I recently had my Cruzer parked at a quiet airstrip and noticed a VERY low volume continuous tone in the plane which I traced to the buzzer of my Artex ELT 345. The self-test was good and the beacon was not activated, but the tone remained. With no response from the Artex email form, I called the main number, explained the issue and was immediately transferred to a tech who knew exactly what was happening. Apparently, there is a software bug in some batches of the ELT 345 which causes this. They immediately sent me the forms (ELT programming info and RMA authorization) via email to fill out for a no-cost replacement. I received it 3 weeks later (ELT/Battery only, no new mount/hardware) and swapped them out after registering the new unit and transferring ownership of the old back to Artex. The old unit is on its way back.

I don't know what "batches" had the defect and I was not notified. Mine was about 2.5 years old. I don't know when it started, but it wasn't there for the Special Airworthiness inspection last Feb. It might be a good idea to open up the old hell hole and take a listen if you have an Artex ELT 345. Other than a slight battery drain, I don't think any functionality is impacted.