Menu
What's new
Find's Treasure Forums

Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!

You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.

Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.

Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.

Click here to register!

Need Support Help?

Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you

Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.

Sovereign repair------how many

F

fg121798

New member
Hi
it's me again.
I have read a lot of good stuff about the GT.
If I buy a used one that is fairly new I believe I am not covered by the warranty,right!
I notice a lot of you have sent in the GT for repairs. Does it go out of whack easy.
Just wondering how many of you have sent their GT in and what kind of service they got.
Was it a major repair?
David
 
If you take care of it you don't have to worry about it. But if you are hard on electronic products then you had better buy new. I have two GT's . The first one I bought when they first came out and the other one is two years old. I give them a lot of hard use but I take care of them and neither one has ever needed to go to Minelab for repair. JMHO

HH

Beachcomber
 
They are built very sturdy. I have always hip-mounted mine too. I wouldn't worry about the GT if is in good shape when you get it. If you don't abuse it, it will probably stay that way. I had 10-12 year Sovereigns (XS, XS2 etc.) and never had to send them in either.
 
I have owned 4 sovs, 2 explorers, and one safari and never had to send any minelab back for anything. I don't hammer things into the ground with them, but they are tough.
 
I recently sent in my 3 year old GT, they could not locate the fault so I was told I needed a new circuit board. It would have cost about $260.00 to repair. I was a bit miffed as a 3 year old unit should not be that expensive to repair. At least they should have pro-rated the repair cost as the unit was not that old and just out of warranty. I passed and was very disappointed as I know for certain if Sandy or Dick were still around it would have been taken care of at much more reasonable cost.
 
I agree, they were great and made you feel appreciated. Now, you feel like it is the bottom line that they care about. They don't seem to realize they could have both. Too bad.
 
That's not a bad price considering they were giving you a new board which is 90% of the machine. A lot cheaper than $800 to replace it with a new GT. Still unless you had some type of intermittent problem they should have been able to repair the board. Maybe the good techs moved on to a better working environment. Maybe the good techs left along with the Office Personnel. They may not have good techs anymore either. Just board swappers instead. Great for getting things done quickly but bad for the customers wallet once the item is out of warranty. Unfortunately that seems to be the way the electronics industry is going today. No more troubleshooting...just swap out the boards , get the job done, and move on to the next one. It also is partly everyone's fault. In today's business model troubleshooting wastes time and lowers production. Swapping out the board is fast and efficient as you know for certain that you have corrected the problem and you don't need well paid trained technical people to do it. Trained electronics techs are becoming a thing of the past. Wait until your LCD or Plasma TV needs repair when it's out of warranty you will be in for real sticker shock. Actually in today's electronics servicing world the cost of the repair of your GT would have been considered cheap. With the cost of repair of today's electronics one of the best investments you can make is to buy the extended warranty with any expensive electronics product that you buy. JMHO

HH

Beachcomber
 
Hi Bernie,

It was more the principle of the thing then anything else. Just felt they could have done a bit better for me. The price was not that horrible. I've been a Minelab user for 15+ years. I was able to sell off the GT box for 100.00 and bought an XS2 box for 150.00 which I prefer anyway, so it worked out well for me.

Bob
 
I didn't even know there was a labor turnover at minelab.
What Happened.
I am very interested to know.
Trouble shooting down to the componant is not required today.
It's just like beachcomber said.
Before the boards came along you had to know how to find the failed componant. When circuit boards came out business owners said why should I pay $$$ for troubleshooting when I can replace the whole circuit all in one shot and all he has to know is what area he has to replace the board.
Remember when you could open the hood and climb in and change plugs and coils timing chains etc.
Can't do that anymore.When you need a troubleshooter now it costs $$$$.
When I bring my Audi in its $160 an hr Labor. Lets not forget the diagnostic charge also.
Ever had one of those.
David
 
First I gotta say I dont want an Audi; They may be great cars but at $160.00 hr shop time I gotta keep the redneck dodge.
I am curious about the repair dept ; SUCCESS rate?????? I sent my GT back at about a year old and they replaced the coil. Then the machine went on the blink and would not pick up a penny just laying in the grass ; you could see it. SO sent the machine in to get it fixed AGAIN;
The machine came back much slower than back when we ran the Exp series machines but what got me was when I was putting it together to give it a spin around the park Two not just one but Two screws fell out of the blue box. ( Not the quality of repair I hoped for) When I put these back in and got all fired up the external speaker was silent . No sound what so ever ; Luckily when I plugged in the headphones they worked as they were supposed to. Dont use open speaker anyhow so did not worrie about that. Still the quality should be better on a machine rated like the Minelab .
SO when you all got your machines back at these new better prices :( was the work Right?????
Good Luck
Grumpy
 
My wife drives the Audi.
my son Ford Explorer
Daughter Ford Focus
son-in-law --ford pickup
me- chevy S10 pickup 4X4
 
here in france lots of my friend have problem with GT , the older sovereign less probleme.....i think the GT electronic is more delicate
 
I did find the GT to be a bit more sensitive than the older Sovereigns and would false a little more on iron, but found that anything that is questionable I find coming from different directions at the target to see if it still stays in the same spot, if not chances are it was iron. I also found running it like the older Sovereigns worked the best for me (max volume, 0 disc, 0 notch,sensitivity at 10 o'clock position, threshold set at slight hum,toggles set at disc iron mask on,freq 2, threshold on, and toggle track/lock/ pinpoint set to pinpoint so when you need to pinpoint you just have to switch to all metal).
The XS,XS2 I found were easier to learn on while the GT works best for those that know the Sovereigns well as it is a little more sensitive.

Rick
 
Got a courtesy call from Minelab today saying that they have received my Sov. Nice of them to call and say they got the package. More to follow....
 
Update:
Bill from Minelab called on the 14th to let me know that the coil was the problem. It cost $35 for the diagnostics, and $15 bucks to ship it back. I decided to go with the 10x12 SEF for $169 at Kellyco instead of a new 10" Tornado coil offered for $250 from Minelab.

8/28/09: Shipped From Crescent City, Ca. To Minelab Las Vegas
8/31/09: USPS delivery confirmation
9/03/09: Phone call from Minelab that the unit was in the queue
9/14/09: Unit checked
:sleepy:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top