SDC 2300 power off

Well i went for a swing today and did okay. The thing that gave me the shits though was when the detector would keep randomly turning itself off. It only did it after the batteries were switched over. It did it in the space of 1/2 hour for about 8 times. It seemed to be when it got a slight bump or knock. Given that this is suppised to be military spec, should I give ML a call to organise a visit to the doc? Anyone else had issues?

Hey Mate
Yes it is a problem that minelab are aware of, not sure what they are doing about it??????????
I was with Hardyakka a few weeks back & he was having the same issue, he rang ML and was told to squeeze the battery connectors together a bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To me it sounds like it is going to be an ongoing issue with some detectors & I believe they should do a recall when they are informed of such things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

scd2300 battery cut out fix:

I have had the same problem a few times, any little bump would cause a restart. It is caused when the battery spring connection slips off the side of the narrow positive pointy end of the battery. To stop it happening insert the batteries slowly when the detector is in a horizontal position and make sure to close the battery lock cap very evenly. You can also stretch the connection springs a little, this has fix it for me. I was disappoint with the battery system design, and I cant see that little seal lasting very long either.

Cheers
Redshirt

Was using a mates 2300 today and did it many times also, was actually going to post about it until i read this post.
cheers

Only had it happen once hasn't returned it was just after I put the batteries in.

I reckon it's because all C size batteries are not exactly the same diameter, the supplied ones seem a little loose. I insert a small piece of cardboard between the batteries when putting them in to stop any movement and have not had the problem again.

it seems to me its a problem with the supplied batteries- it seems to only be happening with the supplied rechargeables but not std alkaline. I suspect the contacts on the supplied ones are a tad undersize meaning you must make sure the battery lid closes on it properly. ive tried mine with other brands and they stopped the issue just fine.

I have bought some spare batteries of a brand name beecroft 5200ma c size. They never have issues but now i have read the other posts i reckon what has happened is the other brand have stretched the terminal clips because they are longer. When inserting the originals again there is a gap and any bumping causes a sudden disconnect. I think i'll buy another set of beecrofts to fix it and toss the originals in the cupboard.

I've had mine turn of and then fire straight back up several times in the past.
When I'm finished for the day I put the batteries in the charger and charge them from the solar battery in my vehicle as we drive back home.
Then they stay there until they are charged while at home.

The problem only appeared on mine after I started doing the above and I believe the ends of the batteries become dirty from rubbing with the constant jiggling on the dirt roads.
I wipe each end of each battery on my shirt before I insert them into the detector and that seems to have stopped the problem.
Cheers.

Qld Sandy wrote:I've had mine turn of and then fire straight back up several times in the past.
When I'm finished for the day I put the batteries in the charger and charge them from the solar battery in my vehicle as we drive back home.
Then they stay there until they are charged while at home.

The problem only appeared on mine after I started doing the above and I believe the ends of the batteries become dirty from rubbing with the constant jiggling on the dirt roads.
I wipe each end of each battery on my shirt before I insert them into the detector and that seems to have stopped the problem.
Cheers.

Mate
In regards to the section above highlighted, do you mean whilst they are in the SDC or in the charger?
Someone mentioned that there was a slight size difference with some batteries, have you noticed anything that would make this issue worse??

I've only had it happen once but since inserting horizontally its fine.When walking with the detector you can hear the batteries rattling around.

deutran wrote:I've only had it happen once but since inserting horizontally its fine.When walking with the detector you can hear the batteries rattling  around.

That statement doesn't fill me with confidence for the longevity of the battery compartment????

rc62burke wrote:

Qld Sandy wrote: I put the batteries in the charger and charge them from the solar battery in my vehicle as we drive back home.
Then they stay there until they are charged while at home.

The problem only appeared on mine after I started doing the above
Cheers.

Mate
In regards to the section above highlighted, do you mean whilst they are in the SDC or in the charger?
Someone mentioned that there was a slight size difference with some batteries, have you noticed anything that would make this issue worse??

The section I highlighted should tell you that.

Qld Sandy wrote:

rc62burke wrote:

Qld Sandy wrote: I put the batteries in the charger and charge them from the solar battery in my vehicle as we drive back home.
Then they stay there until they are charged while at home.

The problem only appeared on mine after I started doing the above
Cheers.

Mate
In regards to the section above highlighted, do you mean whilst they are in the SDC or in the charger?
Someone mentioned that there was a slight size difference with some batteries, have you noticed anything that would make this issue worse??

The section I highlighted should tell you that.

Fair enough Peter, but by your post I was not exactly clear on if you insert the batteries back into the SDC at home then drive out or insert them into the SDC in the field, I suppose I could have been a little more clear with my question.

Hi rc62burke
I looked up the standard ANSI measurement for "C" batteries.Length is 49.25+/-0.75 (max 50),Height 25.55 +/-0.65(max 26.2).
The Powerizer supplied cells are 50.25 and 25.5 so they are close to spec.I guess the design allowed max width + a margin of clearance so its not surprising theres some gap and therefore some possibility if bumped of a disconnect.I measured a gap of 4mm max between cells if I push them apart widthways when inserted so in other words there is a clearance all around the cells of 1mm
Looking at the positive terminal which is 5mm diameter the small connecting spring can easily slide sideways when inserting the end cap or even the inner small spring.If this happens then a bump when detecting could easily cause a disconnect.I think Redshirts solution above would solve the trouble making sure the end cap is inserted square
Looking at the cells lengthways the end cap contacts the cells approx 15mm before pushing in to home position.The springs allow for 20mm of compression so the length of the cells would be an unlikely source of the problem.
I'm thinking a quick fix would be some 1mm plastic tube around the cells before inserting or something similar.I'll try and find something simple to solve this.

Hey Duetran
Mate what an awesome & informative post, thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

deutran wrote: I'm thinking a quick fix would be some 1mm plastic tube around the cells before inserting or something similar.I'll try and find something simple to solve this

Some thick walled heat shrink might do the trick - think its 0.4mm so that would add 0.8mm to the battery. Might be enough to prevent it & still allow clearance for easy insert/removal.
People use heat shrink to make up various battery packs so I doubt applying the heat shrink would be an issue?

Gday And if modified heat shrink ( great idea) will they still connect Ok in charger.
Regards Big Fella.

They'll still fit in the supplied charger.
Not sure about other's but checked my Powerex charger & they should be ok in it too.
Edit: for the Powerex charger will need to leave a gap at the top & bottom of the battery but would still be enough coverage to prevent "slop" in the case.
Definitely a problem with the supplied batteries. Used the Tenergy ones yesterday and it didn't occur at all over 5-6hr day.

Friend put some duct tape around the batteries to stop the continual disconnect. Surely the people testing the machine for Minelab would have picked up on the issue and told Minelab. They obviously were not willing to make a design change.

Tributer wrote:Friend put some duct tape around the batteries to stop the continual disconnect. Surely the people testing the machine for Minelab would have picked up on the issue and told Minelab. They obviously were not willing to make a design change.

Hey mate
Hallelujah at least someone else is thinking the same as me (I was starting to doubt myself !!!! not really) I have been saying the same thing for the last month ( not on here ) in regards to all the small issue's with this new detector, surely they would have bought up issue's with the,
1. Battery charger.
2. Powering off.
3. Crappy fold out cuff.
4. Coil knuckle a point of wear.
5. The thing falls over.
6. Short headphone lead.

Are they testing with a view to improve things or are they doing it to look after their back pocket, don't raise issue's & retain employment, these are my opinions & no way reflect the views of the general public here nor management!!

Lee have you bought an SDC? The way you've been gabbing on you must have!!!

I did a fair amount of testing on the SDC and did report on occasion having this issue but as YOU ALL KNOW the SDC is using the same housing as the F3 Compact so there was not a lot that could be done about an intermittent problem, although from memory there were adjustments made to the battery compartment door, but only so much can be done to allow for different sizes in batteries from the different manufacturers.

We've been working with two machines for weeks now finding hundreds of pieces as day, one of the team is as rough as guts with his unit and he got power outages pretty regularly until I adjusted his springs for him and told him to stop bashing it about so much! If it was a 5000 it would have stopped working ages ago.

The SDC is what it is, stop moaning on about it and just take it for what it is, a tough as little nugget getter that will keep you amused on any ground you can name.

JP

Jonathan Porter wrote:Lee have you bought an SDC? The way you've been gabbing on you must have!!!  

I did a fair amount of testing on the SDC and did report on occasion having this issue but as YOU ALL KNOW the SDC is using the same housing as the F3 Compact so there was not a lot that could be done about an intermittent problem, although from memory there were adjustments made to the battery compartment door, but only so much can be done to allow for different sizes in batteries from the different manufacturers.

We've been working with two machines for weeks now finding hundreds of pieces as day, one of the team is as rough as guts with his unit and he got power outages pretty regularly until I adjusted his springs for him and told him to stop bashing it about so much! If it was a 5000 it would have stopped working ages ago.

The SDC is what it is, stop moaning on about it and just take it for what it is, a tough as little nugget getter that will keep you amused on any ground you can name.

JP

Hi JP
How are you?
No I have not purchased an SDC YET, the main reasons are due to the highlighted issue's (& some unexpected financial outlay) however I have seen it in action & had a swing of it briefly if you read all of my post's on the SDC you will see that I am a real fan of it's abilities there is NO doubt it finds tiny gold & will also pick up bigger stuff, nobody can detract from this!!!!!

You may call it Gabbing on, I call it discussing, come on JP you can't expect people not to discuss an issue or 2, would you rather we say nothing? In my view the more these issue's are discussed however minor they may seem, folks come up with little fixes to overcome them so this is a good outcome is it not???
There is once again NO doubt Minelab are world leaders in this field.

Could there not have been some sort of foam insert glued into the battery compartment to help keep them still ?? I have not had a look in the battery compartment.
Same as the F3, I can't imagine the Soldiers using a unit that shuts down on occasion & being happy about it can you??? this must have come up at some point??
I am not moaning, like I said I am discussing some pertinent issue's with this detector "Let us remember Minelab have been producing detectors for 20 to 30 years so they do have the background knowledge to overcome these issues before release to the public" In my opinion the more issues are discussed the better chance of getting them fixed on the next model, don't you think because ultimately we are all testers at the end of the day.

JP I have great respect for you & your input here, but please don't tell me how to think nor make me shut up, I feel by the discussions I have put forth the would -be purchaser of a new SDC2300 can be fully aware of the issue's, but will also know how Good it is.

rc62burke wrote:surely they would have bought up issue's with the,
1. Battery charger.
2. Powering off.
3. Crappy fold out cuff.
4. Coil knuckle a point of wear.
5. The thing falls over.
6. Short headphone lead.

Are they testing with a view to improve things or are they doing it to look after their back pocket, don't raise issue's & retain employment,

Let's look at the issues that make the SDC a supposed "ergonomic nightmare".

1. Battery charger - I have heard of 1 issue with the charger. I haven't had an issue with mine, nor any of the people who have purchased one from me, so I don't know what the problem is. You will always hear about the ones that fail, but never about the ones that don't so I'd like to see some figures on this before I'd say it was an issue.

2. Powering off - There are several suggested causes of this. All I can go on here is that mine has not shut off since I started wiping the ends of the batteries. I believe they get dirty from rubbing and don't connect properly because of it.

3. Crappy fold out cuff - I had an issue with that originally and then put an old Minelab GPX armrest cover over it to stop this happening. Since then I've learned that if you pick the detector up off the ground by the straps then the cuff will fold inwards. I now don't even bother with the armrest cover and if this is a major concern for someone which would stop him from purchasing the detector then I've heard it all.

4. Coil knuckle - I'm not privy to design information, but I would expect that to have a fold up detector the design would need to be what it is. I guess that folding up was higher on the priority list so a compromise was made. Time will tell if this is a real problem or not.

5. The thing falls over - This comes right down to a bit of good old common sense. If you put a top heavy item on ground which is not close to even and level then it will fall over. If someone like me who is actually using one of these realises that finding the real small nuggets is a job for a scoop, and the easiest way to use that is with the coil flat on the ground as you kneel beside the detector and run the scoop over the coil, then it would follow that before you kneel down, during or after, it would make sense to make the coil sit flat so the scoop is easy to use. The detector now doesn't fall over. Problem solved with some good old common sense.

6. Short headphone lead - I agree with this in point, but also suggest that a shorter person won't have a problem. Taller people will and I believe the lead will stretch during use and solve itself. Those of us that detest headphones have modified our kit to allow speakers or whatever audio appliance we like to be used. The last trip I forgot to take the curly cord adaptor I made but I still found 25 nuggets on a patch I'd done with a 14 round, 14 x 9 and the sadie coil. That was with the speaker the detector has built in which actually has good quality audio, but not so good placement. Again, this would be a compromise to keep the fold up ability but it would suit the left handers better than most of us I expect.

The comment about the testers is just downright insulting and not even worth a reply!!!!!!!!!

Now if the items mentioned above are going to keep someone from buying one of the detectors then I suggest they were tyre kicking from the start. The detector has such good performance on all types of ground that I've been in, coupled with the fact that you just don't get any false signals AND you get bits that ALL the previous detectors have left behind. They are also dead easy to use and an excellent beginner machine. The curious thing is that I don't hear any complaints from the people who are using them.
Cheers.

Hi This is an email from Hardyakka, here.


From: Dale Richardson
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2014 10:32 PM
To: Lee & Stephanie Burke
Subject: Re: What you up to?

G'day Lee,

I've just got into Cooktown this evening, Been in port Douglas for the last week or so. I spent 3 weeks out at western creek for just over 200 grams. My head phones began to play up, I think it's a broken wire down near the plug as the lead was too short and always pulling when you put the detector down to dig a target. I'm also on my 3rd battery charger.


Have you been out?

Cheers

Dale

Sent from my iPhone

This is first hand info from an SDC user, so it seems the headphone lead WILL stretch until it breaks, 3 battery chargers?? there maybe an issue there wouldn't you say.

Mate I am not trying to be a smartarse!!! as I do have some info on the issue's from a guy who is using it.

I suspect the GOOD far out weighs the bad but I will be the judge of that when I have the opportunity!!!!

I would agree that the email is from a person who is having trouble.

I am also over all the negativity and

Are they testing with a view to improve things or are they doing it to look after their back pocket, don't raise issue's & retain employment,

does not come from someone who isn't trying to stir the pot. Over and out.

rc62burke wrote:

Tributer wrote:Friend put some duct tape around the batteries to stop the continual disconnect. Surely the people testing the machine for Minelab would have picked up on the issue and told Minelab. They obviously were not willing to make a design change.

Hey mate
Hallelujah at least someone else is thinking the same as me (I was starting to doubt myself !!!! not really) I have been saying the same thing for the last month ( not on here ) in regards to all the small issue's with this new detector, surely they would have bought up issue's with the,
1. Battery charger.
2. Powering off.
3. Crappy fold out cuff.
4. Coil knuckle a point of wear.
5. The thing falls over.
6. Short headphone lead.

Are they testing with a view to improve things or are they doing it to look after their back pocket, don't raise issue's & retain employment, these are my opinions & no way reflect the views of the general public here nor management!!

My comment above in regards testers was not intended as a personal attack on anyone, I was not the first person to raise the question about testers!!! It would be interesting to know do tester have input into design or just performance ?
It was more a tongue in cheek statement, I am sure there are several testers (I don't know & doesn't matter) I thought that these issue's would have been raised? JP added that he did raise the power off issue, so it was raised!

JP, if I have offended you by this comment, then SORRY it was not intended as an attack on you, like I have said a few times in the past I Respect your input here.

Yes I have raised issue's about the SDC they may be small, I really don't think I have been overly negative as with most post's I have stated that I like it's abilities to me that is being positive, "Constructive Criticism" if you will.

Peter, I know what you are saying about the negativity mate, but I don't think I can be lumbered in with that lot! I am really really interested in the SDC2300 as a second detector but as I am sure you understand, I need to weigh up all the pro's & con's just like any substantial purchase & that is why I am asking ???? & contributing to these post's, if I see or here of an issue I will ask about it.

When I am ready (have the coin) to buy one I will support a local business like I have done in the past, I am a fan of what it can do!!!!!!!!!!

I have hundreds of hours now on the SDC 2300, and while I have experienced most of these minor issues, they are so small and easily dealt with as to be insignificant. You can insert a short section of 10 cm PVC pipe in the arm rest to solve that problem and I have not even bothered to do that yet, though I will probably eventually. If such things would keep any person from actually buying a detector, then you will never find a detector with which you are pleased, - by any manufacturer. Every detector, every automobile and all sorts of other products I have owned over the years have minor issues that could be improved one way or another, but they have not stopped me from buying and making good use of them. The battery contacts and the sudden auto power off an on - I have had this issue with other detectors previously - and not on a detector made by Minelab, but one from a US manufacturer.

Hello all, My wife and I are new to detecting and have a SDC2300 and a GPX5000. I bought the first one sold on the launch day in Melbourne off Miners Den. We have used the 2300 in the field for 4 weeks and have only had the intermittent issue with the unit turning itself off on two occasions which I put down as not having my battery door latched down properly, as removing and reinserting the batteries cured the problem.
The SDC2300 is a fantastic unit, accounting for 2/3 of our finds in our WA trip. Mrs holgaroo and I take turns as to who gets to use it first thing, as it finds nuggets so effectively, then use the 5000 in the afternoon.
The unit is simple to use, threshold at 2 LEDs and sensitivity at #3, worked for us most of the time. It is by far my preferred detector out of the two, but I am persisting with the 5000 and starting to do better with it. Thanks contributors for a very interesting topic, I have seen the bit of plastic drainpipe solution to the collapsing arm rest and it works, but harder to pack up, but I have a spare GPX5000 cuff which I will test later today. Looking forward to meeting some forum members at Laanacoorie in October.
Cheers Russ