CTX Battery Pack

[Bridex]

Love my CTX, but recently the Lithium battery pack failed. My CTX is still within the 3 year warranty so contacted ML and was told the battery pack is not repairable.
A replacement then under warranty? - NO - the battery pack is only warranted for SIX MONTHS.
Replacement cost is around £125, for a 6 month warranty! Extremely disappointed with this.
I dont know why there is such a short warranty period - but this doesn't inspire much confidence in your £2000 detector.

[Anubis]

A cheaper option is to get the battery pod that you can put batteries in and then buy some good rechargeable batteries, I think the pod costs about £60.00 which is extortionate for a plastic case but it is the cheaper option.

[Dave8472]

Many items have a reduced warrantee on battery's, but suprised not 12 months, if mine failed I would uses the adaptor with AA rechargeables, that is what I did with the explorer I had. But my CTX battery is 3 and a half years old an still as good as new

PS AA adaptor is £36 from Joan Allen

Dave &*(

[Whatunearth]

Has anyone ever opened up the lithium pod from the CTX3030. The reason I ask as that a lot of companies use the 18650 lithium battery with their battery packs which are 3.7v and about 50% or more bigger than a AA battery.
I noticed that my old laptop battery when i opened up after it died had about 6 of them inside. Not sure how many a CTX3030 pod would use but could be a cheaper option to repair if one was going to fix themselves, rather than chuck it away. Think you can buy them online for about £2 each and on well known auctions sites.

Greg

[sweepstick47]

I was quite surprised at this! 6 months warranty cover is not 'openly' made clear by Minelab to it's customers or potential customers - I suspect it is however, contained deep in the warranty wording. As a result, It would appear that their commitment to providing a good or even adequate level of customer service could be 'in question' which is not a happy state. Is it, I wonder, too much to expect a battery pack (for the somewhat expensive CTX3030) to last no longer than the 6 months warranty period indicated?

This could easily be resolved by offering 'Bridex' a replacement 'without prejudice' and purely as an act of good faith on their part'? I'm pretty sure that Minelab monitor these posts for feedback of their products which are, without exception excellent. So come on Minelab, we all know that you put in the work to develop quality market leading detectors, so perhaps a little 'good faith' on your part may well bring about a market-leading level of Customer Service. Regards ss47

[clint]

Six months warranty on such a high end item sounds like lack of manufacturer confidence in their own product! A dishonest person might buy another and return the faulty one for a refund,which,due to retail law changes,you can now demand instead of the previously offered options of replace or repair. ..and Dave please learn to talk proper as you is lowering the tone of what is a very nice forum. ..

regards

Clint

[kopparberg]

Six months warranty on such a high end item sounds like lack of manufacturer confidence in their own product! A dishonest person might buy another and return the faulty one for a refund,which,due to retail law changes,you can now demand instead of the previously offered options of replace or repair. ..and Dave please learn to talk proper as you is lowering the tone of what is a very nice forum. ..

regards

Clint

Hi Clint all of the battery packs have a serial number on them void if removed so that should stop anyone returning one that is out of warranty ,unless they cannot keep track of when they where sold ,but in this day and age it cannot be that hard surely .I think its is well out of order to only have a 6 month warranty on the battery packs crumbs you pay enough for the machines in the first place

[Whatunearth]

I agree 6 months is not long at all. To be honest that's not many digs if you are busy and that 6 months will come around quick.

Not the only companies that do that, just seen that Microsoft Lumia mobiles do the same look.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/mobile/s ... -warranty/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But then again samsung do 12th months.
http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/warranty/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not sure what other detecting companies do, but I have seen some laptop companies vary from 6-12 months.

Think the problem could be down to sub-standard parts probably being used, but how can that be proved. It also can be down to how lithium batteries are stored. I read somewhere that if stored for long periods they need to be charged to around 60% and left.
Also to get the best life out of lithium batteries they need to be charged from 25% not from empty as most people would normally do and not to fully charge them either, say a max charge 85-90% something about how hot they get when charging, the hotter the more reduced life they get.

Greg

[clint]

Has it failed completely ie dead or have you a flashing light on the charger and low level on the ctx screen? Some info on the US forums about running it to nearly flat then giving it a good 12 hr charge..

Regards

Clint

[Dave8472]

Clint raised a good point about the battery, may be worth trying some small charges. For info, I fully charge mine after each use, only every go's down to 1/4 empty after a days hunt.

Dave &*(

[Spiker1968]

This is worth a read if using lithium batteries. http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/arti ... _batteries" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Biglewey]

Bummer the battery only being gteed for 6 months. With Lithium batts I can understand it not being 2 or 3 yrs as they are prone to failure and loss of capacity.

However, I have heard of cases where the EU laws reuire goods to achieve a reasonable life (despite any short mfrs warranty) see link below.

It might be worth pointing this out to your dealer...

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bill ... U-law.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Biglewey]

And this.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/co ... dex_en.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But its up[ to the dealer who sold you the kit rather than the manufacturer.

I would say that you have a good case for the battery to be faulty given most users get much more life (so its not a normal occurrence).

Let us know....

[rugerrog]

Guys, not sure if this is useful or not as my pack is ok........... But these guys http://www.countybattery.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; were doing a service whereby if you took your old dead power tool batteries in they would see if they could replace the ones in the casing with a suitable replacement at considerably less cost than a original replacement !!!
we had some Hilti Drill ones done and they were fine
might be worth a call as a last resort
cheer
Rog

[jcmaloney]

As above and conveniently central in the UK: http://www.euroenergy.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They done my SE re-chargable pod for a very reasonable price.