Probeholders for Apilus Xcell/ Platinum 27 mhz epilators

As some of you know , I have been talking to Apilus for some time about a deficiencies leadimg the charge for the better mouse-trap…err probeholder! Many of you have related to me over the years that the 27 mhz probeholders seem to lose their ability to conduct power after some weeks of use. I’ve seen brand new probeholders fail within a week of implementation, all of a sudden giving weakened power or no power at all. This had lead myself and many of you, to send your machines in for service ( expensive to ship insured!) which leaves you without a machine to work with for a considerable time as well.

In my experience the majority of time this comes down to the thin inner core breaking inside the wire. These inner cores are very fine and fragile, and any bending or stress on the cable whatsoever causes them to not function correctly. The Probeholder cords are not cheap at $79 plus tax and shipping but experience tells me that replacing it is the only known fix, at least for a few days.

After years of asking for it, and troubleshooting the issue, and plain up demanding that Dectro make a probeholder that is more robust in usage, I’m happy to say, they have done exactly that. I received yesterday what I believe is the FIRST extra strong custom made probeholder.

What makes these so special? Well it starts with the most common form of failure, the wire itself. The wire on these is approximately 5 X the diameter and strength of a regular probeholder, and the shielding surrounding the inner core is much larger and sturdier as well. This leads to a stiffer , tougher product that doesn’t flex around ( and break) like the old ones did .The common failure points often are where the probeholder itself connects to the wire, and this appears to have been beefed up as well with extra heavy duty shrinkwrap around the cable and securing it stiffly in place.

Having had a chance to use this probeholder yesterday, I can make the following observations. The current was consistent. This I think is the most important aspect. Second the cord is heavier, so one shouldnt set it down anywhere but the receptical, otherwise the cord weight will pull it off the surface you set it down on. The cord is somewhat less flexible by design, but I didnt have a lot of trouble using it. You will find a textured coating on the probeholder itself that helps with maintaining grip.

I’m going to be testing this probeholder extensively over the next few weeks,and will update at that time as to how it has stood up durability wise, . If anyone has experieced issues with inconsistent current on Platinum or Xcell, then I do recommend the new style as a suitable replacement. At $10 more its still a lot cheaper than replacing a probeholder every month or so. As far as I know, these are still in a prototype/limited production at Dectro stage, so you will need to contact Dectro directly to get one.

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So exited to hear how the problem is being solved. The epilator is such a gem, but it goes no where without a consistent, functioning probe holder. For those that say Dectro service is lousy, uh, well, it is not!

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I wouldnt rate Dectro’s service as lousy, it’s generally good, but with some issues. As long as the platinum was out was a very long time to not come up with a fix to this problem however, and in my opinion when they are unable to fulfill an order they should be notifying the client before shipping an incomplete order without informing them, and working to get that part and notifying clients when it is available if it should happen. I am thankful though that they finally addressed the problem ( my comment to Eric Duquette in Montreal Dectro , It took you guys long enough! Send me 3 of them!)

You’re correct though that it was an utter shame to tarnish the reputation of an otherwise very good epilator, by supplying it with a poorly constructed accessory.

As an update, After one week the current seems consistent. I’m going to continue to monitor this but it seems okay so far, Very typical/busy week .

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Sean’s, is there a way to tell if the probe holder is the old fragile type or the newer consistent type? There is some writing on the black cable but if there is a way to tell the two apart, it would be great

The really fine probeholder wire is the old type the Courser one ( about 3-4m mm wide) is the newer type. My experience, neither is better than the other in terms of reliability.I ordwr the HD probeholders out of habit but I replaced the last one after less than 30 days use.So all things considered, not that much difference.

Would you be able to tell which type it is if I uploaded a photo?

yes but theres really no need. The HD probeholders the wire is at least 3X the diameter of the skinny OE ones. You cant miss it. If it’s about the diameter of a pencil lead, it’s OE. If it’s quite a bit wider, its an HD one.

I definitely have the thinner one then, could I ask what your abbreviations HD & OE stand for?

HD is the name dectro gave to these more robust probeholders.
OE stands for Original Equipment ( IE what the machine shipped with)

I quite wish the cable could freely rotate; I find the cable often forms loops during the course of especially longer sessions, & are points of tension for failure.

sadly radio frequency requires much tighter tolerances than that

I have attached a handle to my platinum for easy one handed carry as i regularly need to move it—but the wires are still a bit annoying, I’m wondering coiling it up would be inadvisable, as you would a vacuum lead (upright models)