Anyone have this Problem with their e Trac?

[BryanM362]

Was out detecting with the e-trac yesterday, and the speaker started sounding kind of garbled, then cutting in and out, this only lasted about 3 minutes, it even stopped working for about 30 seconds (the numbers still worked). Then it came back on and worked fine.

This e-trac gets used hard. It's about 2 years old. I mostly hunt woods, so I am banging against stuff a lot. Maybe dirt got in/on the speaker or maybe something is jarred loose?

Anyone ever have a similar issue?

Thanks, Bryan

 

[Surfinsafari]

I have had the same thing happen. I recently sold an Etrac that I bought used because I found one only a few months old with an X1 probe for a great price. The older one never had a problem but the newer one I am using now sometimes does what you describe. It has only happened a few times so I am not worried yet. Other than a few hiccups, the machine works fine. The real weird thing was when I turned on my machine, all of my settings were changed. My machine is stored in a locked room and I am the only one with a key. The settings had changed back to the ones the previous owner set it at. I set them back to my settings and it hasn't happened again, but it was weird.

 

[Spaceport]

What you are describing sounds like it is nulling out...... If you have something like iron discriminated of you swing over it the machine will go quiet "null out" but it is still detecting that is why your numbers are still working.... If you run the discrimination wide open it should not null but trust me the low tone grunts from iron if frequent are way more annoying then the machine getting quiet while being over what is discriminated

 

[robby4570]

What you are describing sounds like it is nulling out...... If you have something like iron discriminated of you swing over it the machine will go quiet "null out" but it is still detecting that is why your numbers are still working.... If you run the discrimination wide open it should not null but trust me the low tone grunts from iron if frequent are way more annoying then the machine getting quiet while being over what is discriminated

That's exactly what I was going to say. Next time, hit Quick Mask and see if the sound doesn't come back.....

 

[ChicagoJohn]

I write down what my set up then reset whole and start all over again then my machine work good. Maybe 2 years or longer then time for reset but I am not sure.

 

[ironsight]

Banging it around the woods could be related to what i've experienced with my eTRAC if its accidently dropped. It shuts off and won't power back on UNTIL the control box gets a quick slap on its side.

There are a lot of internal connectors in the control box where banging or vibration could cause an intermittent connector failure.
The electronics design utilizes a mother/daughter printed circuit board configuration which i'm not a big fan of. Every connector used in electronic designs reduces reliability especially if high quality connectors are not used.

The other possibility is the battery pack spring contacts. The springs could be compressed, corroded, etc. Never drop that heavy battery pack into the detector as this could tend to permanently compress the spring contacts over time.

Having said all that the issue you mentioned has to do with the audio. The garbling sound should rule out nulling.
From your post you indicated the speaker rather than headphones. If you are indeed not using headphones, there's a remote possibility some junk worked its way into the headphone jack interfering with the audio circuit. Try plugging a headphone jack in and out of the detector to possibly dislodge any debris.

 

[BryanM362]

Thanks all for the thoughts.

Definitely not just nulling. I am running an open screen already, and it wasn't just the background humming going away it was actual target tones.

I think it is probably a loose connector on the speaker, or I've damaged the circuit board from banging it around. I'll double check the headphone jack to make sure it is clear, if it is I'll pull the cover off the brain and see what I can see.

If I find something I'll let you all know.

Bryan

 

[Acornhead]

I had a very similar problem. Kind of played dumb. Faatory reset it, Turned down all the sinsitivity. Machine wouldn't work. Talked to a technician at Mine Lab repairs, he was almost certain the coil was shot. Sent it in and he was right. I'll have the machine back tomorrow still under warranty. iIve used mine hard as well. Try a different coil if you have one? Des in Buffalo.

 

[surfchunker]

mine did it a few times and did a master reset and somehow that took care of it