minelab equinox question

Do you have to purchase special headphones for water, and have any issues developed with this machine water hunting ? Been out of the loop, haven't followed any reviews of this machine. I am looking for a water machine under $1K and am considering it.

There have been a few machines with water behind the screen....but mostly cuff and coil ear breakage. BUT all have been repaired quickly by ML. Unlike most water machines this does have a 3year warranty. I’ve had no leaks and I do only water hunting. The connector on the box is waterproof and you can wade with ...but like most wireless once the box is under it cuts out. ML has their waterproof yellow phones but there are several now making after market phones. But a M12 connector and a mono jack and you can do your own connector.

The turn around of damaged and inoperative Equinoxes is extremely rapid. Mainly due to the fact that the control boxes are glued together and cannot be repaired because opening them destroys various components. The three year warranty ensures that you are covered. After that it will depend on how much ML decides to charge for replacement control boxes. Nobody knows what that will be. The Deus control box is about $500 - I know because my neighbor lost his.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

Following the different forums and I think it is fair to say loads of EQXs been sold and are being used. I have seen few problems period to include water leaks. Talk to a gent in coastal NC, he told me you go to the beach detecting, most of what you see are Noxes running around.

Good luck with your decision.

Btw, this is not even a recent pic of my EQX. It has been used loads since this pic was taken. Loads of buttons pushed on this baby while using. It is still working. Doing lots of testing since the weeds are so high..




Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2019 03:41AM by tnsharpshooter.

Yes on the headphones. You will need to purchase waterproof headphones for it. The yellow Minelabs and the Gray Ghosts are junk...I can tell ya that from personal experience. I use Tony Eisenhower made ones and they are superb.

Some early ones did have leaking problems that I read about. I personally haven't ran into any trouble.

There are a few common complaints from people in which it indeed could be made better. The unbalance is one of them, as well as underwater torque and wobble. A number of people are making carbon shafts that remedy all the above but you're looking at an extra $100-140 for that. I think it's worth it for just getting rid of the cam locks for water hunting.

There are just 3 coils and it doesn't look like we will be seeing any more any time soon. I think there is place for at least 2 more sizes...an elliptical 5x10 and a 9 inch round.

My personal complaint is the one I have not talked about a lot. And that is, the inconsistency from site to site. In some areas, soils, etc it will blow you away. In others, it is a chattering/falsing R2D2 sounding hunk of junk. I've ran into at least 3 places now where I just had to put it back in the truck because it was useless. I've got one freshwater beach where the noise will drive you crazy. I actually read someone else's post regarding the same thing and they tried Beach 2 mode and got it to settle down. I tried the same thing on this beach the next time I was there and got the same result as the person who posted about it. I don't know why I'd need to run a saltwater mode on a freshwater beach in the water but it made the chatter and falsing go to almost unbearable to nadda. What concerned me though was altough the machine was now quiet, I didn't find anything but a few clad coins after I went to that mode. So I dunno. I firmly believe the CTX was a better water/beach machine for me and the Equinox a better relic machine.

Buy it with no worries!!!

Considering the tens of thousands of Equinoxes that have been sold, the MTBF is likely exceedingly low.

We had one forum member admittedly break his own control head that wasn't covered under the warranty and I believe Minelab only charged about $200 to replace it, so they've been quite reasonable. Gone are the days of 5+lbs detectors built like tanks that will last generations, but at the end of the day you're arms and shoulders will thank you

Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>..... Gone
> are the days of 5+lbs detectors built like tanks t
> hat will last generations, ....


Yup. They had to make light-weight girly-man detectors for you new generation guys

Tom_in_CA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cal_cobra Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >..... Gone
> > are the days of 5+lbs detectors built like tanks
> t
> > hat will last generations, ....
>
>
> Yup. They had to make light-weight girly-man dete
> ctors for you new generation guys

It's us older guys too, Tom. I'll leave the bicep building to others, give me a light weight girly man detector any day!

When we say heavy........ we seem to be talking about the shaft and heavy batteries. I know that combat design ....... is MANLY.......but its not only heavy out of the water..... but its a beast to move around in the water especially with much current. I dont see a need to have a 1" shaft..... increase the thickness a tad and reduce the OD..... we aint playing gold here.