mbasko said:
Moneybox said:
many of the early SDC2300's and GPZ7000 failed to please and I doubt there'd be many who didn't truly believe that.
Most in the "failed to please" bracket failed to adapt to their new machines as they were quite different from what they were used to i.e. GPX etc.
Not saying there weren't actual failures or things that could have been made better, because there was, but the truth is most had a lot of trouble adapting particularly with the GPZ.
I copped heaps mainly on another forum for singing the praises of the SDC early on. I got one reasonably quickly after release. IMO it's a great detector still but won't suit everyone. Most that gave me shite early on now own one - go figure hey :lol:
I'm one of those who knocked it early but still went out and bought another one. They find gold where other machines can't so there are times when only an SDC will do the job.
I bought the another second hand, barely used, off this site and took it out two weeks back. That brought back the memories. It konked out each time I put it down. The arm rest was foulded every time i picked it up. The coil was floppy and scratchy to adjust at the knuckle. I tried to avoid flattening the coil each time to sort me target from the soil but that just meant that it fell on its side (not a fault, just annoying). I never realised how badly the coil floats, it would fould up when I pushed it down into the water. I tightened the screw but the joint feels dry and unlikely to last.
I'll tape the batteries and apply a dob of solder to the positive terminal.
I'll zip tie a sheet of 1 mm black plastic to the inside of the armrest alowing it ti still fold when needed but keeping it open when in use.
I'll wait until the coil knuckle wears out at the end of this season and return it to Minelab for the upgraded components.
It will most likely need a new audio plug by then anyway.
Last year we sent the SDC back to Minelab for the audio plug repair. I forgot to mention the floppy coil syndrome because I had fixed it by inserting a bush made from a yogurt container. They replaced all the swivel and knuckle parts anyway. The new components are smooth to operate and lasted an entire season without even needing adjustment. The material used in the replacement parts is far superior to the original.
We just received the SDC back from Minelab after getting a new audio plug. It's all fixed but I failed to mention that the shaft slides were worn out. They wouldn't have noticed becouse I punched the little pins out in the field and applied a smeer of araldite under the rubber wear pad to raise it to the original height. It now makes firm contact with the shaft again and holds it from collapsing while in use. Unfortunately it won't last but that machine is now out of warranty. Hopefully we'll be able to buy parts.
All this wouldn't stop me from buying another Minelab machine if there's nothing better but I don't like modifying anything I buy new and I shouldn't have to.
