In reference to the posts concerning X-Terra's shutting off....

[Digger]

Although Minelab sponsors this forum so that we can all discuss the X-Terra, I am not aware that they read it. Therefore, I've emailed Minelab Customer Service and attached the links to those recent posts concerning the shut-off problems. Hopefully each of you making those posts will get the attention you deserve.

I would encourage anyone who is actually experiencing problems with their detector to call Minelab Customer Service. They will take you through a series of steps to resolve the issue. If you end up having to return it to the factory for repair, rest assured it will not cost the $60 or $70 as indicated by one of the posts. I returned my X-50 via USPS Priority Mail, insured for under $15.

In closing I would like to say that I am troubled by some of the comments made in these posts regarding the X-Terra shutting off. Honest opinions and rational discussion are always welcome on this forum. But encouraging others to not buy Minelab products is not going to resolve your issue. Saying the X-Terra needed a "better original design" and calling them "cheap built" is not only an insult to Minelab. But to all of us who enjoy using the X-Terra's. JMHO HH Randy

 

[parrott]

Digger... You are correct... Because this is the way that things get fixed!

 

[James/Washington]

and in my post below, this is what I was trying to get across and would like everyone to be aware of. I love my Xterra-70 and right now am very satisfied with it and personally am not having any problems with mine. I really do not think that Minelab would make any detector that was not a quality detector and wouldn't make one with inferrior parts. At least, not on purpose. It is just not the way Minelab works. It took quite a while before I had problems with my Xterra cutting off and when it did, I tried to figure out what might be causing the problem.

First, I thought it was the springs in the battery compartment and then I noticed that it was happening when I tried to get all the use out of the batteries that I could get. When I changed to new batteries, I didn't have any more problems until the new set of batteries got real low and then the cutting off happened again. Now, I replace the batteries a couple of hours after the indicator goes to one bar and I haven't had the problem with cutting off.

This is why I think most of the problems with the cutting off has to do with weak or even batteries that are a mite smaller than the well known battery makers and I thought that if the users of the Xterras were made aware of this then maybe we could start to notice what kind of batteries we were using and at what point the batteries were causing the shutting down problems.

If we start getting reports of Xterras shutting down with brand new batteries, then maybe there is a problem with weak springs in the battery compartment. Lets work together and see if we can find out just what is causing the problem and if it is the design of the battery compartment, then I am sure that Minelab would redesign the compartment and recall all Xterras for free repair. Minelab is that kind of company.

 

[Elton]

Digger:
You are correct. After reading some of the post I placed they read terrible. I got carried away . I hereby retract some of the stuff I said.
Over all Minelab builds a very fine product. Problems are everywhere in all we buy.Minelab does take care of their problems and always have.
The part about the postage..from my point to their point it's about $22.00 dollars. If one sends it in three times like the other fellow stated.That gets pretty espensive. Listen up all..I should not have made the statements I made about not buying..that was wrong on my part.
That would solve nothing and it would benefit no one. I was just aggravated and frustrated and this forum should never be used for that purpose of venting it.I am sorry!!!! Enjoy your machine and this fine hobby---- I am sure all will be resolved to everyones satisfaction as it always has been. Again Sorry for my ramblings should not have happened. It will not again. I assure all that.
Elton

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Firstly, the thank you part. Thanks to Minelab for sending out a new unit today. It seems to work fine. I hope that it continues to do so.
I thought that what you did in sending on the posts to Minelab is a good move. I made my position clear to them last week and I'm glad to have confirmation that these posts went into the right hands.
As far as the issue of the X-Terra's shutting down, how many times has it come up. More than I care to remember. This is a reoccurring problem that has clearly not been addressed by Minelab. as I said in my post, I've sent it back 3 times with the same problem, the last time, I insisted that they replace it as I have lost faith in their ability to fix it. The second time I sent it back, they put a whole new battery compartment in there, after which the shutting down issue became even more of a problem. this was 3 months ago. can you define that as a high quality component. It's not in my books. That combined with the large number of other X-Terra users experiencing this problem, should be a reasonable indicator that they have a quality control issue. If we don't talk about them(the problems that is) then, one, if it happened to you, you know that you are not alone, two, it can bring public pressure to Minelab, which is a lot harder to ignore than our individual phone calls, and three, if they wish to continue to ignore us, then users and potential users need to know, so that if they decide to buy, then they can do it with full knowledge of potential problems.
Personally I consider it far more insulting to continue to send it a product that is faulty, telling them in person and also in writing, only to have them to continually send it back to you, saying that the repair has been done, when it hasn't. If I sound a bit cranky, maybe there is a reason for it.
Like I've said before, when it works, I enjoy using it, but the last time I swung it with out being concerned if it will work properly today, was 18 months ago.
Mick Evans.

 

[JohnA]

I have been using rechargable energizers, am well into my 5th session with them and have had ZERO problems.

 

[Digger]

I am glad to hear you are getting a new detector. Keep us posted on how it performs for you.
Although you have said a large number of X-Terra's have encountered problems shutting off, I must say the words "large number" is relative. I know when it happened to mine, my one was one too many. So I suppose from that perspective, anything more than one is a large number. But from a Corporate standpoint, if say a dozen people out of 5 or 6 thousand said they were experiencing similar problems, I don't think those percentages would warrant a product recall, as some suggested. If Minelab were to have read the posts on here about multiple detectors shutting off, they would also have read how the vast majority of people solved their problem with a different battery or a couple other manuvers. So again, it doesn't seem to me that it would warrant a recall. I agree that every customer should be treated like they are the most important customer in the world. Simple laws of supply and demand. One won't work without the other. But in this day of internet communication, Worldwide Corporations, Regional distributors and Local dealers, personalized attention isn't what it use to be. With that said, your problem seems to have been an extreme case. And that is the point of my comments here. Sending in a unit 3 times is, by far, the exception rather than the rule. I admire your perserverance in hanging in there to have it resolved. Many would have given up before now. Hopefully each of us can learn a little something from this situation. Best of luck to you. And again, let us know how the new one works out. HH Randy

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Thanks Digger.
Now that I've got a new control box, my reliability problems will be behind me. No more wondering if it's going to shut down, no more wondering if the speaker is going to stop working today, and no more wondering if that centred pinpoint signal, really isn't really a coin that is actually 2 inches to the left of the outer edge of the coil, as it often did. As the last mentioned problem was one that deteriorated over a 5 month period, I that that I was just getting bad at pinpointing, which necessitated the purchase of the Pocket UniProbe to compensate with.
I remember how impressed I was with the X-Terra when I first bought it. Hopefully I can experience that again and Minelab won't see me in so many Garrett adds as I was last month both in here and the U.S. Maybe I can be persuaded to turn from the dark side of the force. If they make a large elliptical concentric coil that pinpointed like the Ace, that persuasion would be easy.
Mick Evans.

 

[rellikusmc]

well to be up front about the issue at hand I'm sure minelab doesn't have to read the forums to see that machines are coming back for repair... i sent mine in and i called is was told they they replaced a PC board so it had nothing to do with batteries or springs did not get my machine back yet but it cost $17.50 to ship and insure the repair was free but still costly i will continue to use minelab but people should be made aware of possible down falls and let them make the choice we post for all to read the GOOD, BAD and,UGLY happy hunting Pat

 

[Digger]

I've had one. Actually, I have purchased 3 of them since their introduction. I got the first ACE 250 shortly after they hit the streets. I was impressed with the lightweight design and simplicity of operation. But, it would get noisy on me about 2 minutes into every hunt. Figuring it was a bad unit, the dealer sent me a replacement. It was quiet. But the pinpointing was terrible. I remember one day down at the local park, it indicated I found a quarter a few inches deep. I dug and dug and dug, ending up with a hole the size of a dinner plate, about 8 inches deep. You could of buried a basketball in there! I finally found a zinc penny at the edge of the hole, about a half inch deep. I got rid of it and didn't think much more about them for a year or so. Then, for some reason that still avoids me today, (can you say detector addict?) I bought another new one. I knew when I bought it that it wasn't going to be any different than the last one. It wasn't.
In my opinion it is an inexpensive, lightweight, "turn and go" detector with limited depth, marginal separation and poor pinpointing. Oh, and that annoying coin tone! I suppose everyone has different expectations from the equipment they buy. But, having been a Garrett dealer back in the 70's. I expected more from the Ace. Especially with all those forum posts telling how great it is. I guess it wouldn't be a bad detector to carry around in the car as a loaner or for one of those unexpected hunt opportunities. But I won't be doing that. It just isn't my cup of tea and I won't be buying that fourth one! JMHO Randy

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I had a good chuckle when you mentioned the pinpointing. The first time that I saw a video feed of one pinpointing, I thought, how on earth do you pinpoint with that! I got some tips on that from the Garrett forum, so when a work mate bought one, I was able to show him how to do it. If you want full details, I've explained it a few times in detail on the Findmall Garrett forum in the last couple of weeks. Put in simple terms, for shallow pinpointing, you centre and slide the coil back toward yourself from the target. Once you lose the signal(which will be lost under the toe of the inner coil) you nudge the coil back over the target, and move it from side to side as you draw it back to yourself again. the last point at which you lose the signal, will be the location of the target. For deep pinpointing, you go over the target in pinpoint, then while over the target, hit and hold the pinpoint button for the second time. This will both shrink the target and allow only the front inner coil to be active. This time, you use the cut out in the middle of the coil to locate your target. If you practiced it with a coin for a minute or 2, it will make a lot of sense to you, and it's very accurate! Depth wise, it's close to the X-Terra's, only giving up a bit due to the coil shape. the X-Terra's have a faster recovery speed than the Ace, which will give it an advantage in real bad trash, but that's why it has a 4 inch coil.
I agree with you on the bell tone. I don't like it either. That's something that I really like about the X-Terra's ( and the Explorers for that matter) what sweet tones. It's one of the key reasons that I've persisted with it. Hopefully it will be free of problems now and I can enjoy it like I did when I first bought it.
Mick Evans.

 

[parrott]

you have found with it? In the Garrett ads... Very impressive...

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

That plate I'm holding has $196 on it. I found that in a week of detecting in Sydney. Sure would love to be able to get there and hunt more often. There is around $420 dollars in the picture next to it. The reason I didn't go to $200 on the Sydney hunt, is because I was aiming for the $500 mark by years end. I got there on new years eve, three and a half months after buying the Ace.
Mick Evans.

 

[parrott]

Mick... very impressive... You look very athletic in the photos as used in the various Garrett treasure magazine and product ads. Holding $196 in coins... I sure can understand your smile. Parrott

 

[bfodnes]

Ok, yesterday evening it happened to me too. Right after a batterychange ( duracells ) it turned off.

Pushing the on/off button only produced a grunch stating that it was some connection.

Knocking gently on the right side of the terra made it turn on again for 5 minutes and then off it went again, happened a few times more before i gave up.

I started to investigate and found that I had not pushed the batterydoor quite down into lock position. Not by much but enough to make the batteries nearly miss the contacts on the door.

The springs in the bottom looked fine to me..

Edited after todays detecting. Just fine today, must have been the door not completely in place. Wonder why it happened though, maybe when i replace the cover i did move it alittle up/down. Maybe I did not close it correctly. It was barely out of place so there is very easy to not notice. Glad i kept calm and sorted it out.

 

[Bugar In. USA]

Out in the field or wherever, rake the contacts, top and bottom over a flat rock or cement, rough em up, sometimes they so slick they slide around and make bad contact, give it a try, i carry a lil piece of 100 grit sandpaper in my goodie box in the truck for that purpose, or whatever detector

 

[Elton]

Yep..Sounds like you kept your cool solved the problem and passed on something we may have missed...Thanks for posting..i will try and remember that cool part the most.
Elton

 

[bfodnes]

Thanks, I was planning on doing something there if they get corroded or something else happens..

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

n/t

 

[Hungry]

Good day Mick, I live on the Central Coast , When you say you went Detecting in Sydney,did you mean right in Sydney or out in the suburbs? You sure did well with the "250", Congrats