Protimeter repair/replacement

[David Meiland]

My Surveymaster has become intermittent in scan mode. Used to do it once in a while, now it does it a lot... reading of 0 when placed on a surface (i.e. drywall), with a "real" reading flashing on the display briefly every several seconds. There's no discernable pattern.

I got ahold of GE and they say they no longer repair or calibrate these. They seem prepared to replace mine for $325, which is a rip since it's less than 2 years old and lightly used.

Any thoughts? Anyone fixed theirs?

[John Kogel]

There's no cheap fix for a bad circuit board, I'm afraid. It might be a loose connection, that's about all you can check for.

[rkenney]

Web search turned up this:

Call us for a quote at 800-828-1470 or go to Transcat.com/servicequote

Say they repair all kinds of instruments. Worth a call.

[kurt]

When mine did that, I took it apart and found a loose connection; it was pretty obvious. Fixed it.

I'm going on 22 years with mine.

[rkenney]

When mine did that, I took it apart and found a loose connection; it was pretty obvious. Fixed it.

Same symptoms?

[hausdok]

We bought a new SM a year ago. Occasionally it goes on the fritz and Yung brings it over to me to complain about it. I usually hold both buttons down for three or four seconds and get the thing to do a hard boot and it clears right up. Note: I have no idea whether it's actually doing a hard boot, but it seems to work.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[kurt]

Same symptoms?

Exactly.

Never heard of mikes hard boot method, but I might try it to see if it does anything.

[David Meiland]

Looks like I got lucky here. Heard from the GE person that these units are 24-month warranty. I was too stupid and lazy to look into that in the first place, and assumed that like all other "stuff" it would have some limp 6-month or maybe 12-month warranty. If your is not seeming right, and it's approaching it's 2nd birthday, it might be worth filing for a replacement.

[kieferma]

Yes, I'm trying to remember if I sent in that warranty card....I hope so..

[Jim Katen]

Yes, I'm trying to remember if I sent in that warranty card....I hope so..

In the U.S., manfacturers can't make your warranty coverage dependent on sending in a card. The item should be covered regardless.

The card is mostly for marketing, but it also makes it easier for the manufacturer to reach you if there's a recall.

[Mark P]

I'm having a problem with mine not turning off. It use to turn off by itself after a few minutes, now I can't get it to turn off at all and the battery just runs down. Even if I push the "off" button it won't shut off. Any suggestions?

[David Meiland]

Since starting this thread, I've had my replacement unit replaced. The first replacement showed the battery as dead no matter what, so I inquired about that and they said to send it in. The second replacement does the same, and also won't show a scan reading below about 75. I think these are buggy units, and am going to try a Delmhorst next time.

[Marc]

Should I blacklist Surveymaster?

Marc

[Jim Katen]

Should I blacklist Surveymaster?

Marc

There are an awful lot of them out there that are performing just fine. A thread like this will naturally tend to highlight the failures.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Wagner's moisture meters. My little L606 has been going strong since 1997 without a single hiccup. And they're made in the USA, if that matters.

[kurt]

I've had mine since 1989.......spooky, but no problems. They've gone through multitudes of design changes, so anything is possible now. I don't like the new one's very much; they're not as nice as mine, but I've used several other folks units that work fine.

Globalized manufacturing creates problems with quality control; there's no way to know if a particular mfg. run is good or bad until there's several thousand in use and info gets fed back. There's no such thing as made in America, or anywhere else; maybe assembled in America with parts from all over the world.