V3i is Sick

[Tom]

May have to send my V3i back to the factory! Acting really weird and unstable. If i do the coil at waist high, Rx Gain=15 test outside, sometimes it overloads sometimes it don't. however it is always very chatty and never settles down outside and waist high. Tried the same thing with my Coin-master GT just to be sure the test area was good no EMI around, and the GT was quiet as a mouse. The V3I gets even worse if I hold it in the air and give it a good shaking! It was not working well last week at the beach, thought I had overlooked a setting or something, maybe this explains why I did so poorly that day.

OH well, have to break out the coinmaster GT for this afternoon! I want to hit the beach for the sunset low tide.

I did try a factory reset and it did not seem to help, I don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about this.

[coinnut]

Check and make sure the coil wire is not loose going into the machine housing. I've had machines do that. Also tightening the coil to the rod helps some. If you have another coil that works on the V3i, test it to eliminate the coil as the problem. If another coil works, them you have a bad coil. Hope this helps some Tom.

[Tom]

Thanks Coinnut, tried all that already except the different coil!
Only coil I have is the DD it came with.
The coinmaster coil won't fit, different connector.

[freemindstuck]

Check your ground filter. If it's set to high pass try switching it to a band pass filter. Intermittently overloading with sensitivity set to 15 is not a good sign. You may have a bad coil. The early 10" dd coils had an epoxy problem and a high rate of failure. Good luck!

[giant056]

I'd say it's probably a bad coil by the sounds of it, my original D2 coil that I bought back before the vision came out finally took a crap last year and it did exactly what you described.

[rsarge1]

I agree I went through 3 coils on my v3i when I had it, if you know someone close that has one you can try or even a dealer close by to swap out coils if that is the case whites will send you a new one and a shipping label for the return of the old one, talk to Mary at whites she will take care of you.
hope this helps

sarge

[CyberSage]

I agree with Giant, and Sarge. Sounds like the null has shifted on the coil.

[Tom]

I'm thinking I may have one of the older coils with the epoxy problem. I bought the V3i new from a coin dealer who is also a whites dealer but he really was not moving them. So I believe it was sitting in his shop for at least three or four years. It's SN: V3-000-010-779 03/17/2011. I've owned it for less than six months. Does anyone have any idea when, by SN, they might have solved the epoxy problem?

[DonM]

I'm thinking I may have one of the older coils with the epoxy problem. I bought the V3i new from a coin dealer who is also a whites dealer but he really was not moving them. So I believe it was sitting in his shop for at least three or four years. It's SN: V3-000-010-779 03/17/2011. I've owned it for less than six months. Does anyone have any idea when, by SN, they might have solved the epoxy problem?

As others have stated - just call Mary at Whites - she will be able to tell you the detector's date of manufacture and if you describe the problem to her - she may suggest a replacement coil (hopefully free of charge)

[Tom]

As others have stated - just call Mary at Whites - she will be able to tell you the detector's date of manufacture and if you describe the problem to her - she may suggest a replacement coil (hopefully free of charge)

Yup I will. Scrambling around trying to find my sales receipt, I had not sent in my warranty card yet!

[Tom]

You guys were absolutely right, Mary is da bomb!
Just got off the phone with her and she is sending out another coil for my V3i.

Has to be the most pleasant experience I have ever had with customer service in my entire life!

[rsarge1]

good to hear

[Tom]

I agree I went through 3 coils on my v3i when I had it, if you know someone close that has one you can try or even a dealer close by to swap out coils if that is the case whites will send you a new one and a shipping label for the return of the old one, talk to Mary at whites she will take care of you.
hope this helps

sarge

Thanks for the advice! Mind if I ask why you got rid of your V3i?

[rsarge1]

I just got tired of constantly having to make adjustments before hunting and sending the machine back for repairs they took care of it no problem but it got old for me it wasn't a machine for me

[Tom]

So, it has been eight days since Mary from Sweet Home said she would ship out a replacement D2 coil for my defective one. I decided I better give a call and see what is going on as I still have not received it. Talked to Mary again and she said she was so sorry but she forgot to ship it! She promised to put it in the mail tomorrow morning....... Good thing I called, might have been summer before I got it! OH well, guess I'll be bringing the Coinmaster GT to the beach this morning, the east coast storm is moving out and it may have really rearranged the sand. Was really hoping to be able to bring the V3i, thanks Mary...

[coinnut]

Sorry that it was you Tom. They usually are pretty good about things, but even the best people can screw up Hope you get it soon and it is a really good coil.

[OregonVic]

Was looking at the coments and there has not been the suggestion of disconecting coil wire from the box and see if the box
makes any sound when it is lightly tapped. Another way to test the coil is to lightly tap just the coil with a stick. If it makes any noise it is the coil.
Mary at Whites is the best. I had issues and they fixed me right up. They sometimes get real busy and
requests can be forgotten. I wish other companys had there service.

[Tom]

Sorry that it was you Tom. They usually are pretty good about things, but even the best people can screw up Hope you get it soon and it is a really good coil.

Ya I know, just really disappointed. Imagine if I had not called for another week, would have been even more disappointed.

[Tom]

Was looking at the coments and there has not been the suggestion of disconecting coil wire from the box and see if the box
makes any sound when it is lightly tapped. Another way to test the coil is to lightly tap just the coil with a stick. If it makes any noise it is the coil.
Mary at Whites is the best. I had issues and they fixed me right up. They sometimes get real busy and
requests can be forgotten. I wish other companys had there service.

Thanks for the suggestions Vic. Seems the dealer I bought from had it un sold on the shelf for a few years so it was probably one of the original problem child coil's.
Not much I can do but wait....and wait.....and wait some more!
If I did not like the V3i so much I would not miss it as much as I do........

[Tom]

Day Nine

On day eight I was told they (Mary at Whites Customer Service) forgot to ship a replacement coil to me for my defective one. Of course apologies were made along with promise of a follow up call for the next morning to confirm shipment. So after returning home from work on day nine I went straight to my answering machine to check for the promised message from Mary.

No Call…

I called Sweet Home and left another message for Mary. She returned my call an hour and a half later with yet another apology. This time it was not for a lapse of memory, rather it was she is responsible for customer service for the entire country and just never was able to get away from her phone. She promised, once again, for the third time, to ship my coil the next morning.

I really hope it gets shipped sometime soon! I miss my V3i…..

Hey whites, how about getting poor Mary some help over there. Sounds like she is very busy and can use some!
It’s been nine (9) days since an agreement was made to replace the coil and yet still it has not been mailed.
Please…..