Excalibur users I need your knowledge and advice........

[Gerry]

Ladies & Gentlemen, I love my Excalibur, however I am having a problem when using it. I need your experience and help solving the problem.
For some time when using my Excalibur, when turning on the machine I have had to turn my threshold knob all the way to the right, fully to the stop and I mean all the way. I then here the noise that the machine is on and then I have to back the threshold from the full on position to about three quarters on. If I turn it much lower than that it seems to go off. When I start hunting with the machine in the threshold in three quarters the Excalibur seems to work Ok.
After a while the machine just stops working, I have to turn the machine off and back on, I may have to do this a couple of times each time placing the threshold knob fully to the right. Finally when the machine comes back on I gently move the threshold knob back to approximately to the three quarters position. In a three hour hunt the machine may quit on me at least two or three times. Also when in the middle of the hunt it will suddenly develop a steady loud squeal almost like you are over a large area of aluminum.
Now the plot thickens, I thought I would send it into Kellyco to have a look at it and up grade it at the same time Grey Ghost head set and the pin point / discrimination on the thumb toggle.
I explained my problem to Barry, he said they would have a look at when doing the upgrades. I got the machine back with the upgrades, large knobs, new water proof head set and the pin point / discrimination on the thum switch. He said it tested OK and good to go, now I am back to the same thing only it appears to quit more frequently. I am not knocking Kellyco or their technicians, I am frustrated that I will have send it back, loose down time and pay shipping and more money to have it fixed "maybe".
Have any of you experienced a similar problem or have an idea what the cause of my frustration is.

 

[ROBOCOP]

Are you sure you talked with Barry? When was this?

 

[Gerry]

If I am not mistaken this was in mid January. He was very nice to deal with, the only reason I have not called Kellyco yet is I am trying to get some idea as to what may be wrong first.

Gerry

 

[Mel Parker]

It sounds like the ON/OFF Threshold control is going bad.

 

[ROBOCOP]

You are probably not aware of this then. Barry was the tech that passed away in mid Feb. I brought my Excals and another machine in in Jan and met with Barry and Dave about getting the mods done.
When Barry passed suddenly in Feb the whole Excal mod/warranty work went behind schedule. The only real quick qualified person to fill the gap was Dave but he is Barry's brother and needed time away.My mods were already started, wires were cut but they needed to be completed. I waited till Dave was able to come back to work to complete my machines. I don't think I'm divulging anything that is somewhat public knowledge, luckily I live an hour away from Kellyco and I dealt with them in person. It was difficult to make phone contact with the repair shop during this time.

I would think by now they would be caught up but I have to add Dave is the most conscientious person I ever dealt with. Dave is senior management and yet he jumped in probably 12 hour days, 7 days a week for months to get caught up doing excellent tech repair work.

I would call customer service and give them a chance to fix your machine.

ROBOCOP

 

[Gerry]

Oh I did not know that, I am saddened to hear that. Barry was very good to deal with over the phone and was most knowledgeable. My reason for posting on the web site was to see if anyone else has had a problem similar to mine and if so what it was. Then when I send it back at least we might have a starting point to trouble shoot from.
Thanks for the heads up.

Gerry

 

[ROBOCOP]

I think Dave has seen it all. He'll figure it out with just a little explanation.

ROBOCOP

 

[dewcon4414]

I assume your knob is on correctly...in the right location.... otherwise Mel sounds right. Mel the shuting off... could it be the battery connector as well?

 

[Mel Parker]

I'm thinking the problem is in the switch and not the battery connector but he could have multiple problems.

 

[treasure_hunter]

I could easily be a short in your power cable...

 

[pasttom]

It is really hard to fix an intermittent problem with no consistent correlated cause. They just don't have the time to spend tracking down a problem that may or may not occur in hour or so of working. That is why we sometimes get our units back without it being fixed. They just didn't see it in the limited time they had to work on it. They are WAY busy! I too have had this happen with problems well defined and constant- it seemed fine to them!
I am really into wire wiggling and knob diddling to isolate a cause. A broken wire can mean intermittent low or no connection tied to motion or heat. Excals often have seals harden and tighten making the knobs hard to turn and then the knobs start to loosen and slip on their shaft. Pots do go bad, too. Excals seem to do some weird things when battery issues/low voltage arise too.
I'd say Mel hit it when he suggested multiple issues. Good luck!

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I had one of those intermittent problems with my E-Xcal. First time they found some bad connections on the volume pot. Second time still intermittent they found that I had a bad coil.

I once spent 76 days at sea (Submerged) trying to find an intermittent problem on a radio transmitter. I ran test after test and never could find the problem. Finally had to get outside assistance and they could not duplicate the problem or find the reason. Finally had to get a new piece of equipment.

 

[Tippy]

Had a very similar problem with the Excalibur. Opened her up and found minute condensation in the Excal tube. Dried out the board for a day....reassembled with a new desiccant pack and voila problem solved.