Big Boys Hobbies

Help``detector dead?

sandytoes

sandytoes

New Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
Messages
26
Location
Tampa Bay area, Florida
My Bounty Hunter Tracker IV just stopped working. I had unused batteries with me and changed them. No luck. Changed the coil, nope. put the headphones in, nada. Please, can one of you experienced MDer's give me some advice. I started detecting 2 months ago and love it. Today, all was going good. I rinsed the coil and went to another beach, turned on the machine and tested it only to find it was lifeless! Could a small splash of water have killed it? I usually rinse the salt water off the coil and never had a problem. Prayer is that tomorrow (my birthday :( and ready to weep) I will find that the new batteries were no good....I hope! Funny thing is....the detector never showed that the batteries were weak. And in 10 minutes time it went from working to no sound, no needle movement. Please help....I will fix it myself if I have someone to advise me on what to do. Thank you!
 
More than likely the problem is related to the water, so first thing I'd do is remove the batteries. If the control box is easy to take apart, I'd open it up, look for water, and even if I didn't see any, I'd blow it with a hair dryer set to the low setting. If you can't take it apart, I'd take the batteries out and let it set overnight and see if it works tomorrow. It only takes a speck of water in the right place to stop it from working, and maybe to ruin it. Check inside the cable connector too. Good Luck!
 
Have heard of a similar story to this with this model on this site. Think theres just turned out to be naff batteries.... I hope this is case with yours and nothing more serious. if I remember right the battery meter was at fault. Best of Luck Chop.
 
Sandy don't take this the wrong way, I'm not questioning your knowledge at all, but check to see if you have the battries installed correctly. All it takes is one battery in the group to be backwards and the device WON"T work. If it is not that you may have a water, or loose wire problem.
 
Its possible that you had some water travel through the shaft up to the electronics when you were in transit and if thats the case your detector is probably fried :( It only takes a little water to ruin a day... Its why most of us beachhunters use water machines. If water got in the battery compartment it could have shorted out your detector.
 
Re: help with dead MD

Wow, thank you all. Ed you directed me right, it is most likely water that as CF said might have travelled up the shaft in transit. I bought a battery tester today, they are all okay. The radio shack guy said to put it away for a few days to dry out and DO NOT put any power to it till then. Well, I took your advice and blow dried it gently for a while without melting anything and attached the batteries and got a 2 second flash from the meter. Oh yeah, I also took it apart and cleaned all the sand out of it and sprayed some air too. But I really miss getting out to the beach this and MDing!! What a tease, I found my first big find this week. A sterling silver very, fancy and heavy chain made in Italy! I hope this string will help others who have a similar problem 'cause I know how it feels to be MD less. I will post my progress and am hoping my MD gets well again. Thank you all for your suggestions. By the way, yes I made sure the batteries were put in correctly.
CHOPZ....can I buy a new battery meter and install it myself? Thanks guys.
 
Hi, From what I know about this machine the battery check consists of a warning light. You would need need to trace it through the IC board, there may be some kind of voltage sensor on the circuit, I would advise to leave alone. On the whole you would probably be best to manually check your batteries from time to time. Todays machines give a good battery life. Not like the older ones. Better still get yourself a charger and batteries, put them back on charge after each use. Get the NIMH ones if your machine takes AAs go for the highest you can get ( eg 2500mah ) and they will last alot longer between chargers. Some chargers havea fully charged light ( bit like your machine ) Theres a section on here about batteries which might help.

But the important thing is to get you up and running again. Do hope you have a good result drying out your machine.

Best of Luck Chop " From across the water "


Still looking for that post for ya...... Itwas was more or less identical to the symptoms you have described....
 
sandytoes said:
Wow, thank you all. Ed you directed me right, it is most likely water that as CF said might have travelled up the shaft in transit. I bought a battery tester today, they are all okay. The radio shack guy said to put it away for a few days to dry out and DO NOT put any power to it till then. Well, I took your advice and blow dried it gently for a while without melting anything and attached the batteries and got a 2 second flash from the meter. Oh yeah, I also took it apart and cleaned all the sand out of it and sprayed some air too. But I really miss getting out to the beach this and MDing!! What a tease, I found my first big find this week. A sterling silver very, fancy and heavy chain made in Italy! I hope this string will help others who have a similar problem 'cause I know how it feels to be MD less. I will post my progress and am hoping my MD gets well again. Thank you all for your suggestions. By the way, yes I made sure the batteries were put in correctly.
CHOPZ....can I buy a new battery meter and install it myself? Thanks guys.
Click to expand...


sandy...

If water got into the electronics and you were on a saltwater beach then you might want to wash the detector including the electronics in freshwater and then dry it out because saltwater is very corrosive and will eat everything on the circuit board without the batteries installed of course. :D
 
Water in Detector

CFMCT-PI----Gotta ask you for certain---Rinse the meter box in fresh water? I think that is the basis of my problem, won't that mess up my machine worse? But, if you say it's a good thing to do, well then, I'll give it a shot. I think this is a very important thread for others like myself. No one tells you how easy it is to get water running up the shaft when rinsing the coil. Most people may not be as agressive as myself in trying to fix it themselves. It's a lot of money down the drain to ship the MD out to get fixed. Hope this thread helps a lot of other newbies. THANK YOU.
Update: last night I put the batteries in and got more than a few seconds of red light and even got a few beeps, then it went dead again. Will have another go with the dryer today and hope for the best.

Great suggestion: YES! I will test the batteries while they're hooked up. That will show me a lot regarding the possible drain from the detector. (Like last night when it worked for a short while then died again).

I appreciate all your suggestions and research. Crossing my fingers that I won't have to send this in for at least $100 or more to fix.....or worse....have to go buy a new one.
 
Are you able to open the control box so you can see the circuit board & components? Sometimes you can spot an ailing component by examining the board closely..a component can be discoloured or in case of a capacitor, expanded. Or you may have a "cold solder" occasionally making a connection and most times not...I've found a number of these even in a high brand electronics.

Voriax
 
I'd think twice about rinsing your detector with water. If the water that got into it was from your rinsing source, it probably had a very low salt content. Also, if your detector has an analog meter with a paper backing, the water may permanently damage the backing. If you want to clean it off, go to radio shack and get some electrical contact cleaner, and use it sparingly. You should be able to see any salt residue after the water dries. Good Luck!
 
Back in action!

:yes: :yes: :yes:
My MD is working again! Thank you, each and every one of you that replied to this thread, you taught me so much. To all the newbies, hope you find this and learn as much as I have in so short a time.
Here's what I've learned:
Beware water! Rinse that coil, but don't tip the MD back because the water can run down the shaft into the circuit box. If you MD by the water or in damp weather, DO put a plastic bag or shower cap over the box. Take it off when you get home and put the MD in a good place to dry out. IF you think the inside of the box got wet, use a hair dryer for a short time, at a low setting. Be careful not to melt or damage the circuit board with the heat! You might have to wait 2 or 3 days for it to dry out enough. In the meanwhile, DO NOT put batteries in until you've given the MD plenty of time to dry out.
Get a good battery tester, it can save you lots of time and wondering.
Dont' be afraid to open the box. Be careful with the circuit board. It's easy to damage all the delicate little thingys on there. You would be surprised to see how in 2 months time how much sand got in there. Use a small paintbrush to clean inside, but make sure you hold it so that the sand falls OUT of it, not back into it. Just be very careful, use common sense. Also, while it's open, do inspect all the things on the board. Although you may not have a trained eye for these things, you could stil spot anything abnormal.
DO ask questions on the forum, and read every bit of advice given. :!: These people are great! I can never thank them all enough.
There's more I've learned to share with you all, but I can't think right now. I'm so happy to have my MD back!
Thanks guys and God Bless,
Stephanie and her Tracker IV
 
Ed in KC said:
I'd think twice about rinsing your detector with water. If the water that got into it was from your rinsing source, it probably had a very low salt content. Also, if your detector has an analog meter with a paper backing, the water may permanently damage the backing. If you want to clean it off, go to radio shack and get some electrical contact cleaner, and use it sparingly. You should be able to see any salt residue after the water dries. Good Luck!
Click to expand...


Ed


When I dropped my $400 cellphone in saltwater the dealer had me put it in freshwater to stop any Galvanic action and hopefully save my phone and it worked.. saltwater is very corrosive to electronics and freshwater can at times stop it.
 
sandytoes said:
Thanks Ed.
Click to expand...
Ed was right! Don't clean with water. Use a spray cleaner like tuner cleaner that will not attack plastic. Radio Shack may have it. Also, when cleaning cicuit boards that has ICs and surface mount components, beware of static from your hands or tools. Ground yourself with a static strap first. Using a blow dryer on low heat should be ok when held a distance of 1 foot. Do all of this with no power applied, then let set for a few days before trying.
 
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