bklein

I would be interested in purchasing any minelab detectors in need of repair but the price would have to be very cheap. I bought a GP Extreme a couple years ago and it took me months to fix it because I had to learn the design and find alternate parts etc. In the end I have a cool detector but it has died on me and again needed the same repair - thus I would not want to charge to fix someone elses and then be in the doghouse when it dies again. barryklein@cox.net

Just want to say that I lucked out and did get a GP Extreme from this thread. It surely was a real challenge to repair. I'm wondering if even Minelab would have followed through with all the things that were wrong with it! I learned a lot but had to post a lot of questions on Geotech and was totally in debt to a couple guys on there with a lot of experience modding and repairing these detectors. Even the tech at Minelab was a great help. It was clear though that Minelab is running up against a parts shortage for the older detectors and finding 2nd sources for them is a secondary priority to supporting the present models. So again, if things look hopeless on your detector and it comes down to parting it out or trashing it - send me an email... It's kind of sick but I like the challenge of getting these running again and learning from it.

I'll never be able to justify the expense of a >$500 detector but I'm an electronics geek and may be able to fix one. I read about Minelabs needing repair and parts shortages etc. Downside with them is they apparently are coated with an epoxy paint and schematics aren't public. Anyway, if you have say an SD/GP, Eureka, Goldbug2, GMT or equivalent that fell in the river, got run over by your son's truck, plugged the battery in backwards, or whatever that you'd let go for cheap please send me an email. barryklein@cox.net

Hangtown, You mentioned hunting the Havasu Goldseekers claims. I am a member but never been there yet. Will I be ok with just a Suburban 2WD? What kind of luck have you had there? I have searched the Franconia area for meteorites a couple times and know what you mean about the bullets/casings. But also a lot of magnetite that I thought were meteorites. I'd like to go there soon but I'd be either alone or with one of my kids so I don't want to get stuck somewhere. I'm curious if you go there often and if these rains cause trouble. I have gone waterskiing at Havasu for years, just never looked for gold there...