Minelab Repair Update

[jimmie]

I heard a rumor that Minelab will stop working on older detectors. I have the original Sovereign and a 96 model Excalibur and they fall under this. I emailed Minelab repair and received this answer.




Jim



Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.



There is a movement in management, waiting final approval, to not do the older units. As of today we are still waiting the final answer.



Because of absence of available parts for the older units, they are considering anything over ten years old as no longer repairable. If your unit is less then ten years old then we will defiantly do the repairs. If older, most likely it will not be repaired.



Sorry for the somewhat vague answer but I wanted to get back with you rather then waiting any longer for the final decision.



Ron Johnson

Electronic Technician

Minelab USA

 

[Dave Lotek]

10 years is a common cut off point for electronics service. Sometimes companies will sell their parts stock to a private service company that will continue specialized service for older units. Hopefully that would be the case here.

 

[plugger]

That's a pretty short-sighted, narrow-minded approach! I think a decision like that will hurt their reputation and future sales. The new decision makers at Minelab sound like a bunch of greedy morons! I love all my Minelab units, but I sure miss the special treatment that Dick Shultz use to impart in every interaction.

Plugger

 

[jimmie]

Minelab detectors are top notch I think , but the Company itself is lousy. Back in the 90's when Minelab got started Bud Mills at Power Burst Tronics in Port Orchard ,Wa done all the repair. Minelab pulled it away from him to put it in Las Vegas. Bud will still work on them after that id you called him. Does any body here know if Bud is still in the repair Business? Jim

 

[JHM]

I have 2 minelab detectors. I don't plan to upgrade them to newer models due to this. When they need repair and minelab won't fix them, I will replace them with Tesoros. They have a lifetime warranty and they pay the return shipping. Most of the time the will also repair it even if you bought it used as long as it's a tesoro and hasn't been modified. Only way they will change is when sales drop. No doubt some bean counter came up with this policy

 

[John (west central FL)]

I just got off the phone with a Minelab repair tech in Las Vegas. I called because I was thinking of having the seals replaced in my 13 year old Excalibur. He told me that they can't find a source for the proper size O-rings for the control shafts. What they have been doing is to drill out the holes where the shafts go and then glue in a new plastic tube that will accommodate a different size O-ring. They now can't get the tubes either. Even if they could get them the repair cost would be very high due to the time involved. Someday my Excalibur will probably start leaking and that will be the end of it. I don't like it but the detector has found me many times it's $1,000 purchase price in gold jewelry.

 

[Marc(NB)]

well this sucks!! Seems like minelab wants everyone to buy a new machine instead of repairing the old one.We live in a disposable world and the dectors are falling into that category.Like another poster pointed out,buy from a company that offers a lifetime warranty.If other companies can stock part for years on end to repair warrantied machines why wouldnt minelab to the same?.

 

[Beachcomber]

This is normal practice in the Electronics Field today! Electronics is changing so fast today that older out of date parts are just no longer being manufactured anymore. Like any other manufacturer out there Minelab does not make the individual electronic components. When the companies that do make the individual electronic parts no longer have a companies ordering enough of a specific part it gets discontinued. In this day and age 10 years is an extremely long time for a company to be able to still get the parts needed to repair an item. Actually in today's Electronics Field you are extremely lucky to be able to get parts to fix something that is only 5 years old. On most of today's LCD and Plasma TV's as well as Computers you are lucky if you can get the parts for 3 years. So for Minelab to still be willing and able to repair a 10 year old detector I think they are doing a good job. I agree that it's great the Tesoro has a Lifetime Warranty but it's pretty easy to come up with the generic type parts that are used in them. Minelab on the other hand is making a much more sophisticated machine that requires a lot of specialized parts. I guess because I work in the Electronics Industry I have a slightly different take on this subject than most people. As someone mentioned it has become more or less a throw away society compared to the olden days when I was growing up and you could almost always repair things. But that's just the way it is these days. JMHO

HH

Beachcomber

 

[Rick(ND)]

We are in a disposable society and with the fast increases in the Electronic industry we are seeing things lasting longer and costing less so why repair things that cost more to repair than what they cost new. I am sure Minelab could still get some parts, maybe not all of them that are over 10 years old, but these now would cost a lot more than they do now as they are no longer being mass produces so each item now cost more now. Being in the TV repair I seen where the older tube type TV the tubes were cheap with many costing less than $5 up to maybe $20 for a power tube. By the late 80s these same tubes were costing over $15 and up too $55 and now I am sure some of these tubes cost over $100 to repair a TV that is not even worth $10 working if you can even find one of these tubes.
I will say that since 1996 when I started selling Minelabs I only seen 1 Sovereign that had to be repaired as a bad switch, 6 or 7 of the Explorer XS the first year they were being made for plastic cracking and audio problems, but from then on they have been worry free and working great. In most cases when your detector is over 10 years old you will not being using it as by then they will have advanced and the detectors we used now will be obsolete and you will be using something better.
10 years is a long time to have parts to repair what we use now and like now days we can always find a used part if needed or make something that will work.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Rick,and Beachcomber make an excellent point.My old XS Sovereign is still working and if it can't be repaired I will buy another or a GT.Minelab makes a great product and hope they continue to stay in business.

 

[JHM]

I too am a big fan of minelab products. An I understand that in 10 years some parts are not available. And if that's the case, the company can't do anything about it.But to refuse to look at something and see if it can be fixed just because it's passed the 10 year limit is unreasonable. I would suspect that my old XS is getting close to the limit if it hasn't already passed it. I really like the detector and would hate not to have it . But if it brakes, am I going to shell out $1500 for a new one that can't be repaired in 10 years? No way. I guess I will have to buy used and run it until it won't run any more. You're right we are living in the time of disposable products. I guess I'm too old to accept it.

 

["MR. GOLD MASTER"]

I don't by that bit about not being able to get the o rings anymore for the older model Excalibur.
Since o rings are a very standardized common item im sure if they wanted to they could to get the right size.
what if your older excal just needs a coil will they also refuse to fix it?
I guess the new management believes its to their benefit to have this new repair rule since they think it will increase new sales over repairing,
But it could very well backfire on minelab when people realize the real deal and that their older detectors just lost resale value because of the managements new rules

Minelab You can fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people
all of the time.

 

[Rick(ND)]

If your Minelab is over 10 years old it probably is starting to have several problems as they too wear out. Would you want to send in you detector that is over 10 years old and spend $200 and use it a month or 2 and have another problem which too cost over $150 to repair get it back and use it again for a month and have something major wear out to be told it needs $400 to be repaired. I am sure you will be cussing out Minelab as they should have seen these problems when sent in the first time, but these are items that wear out and many you can not see. Capacitor dry out after so long and have to be replaced as they will give problem one or 2 at a time and if they tried to replace all of them the bill for labor probably be more than the detector sold for new.
I feel Minelab builds a great detector and will outlast many others with no problem, but they do wear out and after 10 years you should have got your moneys worth out of it. I feel it is not that they want to sell you a new detector, but more of many of the parts are old and worn out and don't want to wasted the customer money trying to nickle and dime you to death replacing wore out parts.

 

[Beachcomber]

Being Nickel and Dimed to death is never any fun no matter what the product. Four or five expensive repairs on an older unit that is wearing out would end up costing more than a new unit. I guess unless you are involved in a service business it's hard to understand. Taking a stand at 10 years is a reasonable time. It's better to have a few people mad at you for not being working on detectors that are over 10 years old than to have them bad mouthing you because their older unit is constantly in for repair due to the aging parts that are failing and costing them an arm and a leg. It's a situation where you can not please everyone. Personally I think Minelab is making the right decision. JMHO

HH

Beachcomber

 

["MR. GOLD MASTER"]

If your Minelab is over 10 years old it probably is starting to have several problems as they too wear out. Would you want to send in you detector that is over 10 years old and spend $200 and use it a month or 2 and have another problem which too cost over $150 to repair get it back and use it again for a month and have something major wear out to be told it needs $400 to be repaired.
I am sure you will be cussing out Minelab as they should have seen these problems when sent in the first time, but these are items that wear out and many you can not see. Capacitor dry out after so long and have to be replaced as they will give problem one or 2 at a time and if they tried to replace all of them the bill for labor probably be more than the detector sold for new.

I feel Minelab builds a great detector and will outlast many others with no problem, but they do wear out and after 10 years you should have got your moneys worth out of it. I feel it is not that they want to sell you a new detector, but more of many of the parts are old and worn out and don't want to wasted the customer money trying to nickle and dime you to death replacing wore out parts.

Hey rick i here what your saying and think its a bad example because maybe i have a minelab that's over 10 year old that's hardly been used and has seen a lot less use then some that are only 3 years old.

Now whats not fair is that with this "will no fix after 10 year rule " is that minelab is taking away the customers right to decide what is to expensive to repair. What ever happen to the term Please send "repair estimate" ?

This rule also does not take into account that many people with older detector might just need a very simple repair and to tell a loyal customer that their detector is now junk because they refuse to make these simple repairs is totally ludicrous and an unethical business practice

to sum up what your saying is that minelab builds a great detector but after 10 years it will wear out and it wont pay to fix regardless of any type of repair you need, Your 10 year old minelab that needs a battery cable or coil or any thing simple is now junk!

 

[SirLostAlot]

n/t

 

[kered]

I think that if you are prepared to pay the postage and send it in for repair at least they could give an estimate, and or fix the simple things, if its major like a new board to let you know that they aren't available, so you could scrap it, or maybe get a second hand one and make 1 from 2

 

[deerman]

I Worked on older outboard motors with the same problem all becouse of age of the outboard the more you fix the more things broke
Just like i feel somtimes

 

[Rick(ND)]

I think Minelab will still take care of the simple repairs as a broken wire or a simple solder connection, but what they are saying is if it is over 10 years old and not something they can fix easy they will not spend hours trying to find the problem or try to find parts that haven't been made for years and have a bill that is over what the detector is worth.
What they are trying to do is speed up their repairs so a repair can be done in a reasonable amount of time instead of trying to find the problem with a over 10 year old detector only to find out the parts are no longer being made by their supplier. Now it is not repairable unless you can find some used parts and they tied up one of the repair person and had to pay him for something he could not repair. I feel why they make this statement they wont repair a detector over 10 years old is to cover for those they are not able to or not worth fixing. In the TV repair I gave a estimate of what it would cost to repair a TV or VCR with many not worth fixing, but the customer want it repaired even though it was over 10 years old. Some lasted a while before something else went bad and some went bad within a month and not repairable at all as the parts were no longer being made. Even though a electronic item wasn't used the Electrolytic capacitors will dry out and go bad from age as we have seen many times in the repairing of items. I finally got smart and if the TV was over 7 years old and something that wasn't a easy fix and found within 30 minutes it was marked not repairable as it wasted too much time a person wont get paid for as repairs were too costly. Minelab just made a statement to keep the cost down on repairs and get those newer ones when needing repaired done and out to the customer as fast as they can. If you have a problem with your Excalibur that is 3 years old and all the service people where busy trying to fix and find parts for detectors over 10 years old that were there before yours and not repairable. This will cause a delay in getting yours repaired plus Minelab has to raise the price on their repairs to pay for those older ones that were not repairable as the service people want to get paid for their time they spent on a 10 year old detector that was not repairable as the parts are no longer being made.
That is just my opinion being in the repair business and feel Minelab is trying to improve their repair of detectors that are still repairable and can gets parts for and return the detector back to customer faster.

Rick

 

[Neil]

Hi Rick,

Are those "Electrolytic capacitors" in detectors also, the part you mentioned that dries out?

would you say older detectors are more risky to buy in that way (meaning parts go bad just from age) or with detectors is the problem more getting the parts on older units?

Thanks,
Neil