New Fisher F-Pulse???????

[Rick K]

Andy - you might not realize it, but you now have the head of customer service and the Chief Engineer working hard to keep you happy. Folks are welcome to tell me which other metal detector manufacturers would be doing that for a dissatisfied customer!

Congrats - hope you will be satisfied with the results.

 

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[andygold]

Andy - you might not realize it, but you now have the head of customer service and the Chief Engineer working hard to keep you happy. Folks are welcome to tell me which other metal detector manufacturers would be doing that for a dissatisfied customer!

Congrats - hope you will be satisfied with the results.

Good to know! Customer service from Fisher (or FTP) has been quite good to date! I realize problem product sometimes makes it to dealer's shelves. That can happen in any industry. I used to work as an engineer in the avionics industry (microwave antennae systems), and items that were inspected dozens of times, placed in a test chamber and exposed to high altitude, salt water, explosive vapor, etc. would pass, make it out to the field, and occasionally come back fried anyway. So, I realize it happens.

My biggest concern so far, other than receiving what appears to be a used/defective product from a forum vendor, is the vendor I purchased from washing their hands of me when I simply suggested returning the product for exchange. I won't purchase from them again, as being a recommended vendor on a forum is no insurance that they will stand behind what they sell. I originally thought that them having their own page here, even if they charged a bit more than outside sources, would be money well spent if problems arose. In this particular case, it was absolutely no benefit!

 

[mrdave03]

Andy.. hopefully things will get resolved for you. I have begun to have the same issues. My F-Pulse turns on ok a few seconds later it turns off. Sometimes it restarts itself....other times it locks up.. at times it just starts a steady beeping and I have to turn it off and on. I found just bumping the ground ever so slightly makes it beep once and restart. I've tried various battery manufacturers along with rechargeable. Perhaps its a loose battery connection. I've only had it three weeks and it is very frustrating. It looks like having found other users with similar issues that is is not an isolated thing. I loved it the first week when it had no issues.

 

[digger1965]

I will turn on my f-pulse and then gb my nox 600. this seems to have helped some of my issues with the pp.

 

[andygold]

Andy.. hopefully things will get resolved for you. I have begun to have the same issues. My F-Pulse turns on ok a few seconds later it turns off. Sometimes it restarts itself....other times it locks up.. at times it just starts a steady beeping and I have to turn it off and on. I found just bumping the ground ever so slightly makes it beep once and restart. I've tried various battery manufacturers along with rechargeable. Perhaps its a loose battery connection. I've only had it three weeks and it is very frustrating. It looks like having found other users with similar issues that is is not an isolated thing. I loved it the first week when it had no issues.

As per FTP (and FedEx), my replacement F-Pulse should be delivered tomorrow. I'll be sure to report as to how it functions.

digger1965, you mention that GB'ing your Nox after turning on the F-Pulse "seems to have helped some of my issues with the pp". What other issues are you having with F-Pulse?

 

[mrdave03]

As per FTP (and FedEx), my replacement F-Pulse should be delivered tomorrow. I'll be sure to report as to how it functions.

digger1965, you mention that GB'ing your Nox after turning on the F-Pulse "seems to have helped some of my issues with the pp". What other issues are you having with F-Pulse?

I'll be looking forward to how you make out.. mine should be arriving at the repair facility tomorrow.

 

[digger1965]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner. about every third time out it will just lock up. you can't shut it off or anything? you have to remove the battery then it works fine. I also get some intermediate beeps at time when it is nowhere near metal... andy.gold

 

[McKinney_5900]

Sorry I haven't replied sooner. about every third time out it will just lock up. you can't shut it off or anything? you have to remove the battery then it works fine. I also get some intermediate beeps at time when it is nowhere near metal... andy.gold

Both of mine did exactly the same things you described. The replacement had a weak spring in the battery cap, so the batteries were going intermittent. The first one seemed solid except for the lockups, and gave excellent depth. I lost .75 inches in depth compared to the first. Fisher reps said the depth readings were within spec, and that's the last I heard from them.

The F-Pulse became an average pinpointer, disappointing.

 

[andygold]

Received my new F-Pulse from FTP yesterday. I did little more than a cursory inspection of it and fired it up to check that it turned on. It appears to be working fine so far. I only tried it in the default medium sensitivity mode and in air testing it picked up a US quarter at about 2". I'm not sure if that's a good or bad distance, but I do realize that this was an air-test, and that if I understand correctly, pulse machines should do better in the dirt. I did not try it yet in the more sensitive mode. I turned it on a few times and it did not lock-up after being on for a few minutes, so that's a good sign. The end cap was pristine this time around...no nicks, digs, dents, nothing...and no black staining on the red body parts, so that's another good sign. Although I don't think there was a battery continuity issue on the one I just returned, I noticed that the small pieces of foam inside the battery-well appear to either be larger or stiffer as the batteries did not just "slip" inside as before. I had to put a small bit of effort to get the batteries past the foam, which should hold them in place without rattling around and loosing contact, as others have mentioned. Hopefully they will retain their resiliency over the life of the device. I also noticed that the O-ring on the cap of this one appeared to be wet with something that I assume is a lubricant. My old one had a dry O-ring.

The F-Pulse box itself was intact this time, although FedEx trashed the outer box. It was crushed like someone had sat on it, and the packing tape was ripped half way down the length of the shipping box on one long side. Not an FTP issue, but a FedEx issue...just thought I'd make a note of it....seem like the last few boxes from FedEx have come in not the greatest of shape!

Going on a club seeded hunt/BBQ this weekend, followed by a few hours of detecting. This will be the first time that the F-Pulse will get used in a real-life scenario. Hopefully one of the other club members with a Garrett AT will consent to do an A/B test to compare/contrast the 2 devices.

And finally, customer service from FTP has been exemplary!!! Good service, & good communication!!!

 

[McKinney_5900]

I never knew there were foam spacers in the battery compartment. My replacement appears to only have one piece, not two, which is logically why I had to finally fatten the AA cells with scotch tape to remove the rattling when shaking it. Those guys really need to improve their quality control. If it isn't one thing, it's something else.

 

[Normsel]

I tried at home and 1st time on all it did was screech. Took battery out to shut it off. So that's 2 strikes. Took it out detecting and it would not change modes and couldn't find anything unless it was 1/2" away and even then I couldn't pinpoint it. That's 3 strikes.. I sent it back and got a refund.. When there is 2 pages of talk about it and it is either talk about flaws or issues and half the talk is defending the pinpointer then I don't want it. No longer an owner. On to try something else

 

[McKinney_5900]

I tried at home and 1st time on all it did was screech. Took battery out to shut it off. So that's 2 strikes. Took it out detecting and it would not change modes and couldn't find anything unless it was 1/2" away and even then I couldn't pinpoint it. That's 3 strikes.. I sent it back and got a refund.. When there is 2 pages of talk about it and it is either talk about flaws or issues and half the talk is defending the pinpointer then I don't want it. No longer an owner. On to try something else

Glad that you got the refund. There should be a "lemon law" here.

 

[andygold]

Hopefully it's all just teething problems. Funny thing though is that all the people who beta tested, and all the YouTubers who received early samples had no issues. I wonder if inadvertent design changes were made sometime between early examples and production models.

 

[andygold]

Had the new pinpointer out with me on a seeded hunt this past Saturday. I had it set to the medium sensitivity (2 beeps, 2 vibrations), and it worked well for what I was doing. The hunt was for 82, metal, Monopoly pieces (shoe, racecar, wrench, etc...) strewn in a tall grass field in a local park (probably about 6 acres). No digging tool allowed, as everything should be on the surface or possibly stepped-in a bit. When the metal detector went off, I used the PP to home in on whatever it was. 99% of the time, I had located something buried below the surface, but obviously not a Monoploy token, and consequently not allowed to dig. A few times, the PP would beep slowly no matter where I prodded through the grass, but this was remedied by detuning (ground balancing) it with a single press of the multifunction button. This happened probably 2 or 3 times out of about 200 targets, so I think that's pretty good, although I have no experience with any other pinpointer in the past, so I don't know if others occasionally ring out over a broad area.

No lock-ups to report. No battery continuity issues. Nothing at all bad or unexpected! So, I think I have a properly working device now. I've yet to actually use it while in a hole or on a plug. If I find any issues, I'll report them...otherwise, all seems good!

 

[mrdave03]

Thanks for the update andy I'm glad to hear things are good again. I could manage a few little hiccups like you mentioned.. Mine arrived at the repair facility a week ago. Yet no word from them as of yet. Hopefully they will get things sorted soon and I'll be functioning once again just as you are.

 

[McKinney_5900]

Hopefully it's all just teething problems. Funny thing though is that all the people who beta tested, and all the YouTubers who received early samples had no issues. I wonder if inadvertent design changes were made sometime between early examples and production models.

"Funny thing though is that all the people who beta tested, and all the YouTubers who received early samples had no issues."

If this is true that none of the beta testers had any issues...those units were special, or beta testers have a tendency to let a condition like the lockups...slip in concern since the device is free. I loved my first F-Pulse! It was the best pointer, and I own most every land pinpointer. The replacement they sent after the first got worse about locking up, was nowhere near the outstanding sensitivity pinpointer like that first one was. Their phone support just said the last F-PULSE was working within specifications, good-bye sir.

Is my replacement operational? Yes. It came with problems though, and failed me on my very first hunt in the field, which was a 30 mile ride away. I was pi$$ed! Fixed that battery contact/spring defect myself after getting home.

You would think, in today's world of total customer service, that a manufacturer of a product, would finish in establishing the same performance in a replacement. They do answer the phones, I admit, but slow many times, but when that last guy who was labeled an engineer says it works within specifications, "Good-bye Sir." That wasn't acceptable. Like I said already, I had to personally fix the intermittent battery and spring issue on the replacement.

Well a customer just has to take the disappointment, but it doesn't mean that the customer can't repeat the process that he went through with Fisher's "excellent customer service" in open dialog on the internet!

 

[Carl-NC]

McKinney, did you ask for a refund?

 

[McKinney_5900]

McKinney, did you ask for a refund?

No, not directly to West Texas on the phone. I had so many lingering issues, I figured it was apparent Carl.

 

[Carl-NC]

If you want a refund, you'll have to initiate it. I can step in and make sure it happens, but I can't initiate it. And, no, customer service isn't monitoring the forums looking for anything apparent.

 

[mrdave03]

Finally was able to get a good test run these past two weekends on the newly replaced F-Pulse. I'm happy to say everything works as expected. The only issue if even considered one is on rare occasion it loses ground balance and beeps slowly. All I do is touch it to the ground tap the button once and good to go again. I haven't tested on real depth but have been pulling coins easily at about 2 inches. It is good to be back in business!