Strange V3i Episode

[5900_XL-1]

Odd thing with the V3i today after it's been sitting for 2-3 weeks. I decided to take it to my 10" buried quarter since this Texas soil is now as rain soaked as it's probably ever been in history. The machine was beeping and bonging like crazy, even with fresh programs and after attempts to GB. The last few times it's acted like this...I either did the master reset myself or was walked thru the process on the phone with Whites. It's been so long since I did one myself that I had to Google and find it again,, even though it's so simple. Once again, the V3i settled right back down again. I can't imagine what made it goofy from just sitting in the house without any power ups. The worrisome part to me is the question, "Is there a middle, messed up condition we miss in hours of swinging?" That's nagging.

That one time Whites walked me through the MR was after mine had returned from servicing from Oregon, all within 30 minutes of my testing it in my yard after unboxing it, so the V had sat in transit without power for over a week. Could mere unpowered time corrupt it? It's just strange. MR corrected it then too.

 

[Rob (IL)]

I had a V3i sit for 4 months when I spent the winter in Texas. When I got home the LI-Ion battery was still charged and the V3i acted perfect and ready to go. I have had several Spectras sit longer than a week with no ill effects.

" "Is there a middle, messed up condition we miss in hours of swinging?"" What conditions would this condition exhibit?

The MR is not a diagnostic tool. It can't repair any programing mistakes or physical component values. All the MR does is set the detector condition to as it was when the V3i left the factory. So, all the MR can do is restore the changes the operator has performed to original settings from a stored copy in the V3i.???????????????

 

[daddyflea]

It is most likely not your machine but your settings. I noticed that you are in Texas like I am. We have had so much rain I have not hunted in a couple weeks myself. I have found that this wet saturated ground causes the V3i to be super sensitive. Your settings will change greatly hunting in this ground. You will get false VDI numbers and weird sounds that can only be tamed by exceptionally low gains and you will still get some false signals Most of this will be iron and those large headed Roofing nails will turn to deep pennies. Since I hate digging in Mud I am waiting for it to start drying. The Dryer it gets the more normal your machine will run.

 

[5900_XL-1]

It is most likely not your machine but your settings. I noticed that you are in Texas like I am. We have had so much rain I have not hunted in a couple weeks myself. I have found that this wet saturated ground causes the V3i to be super sensitive. Your settings will change greatly hunting in this ground. You will get false VDI numbers and weird sounds that can only be tamed by exceptionally low gains and you will still get some false signals Most of this will be iron and those large headed Roofing nails will turn to deep pennies. Since I hate digging in Mud I am waiting for it to start drying. The Dryer it gets the more normal your machine will run.

Why wouldn't loading a clean factory file have resolved it then? Same thing happened that time when Whites sent my repaired V3i back, all within 30 minutes. It was dry here then.

All I'm saying is that the V3i is an emotional machine, and what does that mean as far as the middle hunting time when finds are lagging much lesser metal detectors? That! is bothersome to ponder for me after 5 years of sticking with this detector. Really, the word half cock-eyed comes to mind. It's rare that it goes all bonkers like this, and it's only been a few times that it has done it. What about the in-between times when I was beat out by far lesser machines? Was it a solid machine or was it half whacked?

There-in lies the question.

 

[daddyflea]

Mine has freaked out as well due to EMI. I went to a place where I had hunted previously and just could not hunt period. My machine just went nuts. Factory programs have very conservative settings and if you load a Factory program from the list there are a number of things that really matter most that are not set back to factory. A Master Reset does put these back to factory settings. You must learn how to manipulate these settings.

For instance a change from the Coin And Jewelry program to the Deep Silver does not change the Filter, RX Gain, Discr Sensitivity, or the Ground Speed. These to me are the most critical. I believe there are even more that are not changed. A Master Reset does set these back to Factory Defaults.

Although I did use the Factory Programs when I first got my V3i, I quickly saw that, these Factory Programs were pretty much useless for anything other than Custom VDI recognition.

The real power in the V3i is its unusually high Sensitivity and ability to set up to your Ground Conditions. Since everyone's ground is different these Ground Settings are very conservative, therefore every time they are tweaked they stay regardless of what program you use. Master Reset puts them back.

Another thing is that it is easy to hit the wrong button when changing something and really make your machine freak out.

I have been metal detecting since around 75 or 80. I bought a V3i about a year or so ago and it took me a long time to get where I am half A@#$ proficient at using this machine. Fact is I was running Rob and Fox nuts there for a while and I still am not that great at figuring out those special Probe Screens. I have figured out those 5 filters will not work for me. I swing too fast and if I had to slow down that much, I would sell my machine.

I also figured out that I can not run high RX gains. When it is wet I am down to 5 or 6. Never have run my Disc higher than 80. Tried but it sounded like a Pin Ball machine.

Also found that I hated that Iron Null. You know where you get a good signal then go to Pin Point and it seems nothing is there. I found that I could set the Ground Balance +1 and eliminate most of that.

Don't even get me started on the time I decided to try and change my colors since I am pretty color blind.

The beauty of this machine is its Flexibility.

I have never done a Master Reset myself and suspect that 99% of the time it is done is because of a User Tweak that went wrong, with no idea how to get it back.

 

[Rob (IL)]

You have had a troubled time ( 5 years) with the V3i and associated coils from the beginning. Your problems have been varied. I know you are not satisfied with my answers. My advice is that anyone with the many troubles you have experienced should try another detector.The purpose of the hobby is to enjoy ourselves and you don't seem to be doing that.

Since I have not experienced your varied problems with several units including prototypes, V3 and v3i units I don't know what to say. I preferred the V3 tracking to that of the V3i but other than that I have no complaints. Any machine that changes parameters as you state, without changes by you, has a problem. Can it be software, no, because we all have the same software and yours has be reprogrammed a second time at the factory. It doesn't seem to be a component problem because as soon as you do a master reset you say the problem is gone. A defective component would still be defective.

If it's not the software or components what can it be? Has anyone one else experienced this problem of needing a MR after sitting? Martin have you discussed this new problem with Whites?

I'm glad you can compare notes with Daddyflea who seems to be doing well with his v3i since you both are in the same general area of Texas. Good Luck.

 

[burlbark]

Holly smokes Martin is still having problems?

Its been 4 years plus. Get a different detector, on a side note I have had numerous coils go bad just sitting. All my SEF coils died within 16 months. They still work with a gain of 4-6 when its cold or they go crazy.

 

[5900_XL-1]

Holly smokes Martin is still having problems?

Its been 4 years plus. Get a different detector, on a side note I have had numerous coils go bad just sitting. All my SEF coils died within 16 months. They still work with a gain of 4-6 when its cold or they go crazy.

"I'm on a mission from God."

 

[grumpyjohn]

Had something similar happen last year but not after a detector lay up. Massive interference and sounding off all the time !! At first I put it down to EMI as it happened at a dig with many other detectorists and no matter what I did it was of no avail. I finally deleted the programme I use, reloaded the C&J prog. from the library and made the alts. I have made !! Problem solved and it has been fine ever since. The cause of this hiccup remains a mystery but maybe worth a try if you get this problem !!

 

[grumpyjohn]

Had a similar problem last year and thought it was EMI so tried all the tricks to get over it but failed. I then deleted my adapted progs.,reloaded C&J from the library, altered the settings to suit me and everything was back to normal !! Don't know why this happened but might be worthwhile trying if all else fails ?

 

[Explorer]

They are all just programs and just like on your desk top computer if a program get a glitch (one bad byte in the re-writable media area) it will not run correctly.

 

[5900_XL-1]

They are all just programs and just like on your desk top computer if a program get a glitch (one bad byte in the re-writable media area) it will not run correctly.

That's corrrect, yet why doesn't the issue automatically correct with a reload or selecting a different program instantly? Secondly, why did the tweaked progam, which was working fine for the previous time days before, now goofy? It's not simply black and white, until a MR has to be done sometimes. I still worry that if something this volitile "just happens"...is if there is a mid-life crisis in-between the good and bad behavior? If it is plain code in one program, why does the rest fail.

 

[Rob (IL)]

Sorry to say that people make changes they don't even know they make. When you do the MR all you are doing is getting rid of you changes that you made. You are not correcting or making any software changes. Then like magic it works again. Hmm

 

[Explorer]

The base programs and operating system are in read-only-memory where as the programs you altering are in a form of flash memory and that can be more sensitive to getting altered.
I have had flash drives pick up glitches while not in use...where.....gamma ray burst, cosmic rays from a galaxy far far away...who knows! They worked yesterday and not today.
That is why you have the base programs for backup.

 

[5900_XL-1]

Sorry to say that people make changes they don't even know they make. When you do the MR all you are doing is getting rid of you changes that you made. You are not correcting or making any software changes. Then like magic it works again. Hmm

The V3i needs a "last known good configuration" selection, like the DOS comupters have.

If I load a factory program, indicated as unedited, and the problem still exists...just what sense does it make that I missed realizing I made a change? If there's no delta symbol showing, doesn;t that mean it's a virgin, factory program?