Modifying your Detector

Woody and Ismael should be happy as they get more work from the detectors that the Manufacturer will not fix or service. That have been modified. Why fight it woodie as it is not in your interest to do so. It will cut in to other electronic technicians work load.

Now on that note Woodie make a really good deep penetrating loop for the larger targets at depth and as sensitive as possible and you will make heaps.

woody wrote:Why would it void the warranty? We need a test case, what I do to a detector cannot make Minelab components fail, thus Minelab by law (ask the ACCC) have to repair the device. If it is my parts that fail then I repair the failed components.

Electronics can be (for the laymen) compared to a car, if the man who works on the engine makes a mistake, he is not liable for the transmission and the exhaust system if it failed. New car dealers were attempting to void warranty if a non car dealer serviced the vehicle, this was deemed "illegal" and restriction of trade and competition by the ACCC. The same would apply to metal detectors.

I will contact the ACCC for a ruling and post it on my website.

to use your car example...if you buy a new car and get it serviced or modded by an unauthorised mechanic, then your warranty will be void.

if somebody that is not authorised to work on a minelab mucks with it, the warranty will be void...are you authorised by minelab to work on them?

Modifications to a detector can be quite inflammatory as we have seen. However the main rule of the forum is Respect for Each other and if posts are made which don't conform to this, they will be deleted.

Welcome Woody to the forum and Im glad you have made a contribution. It is always interesting to hear your side of the story.

I would like this discussion to go its full course so forget the name calling and your opinions on people. We had to lock a previous topic on this subject, but this time, you know the score, if you can't get your posts right.

Jeff

Mods have come a long way , even in the last 12 months. Now I want to get a few things straight.

As for being able to turn mods on and off, this to me means that it is a very simple mod that just switches in and out resistance values or changes the eprom address lines. With the way my mods work i incorporate the simple things like pulse length changing and eprom addressing but I also change and upgrade critical components to better specification devices. These cannot be turned off, why would you when the performance would drop? Minelab as a commercial operation does not like losing sales, by having detectors modded people are not spending $6500 on the new detector and this can hurt the profits. That is why we see Minelab associates speaking poorly of modded detectors, they probably have not ever used one. We have been upgrading all the Minelab P.I machines, even including the GPX5000 and these are in warranty. Let me say that if you buy a new detector and it works fine for the first week it will most likely work for the next 3 years.

Minelab detectors are very well built, they are tough and can handle a lot of rough treatment. Modding a detector does not put any extra strain or stress on any part of the electronics, actually some of the new parts increase the efficiency and the detector circuity runs cooler, this especially so on the power output stage that uses a series diode arrangement to couple the different pulse voltages into the coil. The only weak point in Minelab is the input N channel Fets (Field effect transistors) that are usually what fails when the detector stops working. If you want to see modded detectors in action then get Brian's (The Modern Day Prospectors) new video when he releases it.

All the detectors that I mod have a 5 year warranty on all my work, I keep stock of parts, even hard to Excalibur Jfet input opamps that are numerous inside the detectors. Apart from that, if you do not like your mods then they can be removed and the detector 100% put back to manufacturers specification.

woody wrote:Why would it void the warranty? We need a test case, what I do to a detector cannot make Minelab components fail, thus Minelab by law (ask the ACCC) have to repair the device. If it is my parts that fail then I repair the failed components.

Electronics can be (for the laymen) compared to a car, if the man who works on the engine makes a mistake, he is not liable for the transmission and the exhaust system if it failed. New car dealers were attempting to void warranty if a non car dealer serviced the vehicle, this was deemed "illegal" and restriction of trade and competition by the ACCC. The same would apply to metal detectors.

I will contact the ACCC for a ruling and post it on my website.

hi woody you may have missed this question the first time so here goes again

to use your car example...if you buy a new car and get it serviced or modded by an unauthorised mechanic, then your warranty will be void.

if somebody that is not authorised to work on a minelab mucks with it, the warranty will be void..

are you authorised by minelab to work on them?

For an additional $1600, we can mod your mods.

Haha lol nero Plus if your lucky He might also give your control box a nice long run in a hot oven or a freezer as ive read He's been known to do

Thanks for sharing what you have read. It seems to be me that it has been taken out of context. Maybe you may like to enlighten us on the full process to which it was relating to. Maybe it was relating to a QED.

Jeff

Jefgold wrote:Thanks for sharing what you have read. It seems to be me that it has been taken out of context. Maybe you may like to enlighten us on the full process to which it was relating to. Maybe it was relating to a QED.

Jeff

hi jeff
what even was talking about was not related to the qed
what happened was , people were saying how there minelabs were a bit noisey later in the day when it heated up.
so woody put someones minelab box in the freezer to make it cold then turned it on to see how stable it was,
then he put it in the oven and heated it up and then turned it on to see if it was more noisey
(he has been known to experiment with other peoples machines when doing mods on them)
cheers

Woody has been quoted as saying there is only about $200 worth of components in Minelab detectors. At $1000 for the GPX5000 mod he could replace ALL the components 5 times over ! ! !

Woody, do you have the full plans for the GPX 4000, 4500 5000 that would enable you to know what you are doing and the effect of the mods on the rest of the circuits?

There will be more questions on modifying a detector and the processes involved to test them, but we have to remember that Woodie is running a business, so we have respect that. Please feel free to ask a question and its up to him whether it is answered or not.

Personally I am surprised that even the latest detectors can be modified and people want to have them done.
I can understand that the SD series were not good on small gold and that the 3000 was noisy on mineralized ground, but the 4500?

Why would you modify a 4500?

Jeff

I may be wrong about this but: if someone has illegally gained posession of the schemetics belonging to Minelab, or any such company, and used them for self gain (mods) then cannot the person in posession of such schemitics be charged with theft - among other things?

The schemetics themselves represent a very large investment made be minelab and for someone to use them in such a way as to cost Minelab sales surely must represent a criminal act and somehow be seen as industrial espionage

And if this were the case could not those who pay the person doing the mods be somehow involved in an illegal act.

I find it an interesting legal question so maybe someone on this forum who has legal training can answer it. I am not trying to be nasty or to stir things up but I do think, in the interest of those involved, it is a question that should be asked.

On the other hand, if the person holding the schemetics has obtained them legally from Minelab (and I do hope this is the case) then the question is moot and should be ignored.

I await a reply with interest.

And just to clarify my situation, I have had no commercial interest with Minelab since I left Coiltek back in 2004.

Cheers, Jim

woody wrote:Why would it void the warranty? We need a test case, what I do to a detector cannot make Minelab components fail, thus Minelab by law (ask the ACCC) have to repair the device. If it is my parts that fail then I repair the failed components.

Electronics can be (for the laymen) compared to a car, if the man who works on the engine makes a mistake, he is not liable for the transmission and the exhaust system if it failed. New car dealers were attempting to void warranty if a non car dealer serviced the vehicle, this was deemed "illegal" and restriction of trade and competition by the ACCC. The same would apply to metal detectors.

I will contact the ACCC for a ruling and post it on my website.

Hey Woody,

Posr the reply from the ACCC here as I am sure there are a hell of alot of people who are worried about modding their detector in the fear that their warrently will be void
Cheers

You must be joking granite surely you cant be serious. How do you come to the conclusion he odtained them ilegally come on matey this isnt a James Bond movie, and the person giving him funds to Mod a detector is carrying out a criminal act, Woody is running a business Modifying Detectors so what, whats the problem with that. Granite get of the couch and get out prospecting a bit more to clear your head buddy you need it.

This post was deleted as the poster had decided not to discuss modifications but decided to discuss personalities

Jeff

I await with baited breath the "moderators" actions on this thread. Popcorn anyone?

JP

Actually, I haven't accused anyone of anything. Read my post again. I asked a question and if you cannot answer the question then you have not added anything of value to this thread.

Jim.

It was a good question that never really got a answer because there is to many different opinions on here and in reallity I believe a proper conclusion couldnt happen.

And I am still trying to get my head around granites comments

Hi Jefgold,

We can self moderate mostly good to see you let it run its course

Jim,

That was one loaded question

Jonathon,

I prefer M&M's with peanuts inside

Would someone with the technical knowledge like to disclaim these mods or vicy-versa, each mod has its place maybe we should run thru them or should we just keep throwin mud!!!

Ron

authere wrote:

Would someone with the technical knowledge like to disclaim these mods or vicy-versa, each mod has its place maybe we should run thru them or should we just keep throwin mud!!!

Ron

just keep throwing mud i reckon

Would someone with the technical knowledge like to disclaim these mods or vicy-versa, each mod has its place maybe we should run thru them or should we just keep throwin mud!!!

Good on ya mate thats a fair question if somebody has technical knowledge of the Minelab Detectors as well as the Mods that are available to the consumer it would answer a lot questions going on in our heads.

modernprospector wrote:You must be joking granite surely you cant be serious. How do you come to the conclusion he odtained them ilegally come on matey this isnt a James Bond movie, and the person giving him funds to Mod a detector is carrying out a criminal act, Woody is running a business Modifying Detectors so what, whats the problem with that. Granite get of the couch and get out prospecting a bit more to clear your head buddy you need it.

No need to get so personal modernprospector. Jim has made a legitimate post & entitled to do so without others getting personal.
Osama.

granite2 wrote:On the other hand, if the person holding the schemetics has obtained them legally from Minelab (and I do hope this is the case) then the question is moot and should be ignored.

I await a reply with interest.

Cheers, Jim

Jim, If he does not answer you does that mean he is innocent because he is then ignoring the question? or do you still want a reply anyway.

Whilst many of the questions are reasonable, the thread was and is "Modifying your detector".

I split the comments from the previous topic from Link, but I am not going to do it again.

Thanks Woody for your input, it was quite interesting, but it seems from the current discussions, this topic has been hijacked once again. One day we may be able to discuss the pros and cons of modifying a detector

It is now locked.