My V1 radar detector burnt out.
 

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I love my V1 detectors, I've owned 2 of them. one new style case and a thicker taller older unit.

Just a couple months ago I bought a used one from a fellow Pelican member, no fault of his, but it did give me 2-3 months of good service and many confirmed saves/hits from patrol units. This used 8 year old thicker one died on me, lots of stinky burnt electronics odor came wafing out at me one day and the display wouldn't work / power up.

Crap.

Just a FYI, you can send in your old detector for repair for $45 flat rate, or get a whole new detector for $189. Trade in your old one instead of $400 for another purchase.

As this one was 8 years old, I went with the brand new one, as the new style units are half the height of the old style. New better detection modes and laser tuning too.

I thought that was pretty cool customer service. I love the detection range of my V1. and feel naked without it even when doing the speed limit or just 5-7 mph over. :rolleyes:

they're worth their weight in gold.

The best self defense device since the single action Colt.

Hmm. . . I think I know this Pelican Member. . . that seems to be about the same as the upgrade price, perhaps V1's "upgrade" consists of recycling the old circuit board and shipping a new production unit? Probably, I saw a new one on the windshield of a car yesterday and it was a lot thinner than the old one.

I would check immediately your system voltage, that's the only thing I can possibly think of-- and the internally regulated alternators on the 82SC (first year for the internal reg) are notorious for a failure mode that sends the voltage to 17 volts. Given your background you probably keep a close watch on that but it could be an issue even though I'm sure the V1 has internal overvoltage protection.

Send me a PM if you wish to discuss offline, sorry to hear of your misfortune.

laneco fried one on her trip. It was the car, not the detector.

Saves my butt 1-2 times a week. Not that I'm speeding but it let's me know where the road tax agents are....

Let me get this straight...you can mail them an old unit & get a brand-new one for only $189? If that is true, I wish I would have known that a year ago when I bought a new one.

However, if it is true it could mean I could mail back my old one (which I still have) & get a 2nd V1 for $189. No more moving it back & forth between my 2 cars -- I can have 1 in each car!

Please confirm this "deal". Thanks.

Yes, you mail back an old unit, (functional or not) as long as you're the registered owner, and the serial number is there and intact (ala not stolen) then yes they ship a brand new V1 to you for $189 plus shipping.

My V1 died while in my 1998 dodge pickup. Not a porsche. And YES no more transfering the "only" family V1 between cars. Twice the detectors, TWICE the protection.

check into the replacement units/cost and go for it. Yes this is a valid deal and the norm, I'm not an exception. I just got mine brand new unit today.

Call V1 at 1-800-331-3030

or www.valentine1.com

Escort did the same for me. I had my X50/8500 get fried when I got caught in a torrential downpour on my bike. I've never seen rain like that. I forget what the flat charge was, but they called and said they couldn't fix it and would replace it for $80. So I got a new one for $80. Very happy with it and it's paid for itself many times.

Same here.

Another thing that people do not know about is that Valentine upgrades the software in the units so even if your detector is still working fine, you can sent them the serial number and see if they have an upgrade for it.

Do you want to sell the power cable/cigarette lighter adapter? Mine has a short in it. I haven't called Valentine yet... Thanks!

The power cable is just a regular phone cable. Any cable that would connect a phone to a wall or the handset to the phone will work for a V1.

My wife's ex-stepfather died several years back. Even though he and her mother had gotten divorced, they were still sort of close. After he died we were told that we could wander around the house and take anything that we were interested in. He had a brand new V1 still in the box that it'd arrived in unopened. I never registered it but I have gotten the cigarette lighter adapter fixed (replaced actually) by Valentine 1. They've never asked me about who I am or anything. I'm not sure how much the "registered owner" thing matters.

They check serial numbers to see if they have been reported stolen.....so keep that in your records.

go out to their website and they sell all their parts there for cheap.

Back in 1982 or so, I lived in an apartment & I stupidly left my Escort radar detector in my car overnight. One morning I discovered someone had smashed the window in my '82 RX-7 GS & took my Escort...plus the piece of cement he threw to break the window did $400 damage to my interior!

Anyway, I figured I would never see the Escort again. However, about 2 weeks later the police called to tell me they had recovered my detector. Apparently they had raided some guy's apartment & it was full of stolen things, including my Escort! The police contacted Cincinnati Microwave & they had my name & info from when I had bought it (direct).

So it was good that they had my info. Unfortunately I didn't get the Escort back for 6 months because they had to hold it for evidence to convict the jerk.

On a related note, I was at a PCA lapping day at Mid-Ohio recently & Mike Valentine was there in his beautiful yellow Carrera GT. I figure I paid for a small part of the car! I have owned an Escort, a Passport (he was one of the founders of Cincinnati Microwave) & 2 V1s.

you were lucky to get it back at all.
what did the guy get in court?

There's some irony there in the cops getting your RD back for you so you can avoid paying their fines. Love it.

I don't know what happened to the guy. The police told me they could not charge him with stealing my detector unless they could show it as evidence in court. I was mad at the guy so I let them keep it until the trial.

I agree. I remember I called the police department every week or so asking if I could get it back. I always felt funny asking if I could have my radar detector back.

I joked that they probably took it apart & pulled a couple wires before they gave it back.

Rick's comment made me think of another quick story. About 5 years ago while driving to work one morning a cop pulled me over for speeding. He said he used radar, but my V1 never went off.

I actually went to mayor's court to try to get out of the ticket. My argument was he couldn't have clocked me with radar because my radar detector never went off. I have to admit that I was a little worried about what they would say about my defense. The mayor stared at me for a few seconds & said because my record was clean he would waive the points on my license but not the fine. So I kept my license clean & they still got their $. I still don't think the cop actually clocked me with radar.

I would have asked to see the cop's radar readout in that case.

They used to confiscate them in VA, but they had to give it back to you if you asked for it in writing. I figured the fine for getting caught with one there was always cheaper than the cheapest speeding ticket. Sure saved my butt there for years.

My old driving instructor worked for my local town police. I asked him what he thought about radar detectors and he said that I should get a radar detector because the state police are a "bunch of savages" when it comes to tickets. He said if people slowed down near where he was pointing radar, he was happy because it would save him the hassle of writing someone a ticket, and they would slow down in an area where he wanted them to.

I think i'm going to buy a valentine one on ebay pretty soon...