Garrett Pro pointer is a hunk of junk! I'm sick of it. (UPDATE: ordered vibra 580)

[abynum1]

Although I can imagine having to go through 3 of them can be very frustrating, I would almost say it's worth the trouble. I forgot mine the other day, went to a park without it, and I felt like I was fishing without bait.
When they work, they are awesome. I haven't had any problems with mine yet other than the occasional continuous beeping (which shutting on and off remedies.) I'm going to buy a second one in the near future to have on standby if I ever do have to send it in.They're just THAT good when they do work.

I know that for the price, this shouldn't be an issue, but I'm so happy with the way it works, that I suppose I can accept having to exchange it every 6 months if needed AS LONG AS GARRETT WILL STAND BEHIND IT! I know that I shouldn't have to, but I guess I'm a little more forgiving with a product and company that I am happy with. Hopefully Garrett will address the issues and get all the kinks worked out in the near future.

That being said, if I was on # 3 like Bonesquat, I may be a little less forgiving at that point...

 

[scout23]

Had mine over 2years and have not had any issues. dropped it on pavement and gravel several times, dropped in deep mud puddle and the tip is about gone. It beats several others I have owned. 2 years with the abuse I have put it through, I would not be disappointed if it broke tomorrow. I'd order another without any hesitation. If I went through 3 I'd be torqued too, Bones, maybe Garrett is paying you back for buying the etrac

 

[Jamflicker]

I have had pretty much all the same issues as you. I have sent it back once and Garrett sent me a new one but now it is having problems again. Just yesterday the speaker stopped working so I tapped it and it started working again.

 

[gunwolf]

Let me start this off by saying I'm an extremely experienced pro pointer user. I've owned 3 in the past 2 years and every single one of them develops the same nagging symptoms. I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. Keep in mind, I've had a blast using this tool and when it works properly there's nothing better. But it only works correctly about 5% of the time I use it now. I also make sure to use new high quality duracell batteries in the unit. I assure you, it's the unit - nothing else.

Sometimes the button on my pro pointer simply wears out and I can't get the unit to turn on or off. Occasionally the vibrating function completely stops working for a day or so and only emits sound. Every now and then the speaker gets super quiet and I can't hear the unit.

The worst part is that when you're trying to pinpoint a target the pin pointer will just beep like mad even in the air with NOTHING around it! You can't shut it up until you turn it off. What's great is when it's going nuts and you hit the power button and it WON't turn OFF. So now I have to take the dang battery out and do my fifth reset of the hunt.

Another symptom has developed, and the depth of my pinpointer has been cut in half! And please don't tell me not to turn it on near any metal. I've known that for a long time. Now I can't even touch the ground where a coin is less than a inch and get a peep from the pro pointer. This is my third PP and I already sent one in for repair. I've about had enough of this piece of garbage contraption. I'm seriously considering an alternative.

I've been using my Sunray x-1 probe lately and that means I can't use my compadre at the moment....this whole pinpointer thing has been bugging me for a while now.

Does anyone know of a solid PP with the performance of a Garrett PP out of the box new? Oh, and one that doesn't have intermittent issues constantly? One that won't fail me in the middle of a hunt? A pin pointer that won't lose performance over time...Sorry about the rant. I'm just tired of the stupid thing. I want a reliable tool.

I heard that silver wears out the Propointer it's the ultra conductivity of silver that radiates such a high frequency that it destroys Propointers after a few "hundred" finds!
seriously, sorry your having trouble..I have two one is BN and the other is a year old...I have beat the snot out of it and it still works fine(knocking on wood) eventually I will upgrade to the Sunray probe.

 

[Patton]

Well, I love them as much as anybody. I am 57 and damn near blind. They are a big help. But, that being said. I am having issues with the last two I'v got. Waiting now on replacements for both. Some of the problems that bonesquat listed, I have had also. I just put up with it because when it works, its fantastic. But the last two have had serious problems. One will not vibrate and the other is deadly quiet after a few seconds of detecting a coin. I posted this last week, so I am not "chiming in with THEIR gripes" after bonesquat posted. In fact, I applaud him for his post knowing that he would probably get some negative feedback. If a member is having some issues with ANYTHING that affect his MDing, I believe he has the right to post about it.

 

[hellomikie92]

THATS NEW! I never heard of anybody saying they hated the garret propointer! :O Scary, to even thing about it!

 

[PI JOE]

I'll talk to Garrett - probably tomorrow.

Hope they didn't see this thread! Seriously, They will take care of you. g/l

 

[coinMD64]

Hello there, As a deaf metal detectorist, I frequently use my Garrett Pro-Pointer much as I hunt in various places for coins and other items. It worked like a champ for about 8 months until its switch button stop working in late February. I promptly shipped it to Garrett on Warranty and one week later I got my PP back. I already bought another Garrett PP as back up. My old PP still runs great but I have to turn off after finding coins to prevent PP from beeping constantly. Thanks!

 

[Turbomunkey]

My brother made the observation this last saturday that mine has lost depth (its about 2-3 months old). We did have one occurrence of belligerent signals while not near metal but otherwise thats been fine. I really like the unit but idk

 

[Jack Flynn]

My first Pro Pointer was great for a year and a half then it found metal anywhere you held it until you turned it off and back on. Sent it in and the 2nd and 3rd ones did the same thing. When the 3rd ones replacement arrived home I put it up for sale without even using it. Got an X1 and never looked back. Got a Vibraprobe 570 and a 580, my detecting style has changed. If I can't dig it with a scoop I could care less anymore. Beach and water IOW. The Vibraprobes are indestructible imo. Work great and are waterproof. If you want a pinpointer that will let you know when you are 3 inches from an object they are not for you. If you want a pinpointer that will do just that, pinpoint when you have located within an inch of an the object.........................they are the cats meow. After all they are called pinpointersnot general area pointers. With your ETrac BS the X1 is superior to all others.............

 

[Dig-on]

Great post Jack and some great points

 

[Bonesquat]

My first Pro Pointer was great for a year and a half then it found metal anywhere you held it until you turned it off and back on. Sent it in and the 2nd and 3rd ones did the same thing. When the 3rd ones replacement arrived home I put it up for sale without even using it. Got an X1 and never looked back. Got a Vibraprobe 570 and a 580, my detecting style has changed. If I can't dig it with a scoop I could care less anymore. Beach and water IOW. The Vibraprobes are indestructible imo. Work great and are waterproof. If you want a pinpointer that will let you know when you are 3 inches from an object they are not for you. If you want a pinpointer that will do just that, pinpoint when you have located within an inch of an the object.........................they are the cats meow. After all they are called pinpointersnot general area pointers. With your ETrac BS the X1 is superior to all others.............

Excellent feedback from everyone! I'm loving this thread. Jack, I have an X-1 and use with the E-trac and it's awesome. I need a pro pointer for when I go beeping on CW camp sites with my compadre. Nothing is better than a comapdre in iron. I've found loads with my compadre that my e-trac missed on old iron rich sites. The garrett has seen it's day. I've ordered a vibraprobe 580 and will return the Garrett PP to garrett for repairs and keep it as a backup. May even sell the darn thing.

 

[dogpound]

so far (knock on wood) my propointer has worked very well for a year and a half, every now and then it seems alittle over sensitive but all i do is turn it off and then back on and that seems to correct it for now. i'm really lookin forward to the minelab pro-finder when that comes out and i'll keep my propointer as a backup

 

[Raphis]

Wow.....After reading through this whole thread, I'm really thankful that when I purchased my SE back in '07, I immediately ordered an X1 probe, and have never looked back. I never needed any other probe once I had the X1. Unfortunately, as most probes seem to eventually end up, two of my X1's failed with tweaked probe wires (poor design), which I was able to repair and improve upon the design myself. You can't beat a discriminating inline probe, IMO. But when Sunray doesn't support your particular machine, a handheld pinpointer is better than none at all. When they work, you wouldn't want to detect without one. It's an important recovery tool. It's a real PITA when the handhelds or the inline malfunctions. The companies who are making probes need to understand this....try making a little less profit per unit and build a more bulletproof probe. If you won't, I will!

Raphis
Dan

 

[Bonesquat]

Wow.....After reading through this whole thread, I'm really thankful that when I purchased my SE back in '07, I immediately ordered an X1 probe, and have never looked back. I never needed any other probe once I had the X1. Unfortunately, as most probes seem to eventually end up, two of my X1's failed with tweaked probe wires (poor design), which I was able to repair and improve upon the design myself. You can't beat a discriminating inline probe, IMO. But when Sunray doesn't support your particular machine, a handheld pinpointer is better than none at all. When they work, you wouldn't want to detect without one. It's an important recovery tool. It's a real PITA when the handhelds or the inline malfunctions. The companies who are making probes need to understand this....try making a little less profit per unit and build a more bulletproof probe. If you won't, I will!

Raphis
Dan

You saying my x1 is going to fail? :o

 

[Coin_Master]

I've only had my propointer break one time. The switch broke off. It was partly my fault but garret repaired it at no cost.

I think the reason why a lot of them fail is because people use the scrapper blade on it as a bulldozer. You should never press on the end of it. Need to remove extra dirt, just use the lesche. I only used the blade for sweeping dirt back in the hole. Keeping the switch clean is rule #1. Besides the switch breaking I never had any issues. There was a few times it "acted up" but this was just because the battery was starting to get low. It will do that sometimes before it needs replaced.

 

[Raphis]

You saying my x1 is going to fail? :o

It probably will eventually. I know at least 10 of my buddies have a probe that has failed or is in the process of failing. You'll be able to tell when your inline probe starts to go bad when it starts falsing (either repeated low or high tones) after flipping the toggle switch. If you hear a falsing tone when tapping the probe wire with your fingers (when probe is on), then you know the cable is going bad. The actual coil inside the pvc probe is solid as a rock. It's completely encased in a hardened foam composition. The problem is the cheap, high gauge, stranded wire that sunray uses, in addition to the design of the strain relief at the entrance into the probe. Those two items are the weak points of the probe. I was able to find a much higher grade, twin conductor shielded cable with a solid copper core instead of a stranded one. It's a more robust cable.

I used a PVC pipe cutter, and was able to get to the broken wire in the probe. The biggest obstacle is removing all the hardened foam filling inside the probe to get to the four wires (transmit/ground, receive/ground) that are attached to a "junction board", which sits midway in the probe. The wire that Sunray uses is low grade. As I stated earlier, I bought some high end Super VHS cable(extra shielding, with a solid core center conductor instead of a stranded one) to replace the Sunray cable. I also added some o-rings where the probe wire goes into the pvc probe assembly, making it less probable for the strain relief to loosen up and pull on the internal cabling. I saved over $100 (typical cost when out of warranty) to have it fixed by Sunray, and I was also able to keep my older, longer probe, which I'm sure Sunray would have replaced with a newer, shorter one.

HH,
Raphis
Dan

 

[Bonesquat]

Just talked to Garrett. Was on the phone with Hilda. She said she'd transfer me to Sue's voicemail....figures the call would give me a dead tone when she tried to transfer. She didn't want to hear my complaints about my 3 pointers being sucky.

Garrett didn't seem to care this time. She acted all indignant saying, "Well, we don't get many complaints about that product". I had to reiterate that this is my THIRD failure of a pro pointer. She couldn't grasp that. When Sue gets back from her lunch break I'm going to try and reason with her. Maybe she can understand me better if you know what I mean...

 

[Patton]

Let me start this off by saying I'm an extremely experienced pro pointer user. I've owned 3 in the past 2 years and every single one of them develops the same nagging symptoms. I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. Keep in mind, I've had a blast using this tool and when it works properly there's nothing better. But it only works correctly about 5% of the time I use it now. I also make sure to use new high quality duracell batteries in the unit. I assure you, it's the unit - nothing else.

Sometimes the button on my pro pointer simply wears out and I can't get the unit to turn on or off. Occasionally the vibrating function completely stops working for a day or so and only emits sound. Every now and then the speaker gets super quiet and I can't hear the unit.

The worst part is that when you're trying to pinpoint a target the pin pointer will just beep like mad even in the air with NOTHING around it! You can't shut it up until you turn it off. What's great is when it's going nuts and you hit the power button and it WON't turn OFF. So now I have to take the dang battery out and do my fifth reset of the hunt.

Another symptom has developed, and the depth of my pinpointer has been cut in half! And please don't tell me not to turn it on near any metal. I've known that for a long time. Now I can't even touch the ground where a coin is less than a inch and get a peep from the pro pointer. This is my third PP and I already sent one in for repair. I've about had enough of this piece of garbage contraption. I'm seriously considering an alternative.

I've been using my Sunray x-1 probe lately and that means I can't use my compadre at the moment....this whole pinpointer thing has been bugging me for a while now.

Does anyone know of a solid PP with the performance of a Garrett PP out of the box new? Oh, and one that doesn't have intermittent issues constantly? One that won't fail me in the middle of a hunt? A pin pointer that won't lose performance over time...Sorry about the rant. I'm just tired of the stupid thing. I want a reliable tool.

UPDATE: Ordered a Vibra 580 on the cheap! Going to send the garrett in for repair and use it as a backup or a guest pin pointer. The vibra will be my new primary PP. Thanks everyone for your fantastic feedback.This forum is great.

Please keep us posted bonesquat. Good Luck!

 

[crimson]

Membrane type switch.

I can't think of the name of that type of button