Another explorer bug question (shout out to straker or whomever !)

Hey gang: A couple of weeks ago I posted about an Explorer II that wouldn't power up. Straker recommended this new power-button cover plate :

[www.youtube.com]

I bought one, and went through the steps shown on the video. And .... like the guy in the video, when I went to test it (before screwing it back together, and before connecting to a coil), I checked to see if it would power up . And it did ! Presto, I figured I was fixed .

So I finished applying the adhesive cover to the front, finished screwing the face-place back to the box, etc .... Then connected a coil. But lo & behold, when I go to power it up now , all I get is the "click click". So I disconnect the coil, and try powering it up with no coil. And it powers up just fine ! I repeated this process with different coils, different battery packs, and even tried a factory reset.

But no matter what I do, it will not power up when there's a coil attached. It will only power up when there's no coil. Hhhhmmmm

Next, I went to see what would happen if ...... while it's powered on, if I THEN attached a coil while the unit is powered on. It stays powered on and works just fine. So I power off, then back on, and ...... yup: Nothing but a click click and no powering back on.

So it's as if the only way to power up this machine each time is : To be having to disconnect from a coil. Power up, and then attach the coil. A real pain in the b#tt.


And this also makes me think that the previous push-pad buttons weren't bad after all. Perhaps if I'd simply disconnected the coil previously, it might have powered right up like this one is doing.

Does anyone know what might be causing this ??

Tom,

I had that same problem but with a GT Sovereign, turns out a Capacitor was damaged while putting both housing pieces together. Yeah, pain to disconnect coil then reconnect to get it going.

Hope you find the problem,

Paul

Apolonio (CA) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tom,
>
> I had that same problem but with a GT Sovereign,
> turns out a Capacitor was damaged while putting bo
> th housing pieces together. Yeah, pain to disco
> nnect coil then reconnect to get it going.
>
> Hope you find the problem,
>
> Paul

Paul, in the case of your Sovereign: If that's also true of my explorer, how would I test to determine if that's the case here ? And what would the fix be ?

For example, did you fix your Sov ? Or were you condemned to have to go through a turn-on process of having to disconnect the coil, prior to every power-up procedure ?

[www.findmall.com]

Try the link above.

Hello Tom,

In my case, I could visually see the capacitor was damaged. Replaced it with one similar from a spare Sovereign circuit board, and it worked.

I’m pretty sure yours is probably a capacitor, only way would be using a tester. Unless, you see signs of damage or the capacitor is twisted shorting itself.

Please keep us posted, good luck!
Paul

Tom,

Another area to check are the roll of pins connecting both boards, get some circuit cleaner and spray these set of pins. Work the pins in and out, letting the cleaner work it’s way into the pin slots. That was an issue I had with older Compass GoldScanner boards, these pins get dirty creating different issues.

If all fails, use the Explorer II for park hunting, and get another detector for relic hunting. Out in the field, you don’t want to be messing with the Explorer coil connector with each startup.

Good luck,
Paul

My Etrac started powering up by itself?
I think the buttons would stick. I would leave fresh new batteries in it and they would be dead after a day or two. I started just leaving the pack out until I was ready to use it.