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Oh No!

R

RLOH

Well-known member
I got a decent day here in northeast Ohio so I charged the Etrac battery and headed out this am. I hunted for about a half hour when I realized I was not getting any high tones at all. It appeared that all numbers and tones were out of sync. I do dig my share of deep small rusty iron with the Etrac and this did not happen at all. I must have dug 30 pull tabs that read close to nickels and that never happens with this detector. When I finally wised up(about an hour and a half) I threw a clad dime on the ground it read like pull tab with 12-26 numbers.

I pulled my coil cover off and cleaned it. No difference at all. I did a factory reset and no difference at all. I walked back to the truck and put in my alkaline battery pack, no difference at all. I came home and put the Etrac in the spare bedroom to heat up and that too proved worthless. I keep it in my dry basement, but I do not run a de-humidifier in the winter. I sent it back last summer and the only problem they found was a bad battery. I do not think it is a bad coil, but I have never had any problems with any FBS coil.

I just bought a coil, but I won't have it for at least a couple of weeks so I can't check that option out. Any ideas. It makes me sick to think the detector might be bad. I will not buy another used one as I was told by the repair center that parts are limited and this was 6 months ago. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Oh no, parts are low? Than my Exp 2 is probably more valuable these days!
Do you have electronic spray for contacts? Maybe your contacts between coil end and box need a look at. Use a magnifier and see if there is dirt or corrosion. Just something to check, good luck
 
Best of luck to you. The Etrac is a great detector. I still can't believe Minelab quit producing the Etrac and Safari.
 
So it still air tests a clad dime at 12-26? For absolutely sure? How about a quarter?
 
IDXMonster said:
So it still air tests a clad dime at 12-26? For absolutely sure? How about a quarter?
Click to expand...
Yes the numbers for all clad coins ring in with those numbers. The tone is also a mid tone for all the same coins. Today, I started playing with the tones and when I switched to "four tone" from multi tone I can get a high tone, but the same 12-26 numbers. When I switch back to multi tone it will not vary from the pull tab like tone. I don't think it is the coil and I sure wish I had a coil to try before I decide whether to send it in. The only good situation for me is I won't be using it for the next couple of months because of winter weather.

If it is a mother board, I think the cost will be over 300 bucks and I will probably not spend that much money. I have had numerous FBS detectors and I never had one problem with any of them. One of my first XS's fell of the shelf onto a concrete floor and kept on ticking perfectly for the entire time I owned it. I will keep all posted with the costs and problems. If I do this, other Etrac owners can make a sound judgement should their detectors break down.

I have a quick update. I had not air checked a nickel. I checked a zinc, wheat, both clad and silver dime, and clad quarter. They all were as described above. The nickel toned perfect with perfect 12-12 12-13 numbers. This sort of makes me even more sure the coil is OK.
 
Do a master reset, after backing up your etrac with etrac xchange....then....
Air test it using the preset factory installed minelabs coin program on a clad dime and post the id numbers.
Sometimes the etrac just needs a re-boot.
 
Last edited:
Elmy said:
Do a master reset, after backing up your etrac with etrac xchange....then....
Air test it using the preset factory installed minelabs coin program on a clad dime and post the id numbers.
Sometimes the etrac just needs a re-boot.
Click to expand...
Did a reset twice with no improvement. I called the factory repair center and inquired about a mother board if that is the problem. 649.00 bucks. I don't use but two programs so I did not back it up. Thanks Ray
 
If you did a "Master Reset" under the preferences in the etrac menu then it is probably as you expected.
There was a post earlier that responded to your post "GOT ETRAC BACK FROM REPAIR"....here is the link..


www.findmall.com

Got Etrac Back From Repair

Well, it took a month to get my Etrac repaired, but all seems good now. When the tech finally got my Etrac in his hands, you could not ask for a better experience. He kept me informed daily and was not ready to send it back until he was sure it was functioning correctly. Good news was no...
www.findmall.com www.findmall.com
 
Last edited:
Elmy said:
If you did a "Master Reset" under the preferences in the etrac menu then it is probably as you expected.
There was a post earlier that responded to your post "GOT ETRAC BACK FROM REPAIR"....here is the link..


www.findmall.com

Got Etrac Back From Repair

Well, it took a month to get my Etrac repaired, but all seems good now. When the tech finally got my Etrac in his hands, you could not ask for a better experience. He kept me informed daily and was not ready to send it back until he was sure it was functioning correctly. Good news was no...
www.findmall.com www.findmall.com
Click to expand...
Elmy, sorry, but I am a bit confused. I did send it back for repair last summer and it has worked fine up until a couple of days ago. I just got off the phone with the repair center and to be honest, they cannot really help without the detector in their hands. I don't understand what you mean when you say the Master Reset under the preference in the Etrac menu? Did I do it wrong or is there another way to reset it?
 
RLOH said:
Elmy, sorry, but I am a bit confused. I did send it back for repair last summer and it has worked fine up until a couple of days ago. I just got off the phone with the repair center and to be honest, they cannot really help without the detector in their hands. I don't understand what you mean when you say the Master Reset under the preference in the Etrac menu? Did I do it wrong or is there another way to reset it?
Click to expand...
yes....click the menu button....scroll over with right arrow to preferences at the top. Use the down arrow to go to the very bottom...master reset....you should do a backup if you have any important settings or patterns because this will take it back to factory state or just as it came from the factory.
I can walk you thru it with pics if needed.
 
Elmy said:
yes....click the menu button....scroll over with right arrow to preferences at the top. Use the down arrow to go to the very bottom...master reset....you should do a backup if you have any important settings or patterns because this will take it back to factory state or just as it came from the factory.
I can walk you thru it with pics if needed.
Click to expand...
Elmy, I have done this exactly like you described four time without any change. I am really hoping it is a bad coil, but the only person I know locally with an Etrac is extremely sick with Covid. Blood clots in the lungs and heart out of sync. Again thanks for your help.
 
RLOH said:
Elmy, I have done this exactly like you described four time without any change. I am really hoping it is a bad coil, but the only person I know locally with an Etrac is extremely sick with Covid. Blood clots in the lungs and heart out of sync. Again thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Been there , last year.
You can check your coil for a short with a multimeter set to ohms....
touch the leads red and black either ones to pins 1 and 2 and it should be about 6.3 ohms....pins 3 and 4 and it should be approximately 1.8 ohms...
If it is bad they will be far off or no reading at all on a shorted coil.

coil resistance for etrac.gif
 
Elmy said:
Been there , last year.
You can check your coil for a short with a multimeter set to ohms....
touch the leads red and black either ones to pins 1 and 2 and it should be about 6.3 ohms....pins 3 and 4 and it should be approximately 1.8 ohms...
If it is bad they will be far off or no reading at all on a shorted coil.

View attachment 34709
Click to expand...
You are Really a very helpful person! Too bad we weren’t closer I would enjoy detecting with such a person!
 
BigTony said:
You are Really a very helpful person! Too bad we weren’t closer I would enjoy detecting with such a person!
Click to expand...
Thanks , that means a lot to me.....WV62 and I just went thru fixing a 8 x 6 sef coil.....I am thinking between Ron and I, we can maybe help Ray fix this coil as it was really coming alive on the last half dozen hunts finding silver for him. Ron had the bad coil so he did the fixing and I sent all that I could think of in emails to him to help.
Yesterday , Ron pulled a silver quarter....may in a few days Ray can get back to pulling silver with his broken coil.
 
With coil problem I did the multimeter test that Elmy sent me and mine didn't pass. My E-Trac wouldn't even power up with the 8 x 6 connected. With that coil not connected it fired right up. So tried another coil and it worked as it should. So with all that I knew it was the coil and I had nothing to loose by cutting the outer casing off down close to coil. Inside there 2 wires that had the casing broke and was giving it a dead short. It is not pretty but I got the 2 separated some electrical tape and I got it fixed.
So without a extra coil about all you can do is set the detector on something so it is not moving and fire it up. Set the sensitivity to A. With the coil attached and just take notice it the detector is doing something just setting there. Then do the same with the coil not attached and see if the detector settles down.
Check for a PM from me.
Ron in WV
 
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