Déus Charging Check & Confirmation

[Phil2401]

I bought the Deus less than a month ago so shouldn't have to update the software, but will try that - thanks.

Also with regard to Giz's post I only have the Deus Lite (no control box) but I would have thought that shouldn't make any difference to the charging. The kit comes with the standard cable with 3 mini USB connectors whether it's with or without the control box and I assume you can use any of the 3 connectors, which appear to be identical.

Shouldn't XP be making some comment about all these issues? Why should we have to fork out more money for a charging clip or block that is actually reliable?

Phil

I experienced a similar problem with charging the coil fully the night before then almost out of charge on the field. After reading some posts on the internet I did a reinstall of the current software (3.2) and that cured the problem.

I have also had problems with the charging clips and now have one of the blocks available that is much more reliable.

[Giz]

[quote="Phil2401"]I bought the Deus less than a month ago so shouldn't have to update the software, but will try that - thanks.

Also with regard to Giz's post I only have the Deus Lite (no control box) but I would have thought that shouldn't make any difference to the charging. The kit comes with the standard cable with 3 mini USB connectors whether it's with or without the control box and I assume you can use any of the 3 connectors, which appear to be identical.

Shouldn't XP be making some comment about all these issues? Why should we have to fork out more money for a charging clip or block that is actually reliable?

Phil

Hi Phil the control box when turned on will show the charge in both the control box and the coil by means of 2 symbols intermittently displayed

[hihosilver]

My coil switches itself on while it's charging occasionally, and I can guarantee my finger is nowhere near any power button. It also fails to charge some times, but pretends that it is.

Just a shame a multimeter can't be attached to see the actual battery level without cracking open the coil as that would be a surefire way to check it's charged properly or not, but that's obviously a trade-off to having the battery sealed inside to keep away from water. Sometimes it pretends to charge up, but hasn't charged. So I have to re-check all the time to make sure. Unfortunately mine's 6+ years old now so getting on in years. When it does charge up normally it still lasts a decent length of time so don't really want to replace the battery yet as it's sure to be a time consuming job to do it right.

[frogeye]

Yes I have had the charging problem where the Deus turns itself on a few times now.

If it goes unnoticed by the time I get to the field maybe a few hours latter the coil has lost some of its charge.

It happens when the coil headphones and controller are fully charged . Turning on when I flick the mains switch off

Also had the problem where the controller turns off while being used it may have lost its signal with the coil.

[Phil2401]

Hi Giz - I don't have a control box - Deus Lite - but having spoken to a couple of people today on a dig it's apparently a common problem - just re-install the software - the coil shows as 30% charged but it is actually 100% charged - I spent 6 hours in the field with a 30% charge showing and it still worked

I bought the Deus less than a month ago so shouldn't have to update the software, but will try that - thanks.

Also with regard to Giz's post I only have the Deus Lite (no control box) but I would have thought that shouldn't make any difference to the charging. The kit comes with the standard cable with 3 mini USB connectors whether it's with or without the control box and I assume you can use any of the 3 connectors, which appear to be identical.

Shouldn't XP be making some comment about all these issues? Why should we have to fork out more money for a charging clip or block that is actually reliable?

Phil

Hi Phil the control box when turned on will show the charge in both the control box and the coil by means of 2 symbols intermittently displayed

[Bully1970]

Just bumping this thread.

Only had my Deus lite a couple of months and got about 8 hours on it.

The second time i used it I had charged the coil and phones fully but when I got to site I saw the coil was down at 1 bar, it surprised me but I thought possibly me....not plugged it in properly. The phones were fully charged.

I charged it yesterday afternoon and made sure the the lights etc were doing what they should, went in last night and the "fully charged" light was flashing on and off as opposed to the solid light when it charges.

This morning I checked before heading out and the phones were 100% but again the coil was showing 1 bar!! now surely it shouldn't drain 2 bars overnight?

I went out anyway but had to cut my session short for other reasons.

Put the coil on charge2 hours ago and again just now it had the flashing "fully charged" light but when I checked it shows 2 bars and not fully charged. I unplug the connector and replug and it then stays solid and starts charging again.

So, just been in again and the fully charged light flashing and when checking on the phones its showing the coil at 2 bars.

Unplugged again and plugged back in and the light goes solid so "charging"

Something doesn't seem right to me. Im an electrical/electronic engineer so get the fiddly plug needs to be properly in place and also I double check the coil starts charging.

Looks to me that the coil is saying "Im 100% charged" and the phones are showing a different status, i.e. 1 or 2 bars.

Not had a great experience so far with this machine, headphones went faulty after 2 hours and had to be replaced and now this, I've hardly used the machine. Going to chat to the dealer now.

[oldartefact]

The other night I very very carefully disengaged the headphones from charge ... and watched in amazement as the coil switched itself on and the phones started to beep. Had I not noticed this I would have expected the charge to have dissipated by morning. Its happened to me in the early days that I got to the field only to find my kit low on juice ... so now I turn the lot on and off immediately after charging.

[Bully1970]

Definitely not left on, I always switch on the phones to check the coil is 3 bars (Lite so no control box) then switch it off.

If it had been on it would have been going mental as it sits on my workbench surrounded by metal.

Im not understanding why its flashing to say full and then headphones are showing coil at 2 bars.

Now go it to 3 bars by unplugging and plugging back in a few times after it was showing 2 bars and full charge. Will test again overnight.

[Phil2401]

I'm convinced this is a software glitch rather than the coil not actually charging. As a 'test' situation after fully charging (apparently) then out in the field to find only 1 bar on the coil, I detected for probably 5 hours in all - coil still showing 1 bar - so it probably was fully charged, but the software is somehow unable to accurately display the correct charge level.

I haven't yet tried reinstalling the software - didn't get a 'single' cable with my kit and I don't have a Windows PC anyway - (surprising that XP don't seem to realise that there are one or two people who use Macs rather than PCs, but that's another matter).

Also as OldArtefact suggests, it probably mucks up the charging process if you connect your bits to the 3 leads and pull one or more of them out before switching off the power - best to leave all three connected until you've switched off the power after everything is showing fully charged. Then double check a few minutes later to make sure nothing has turned itself on!

Phil

[Bully1970]

Did an overnight test and all seems ok, coil has 3 bars this morning.

It was definitely showing "I'm fully charged" on the LED yesterday and the headphones only displayed the coil as 1 bar then 2 bars.

Going to keep an eye on it, spoke to dealer who said it can go back if need be, I'll hold fire on that for now until Im 100% on whats going on...if anything.

[Spiker1968]

Thought I would post a pic of this useful little gizmo I bought, plug it into the Deus charger then plug the triple charging lead into this. You can tell in an instant if your battery is actually charging or not by looking at the amp meter. The coil on its own will draw about point three of an amp, if the battery is low and won't draw a charge you know something is wrong. Hope this might be of some help to someone.


ps think we all know where to look to by one

[Bully1970]

Something must have gone wrong as I have had it on test for a few days and made sure the coil had three bars before switching off, still has three bars a few days later.

Will keep an eye on it.

That gismo is worth getting, cheers

[Fisher1266X]

Thought I would post a pic of this useful little gizmo I bought, plug it into the Deus charger then plug the triple charging lead into this. You can tell in an instant if your battery is actually charging or not by looking at the amp meter. The coil on its own will draw about point three of an amp, if the battery is low and won't draw a charge you know something is wrong. Hope this might be of some help to someone.

Does the image you've used portray all three units attached, thus showing 4.89 volts and 0.88 amps?
If so, I take it that with just the coil attached the meter would show 0.3 amps instead of 0.88?
It would be interesting to see the meter readings attached to a coil of those that have this issue and what that reading would show.

We've experienced a control unit showing one bar for the coil but lasting a lot longer than expected.
The coil was changed as a matter of course as we were operating at a considerable distance from our vehicle.
Touch wood, I've never had this error showing on my coils.

[Spiker1968]

Thought I would post a pic of this useful little gizmo I bought, plug it into the Deus charger then plug the triple charging lead into this. You can tell in an instant if your battery is actually charging or not by looking at the amp meter. The coil on its own will draw about point three of an amp, if the battery is low and won't draw a charge you know something is wrong. Hope this might be of some help to someone.

Does the image you've used portray all three units attached, thus showing 4.89 volts and 0.88 amps?
If so, I take it that with just the coil attached the meter would show 0.3 amps instead of 0.88?
It would be interesting to see the meter readings attached to a coil of those that have this issue and what that reading would show.

We've experienced a control unit showing one bar for the coil but lasting a lot longer than expected.
The coil was changed as a matter of course as we were operating at a considerable distance from our vehicle.
Touch wood, I've never had this error showing on my coils.

Yep, 0.88 was with all three on charge, with coil only it shows a draw of about 0.3 which goes down as it charges.

[samuraitrev]

In the past I've had 1 bar last all day. I've also charged over night (which you shouldn't do, just charge it for 3 hours). The next day I hit the field and the coil had 1 bar which died after three hours. Since then I:
1) Charge the night before and wait until the coil light starts flashing
2) Switch off the charger and remove all thee parts (headphines, remote + coil)
3) Switch on the remote to check all 3 bars on the coil are full. If full, switch off the remote an relax, all done. If the coil is three bars go to 4.

4) Put the coil back onto charge until the charging light starts to flash. Then switch off the charger. Go to 3

Happy digging