My GPS Is Farting Out On Me

“For the past month or so my Garmin GPS 3+ has been going on the blink and more than not will not even pick up satellite signals anymore. Sometimes it does but most of the time it won't.

While driving to the trailhead today I got signals and tracked my way to the parking area. I got to the trailhead and marked a waypoint, then about 50 yards up the trail, my GPS wasn't showing any signs of satellite signals and I could not get it to work. Sometimes I can shut the thing off or take out and put back in the batteries and it will start receiving, but today it would not. So I put the thing away for the hike.

I contacted Garmin about this last week and they charge a flat fee of $125 to "overhaul" a 3+ unit. The dood I talked to said he owned every hand held unit made by Garmin (As a tech support person he has to know how they all work) and he recommended the 3+ as a unit worth overhauling. But for $125???...geeze!

Of course, when I got back to the van today and turned on the unit...it picked up signals. UGH!”

“Bummage dude. I want to pick up a GPS for sea kayaking. Hopefully open ocean will make picking up satellites much less of a hassle.”

“Have you tried reinitializing it and letting it outside for 20/30 min to build up a new almanac?

Can you reinstall the software and reinitialize it?

I bought my new Magellan because after going caching and dropping it, I couldn't pick anything up, no Sat's, nothing... tried it for 3/4 days. A few days after I got my new Magellan I tried it just for kicks and it worked...been working ever since.

I suspect it was lonely........

Thats what I told my wife at least...”

“lonely gear?”

“Mine got dropped down a rock or two (and almost into a hole!) climbing on some bluffs to a cache yesterday. Hope it still hangs in there and works!”

“I've had multiple Garmin GPS's. They have EXCELLENT customer service. I would never buy another brand since they have been great with me.”

“The thing is REALLY pizzing me off!!!

Today I went on another hike, and although while driving to the trailhead the unit picked up signals, it quit on me after about 100yds into the trail. I tried and tried to get the thing to work but nooooooooo. Of course, when I turned it on in the middle of the hike it worked, then farted out again w/in 1/4mile. While hiking back, it did the same thing.

Send It Back...
How can I send back something that is almost 5 years old? This is an "out-of-warranty" item.

Unfortunately it looks like I'll be throwing down $125 to get it overhauled.”

“Buddur, have you posted this on the www.geocaching.com forums? Might find a solution there, or find out if this is a typical problem...”

“...some complaints, with both Garmin and Magellan, that were doing exactly what you're describing...the problem was loose battery contacts.

Worth a try.”

“Gforce just gave me one and I think it is way cool.

Thank you Gary!!!!!

8)

Sorry to hear about your's Buddur.”

“OH, CMB... don't let yourself be deluded from backpacking by a thing like a GPS!!! hell, you'll be geocaching... NEXT THING, YOU'LL BE CAR CAMPING!!!

ohoh!! Buddur, try this to check loose battery contacts. Somehow, in the battery compartment, if it will work, put a small piece of cardboard to force the batteries to better fill any "loose" space.

It might not work, with battery contacts on each end. I just know I had a camera external flash I had to do that with, put cardboard in to fill space, so there was pressure and the contact become constant.”

“Along those lines, have you cleaned the battery contacts?”

“do you have the uplink cable? Look and see if a new software version is available for it. When it flashes it might overwrite the whatever is causing that.”

“Loose battery contacts would cause the unit to turn itself off, I read that on a GPS site last night.

There is a page with circles and numbers, the circles representing the atmosphere above and the numbers the satellites and their relative positions. Below that is a row of the satellite numbers, and above them should be signal strength bars, the height of the bar representing the strength. When the bars appear that means the unit is picking up a signal from that particular satellite, and when the bar turns solid is when the unit connects and is using that satellite signal for positioning. My problem is, more than not anymore, there is NO signal from ANY satellites. I'm going to take the thing apart tonight and check the BNC connector wires to see if they are loose. Other than that I'm not sure what else I can do.

I did read on a site about how some GPSs can be re-initialized by leaving thwm outside for about 12 hours so they can get an "almanac" of all the satellites, their positions and signals. That's what I'm doing right now, I got the thing outside and wouldn't you know it...it's picking up signals.”

“In using my Etrex over the weekend, I can walk around in a wide open area and only pick up maybe 3 satellites on the screen you're mentioning. WTF? There have to be more than 3 satellites out there (Unless our gov. perhaps has some "locked out" at times doing war preparation stuff?? huh huh? Could that be a possibility??)

Within 45 minutes I'm in an area with much more trees and bluffs and it's telling me it can find a location within 21 ft. Picking up like 7 satellites. What gives?”

“liz, for whatever reason I dont get more then 3 satellites either. strange...I wonder...”

“I'm getting 6/7 sats, sitting at my computer, depends on how I hold it. The EPE is at 13'....my old Tracker is getting only 3 or 4 at the window.....

Now it's gone from feeling lonely to feeling inadequate.”

“LOL! Apparently it can join our other inadequate GPSs.”

“Well I finally did it... I sent in my GPS for "reconditioning" last week. I tried everything to get it running but the dang thing kept konking out on me and not picking up satellites.

I just received the unit and the Repair Summary goes as such...
Confirmed Problem. Found an open BNC cable. Replaced the rear case to correct the problem.
Modified the lithium battery circuit. Changed the front case, keypad, and antenna. Transferred customer waypoint data. Unit passes all tests and is operating within normal limits. Unit acquires satellites.

And I even opened up the thing to check for loose antenna wires, evidently the problem wasn't visually apparent. Anyways, they replaced the front having a new display screen and buttons, and a new antenna to boot. Hope this survives longer than the 5 years it originally lived (fingers crossed).”

“I sent my Magellen 315 back twice withing months of purchasing it 5 years ago. Since the last return it has worked flawlessly. I think it was a good reminder to never let my basic nav. skills get too rusty. What brand was yours?”

“I have a Garmin GPS 3+.

And I paid $125 to have it reconditioned.”

“You must really like your model. Mine fits like a glove.Just enough features, but not too many. If you havn't already, I recommend getting the Natl. Geographic Topo CD-ROM of your state. It works perfectly with almost every GPS,even the old ones. I save big "$" making my own custom maps, that are perfectly suited to my GPS.
I harldy even turn it on in the backcountry unless I'm looking for a particular camp spot at night. Most of the time it's used to find the trailhead...”

“Why not a new unit? The unit I'd want costs a whopping $350+...that's why! Anyways, what I have is more than adequate for what I need...amd the price of a new unit imo doesn't justify the few extra features I'd be gaining.

I use TopoZone for topographic maps and to get location coordinates.”

“Looks like my garmin etrex vista is heading into the shop. Won't pick up more than 2 satellites at a time on a clear day.”

“have you guys bothered to call for tecnical assistence”