ipsilateral
Sr. Member
I've been using Fisher metal detectors for 33 years. I know damned well how to use a metal detector. My 1266-X finally died last winter and I've been wanting to be able to get in the surf. So I ordered a brand new Fisher 1280-X Aquanaut (my fourth Fisher machine). I was excited to head out to the beach and try it out in the spring, but once I assembled it, the stem was too short. I called Fisher and though there were several weeks of delays, they ultimately sold me a shaft that was long enough. This ended up being a terrible mistake because it put me outside the 30 day return period. I wasn't worried; it was under warranty.
I got out there and Day 1 was great in dry sand. Lots of nails, a few coins, all the usual stuff and it was pulling small targets deep-- 12"+. Day 2, I go out and same thing for about an hour or two. Then I get a bunch of crazy fizzling interference noise and I thought maybe it was salt interference. I headed up to the sand by the dunes and I start to notice I'm not funding many targets. So I go and test it with targets I had picked up dropping them on the surface-- penny, nail, pop top, etc. And it's only getting like 3" of depth (8/9 sensitivity, 1/2 discriminator). Same thing, 3".
I figure bad batteries and bad luck and pack it up. Head home and grab some fresh batteries and test it at home. Same thing. So I decide I had better send it in for repair. I call Fisher. They graciously give me a ticket and a shipping label and I send it in. A week or so later, I get a voicemail. "There's nothing wrong with the machine; we're sending it back". Odd. So it arrives back and I test it. Not working. No depth.
Finally, I call and they connect me to one of their two senior technicians. Guy says he's been working on them for decades. He said though he signed off on it, a junior staff member had done the testing and he oversaw the test and there we go. He said it easily detected in the air to 9"+ on a variety of targets. Ok, I tell him, but it's not working.. Relay the story etc. Guy says send it back. Maybe some salt water got into the coil and messed it up and caused an intermittent issue.
So round two. I send it back. Mind you, I've now been without a working detector since FEBRUARY and it's now late MAY. That's a long time for me. I like to hunt. I sent it back and the same machine was quickly returned to me and received today, June 4th. No explanation. No note. No call. And it doesn't work any better than before. I've got a $565 surface machine. And I'm never buying another Fisher again. Such a huge disappointment. This was supposed to be summer fun for me and my 11 year old.
I got out there and Day 1 was great in dry sand. Lots of nails, a few coins, all the usual stuff and it was pulling small targets deep-- 12"+. Day 2, I go out and same thing for about an hour or two. Then I get a bunch of crazy fizzling interference noise and I thought maybe it was salt interference. I headed up to the sand by the dunes and I start to notice I'm not funding many targets. So I go and test it with targets I had picked up dropping them on the surface-- penny, nail, pop top, etc. And it's only getting like 3" of depth (8/9 sensitivity, 1/2 discriminator). Same thing, 3".
I figure bad batteries and bad luck and pack it up. Head home and grab some fresh batteries and test it at home. Same thing. So I decide I had better send it in for repair. I call Fisher. They graciously give me a ticket and a shipping label and I send it in. A week or so later, I get a voicemail. "There's nothing wrong with the machine; we're sending it back". Odd. So it arrives back and I test it. Not working. No depth.
Finally, I call and they connect me to one of their two senior technicians. Guy says he's been working on them for decades. He said though he signed off on it, a junior staff member had done the testing and he oversaw the test and there we go. He said it easily detected in the air to 9"+ on a variety of targets. Ok, I tell him, but it's not working.. Relay the story etc. Guy says send it back. Maybe some salt water got into the coil and messed it up and caused an intermittent issue.
So round two. I send it back. Mind you, I've now been without a working detector since FEBRUARY and it's now late MAY. That's a long time for me. I like to hunt. I sent it back and the same machine was quickly returned to me and received today, June 4th. No explanation. No note. No call. And it doesn't work any better than before. I've got a $565 surface machine. And I'm never buying another Fisher again. Such a huge disappointment. This was supposed to be summer fun for me and my 11 year old.
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