Problem with CTX 3030 in the surf is Minelab working on a program to fix it or is it a coil issue?.

[Jim Robertson]

I know a few guys that have traded there 3030's back in because of that problem with falsing in the surf as the waves row over the coil. I had the same problem at the beach last week. It works fine in the wet sand. As long as there is no moving salt water over the coil. I do like to hunt in ankle to waist deep in the ocean. Can someone advise? Thanks Jim

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

I and most others have the same issues. I think mine started when I raised the gain past 20.Mine would false on a braking wave 12 ft away. I have not had the detector out since to check this out. I did check out Minelabs advertisement and found they say nothing about the CTX 3030 being a beach machine. They just say its water proof! Now they show it on the beach and underwater. Some dealers are listing it as a beach detector. I have found it works well on the beach but its no Excalibur or GT
BCNJ

 

[greenmeanie]

I am thinking it is a very sensitive machine.
Try turning it down some and see how that works.
Most of the guys I think you are talking about ran it real HOT.

 

[jtalley007]

With that being said, I did use it once for relics and was impressed with the depth and target ID to depth. Deeper than the explorer for sure. Minnie balls at over 12" and my deepest target was 14" and was a steel grapeshot about the size of a 58 caliber round ball.

Found 13 bullets, a shot Spencer case, and the grapeshot and a steel underwear button in about 3 hours in bone dry dirt that has been hunted hard over 30 years so the detector has great potential.

Minelab may not advertise the CTX as a saltwater beach machine but I think it is fair to assume that since the inventions of BBS Minelab has ruled the beach. FBS was not quite as smooth but would go deeper and could easily be toned down and still had impressive depth and workability deeper than BBS.

My understanding is this detector was tested in Florida which has no minerals, can't verify that story but have talked with Jason Reep and he used his at Myrtle Beach which has little or no minerals and the machine works fine.

What Minelab needs to understand is a 30 year old TR circuit works in Florida and Myrtle beach since they have no minerals.

Just about every other beach on the planet has minerals so why test it there?

Come to Virginia and it is erratic on wet salt and unstable in the water. I know of 3 of us that tried it in New Jersey with the same results.

Max was able to use his and found some stuff but tolerating something and enjoying the way it operates are two different things and for $2,400.00 anyone using it on the beach and in the water should enjoy the way it operates IMHO.

I started detecting in 1972 and have owned at least 10 sovereigns, 10 Excalibur's and 10 explorers over the years and have used BBS Excalibur's over 1000's of Miles around the earth, from Virginia, Carolina's, Florida, Jamaica,Bahamas, several Virgin Islands, Mexico, Maui and Oahu to name a few.

I have contacted the marketing area and asked them to help, Someone in Hawaii is trying to help as well so can Digger and/or Minelab please let us know what they plan to do about this issue?

The CTX has unlimited potential and just needs a software fix to be the future of discovery, without the fix, discovery on the beach/salt water is still in the future.

For land hunting you'll love it, fresh water I am thinking it is fine, salt beaches decent, salt water and waves, NOT!



Come on Minelab, please fix this issue ASAP or your company will lose respect of loyal customers and the dealers will suffer. I have been quiet until now but if the people ask I feel we are obligated to tell it like it is?

 

[spdnj]

Let me preface this by saying the following:
The detector is stable in the wet sand and even ankle deep in the ocean. It runs very solid in the dry sand also. It is not until you get about 2ft deep water and above that it goes crazy. Once out that deep even in auto the detector is very unstable. It may be a bbs vs fbs thing, my excal runs sweet out there. In fresh water, even fast moving streams the detector is solid. With that said you have to really wonder how many complaints minelab is actually getting about it. I would think not many. If you look at all of the people that purchased the ctx, that number is limited due to the cost and people waiting, then you look at how many people are hunting near salt water in the over all scheme of things and that number is much smaller, then look at how many are actually getting out in the surf with the machine, I am sure it is a very small number of people. Now take into consideration that there are quite a few that have already benched the unit as a surf detector and never sent their concerns into ML and the number of people complaining to them is now probably down to just a handful if that. There are probably a fair amount of people that detect down the beach with the unit but as with all detectors not many venture into the waves past their ankles or knees. I have sent two separate correspondences to ML on the subject, they are not responding with anything at this point. I spoke to another person who contacted them via phone and they told him they have not have many complaints. I am sure reality lies somewhere in between.
What makes this even more frustrating is the fact that we may never know if it is a machine or coil issue due to the fact that as of right now no third party coils are on the horizon that we know of.
The 6" and 12" coils are finally starting to make it to the end users this week, I for one will be interested to see how they do.
I do love the ctx with the exception of this issue. In fresh water I can crank it up and I believe it goes much deeper than my excal. I do not believe you lose anything by having one instead of an etrac, if anything you gain with the processor speed. When the fall hits I will do more inland detecting and then will have more of an opinion on that. It is great that I can come home from the beach, throw it in the bath tub and wash it down. The wireless makes life much better also. If they could get this issue addressed I really feel it would be the best all around detector out there. Maybe not the best at everything, but definitely the most versatile.
I hope they are working on it, but we all know the way they work that will be kept under wraps until they have something. In the meantime I will be keeping the excal in the truck when I head down the shore

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

I really should not post till I get out again with the 3030,but spdnj your post should read yours doesn't do it anywheres but 2 ft of water. Mine and several others I have hunted with, have had problems anywhere's near the water. I have tried lots of setting and I had a couple of good hunts on flat beaches. My problem accured on a very sloped beach. But at the same time I changed the gain.I hunted a solid 30 days before I used the Excal.again. The target count is night and day from 60-80 target to 150-200 same beach same amount of time. Just a different day which could make all the difference in the world.I am just treating it as another tool to detect with,just not the first one to grab for the beach.
BCNJ

 

[spdnj]

I have actually had no issues with the detector up to ankle deep in the surf or wet sand. It does get a little chattery at the high tide line where the dry sand transitions to the wet line up top. Once the waves hit about halfway up the shaft forget it. The beaches down here vary from very flat to a mid slope and I have not seen much difference between them. I am getting deep targets with no issues. I run ground coin or high trash, gain 22ish, manual sensitivity ranging from 22-28, normally around 26. My discrimination is set for lower 7 ferrous lines disc'd out other than that wide open. My target count has been down this year also, I have taken out the GT and the excal and have not seen increases in those numbers, its has just been a slower year here and I am not getting to hunt as often as I normally do. That will be changing soon
I finally got a response from ML support and from what they wrote it seems like they are working on things, I would say stay tuned at this point!

 

[Richard@BackwoodsDetectors]

Sometimes the coil will "see" a loose coil wire in the lower rod when a wave hits the coil. I have had it happen with other machines. As long as the wire moves with the coil, all is well.. any movement and the coil "thinks" it is a target... Richard

 

[jtalley007]

Richard, not saying the wire can't cause problems but when a wave rolls by,coil on bottom and wave is 3 feet over the coil it sounds off.

 

[Cowboy26a]

Mine seemed to settle down when the Control panel was below the water in deeper water. If the control panel was above the water, as in shallower water, II got falsing as the waves moved over the machine.

 

[terrywl]

I have only had mine in to thigh deep water and it ran quiet as a mouse!...Two silver rings and the usual mix of coins today. Terry in San Diego

 

[Night Train]

Around Virginia Beach, I know of three CTX users, I being one, and a fourth in Richmond, VA that is also a salt surf hunter that surf hunts here. All have experienced the same false signals as mentioned in this thread. I am not as experienced with FBS as some others, I admit. I did not come over from an eTrac or Explorer, however, I have Excaliburs and a GT that I have used for years. NO problems with them in any surf or at any depth of salt water or wet sand. I have kept the CTX in the pre-set beach mode because I am learning the detector, and having a pre-set beach mode, that is why I purchased the detector. I thought it should be ready to go, tested in all areas geographically to perform at its best. I watched the videos. Why should a guy in Florida have no complaints and most northern coastal users have similar complaints? On the other hand, I believe the CTX to be an excellent on land unit, great on dry and wet salt sand too. The little I did use it on land, I found the CTX to amaze me there. But, I am not excited over the time lost in hunting in the salt surf so far. I will watch for other postings for solutions, but will not wait too long. It may be better to sell the detector to one who wants the other great features and abilities I know the detector has. In this area, it just doesn't perform in the pre-set surf setting without false signals. If the CTX needs tweaked to run better here, I wish something would be mailed out to keep in touch with new owners, at least to say Minelab is aware and working on a solution.

 

[Jason in TN]

I have heard of these problems from a few friends and a lot of other folks hope minelab is working on something for you guys to make the CTX work for you. Seems like the problems start at about VA beach north. Seems to me like it may be the minerals in the ground up there. Or maybe not I used mine in the surf with out to much chatter on the beaches of SC. So I don't know what the problem is but I know several guys that have many years of hunting that are having these problems so I am sure this is a real problem with the detector. Hope things get worked out soon.


Jason

 

[grouser]

I just can't help but think it's a firmware fix,,,, and all that sell the CTX so soon may be sorry,,,,, that was one of the reasons I bought the 3030,,, they they can fix the problems we find

 

[spdnj]

ML support contacted me back and they are going to have me try a few things, so in my eyes they are working on it. People who are having issues need to take the time to write them and explain what is happening and what type of settings they are using. The more people that bring it to their attention the better chance they will do something. With that said I think its going to take a some time. I am just grateful that the detector performs so well else where so at least I can justify keeping the unit. If it was purchased just for surf hunting it would be a different story.
The whole geographic thing is interesting, has anyone below the VA area had these issues? How about gulf or west coast???

 

[Cowboy26a]

I noticed falsing when the waves broke near me while I was in knee deep to waist deep water. Once I was deeper and the CTX was completely submerged, the falsing quit. From ankle deep to the dry sand there was no falsing. I was in Panama City Beach for 4 days last week.Found a lot of coins and one stainless ring.

 

[Jim Robertson]

I have a GT that I can use in the water. I love the machine on land and in the New River. No problem in fresh water and no problem in wet sand at the beach. I also use the GPX 5000 and love that machine. ML makes great equipment I have been a customer for many years and hope to be for many more.

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

I got out to try the 3030 with less gain then my last hunt. I lowered it to 20 and had little problem with falsing. There was no slope and the water was really rought and I was not in the mix. Third target was a 3.4 g 10k ring with 3 diamonds. I should have left then as the rest of the hunt was a waste of time.First gold off this beach in a year for me!The tide was coming up the wind was blowing one minute your wet sand the next 4ft of water.The slope became the ocean.The dry sand turned wet and got so soft I could walk in it. I lost several targets because I could not pinpoint the target fast enought before the wave took it back from the dumped sand! I should be happy but I wanted to throw the detector in the ocean