years after it's time.

[Mike C...]

30 minutes ago, phrunt said:

 

The 5000 sure has a primitive interface and control configuration setup, it's 20 years after it's time.

What are you talking  about 😕IMO its way more versatile/adjustable than any Gold beeper available now-I personally don't like factory fixed settings that limit the ability of where you hunt-Thats for lazy mental midgets 😁 Shoot Having control is half the fun 🤐

[phrunt]

16 minutes ago, Mike C... said:

What are you talking  about 😕IMO its way more versatile/adjustable than any Gold beeper available now-I personally don't like factory fixed settings that limit the ability of where you hunt-Thats for lazy mental midgets 😁 Shoot Having control is half the fun 🤐

Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the control you have and the masses of combinations of settings, it's a real shame they've stripped that from modern gold detectors, it's like Minelab think prospectors are a little on the slow side and need everything simple as the coin and relic machines are still packed with settings.

The way you do it is very dated, even when the 4500 and 5000 came out, examples are like the special menu not greying out when you flick to enhanced but more so the knobs, switches and little screen.  At least it has a backlight I guess, some modern detectors don't even have that now 🙂