pioneer 505 near death?

[Ed Steinhoff]

This question is for dave from first Texas or any of you more experienced tectors. I bought my 505 used 3 years ago and have swung it extensively. about a year ago it started acting erratic in the id,s it will constantly id zinc pennies as quarters and pennies as screw caps. I have sent it to first Texas 3 times for this same problem. once they replaced the coil and the other two times, worked on the control box. each time it will work just fine for a week or two and then goes right back to the same erratic id problems. should I sent it in again [$60.00 each time] sadly retire my good friend and replace with an updated machine [ hard to afford ] ? HH Ed in colo.

 

[Dave J.]

Not quite sure what to tell you, Ed.

Sounds to me like an intermittent on the PC board, don't know from your post if that's been replaced or just recalibrated. Recalibration won't fix an intermittent, so if the paperwork doesn't say they replaced the PC board, I suppose your next step would be to send it in again and explain that PC board needs to be replaced or the intermittent definitely located and fixed.

If it makes you feel any better, customers aren't the only people who hate intermittents, customer service & repair departments hate 'em too, because intermittents make it difficult to identify and solve the real problem.

If you're thinking of retiring the 505 and getting another relatively low cost machine, I'd suggest looking into the Fisher F2, the Tek Delta, and the BH Platinum. (The Platinum is carried by Cabela's but is hard to find elsewhere.)

--Dave J.

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

Thank you Dave I will certainly talk to repair about the intermittent. I would sure like to save the 505 even if I upgrade. Been looking hard at the 0mega or t2, even been more than curious about the at pro but brand loyalty means something too. HH Ed in colo.

 

[Bucksport]

I will second the Delta as the wise Dave J said He knows the machines that he built. The Delta is a notch or 2 above the 505 in my opinion. Very quick response time and many features for the price. I had one in the past, and will have one again in the future

 

[Ed in SoDak]

Hi Ed,

I gather from another of your posts that you also have a Tracker IV. Have you tried swapping the coils to see if that makes a difference? That puts a "known good" coil on the 505 to try it that way, and the "known good" Tracker box can help check the 505's coil. It might be an easy test to do before sending it in and may help narrow down the problem better by eliminating one of the unknowns in the equation.
-Ed

 

[Ed Steinhoff]

Yes I have swapped the coils and they both work fine on the tracker IV but not on the 505. But thank you for the suggestion. HH Ed in colo.

 

[zoomrr69]

I was using rechargable batteries....and one of em was dying out and was causing weird numbers....
then I used my back up heavy duties....problem resolved..
then my 8 inch coil developed a problem near the base as the wires started to fail and eventually broke...