Just bought a used vx3...think I messed up

[tndirtslinger]

Hi all

Just picked up a used vx3 about 4 days ago and I do believe I shouldn't have bought it...I have been detecting for about 15 years with various machines and have had no problems..For all intents and purposes I think it is a ground balance issue, This thing is chatty to the extreme, I have read everything I can about manual ground balance and have tried all of it but it doesn't seem to be working... I squeeze and hold the trigger then press and hold the enter button and it displays fast track , but when I pump the coil it will never alternate the arrows back and forth like everything says, I just get the arrow pointing one way for several pumps then it will got the other way for a while...

Have tried hunting to see if it will autotrac and it is extremely chatty, if I am using that right, it will indicate a target but never will settle on a vdi number, they range from negative to positive all in one pass...I have been taking the detector to work with me to test out on lunch and have not found anything, just alot of beeping and varying vdi,s..
Using stock programs, also have done a master reset to start fresh, using the c&j program this evening almost every swing resulted in some kind of tone and across the board vdi except for one dime signal that read as a steady number and tone on the surface...

I have put about 6 hours in so far and I'm about over it... Even thought maybe there is that much junk in the ground where I was so went back with my dfx and quiet as a mouse in the same area, even found 51 cent in the same place I tried the vx3 the day before...

Almost forgot I did try my d2 coil on it from the dfx and it did the same thing... the stock coil on the vx is the 950 also have a nearly new 950 coil for the dfx I may try just to be sure and all three are v rated...

I still believe it's not ground balancing properly..

Thanks
Kevin

 

[Larry (IL)]

Reduce the sensitivity until quiet. If that does not work, you probably have a coil problem and there is always the repair center.

 

[tndirtslinger]

Thanks Larry

I put my practically new 950 coil on and it does seem more stable so I think the coil is on its way out.. ground balance seems to be working better now as well..

I believe I just got flustered with it, brought it to work with me and just tried it out on lunch and noticed some improvement, I think this machine is much more sensitive than I realized.
I think in my area or at least for now I need to turn down the rx gain, which I did and it got much better.. adjusted it down to 3 and very quiet...now to try it again where I was hunting to see if it improved.

Thanks again
Kevin

 

[Larry (IL)]

Glad to hear it's working better. I have heard that some Tennessee ground is pretty hot and and the factory settings would be to high. You will just have to play with it until you get it to where you like it. Make sure your coils are V rated too. Once you get get used to the VX, it should out perform the DFX.

 

[tndirtslinger]

I think it was a bad coil... I changed coils it noticed a big difference in the way the machine acted. I have verified all three coils are v rated. Must be why I such a good deal on it but still have to learn what it’s telling me.

Didn’t get to go where I wanted yesterday, they were mowing and I didn’t want to get in the way, run it for about an hour and very quiet also could bring the rx gain up around 7 to 8 before it started chirping.

Thanks
Kevin

 

[Southwind]

Just a thought, but I've got a friend who bought a VX3 and has not been happy with it since new. He has sent it in to Whites twice and it comes back with a good checkup but is still too chattery for him. He says it makes a lot of false noises. I think he just hasn't taken the time to properly learn the machine. He brings it to me every couple months claiming something is wrong with it again. I just make a few adjustments to calm it down and he's happy for a few months.

Personally I'm not a fan of the V series. I'd take a good old DFX over a VX3 or V3i any day. Although I do like the wireless.

 

[vito]

Hi Kevin.

I know White's takes care of their customers/user.
Why not calling them to see if they can help on the bad coil.

Good Luck & Happy Hunting

 

[tndirtslinger]

Southwind, The chatty part was what was really bad on mine to the point that i was ready to toss it, took the dfx to the same spot and it was quiet as can be, even found some change that the vx didn't even notice. Thats when I started watching and looking at the ground probe readings, it showed that my ground vdi was -80, I know that couldn't be right. Tried to manual balance and it wouldn't, no matter how much I pumped the coil. Put the 950 coil from my dfx on, has only been used a couple times before I got the d2 coil for it, and the vx3 was instantly different.ground probe now shows a -90 to -91 on my ground. Still for some reason maybe operator error, it doesn't like to manual ground balance, but if , when powered on and let it do it's automatic balance with my first few swings and it's actually pleasant now...


vito... I have no doubt that whites would / will help me with it. I'm just not fully prepared to make the call yet, I'm reasonably positive the coil is bad but not certain the machine is operating as it should.. working on a patch of ground with it right now and will go back over it with the dfx to see if or how much it is missing.

so far it seems to be working great as far as no falsing like before and all hits are repeatable.

Thanks
Kevin

 

[tndirtslinger]

Recently installed a new old stock 10x12 sef coil and now my machine seems to work even better.. Thought I would just add an update..
I was frustrated with it before but now I'm glad I bought it.

 

[Larry (IL)]

I'm happy for you The 12X10 was my favorite on the V3i.

 

[5900_XL-1]

10x12 was my favorite too for a big coil on the V3i. The 8x6 Detech used most though.