GPX6000 Faults/Issues

[Ship of fools]

I got a 6 as soon as they became available, one of the first released.
The very first thing I did was go over a mullock heap that I know I had gone over with the five thousand, I pulled 12 shot gun pellets out of that meter square, about three to four inches deep! I was left scratching my head, what had I been doing wrong with the five thousand?
I continued the day on ground I had been over with the five ( auto one no threshold) quickly found two small bits, then a patch of hot ground that just seemed different! I dug that up took it home panned it for six very small bits. The rest of the afternoon turned into my best day to that point! Beaten on the next two consecutive days!
I had trouble with the 11 inch coil, it would overload on start up and shut down but I knew this was because it was a hot coil. Eventually the coil died and replacement came very quickly but it’s a lot closer to the DD coil than the original coil, no more hot patches to pan.

 

[Moneybox]

This is coil number three. I've put a wanted add in for a spare coil but how much can you pay for a coil that will likely last no more than six months?

 

[Mackka]

I feel for ya Phil. I suppose the answer could be how much gold is the 6 pulling compared to the cost of the coil.

 

[Moneybox]

There was a time when we trusted Minelab to supply a quality product although perhaps a very expensive one. They are still expensive but the chance of receiving a metal detector that will give you reliable service is not good. The GPX6000 must be one of the most problematic products sold on the Australian market. These detectors are obviously never tested after assembly and prior to sale. It's a shameful display of arrogance from a once respected Australian company. Even if these detectors are not tested overseas there should be some quality control before delivery here and that is certainly not the case.

Sure their warranty response is good but that doesn't help you when you are stuck up a gully hundreds of kilometres from the nearest service facility. My GPX6000 worked ok to start with although it used to crash on start-up. Then within a few months the first coil failed. It was quickly replaced and went on fine for a few more months. When the next coil failed I borrowed a detector and returned mine and had the coil and control panel replaced. It still crashes on startup but not as often. Minelab said they think it could be poor battery contacts but it fails on both batteries so I doubt that is the case. Now the third coil has failed and my dealer has run out of coils. I tried to return the faulty coil but I'm in a location where the post office won't accept parcels, only letters so I can't even return the faulty item.

I'm not happy but at least my detector worked straight out of the box. Many others have not been so lucky

 

[Moneybox]

I feel for ya Phil. I suppose the answer could be how much gold is the 6 pulling compared to the cost of the coil.

Yes Mackka, but you don't want to just find gold to spend on repairs. I could buy a Coiltek for a bit more and most likely get a decent life out of it. My friend here, who lent me his 11" mono, bought tow 12"x8" NF coils but both were faulty so I'm not about to go there.

 

[Mackka]

I fully understand mate. Best wishes to getting it resolved. Mackka

 

[Hawkear]

View attachment 9659

This is coil number three. I've put a wanted add in for a spare coil but how much can you pay for a coil that will likely last no more than six months?

Hi Phil. Just looking at your post and the image of your third coil. I notice that you have the coil lead taped tight almost all the way down to where it enters the coil.
I am just wondering whether this might place a lot of strain on the coil joint if the coil angle changes?
I also tape tape my coils but like to leave about 6” of free lead to allow for some flexibility to ease stress there when the coil angle changes.
Just a thought.

 

[mbasko]

Hi Phil. Just looking at your post and the image of your third coil. I notice that you have the coil lead taped tight almost all the way down to where it enters the coil.
I am just wondering whether this might place a lot of strain on the coil joint if the coil angle changes?
I also tape tape my coils but like to leave about 6” of free lead to allow for some flexibility to ease stress there when the coil angle changes.
Just a thought.

Definitely need that loop with the 6000 & probably a bit more than usual with 4500/5000.
I assumed that was part of Phil's fix but if taped normally that tight would be a point of failure for sure IMO.
More or less how I secure mine:

Use the Velcro cable ties, one with a nice coil lead loop near the coil (just above the point where the coil edge touches the shaft when laid flat) and the other Velcro between the upper lock knuckle and the handle to prevent cable movement near the connector. Leave a little looseness in the cable between the two, too tight and there will be noise created by stiction on the lead when the shaft flexes.

https://www.detectorprospector.com/...ommentary-tips/?do=findComment&comment=166827

 

[Teemore]

Not a major issue but may pay to check your 6000 handle screws are tight ......
On a different issue, anyone had the 6000 battery showing fully charged when plugged in to charge cable only to show only 2 of 3 bars when attached to the detector?

 

[kiwifred]

Not a major issue but may pay to check your 6000 handle screws are tight ......
On a different issue, anyone had the 6000 battery showing fully charged when plugged in to charge cable only to show only 2 of 3 bars when attached to the detector?

my battery when fully charged, goes from 3 bars to 2 bars after about 10-15 minutes, but stays at 2 most of the day?. It happens with my 2nd battery as well?

 

[Moneybox]

Hi Phil. Just looking at your post and the image of your third coil. I notice that you have the coil lead taped tight almost all the way down to where it enters the coil.
I am just wondering whether this might place a lot of strain on the coil joint if the coil angle changes?
I also tape tape my coils but like to leave about 6” of free lead to allow for some flexibility to ease stress there when the coil angle changes.
Just a thought.

mbasko is correct. The tape is to prevent any movement where the cable is entering the coil. I'm not in a bushy area so I've had a good length of free cable to allow it to flex.

I don't know what Minelab plan to do when these things reach the end of their warranty. By Australian Consumer Law these faults need to be resolved. We buy a metal detector with a life expectancy of at least 5 to 10 years therefore the warranty liability still applies beyond the stated 3 year period. They can't just keep doing a patch up until the 3 year period expires and there are many thousands of faulty machines still being sold when they know they are delivering faulty products.

 

[Mickybees]

I’ve owned a gpx 4500 and gpx 5000 and a garret atx and in my opinion the gpx6000 with all its faults is still the best detector I’ve ever owned but you definitely need a gold hawk coil to go with it….

 

[Nap.in.Cbr]

On my first trip with my new 6000. 4th day and it's still working fine. I do have the same deal with the 2 out of 3 battery bars though. I just switch it over at lunchtime. All these posts have me a bit concerned. :/

 

[glenno11]

Yes Mackka, but you don't want to just find gold to spend on repairs. I could buy a Coiltek for a bit more and most likely get a decent life out of it. My friend here, who lent me his 11" mono, bought tow 12"x8" NF coils but both were faulty so I'm not about to go there.

My 11'' is still working after many outings and found over 150 nuggets and pickers down to .05 in size but decided to go to a Coiltek Gold Hawk 14''x9'' coil as the detector shop owners said it was there go to coil and I can say its not coming off unless I put a bigger coil on. I weighed the smallest today at .04 I'm not sure about the Nugget finder 12''x8'' as I don't have one but i'm supper happy with this coil because I found some that the 11'' missed

 

[Moneybox]

My 11'' is still working after many outings and found over 150 nuggets and pickers down to .05 in size but decided to go to a Coiltek Gold Hawk 14''x9'' coil as the detector shop owners said it was there go to coil and I can say its not coming off unless I put a bigger coil on. I weighed the smallest today at .04 I'm not sure about the Nugget finder 12''x8'' as I don't have one but i'm supper happy with this coil because I found some that the 11'' missed

glenno11, that would be my choice of aftermarket coil. I've been waiting a year for the NF 16"x10" but I only chose that one for the size and light weight. I've spent years swinging the 14" Coiltek Elite on the GPX4500 and found a couple of kilos of gold. Even when the housing gave me trouble my 4 year old second hand coil Coiltek replaced it with a brand new coil.

 

[davsgold]

our new 6000 is going fine, faultless really, admittedly it has been in use for only 10 days, but it has 30.7 grams of gold for those 10 days, on flogged ground, and this is using the standard 11" mono coil and the standard wifi/bluetooth headphones. I think it is impressive.

the other detector the missus is using is the 7000 running an x-coil and it is finding the similar amount of gold as the 6000 is so between the two detectors we have been using for the last 10 days we have a total of 59.7 grams from this area.

the biggest advantage for the 6000 is its light weight and ease of use, no need for bungy and no cables

this picture is the start of an area the 6000 found, and a patch which yielded around 13 grams for two and a half days.


cheers dave

 

[Moneybox]

You don't hear much about the Minelab GPX6000 DD coil failures. I guess that's because most people rarely use the DD but I've had to since the third 11" Mono coil failure. I purchased a used 11" coil but like most things it's delayed somewhere in Australia Post. We lost Merv's 11" mono in the first week but a replacement turned up 10 days later. I'm still waiting for Minelab to test mine and send a replacement. Meanwhile I've worked out how to quieten it down when it gets out of control.

 

[Northeast]

Meanwhile I've worked out how to quieten it down when it gets out of control.

WTF! You have had such a shocking run with these GPX6 coils. Feel sorry for you. I feel very lucky that I’ve no such issues.

Hope you get it sorted

 

[Mackka]

It might have something to do with the amount of use Moneybox gives it, i.e. professional. Mackka

 

[Northeast]

Nope, not when coils are dying that are only weeks old.

Mine has just gone 2 years and probably has 400 hours on it. 4 plane rides, 2 WA trips, hundreds of pieces of gold and thousands of holes dug which = put it down, pick it up, put it down, pick it up, etc.

17” coil - perfect. 14” coil - perfect. 11” coil - works perfectly but does have tiny cracks in it and will be replaced in the next few weeks as long as there is stock to replace it.

Moneybox has just had a genuinely crap run of coils