Escort/Visual Alert Plug:

[painman]

I recently bought a Marc Parnes Visual Alert that plugs into the speaker jack on the Escort 50. Problem is the plug keeps popping out and the other day as I rounded a corner a bike cop is standing there on the side of the road with his radar gun pointed right at me and yes the plug had popped out of the speaker jack. Luckilly I was within the allowable limit for the street. So I contacted Marc and he contacted Escort. Seems there were some Escort X-50's that the plastic case is too thick on the side and the plug on the Visual Alert or any other device with the US plug doesn't plug in all the way to lock. Escort is going to do the fix but be warned Escort is only doing it under warranty for free and that is one year. Otherwise it is 59 bucks to have it fixed and it cost me 18 bucks to ship with insurance. Frankly I don't think this is right on Escorts part but that seems to be the way it is. I'm not complaining but putting this out there if anyone is having the same issue with the jack on the Escort X-50. I really love the setup with the Alert and found it to be way better than having to use a speaker setup or an alert in the helmet that depends on batteries to run. And at night time I can lower the volume on the detector to lower the brightness on the Alert. So for now I'll be keeping it cool without the RD unit on board. PM. <><

 

[Toecutter]

Plastic case too thick? $59+ shipping you say? I think Mr. Dremel would be fixing mine....

 

[turbodave_98]

Senor Soldering Iron plus Mr. Dremel.

Yup. Works good.

 

[painman]

Plastic case too thick? $59+ shipping you say? I think Mr. Dremel would be fixing mine....

Luckily mine is still under warrantee but paid shipping to Escort. Don't think using the Dremel is the answer to the fix though. You probably could use one but it wouldn't look right. And as with anything under warrantee if I tried to do the fix that would automatically void any warrantee. I expect they will have to replace the whole case on the RD. I'll find out and try and report back what happened as for the fix for anyone else that may have this problem. Thanks for the ideas though. PM. <><

 

[650cent]

Thanks for keeping an update coming. My VA plug just barely stays plugged into the Escort but I'm past warrenty. An inexpensive fix would be great.

I too like the Visual Alert better than earphones, wish there was some way to attach a string of LEDs to the edge of the windshield so the whole shield would flash red.

Bill

 

[user 8909]

Just wanted to mention that the "Sreamer" works great and I use earplugs and have no problem hearing it at interstate speeds as well. Also much better that an earphone.

https://www.motorcycleradar.com/products_pg...adar%20Screamer

 

[painman]

Thanks for keeping an update coming. My VA plug just barely stays plugged into the Escort but I'm past warrenty. An inexpensive fix would be great. I too like the Visual Alert better than earphones, wish there was some way to attach a string of LEDs to the edge of the windshield so the whole shield would flash red.

Bill

Bill, I got an instant vision of LED's flashing around my windshield. That is one cool thought. I tried to post up a 160X120 jpeg pic of the plugs from PhotoBucket but was unable to do so. Oh, well I tried. PM. <>< :angry2:

 

[doug5551]

Painman,

Many thanks for posting on this matter. I just purchases a Escort and Parnes combo in the last month in preparation for a little trip to Nevada. I just pulled into my driveway and what do I see upon dismounting but my Parnes visual ID plug out and hanging down, useless, rather than doing its job. I would have had not idea what was up if you had not made this post.

I will be contacting Escort tomorrow for them to fix under warrenty so that I can have a usable RD.

Thanks again

 

[painman]

This is an update on the plug not staying in on the Parnes L.E.D. Visual Alert unit best I can. I sent my Escort 8500 back to them to do the update on the unit per Marc in conjunction with Steve at Escort. They replaced the ear phone jack and said they did the update. I took the bike with some friends out to Stension Beach this weekend on a ride and guess what? The plug still will not lock into place. It was better but not good enough. So later I call Mark Parnes and explain the situation and he said the newer Escort units with the FCC ID. number ending in "M4" are the newer units that are starting to have the problem with the plug not staying in the jack. The older units do not have this issue. According to him Escort is having the issue with about 1 in 10 units for a reason they are trying to figure out at this time. Marc had me dremel the tip of the US plug half way down the "cone" shaped tip on the end of the top of the plug to see if it would lock in and it only made it worse. Seems the antenna on the circuit board inside the Escort unit is blocking the US plug from "locking" into place. So Marc, being the gentleman he is, is sending me 2 new units to try. One with the same US plug in the remote case my plug could be at fault and another unit with the Japan 90 degree plug that supposedlly isn't as good as the US plug but should hopefully stay in place. I really think Escort didn't do an "update" on the unit and that they only changed out the jack. I really like and want to keep the Visual Alert above anything else out there and hopefully this can be resolved. Marc said other units were starting to show up that have this issue. I guess I had been the first. Lucky me. My unit was manufactured in Oct. of 2006 and bought in Dec. of 2006. Anyway, as soon as I get the new Alert units to try out I will report back once again. It's ironic you had posted up Doug and hope you get some good results as I feel this is the way the RD should be setup for protection. Hopefully this will be worked out soon. PM. <>< :blink: :blink:

 

[marcparnes]

Hi Guys,

First off you should know that there are two different types of plugs that will fit the 3.5mm jack on the Escorts. They are called Japan and US. The Japan plug is shorter and does not have as secure a lock as the US plug does. I had used a right angle Japan plug since the beginning. Occasionally users would complain that the plug would vibrate loose. I contacted Escort and they suggested going to a US plug which has a more secure locking mechanism.

Here are the issues:

On some Escort 8500 units the plastic case was made too thick. The result is that the earphone jack is further away from the outside of the plastic case than it should be. The Japan plug will work to some degree because it's locking area is not as defined as the US plug. On those units with a too thick case the US plug bottoms out on the case before the locking area reaches the locking tab inside the jack so the plug will eventually fall out.

There are two options to rectify the problem. The first is to contact Escort and ask to have Steve modify the case and move the jack so the US plug can lock in correctly. I would for sure send in the VA with it so he can make sure it works before he sends it back. The other option is for me to install a right angle Japan plug on your VA. This plug will probably work to some degree but it might eventually pop out unless secured in place.

The other issue relates to late units with M4 as the last two digits on the FCC label on the bottom of the unit. These were made with the antennae too close to the back of the earphone jack. The result is that the tip of the US plug will touch the antennae and the VA won't work at all. I have solved this by shortening the US plug by 1/32" when I know it's going to be used in a late detector.

There is a definite advantage in using the US plug. It has a much better locking position so that when it fits correctly it can't come out. Even if the Japan plug works as it is designed it is still not locked as securely as the US plug and has the potential to pop out even when everything is right.

I'm doing everything I can to help rectify these problems. I've been in contact with Escort multiple times trying to get to the cause of the problem which I eventually did with Steve's cooperation. The thick case is a manufacturing issue. The antennae location is an engineering issue but I've got that handled by modifying the plug.

So, now you know everything I know

BTW, these problems do not relate to the new Escort 9500i unit. The US plug works perfectly on that one.

Marc

 

[BugR]

$3 solution, I use a vecro strip, just wrap it around the unit and wire.

Chris

 

[doug5551]

I just got off the phone with Marc Parnes. I am going to ride to his shop in Huntington Beach tomorrow and see if he can get this issue resolved. I will post up what we figure out when I get back.

 

[painman]

Update, after talking to Marc again and trying two new units he mailed to me, the plug on my Escort still didn't want to stay in. So as per Marc's instructions I took the case apart and inserted the plug and it did lock into place in the jack. As mentioned intially thought the plug was hitting the atenna on the circuit board but not the case. The plug was not going in far enough. So I took the board out of the unit and Dremeled out a radius on the case around where the jack is with the #194 Dremel carving bit the same size as the plug aprox. 1/32" in and the plug now locks into place. If anyone does this please take the unit apart (#9 Torx bit), and remove the board that has the jack in it so as not to damage the jack. It is really simple to take the case off. The problem with the Escort with FCC numbers ending in M4 on the sticker on the back as mentioned are the units that have the case too thick. All this as per Marc's instructions and now the US plug is locked in and all is good. Just want to say thanks to Mr. Parnes for going the extra mile with this when it was not his product that was at issue but guided me in the right direction anyway and am sure he helped Doug out as well. Thanks again and everyone help support Marc Parnes and his products as he is a member here on the board. PM. <>< B)

 

[marcparnes]

Thanks PM for the kind words. I'm just glad it worked out for you.

Just one correction, the M4 problem has to do with the placement of the jack relative to the antennae. This is different than the case thickness issue which seems not to have any pattern. According to Escort the antennae is too close to the back of the jack which leaves the potential for the tip of the plug to touch it. On Doug's and PM's it was close but didn't touch even though they are both M4 units so I guess there's a margin of error there as well.

In any case, we got both of them fixed today so I'm happy :yahoo:

Thanks,

Marc