E-800 Went Crazy

[Chase Goldman]

I've had a couple of  what I call Equinox "brain farts" too.  Mostly going into or out of pin pointer.  Only has happened once or twice but it sure seems like a microprocessor hang where there were erratic sounds and lack of positive control from the pushbuttons.  Think I just had to power cycle to get out of it.  No biggie, but there may be some random code bugs in there that cause instability on "state changes" and that should get ironed out on future bug fix firmware upgrades.  It is reliable enough to not be more than a minor annoyance but I have seen it happen.  A low battery level may also play into it or make it more susceptible to these episodes, but I do not remember if that was the case when mine did it.

Also, since we are talking about odd behavior and the possibility that it might be battery level driven, has anyone noticed the backlight on the 800 when set at the second dimmest setting with speaker audio, dimming in concert with audio coming out of the speaker?  It seemed as though the speaker audio was causing enough of a voltage fluctuation that the backlight would dim with every tone.  Need to test this again and see if it is just associated with speaker audio or with signal processing when the audio is sent to headphones or wireless.   Did not do it on the dimmest or brightest backlight settings.  It was weird and annoying because the second dimmest setting is perfect brightness but I don't need it flashing at me with every target.

[flakmagnet]

Guess I'm lucky. I stay away from the pinpointer (I'm always wrong when I try to dig where it says it's centered), and use headphones. It will be interesting to see what these anomalies indicate. It will also be interesting to see whether these are the kinds of idiosyncracies that can be fixed with a software update. 

[Norm S]

I hope it is just an abnomily that gets  fixed with firmware at a later date. I would guess it will take awhile until Minelab gets enough reports and enough time to test the fixes before anything is really done short of sending the detector in for repair. 

I find the pinpointer to be spot on or no more the 2" of center. I most often just wiggle the detector for center because that's what I am used to but since this is a new detector I have used pinpoint a lot just to check the accuracy. 

[Skate]

I'm not an expert here but most electronic items (especially ones with a processor) malfunction periodically and require a restart. My computer, my ipad, my iphone, and my stupid amazon fire TV all require frequent restarts and shutdowns. I can only assume sophisticated detectors like the equinox suffer from the same issues. The equinox is basically an $800 computer on a stick so brain farts are likely going to be an issue no matter how many firmware updates are done. Electronics are built to fail unfortunately. 

[Norm S]

I recharged the batteries last night and this morning I turned the 800 on to do a factory reset and I got an error code FP. I guess FP means factory reset but when I hit detect I get VDi's bouncing all over the place and it's stuck in Field 2.  The only button that works is the on/off button.

Looks Iike I am sending it back for repair. 

Darn I was going away next weekend and was wanting to take it with me.. 

[MPL]

The new repair center is real quick.  You may have it back by next weekend.

[Norm S]

I got return authorization from Minelab minutes ago. I will be sending it UPS within the hour. I am going on a fishing and detecting trip next week and they said they would try and have it back to me by then but if not I still have the E-trac. 

I can't ask for better service than they are trying to provide especially since they are trying to get it back to me by next Wed.

 

[Northeast]

That's a shame Norm.  Certainly sounds like something has gone haywire.

Page 12 in the manual - yep, FP is Factory Presets.  Out of interest, did you try the Factory Reset more than once? 

Hope it is back soon either fixed or replaced.

[Norm S]

I tried factory preset several times and it was stuck in field 2 and the VDI'S  went crazy and none of th buttons would work.

 

 I didn't hardly finish telling the lady at Minelab about it and she said she was emailing me prepaid shipping instructions. It's on it's way so tomorrow I will go out with my E-Trac in the same park and see how it compares based on what I been getting with the 800. Can't really compare unless I cover the same ground with the 800 but I am in the detecting mood so even the lil GoFind would do in a pinch. 

[Commonwealthdetector]

They will be fast,tracy was really helpful to me.mine went change recovery speed in park one or iron bias but I haven't tried factory reset at all really don't wanna do it.