20 Most Recent Garmin GPS III Questions & Answers

Hi,

You cannot replace the internal battery on this unit yourself.You need to contact Garmin for the same.Most of their GPS's are hermetically sealed and positively pressurized by Nitrogen. Stops internal corrosion and makes them truly waterproof. You have to break the seals to take it apart, and then re-gas it.

Let me know,if needed further assistance.

Hope i helped you.

Thanks for using ' Fixya ' and have a nice day!!

IF it stil won't pwer up with the dc plug, I suspect the internal battery. Lots of info online on replacement, you can CAREFULLY snip one lead as a a diagnostic test to take it out of the circuit. Good Luck!

The connectors are obvious, careful when youopen it up as the wires aren't very long! Look at the internal battery - it may be corroded looking - which is a sure sign it's gone west. Lots of info online on replacing it, you can try carefully snipping one of the battery leads and see if the sympton changes. Good luck

Try the dc plug too (also make sure the battery connections are good in the caste). IF still no power up, the internal battery may be shorted. Lots of info online for replacing the internal battery. Good Luck!

I have a GPSII+ that has a screen problem. Several of the x and y coordinates have failed and I think it is due to condensation in the unit due to hot day temps then cold nights. If I open it and dry out the unit for a while... the display will be better but will not return to full display. Some of the X and Y lines don't work.

The internal antenna BNC connection (the little steel bayonet that the secures the antenna or extender cable) is a common failure on these units. The threaded retaining ring on the outside of the antenna BNC comes loose when installing/removing the antenna connection, and eventually the BNC rotates and the solder joint inside fails. This happened on mine recently, if you are handy fixing small mechanical parts and a good solderer it is pretty  easy to fix. Remove the batteries, remove all six outer case screws (but not the one with the oval metal plate) and gently pull the housing apart. Check the solder connection of the coax wire to the BNC pin & shield. If it's broken and the BNC is loose in the GPS case, tighten the outer BNC retaining ring VERY tight, add a drop of thin super glue (Hot Stuff or Permabond CyA, etc) to keep the ring/BNC/case mated, then repair the coax solder  connection. Replace all the screws and test it outside. If it's an aviation GPS you would of course have this done by an FAA licensed avionics specialist. Wink wink.

If it were doing this just on the Vista machine I would say it was Vista related but since you are getting it from an xp machine as well the problem is either cable or the gps unit. You don;t say if this just started happening or ? If you can try out the cable on something else to make sure so you can eliminate it. About the only thing you can do is to make sure the port settings in the pilot are set correctly. Generally the slower the better if you are having communication problems as this makes the signal timing not as critical. Try 9600 baud to start. Make sure that the data bits are also set roght. This is the 8n1 or 7n1 thing you see. I can;t think of what the default is on the garmin but as long as both pc and garmin have speed, bits, parity, and stop but set the same they should talk.

Try to download from the unit as well as upload.Unfortunetly you can only change the speed and protocal or reset the unit. You won't be able to fix it if is a hardware thing. If you are using a USB to Serial adapter then I would say that is your problem or could be. Cheaper ones just don't work often on higher port speeds. You might want to try the gps on a pc with a actual serial port if you are using one. If it works then you should try a different brand of adapter or really slow down the speeds.

This won;t solve it unless you luck out but it should let you know where the problem is.

Dave

A couple of ideas, craigslist, ebay, or a Garmin Dealer. They can actually purchase discontinued GPS for a considerably lower price.

Good Luck!

I have one that has a broken screen. I would buy your unit for $20, or possibly sell you mine for around the same.
Email me at [email protected]

I think I may have found the solution.

A reply for a post on another site:

I visited the Garmin Corp office to seek help with that problem. If the shut down occurs right after satellite acquisition and the screen may show just a narrow black line going across it, it is likely due to some program changes the sattelite folks did without telling the software programmers. Garmin web site has a free download fix for the problem. Another option is to go into your settings and turn off the WAAS. Hope this helps. Go to the web site, check downloads, find your model gps and there you go. Good luck.

I disabled WAAS and so far so good.

I couldn't find the fix on the Garmin site.

HTH.

Have a look on their web site; https://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/GPSMAP_78_OM_EN.pdf&vssid=collectionitem-web-desktophttps://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/GPSMAP_78_OM_EN.pdf

I suggest you try resetting the device by following the instructions in the owner's manual. If the issue persists, it may be due to an error in the map database. You can try reinstalling the maps to the memory card after unlocking them for your device. If you are still experiencing issues, please contact Garmin Product Support for further assistance . Correcting the Message "Can't Unlock Maps" or "Can't Authenticate Maps" on a Garmin Automotive Device ' Garmin Customer Support

By 'resetting' you mean it switches off, and because it is connected to power, it boots back up. Do you have a SD Card in it? I had trouble with a Nuvi 1350 with SD Card that had the whole USA Map on it, mine came with the Canada Map only. It would randomly turn off, so I decided to buy a Factory Refurbished Drive 50. I removed the SD Card and Reset the Nuvi and it worked perfectly after that. The Drive 50 was also a bit flaky, and resetting fixed that as well. You can back up your Favourites beforehand.

I recently purchased a Garmin GPSMAP 78s I had a lot of trouble calibrating the compass; I literally tried it hundreds of times without success. I also did a hard reset etc etc. Believe me I definitely tried everything possible but to no avail I did contact Garmin but they didn't have an answer straight away for the problem I have now sorted it as follows: Do each step VERY SLOWLY, MUCH slower than you think you should There are three steps to go through in calibrating the compass 1)Spinning the whole unit around flat 2)Flipping it over longitudinally and then 3) Flipping it over end to end. But remember do each step VERY slowly and go to the next step when prompted by the unit This solved my issue. I can now calibrate my compass 9 out of 10 attempts Hope that helps

To open the MTP settings on your Garmin Nuvi 50LM, you will need to access the device's menu. From the main menu, select the "Settings" option and then select the "System" option. From there, you should be able to access the MTP settings. If you are still unable to access the settings, you may need to contact the manufacturer for assistance.

You will need to go to the Garmin website on your computer or laptop and set up an account. I think the sign up is free. You will then need to connect your Garmin to the computer and update it that way.

Hi Earl, Sometime it could just be of aging. I have a 130, it was having similar problems, until i realized it was the screen not showing, but power on turning on. In your case, I probably probably try a hard factory reset as follows: To perform a master reset:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press the PAGE, ENTER2, and POWER buttons simultaneously.
3. Release all buttons once the Do you really want to erase all user data? message appears.
4. Select Yes.

hope this helps! Kevin