It's pretty easy IF you know how to solder and are savvy with repairing stuff.
A few things to check first, you say that:
"Not being used to the Explorer i started to hunt in factory settings
and find it works very well apart from loosing the sound
intermittently"
Are you aware that the loss of sound MAY be that you are experiencing the discrimination of certain metals in the default setup of the Explorer?
Does this loss of intermittent sound still occur in a -16 IRONMASK or WIDE open SMART SCREEN?
Do you still hear a background THRESHOLD sound?
If there is still a background audio , then there is nothing wrong with that audio jack.
If you are certain it's the audio plug of the Explorer, then naturally enough, the audio in plug is a replaceable item.
This audio plug on the Explorer XS can be accessed by:
Undoing the screws along the arm rest/battery pod and prying it apart without the need to removing the control box head.
You will need to take note of the Battery hatch cover and the plastic bit that it's screw goes into.
You need to pry out(it's been hot glue in , in most case) and de-solderer or cut the old one out and replace the audio plug with the following.
Go here to see an example of one:
https://secure.vividcluster.crox.net.au/jaycar2005/products_uploaded/PS-0133.pdf.
The other possibility is that the Explorer's audio amplifier is dieing. It has been known to fail, mainly due to users plugging in a defective wired headphones. This problem to can be repaired. It's a matter of replacing a couple of transistors. I've done a couple myself. Need the right equipment though like a de-soldering tool and a lot of care.
If you want, but at a cost, Minelab will probably do all of the repairs for you. I would send it to them and let them take care of it.
Hope this helps.
David E Di
