CTX Battery Question

[BootyHunter]

Ok so I bought my CTX new in July 2012. I love the detector!! I hunt a lot, 2-3 times a week sometime 4-5 hours at a time. I noticed the CTX battery would go forever before the battery indicator would show anything but a full charge until a few months ago and now I can charge the battery for hours and the charge (flashing led) indicator never stops flashing and never goes to a steady led even after charging overnight. Now the CTX performs great, and the battery has still never died on me but even after charging for hours the battery indicator on the detector goes off from full to like 3/4 very quickly. Now my questions are these 1. Any of you guys experience the same thing? And 2. Does anyone know if Minelab will replace my battery under warranty? The detector warranty is good for another full year, I have charged and maintained the battery per the instructions supplied with the detector. Thanks for your input guys!

 

[alotasilver]

Hi BootyHunter,

I had the same thing happen last fall. I thought it might be the charger but as it turned out it was the battery. I sent it to minelab and they sent me a new one under the warranty.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Yep, I called Minelab and in three days I had a new battery...........

 

[firefighter254]

n/t

 

[BootyHunter]

Ok thanks guys, I'll call minelab first thing Monday.

 

[BootyHunter]

Hi BootyHunter,

I had the same thing happen last fall. I thought it might be the charger but as it turned out it was the battery. I sent it to minelab and they sent me a new one under the warranty.

Ok, so how long had you had your detector? I emailed Minelab and this is their response:Hello Stephen,
I apologize for the issues you are having with your battery. Unfortunately if you refer to section 2.3 of the warranty, it is plain batteries are warrantied for 6 months and replacement is
the responsibility of the consumer.

 

[nolanation]

I wouldn't pay so much attention to the indicator. I believe it only has a few graphical positions, and "3/4" indication could mean 90% or 75%. If your battery is still functioning fine, why worry about it?

 

[BootyHunter]

I wouldn't pay so much attention to the indicator. I believe it only has a few graphical positions, and "3/4" indication could mean 90% or 75%. If your battery is still functioning fine, why worry about it?

I "worry about it" because as I said it will never completely charged the charge indicator continuously flashes no matter how long it's on charge when it's supposed to go to a steady led when fully charged like it used to. That and the fact that I payed out $2,400 of my hard earned money less than 2 years ago and I expect it to function as it should. Batteries only continue to degrade so whats 3/4 now will be 1/2 or 1/4 shortly and I hunt for extended periods so I do not need constant dead battery issues. If you bought a brand new car and 1.5 years later your battery light was constantly on and it hesitated to start would you "worry" about it? And yes I've bought cars for less than what I payed for the CTX

 

[nolanation]

Well I'm not trying to argue with you. Your comparison isn't the same as your battery light is not on or low. You admitted in your post that the trouble was not with the battery, you were just having trouble charging. I have said I personally do NOT believe just because the indicator is showing "3/4" that means 75%. It doesn't have the ability to show 96% or 83%. No offense, but everyone complains about the price of the machine and expects every part to last forever because of it. We bought the machine because of its clear capabilities, not because it had a lifetime warranty. Battery is warrantied for 6 months, because it is going to be one of the first pieces to go. That's the same for all rechargeable batteries. If you are noticing and calculating hours lost on your hunt, then it is time to worry, but if you are going by a graphic on the screen, then it's not time to complain yet. As far as the charging light not staying solid, I would certainly ask minelab about that, but I would think you should not blame the battery just yet.

 

[BootyHunter]

Well I'm not trying to argue with you. Your comparison isn't the same as your battery light is not on or low. You admitted in your post that the trouble was not with the battery, you were just having trouble charging. I have said I personally do NOT believe just because the indicator is showing "3/4" that means 75%. It doesn't have the ability to show 96% or 83%. No offense, but everyone complains about the price of the machine and expects every part to last forever because of it. We bought the machine because of its clear capabilities, not because it had a lifetime warranty. Battery is warrantied for 6 months, because it is going to be one of the first pieces to go. That's the same for all rechargeable batteries. If you are noticing and calculating hours lost on your hunt, then it is time to worry, but if you are going by a graphic on the screen, then it's not time to complain yet. As far as the charging light not staying solid, I would certainly ask minelab about that, but I would think you should not blame the battery just yet.

I didn't "admit" that the trouble was not with the battery. I do believe it is the battery and that is why it will never show fully charged on the charger or the ctx screen and I have noticed a reduction in hunt time with the battery. I do not expect it to last forever, but more than a year and a half?? CERTAINLY. I've owned excal and etrac before the ctx and owned both those machines for much longer and never had a battery issue. I'm sorry but I do expect more from a $2500 detector, the battery should at least last the 3 yr warranty period of the detector. I have contacted minelab and have explained that I am a loyal customer who has invested a lot of money in their products and I don't think it's too much to ask for them to fix what is obviously something that is faulty. I have followed the charging instructions from the manual since day one, so this is clearly not my fault. Of everyone's battery did this at 1.5 years well then I suppose I would just understand that's

 

[surfman]

It's the battery for sure. Mine did the same thing but was only about two months old. They had me send mine in and they sent me a new one. The new one charges up fine and the indicator stops flashing. My problem now is the WM10 module is doing the same thing. Need to make the call again. Does anyone know what a new battery costs anyway? I know mine did not like the AA's. Went thru a bunch of them while waiting for the new battery. Joe

 

[OldBeechnut]

Anyone that has a non functioning battery down the road and would like to sell it I would be interested in the shell. I can get a new AA pack for 50.oo but would rather spend alittle less since I am going to hack it up alittle.. It will be used for experimenting with a Lipo battery with a IP68 charge port. And good luck Bootyhound with the battery issue, I agree with you, 6 months is far to short of a warranty time on a battery that cost 150 dollars.....

 

[nolanation]

Well I'm not trying to argue with you. Your comparison isn't the same as your battery light is not on or low. You admitted in your post that the trouble was not with the battery, you were just having trouble charging. I have said I personally do NOT believe just because the indicator is showing "3/4" that means 75%. It doesn't have the ability to show 96% or 83%. No offense, but everyone complains about the price of the machine and expects every part to last forever because of it. We bought the machine because of its clear capabilities, not because it had a lifetime warranty. Battery is warrantied for 6 months, because it is going to be one of the first pieces to go. That's the same for all rechargeable batteries. If you are noticing and calculating hours lost on your hunt, then it is time to worry, but if you are going by a graphic on the screen, then it's not time to complain yet. As far as the charging light not staying solid, I would certainly ask minelab about that, but I would think you should not blame the battery just yet.

I didn't "admit" that the trouble was not with the battery. I do believe it is the battery and that is why it will never show fully charged on the charger or the ctx screen and I have noticed a reduction in hunt time with the battery. I do not expect it to last forever, but more than a year and a half?? CERTAINLY. I've owned excal and etrac before the ctx and owned both those machines for much longer and never had a battery issue. I'm sorry but I do expect more from a $2500 detector, the battery should at least last the 3 yr warranty period of the detector. I have contacted minelab and have explained that I am a loyal customer who has invested a lot of money in their products and I don't think it's too much to ask for them to fix what is obviously something that is faulty. I have followed the charging instructions from the manual since day one, so this is clearly not my fault. Of everyone's battery did this at 1.5 years well then I suppose I would just understand that's

 

[Bell-Two]

Try this, run the battery down till it is showing just a quarter or so charge, then try the charging again. If you leave the charger on for a very long time such as overnight it will go back to flashing even if it is fully charged.

 

[Rick(ND)]

I notice mine seem to flash all the time and never went to a solid green after many hours of charging, so I let it run down more and it sat on the charger for quite awhile and I checked to make sure it wasn't getting hot every hour or so, then around 12 hours later it was a solid green and everything seems OK now. I was charging it before after 2 or 3 hour hunt and wonder if that was the reason, but it seem to work fine now that I let it run down more before I charge.


Rick