Equinox non servicable?

Soooo? Is an ability to undo a screw measured by the number of posts on this forum?

The battery comes out in less than 3 minutes, unplugs and bingo, your done.

So easy - You’d think Minelab would explain that. Don’t get me wrong, It’s doubtless a piece of cake. But when you have a $900 machine, it is not a bad idea to not do anything to jeopardize your warranty rights. Again, the ball is in Minelab’s court here - they need to clarify things.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

lytle78 Wrote:
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> So easy - You’d think Minelab would explain that.
> Don’t get me wrong, It’s doubtless a piece of cake
> . But when you have a $900 machine, it is not a b
> ad idea to not do anything to jeopardize your warr
> anty rights. Again, the ball is in Minelab’s cour
> t here - they need to clarify things.


A buddy told me how easy it was. He's going to look for a back up in case his dies in the field.

Much simpler to plug in an external pack - one of the coming things in metal detector world - modular power. Look for much more of that in years to come - perhaps even to power different detection modes - some with high current consumption.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2018 02:59AM by lytle78.

A new battery runs $15 or so. I think after the warranty expires I could afford that

Absolutely correct. If ML had their brains screwed in right, they’d promote this as a feature - sadly, they love mystification.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

lytle78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now, THOSE are good questions and useful observati
> ons. Now, of course Shoveler has 4 years and 633 p
> osts under his belt. A bit more than 4 months and
> 26 posts. Sometimes, with experience, comes wisdo
> m.

But only sometimes Mr Kempf - only sometimes -

The amount of hysteria created by a great deal of 'experienced' detectorists when Makro first introduced the Racer to the market certainly had me looking a lot more into who I regard as a reliable source for accurate information. Those who jumped on that bandwagon back then, I simply grin about now, while they too enjoy these wonderful units from Turkey -

Personally I think some are just trying to create a storm in a teacup - But hey, each to their own

[www.earthscan.co.nz]

Hallelujah!

I agree RC

Ongoing discussion has a way of sort of “washing out” threads. Some reach resolution, others sort of dissolve. The great thing about forums is, unlike Facebook, twitter, etc - it is pretty much permanent. - at least for the life of the forum. With a simple click on a forum contributor’s name, you can access every post they ever made. I often do that before engaging in back-and-forth with someone I don’t know. Wish I had done that earlier today. It would have showed me that it was pointless to engage with someone whose entire contribution up to that point had been some sort of obscure but very energetic dispute about an East European detector that I know nothing about.

Lesson learned (again) - some of us are slow learners.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2018 03:50AM by lytle78.

They do not give you access into the interior of the housing.

Please post the directions in the Minelab Equinox owners manual that tells the user how to replace the battery.

I can live with warranty issues, I hope it won't blow up on me, like the Samsung battery cell phone nightmare.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2018 04:47AM by Rob in (ca).

Somebody opened it up and pulled out the battery.

[www.findmall.com]

[www.findmall.com]

EDIT -- OOPS! Cabin Fever beat me to it, with the link!

Anyway, the battery is SIMPLE to remove, as has been implied...

I do not think (could be wrong) that you would need to "pressure test" the unit after changing a battery; I THINK the control box is sealed separately from the handle. I could be wrong, but this is what I thought I understood from some field testers, and the pictures in that thread seem to confirm it.

Further, even disregarding Geotech's info about the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the fear of voiding your warranty IN ANY CASE is entirely moot, once the warranty expires. I would expect the battery to last longer than the 3-year warranty period of the unit. So, for me, it's like everything else -- cell phone, or whatever. If it's under warranty, and the battery dies, I send it in. IF the warranty is expired, I replace the batteries myself -- as there is no warranty to "void."

To me, this is not that big of a deal, but I guess it is for some.

Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2018 07:14AM by steveg.

Greg (E.Tn) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Please post the directions in the Minelab Equinox
> owners manual that tells the user how to replace t
> he battery.

Greg, I'm not sure of your point here. Nowhere does Apple instruct me on how to change the battery in my iPhone either -- but I've changed iPhone batteries dozens of times...

IF you don't want to mess with it, you can send your item (iPhone OR Equinox) in to the manufacturer, and they will change it for you. IF you are willing to do so yourself, THEY will not "facilitate" themselves losing the possible profit they'd receive from servicing your unit by TELLING you how to do it, but nonetheless you can save a few bucks and do it yourself if you want to. I don't see why Minelab is being held to any different standard than, for instance, Apple, on the battery issue?

Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2018 07:15AM by steveg.

Steve... I think his point was someone implied it was in the manual. Photo speaks volumes and u have to realuze MOST of us dont have the machine and a straight answer on this machine is like pulling teeth. So you that have them have a little patience for our dumb questions. ...we have a lot of um and may still be trying to determine if it will do what we need it to do.

They designed the darned thing at least 18 months ago - mechanical packages take at least that long. They included a built-in battery. They then launched the product with much hoopla and questions as to battery life/replacement surfaced more or less immediately. No solid information on the subject in the manual - or anywhere else I have seen.

Glad to hear that replacement indeed seems straightforward - pity ML didn’t consider it important to inform customers about it.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Rick.... like changing out the Xcal....WE have to go that extra mile and figure it out or UPGRADE. Then again it saves them money from doing it initially. Kind of like those CTX o rings.... many still wont get um wetAre they waiting on us to id problems their testers didnt.... like the salt setting on the CTX? We will..... but it ticks us off.

No batt problems on this end..... so far. And 11-1/2 hours run-time.... so far.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No batt problems on this end..... so far. And 11-1
> /2 hours run-time.... so far.

Very interesting , new machine?
When did you preorder?

I haven't. But I don't own a Deus.

This is the first for me. I suppose I need to let go, and assimilate into the 21st century........

I saw the video where someone actually DID take the battery out, and I am relieved that it CAN be done, even though the owner's manual doesn't tell us how to do it, or RECOMMEND it.

So, in this case, I am very, very happy I was WRONG, and I admit it. My sincere apologies to anyone I might have offended.

The battery issue was the big one for me. I'm on the waiting list (as many, many are), and I hope the E800 will be the water machine that finally replaces my Excal.

Mommie ML will tell you What you need to know When you need to know and iff'en she don't tell you--you don't need to know.

A $900 hundred dollar disposable detector, what a novel ideal.

tabman

doc holiday Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mommie ML will tell you What you need to know When
> you need to know and iff'en she don't tell you--yo
> u don't need to know.


That information is on a need to know bases and as of right now you don't need to know.

Diggs4ever Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> doc holiday Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Mommie ML will tell you What you need to know Wh
> en
> > you need to know and iff'en she don't tell you--
> yo
> > u don't need to know.
>
>
> That information is on a need to know bases and as
> of right now you don't need to know.

Apparently---over and out.

dewcon --

NO dumb questions! Sorry if I implied that!

I was simply saying that I have seen so much angst on the forums about the battery, and was just stating that from where I sit, I just can't understand all the concern. It seems so simple to me. When you take a step back and see the "big picture," I think we'd probably agree that it would be unreasonable to believe that Minelab created a "disposable" machine, such that the best option when the battery begins to wear out, is to toss the machine in the dumpster. AND -- that it's pretty common with respect to electronic products with internal Li-ion batteries, that we are often not given explicit battery replacement procedures in the manual. If anything, we are given a disclaimer saying something to the effect of "any service or repair performed by an unauthorized servicer will void all warranty" (even despite the law, per Geotech). So -- I guess my point was, when Minelab states publicly, and when the manual tells me explicitly, that battery replacement IS easily do-able, and can be done by Minelab, that its seemed entirely "par for the course" to me -- nothing unusual.

Anyway, it's all good. I NEVER wish to discourage questions -- after all, I ask more questions than most anyone I know! I just think in this case some are being very concerned with some things that probably aren't quite the concern they are being made out to be. Just my two cents though, YMMW...

Steve

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steve... I think his point was someone implied it
> was in the manual. Photo speaks volumes and u hav
> e to realuze MOST of us dont have the machine and
> a straight answer on this machine is like pulling
> teeth. So you that have them have a little patien
> ce for our dumb questions. ...we have a lot of um
> and may still be trying to determine if it will do
> what we need it to do.

Greg --

No, I have never purchased a metal detector where the manual didn't discuss changing the batteries.

BUT -- I also never purchased a waterproof metal detector where the battery was sealed inside a waterproof housing. SO -- for that reason, it didn't seem odd to me that the manual didn't lay out the procedure for replacement. I immediately (sub-consciously) related it to my cell phone, in terms of an internal battery inside a sealed housing. So, it didn't seem "odd" at all to me with the Equinox, that the manual said nothing more than "batteries are easily replaceable when they wear out, at any Minelab service center."

I also knew of the issues with the CTX battery compartment leaking -- and that it was a huge issue, and so it didn't surprise me at all when I learned that Minelab went a "different route," on their next-generation waterproof detector. When I saw that the battery was "sealed internally," my response was not one of "concern," but instead was "oh, good; Minelab was smart and addressed the 'leaking battery compartment' issue that they had with the CTZ by totally redesigning things."

I am sorry if I came across as "short" or "snappy." Not my intent, just confused as to all the hub-bub.

Steve

Greg (E.Tn) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I haven't. But I don't own a Deus.
>
> This is the first for me. I suppose I need
> to let go, and assimilate into the 21st century...
> .....
>
> I saw the video where someone actually DID take th
> e battery out, and I am relieved that it CAN be do
> ne, even though the owner's manual doesn't tell us
> how to do it, or RECOMMEND it.
>
> So, in this case, I am very, very happy I was WRON
> G, and I admit it. My sincere apologies to anyone
> I might have offended.
>
> The battery issue was the big one for me. I'm on
> the waiting list (as many, many are), and I hope t
> he E800 will be the water machine that finally rep
> laces my Excal.