Minelab Explorer II issue

My friend just bought one with a dead rechargeable battery. Never even saw the detector turned on and operating.
he went down to Radio World the big Minelab dealer distributor for Canada. They popped a battery pack into the Explorer.
It would not turn on. They said maybe the battery contacts need cleaning. And sent him on his way.

I have it now to test, don't have a battery pack so I will have to rig a plug to push down to the battery contacts and hook up an external battery to see if it will fire up.

How common is it to have dirty contacts in the battery compartment in the handle? And is it safe to say if cleaned and still won't fire up, might be the on/off button on the faceplate,
or a problem on the circuit board? I hear its an $800 repair, if the had replacement circuit boards. But, could be a capacitor or two that have popped on the circuit board.
Not sure how much time would be involved taking it apart, trouble shooting and putting it back together

He doesn't want to put any money into the detector and I don't want to put a heck of a lot of free time into fixing it unless I actually owned it. He's cheap. He won't tell me how much he paid for it.
He knows it could be a wall hanger. What's it worth as it is, if I offered to buy it from him. He might just want to get his money back, maybe not. I originally told him a month or so back, if it didn't work, I might be interested in it for parts.
Maybe just clean the contacts and do a battery power test, if it doesn't fire up, just give it back?

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

Probably eather the battery contacts or Faceplate button.. a guy selling faceplates a while back ..I bought one and it fixed mine.. think it was 69.00

[www.detectorbits.co.uk]

Sven,

Hardly likely to be a battery contact issue but then, who knows? Pop a flashlight into the handle and take a look? The internal springs 'should be' visible: check they are 'erect' and not 'proned' sideways?

It's more likely to be the front faceplate decal with all the push buttons? Water ingress happens over time and it can creep in and short out the 'ON' button. Faceplate's are nearly impossible to find these days but the link above to Detectorbits should get you a replacement? Tell him I sent you!

Des

pm sent

If I was owner might try a fix if not just send back...even if you knew the problem parts becomes a problem because of its age...

Yes, those custom ordered custom manufactured Explorer front button panels are In Stock and available from "Detectorbits" at GBP£46.99 whatever that works out in USD$ and don't forget Postage & Packing which would be AIR MAIL.

Hey Sven...My take is if you want to,hook power to it and see what happens. Two things...the RED wire is positive,the Black wire is Negative as far as the spring terminals are concerned. Also...HOLD the power button in when you go to fire it up,don’t just press it once like you normally would do to turn it on. If you don’t get it to power up I’d just hand it back to him. ANYTHING could be wrong with it,the entire works could be cooked. Good working Explorers are cheap enough nowadays,you don’t have to mess with a sick one...unless you really want to.

Like I said on another forum a tech told Me if its the main board it's a 800.00 repair. That was a Etrac so imagine same with Explorers if they even make them anymore? That's why it's a good idea to replace them with a New model when the warranty goes out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2019 03:15PM by Harold,ILL..

Sven1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My friend just bought one with a dead rechargeable
> battery. Never even saw the detector turned on and
> operating.
> he went down to Radio World the big Minelab dealer
> distributor for Canada. They popped a battery pack
> into the Explorer.
> It would not turn on. They said maybe the battery
> contacts need cleaning. And sent him on his way.
> Just took a look inside my one and the contacts are clean but not shiny - they probably never were - the silver mount they're attached to is shiny silver though.
> I have it now to test, don't have a battery pack s
> o I will have to rig a plug to push down to the ba
> ttery contacts and hook up an external battery to
> see if it will fire up.
>
> How common is it to have dirty contacts in the bat
> tery compartment in the handle? Doesn't appear to have been an issue - they were fairly clean inside - unless the compartment 'took a bath' at the beach /lake?And is it safe to
> say if cleaned and still won't fire up, might be t
> he on/off button on the faceplate,
> or a problem on the circuit board? I hear its an $
> 800 repair, if the had replacement circuit boards.
> But, could be a capacitor or two that have popped
> on the circuit board. Doubt it?
> Not sure how much time would be involved taking it
> apart, trouble shooting and putting it back togeth
> er
> Easy to open, take apart and close up - just a matter of snap in the 3 boards (incl meter display)
> He doesn't want to put any money into the detector
> and I don't want to put a heck of a lot of free ti
> me into fixing it unless I actually owned it. He's
> cheap. He won't tell me how much he paid for it.
> He knows it could be a wall hanger. What's it wort
> h as it is, if I offered to buy it from him. He mi
> ght just want to get his money back, maybe not. I
> originally told him a month or so back, if it didn
> 't work, I might be interested in it for parts.
> Maybe just clean the contacts and do a battery pow
> er test, if it doesn't fire up, just give it back?
What's the value? Not working about $150 - working about $250

Any ideas Sven?

Probably a battery contact issue. Explorers were notorious for that, as they aged. I frequently have to pull my battery pack out, lick the contacts, put it back in, and squish it multiple times against the contact springs. It can be a pain-in-the-b#tt at times.

[www.ebay.com]

I was hoping a reply from the poster on what was happening? Getting a tad fed up of replying to poster's (on several fora) and nothing!

My friend picked up his Explorer. He found another Explorer owner locally who was able to test it with "good" battery packs.
It fired up and works perfect.

Also found out a bit more, the Minelab distributor up here didn't test his detector correctly, nor wanted to, as my friend really didn't want to buy a new rechargeable pack or a AA battery holder during his visit.....

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

Sven1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My friend picked up his Explorer. He found another
> Explorer owner locally who was able to test it wit
> h "good" battery packs.
> It fired up and works perfect.
>
> Also found out a bit more, the Minelab distributor
> up here didn't test his detector correctly, nor wa
> nted to, as my friend really didn't want to buy a
> new rechargeable pack or a AA battery holder durin
> g his visit.....

Ahhh...there you are...what I wanted to offer you was a new unused and proper blue color label Explorer AA battery pod for free to get your friend out of a jam and I would only have asked you to cover the Postage of several dollars.

Interesting detail about the interaction with the Dealer...

All best regards Sven

Des D
ex Minelab

Now you don't need it so that is a good result.