ATX down for repairs.

[Atlas]

Hi All,

Well I think the ATX (used) I recently got is down for the count

After the park test I took it to the lake for a water hunt. It was running real quiet and smooth at the first two beaches. Scored a silver ring and St Christopher medal on a chain Good frequency scan and GB. At the third beach I got a low batt indicator and did a battery change back at the truck.

Upon returning to the water the machine was acting real erratic with lots of false signals and LED indicators flashing up to the 7/8 range and even locking at this level. I thought well maybe its EMI or drift so I checked with my buddy who is running an infinium and he said his machine was purring like a kitten. So I did another factory reset and decide to run in ground tracking. I was still getting signals but hard to hear the faint ones with all the falsing.

I checked the battery compartment when I got home and no leaks. Decided to take it to the park today where I originally tested it with a fresh set of batteries. Did Freq Scan and GB. The GB seemed a little off from when I first got the machine. That is when I press the button and get the two tones I'm not hearing much ground signal. I noticed this at the lake also. Anyway tried to run and with the coil stationary I'm getting a pulsing signal from 1-4 range and spiking up to 7/8 range. The signal then locked at 8 and wouldn't go away without a reset but then continued the pulsing. So I decided to do a factory reset and that's when it got interesting. Usually on a factory reset I get two tones followed by the 4 battery check tones. The machine went straight to 4 tones with no LED display. So the machine is on and making spurious noises but no LED's are on. Did this a few times with the same results.

So I put the machine away and got my GP3000 out as a control test. The 3000 noise canceled and GB'd in this park fine and I dug a few signals till the rain started. Anyway this kind of rules out that there was some type of crazy EMI that can't be eliminated.

Next I called the local dealer who sold the machine to the guy I bought it from and he thought it might be the coil. back at the house I slid the shaft out a bit and had a look at the coil wire connector. Put in a new set of batts and checked the coil connector for leaks saw none but where the wire goes into the black connector there is some type of rubbery gasket material that is squeezed out a bit. Any way I fired up the machine and it went through a normal cycle with LED's and did the frequency scan but still getting that spiking signal. I can turn sens down and bring that signal down but then cant hear test targets through the signal at the low sens level.

Dealer told me to call Garrett on Monday and that is the plan. I think there is still 6 months on the Warranty but well see. Anyone have similar problems?

HH

 

[Syd BC]

Atlas, I was just thinking, if your dealer or someone else had a replacement coil that is known to be good, then you could try that one and if the problem is fixed then you might have identified a coil problem. I think there was an earlier post on this forum where someone had a coil problem that had been caused by abrasion on the coil cable. I know it's hard to pull the cable out enough to get a good look at it. Just a thought...Syd

 

[Atlas]

Great idea Syd. I'll ask around and see if anyone in the area has a coil to test.

I'm thinking there may be a break or leak in the coil connector area. After hunting in the water the only way I know to get the water out of the shaft is to tip it back toward the housing so all that water went back across the connection. I pulled the connector out and no water made it past the O ring but maybe it leaked where the wire passes through the black connector that attaches to the silver one?

 

[dmnz]

Hi There - I am SURE this is a coil issue, the same happened to me AGAIN today - and has happened several times. This time with a coil of less then 5 hours use. I think water gets into the coil cable / screen area. The machine will be fine I am sure. The erratic sounds and 'locking' on a high number are exact symptoms Faulty coil.....

 

[Atlas]

dmnz -- Thanks for the feedback. Sorry to hear you have had similar troubles. So was your first coil replaced under warranty and then the replacement coil failed after 5 hours? Were your troubles with the DD or mono?

After studying on this a bit and looking at the coil wire and how it is attached to the connector I'm a little concerned about the engineering here. That is, the coil wire is under constant tension and more so when the shaft is at operating length. I understand it is done this way to allow for the unit to be collapsible but it appears there are some side effects. At the same time I haven't heard of to many complaints on the issue so maybe I just got a bad one.

On the bright side I'd rather the problem be a coil issue than some type of board issue or water leak into the housing. I'll be calling Garrett on Monday.

 

[dmnz]

Hi there....

Actually had issues with both the standard DD and mono and the end result is the same - similar behavior as described above. I think this is caused by;

A) initial cables degrading the insulation (look for small cracks) and then salt water entering and damaging the shield wire?
B) expanding and collapsing the shaft - and possibly the stretch on the coil connector end, or more likely, on the coil end.

I have a feeling the shield in the coil cable is breaking - unsure!

However, I am very careful when expanding the shaft. Give me a standard shaft and coil cable anyday! I feel the collapsing shaft is the one fault with the ATX....

 

[togg77]

Buy used--buy someone else's problems.

 

[Atlas]

Update:

I agree there is always a danger to buying used. But I did check the machine out for an hour at the guys house and it worked fine. I also ran it in the park for 2 more hours and it ran fine. I should have got the serial # first to see it was still under warranty. I called Garrett and it turns out the machine is out of warranty. That's on me

So I decided to take it back to the park and retest. First try I got similar erratic results. So I slowed down and tried again Freq. Adj and GB again and the machine ran perfectly. It may be that I wasn't ground balancing properly or had an unknown target under the coil when doing so. Or as another has pointed out, I had my cell phone with me Once the machine started running smooth I telescoped the shaft in and out a few times and moved the coil and the machine continued to run quiet for the next two hours. this doesn't exactly correlate with my cell phone being the problem because I had it with me when the machine started running smooth.

dmnz -- Sorry to hear you had trouble with both coils. I agree that the coil cable being under constant tension is not an ideal situation. I'd be interested to know the percentage of ATX owners who have had coil troubles. It seems odd to me since the design is originally for the military (Recon) and those guys can't be having their detectors go down.

I'll continue my testing. Maybe it was operator error or an intermittent problem. Time will tell I guess. If it continues I'll try and find someone locally with and extra coil to test on the machine.

HH

 

[Booty Hunter]

I use the infinium 10x14" dd coil with a home made carbon shaft. Not only lighter but swings through the water with ease compared to the original coil and shaft.

 

[emptyhole]

I had to send two coils back to Garrett. The first one split the shaft where the coil connects from the bottom up about 3 inches, in a couple places.On the second one the coil was so loose I couldn't even ground balance without the coil flopping up and down, I tried everything to tighten it even broke a couple tension screws off.Garrett was real good and replaced them both.

 

[dmnz]

I Agree - the Garrett Support is AWESOME. I have used the machines a great deal - and I think the only slightly weak design point is the collapsing shaft. Just take real care in expanding and contracting the shaft and clean INSIDE the shafts as well to remove sand and debris - otherwise this will wear away at the coil cable. I also never collapse the shafts completely - as the inner diameter smallest tube comes in contact with the coil cable.

 

[Atlas]

Really good observations and suggestions. I can see where sand in the smaller shaft tube could really wear away at the cable.

I did another test in the park and the machine ran stable and quiet for around 2 hours. So maybe it was my cell phone or operator error with GB. Next test will be back at the lake

I also noticed where sand really likes to get into the shaft locks. I flushed these at the lake and I've sprayed mine out in the shower but still kind of gritty. I guess Garrett makes a tool to get those apart. Has anyone tried any other type of spanner wrench to open these up?

 

[dmnz]

no - just the Garrett tool, have not found anything else to fit.....

 

[Atlas]

OK thanks. Looks like the pin holes are 2mm or 1/16" so if you could find a spanner that size it would probably work.

How do you get the Garrett spanner? Direct through Garrett or from a dealer? Anyone know how much?

 

[dmnz]

From a Garrett dealer - forgot the price. I guess you could also make one out of wood, and fixed position pins.....

 

[Ugly-J]

My ATX had the same problem so I called garrett. They wanted me to check the cable for damage and this is what I found in the lower end. New updated coil is on the way. Great service from garrett.

 

[denny]

My ATX had the same problem so I called garrett. They wanted me to check the cable for damage and this is what I found in the lower end. New updated coil is on the way. Great service from garrett.

hurry up and get out there I'm getting all the gold! Just kidding.

 

[Atlas]

Update on my ATX:

Just got it back from Garrett 2 days ago. They replaced the coil and a few other things. Great service from Garrett

Looking at the photo Ugly-J posted I think that silt and sand may filter into the inner shaft and then get trapped in that hinge area. Then when you move the coil back and forth it acts like sand paper.

My plan going forward is to leave the coil in hunt position and not flatten it out parallel to the shaft unless I'm traveling long distance. I may also be putting some stretchy sleeves over the cam locks when water hunting to keep the sand out. Maybe a bicycle inner tube.

Pictures of the new solid coils show the coil cable exiting the lower shaft at the hinge area and then looping back into the coil. I think this is a better design than having the coil cable do two 90 deg turns in the hinge area.

Tested the repaired machine in the park and it ran great. Hitting the lake tomorrow.

HH

 

[Ugly-J]

Update on my ATX:

Looking at the photo Ugly-J posted I think that silt and sand may filter into the inner shaft and then get trapped in that hinge area. Then when you move the coil back and forth it acts like sand paper.


HH

Very little time on the the machine before the cable failed. One trip tp gold county and one 4 hour calm surf hunt (Kauai) and the next day it acted up. At the time I was disappointed it was acting up but I had my excalibur to save the day. Collected dust for 8 months (no gold hunts) and made the service call to garrett to get it fixed. Nice and clean in the shaft area , just a chewed up / bad cable. Garett service has always been top notch and they are always friendly .

 

[Luc]

Hi Atlas,

Up till now i never had electronic water problems with my ATX Hunting in the Baltic sea ,Only ones a few drops in the Battery housing even with silicon grease on the O rings
but the only frustration are this cam-locks even after a 3-4 hours hunt they blocked completely sometimes from the fine sand that gets in the cam locks on the flat sides this shaft has .
I ordered that tool but was not in stock in Europe !!!..???? so im waiting