tsproing Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 I went out for a geocaching walk today and it was snowing pretty hard. I knew my batteries needed to be replaced soon, so I brought extras along. After nearly an hour of walking, I was within 30 seconds of the cache site and my screen started to fade due to low batteries. I was very careful opening it up to replace them, but some snow got into it. I did my best to wipe it dry, put the batteries in and tried to turn it on. It beeped as if it was turning on, showed a weak screen like it did when my batteries were low for about a second, and then went totally blank. I gave up on the cache and went home and opened up the battery compartment to let it sit for a while. Will it be OK once I thoroughly dries, or have I caused permanent damage? And if I've messed it up, is it fixable? Oh, please, someone give me some good news! Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) I think it will be just fine. What kind of GPSr is it and how old? (some have battery terminal problems) Edited March 3, 2006 by BlueDeuce Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 It may be a problem with your batteries and the ouside Temp. In very cold conditions most batteries will stop functioning. You might try a set of Lithium batteries, these are made by Eveready, the lithium batteries will function much bettter than anything other batteries in colder conditions. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 moving to the appropriate forum Quote Link to comment
tsproing Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 I'm sorry I originally posted this in the wrong forum. I am new at this and didn't see any other place to post it. It is a Garmin GPSmap 60CS. I hope that makes sense, because I don't much about it yet. I just got it for Christmas and haven't used it much yet. Quote Link to comment
+Packanack Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 It is a Garmin GPSmap 60CS. I know that there are times when changing batteries that if you forget to turn off the unit that thhe memory will get wiped out. The idea is that you don't swap while the unit is turned on. You turn it off, remove the low batteries and put in the new set and then turn it back on. If you don't do it that way, you may need to reinitialize. But mine is of different manufacture. Try the gentle hair dryer technique. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Don't worry about where you posted, the mods just like everything neat and tidy. Next time you'll know. JohnnyVegas is probably right about the batteries pooping out. Let thing thing dry a bit and try again with fresh batts. Quote Link to comment
peter Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 No, I don't think you did anything to damage your 60cs. But the behavior you describe doesn't sound normal. Weak batteries shouldn't cause the screen to fade since these units monitor the battery voltage and first give you a 'Low Battery' warning and then shut down entirely before there's any effect on the operation of the device. Do you know what the temperature was at the time? Quote Link to comment
+Team Cotati Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 (edited) The 'good' news is that from what I have seen posted in the past, that even if it does not spring back to life, all that you need to do is send it back to the manufacturer and a new unit will be in your hands within a week. Edited March 3, 2006 by Team Cotati Quote Link to comment
tsproing Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 It was somewhere around 30 degrees, or maybe upper 20's. It did flash "low battery," but continued to run after I pressed enter, with fading graphics. I turned it off once I saw that and changed the batteries. I just talked to my dad who is a geocacher and bought me a battery charger with batteries for Christmas to go with the GPS that my husband bought me. I used the new rechargable batteries that he bought me, but didn't realise that I had to recharge them before I used them. I have never used rechargable batteries before and thought they were good to go because they were brand new. My dad set me straight and I'm charging them now. I think that was the problem. Thank you to all of you for your help and suggestions. Quote Link to comment
+Gob-ler Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 [i had a very similar experience with my new 76CSX just last week. It was much colder though. When I removed the near dead battery one of the battery terminals broke clean off. When trying to restart it did the little blip thing and then went blank. A piece of tinfoil got me through the rest of the day and a trip back to LLBean got the GPS'r replaced pronto. You might check the battery terminals if your sure the batteries you put in are good. Quote Link to comment
+Team Tigger International Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 You might also try to keep the unit in your pocket or inside your jacket when it's cold out. Just check it to get your bearings, then put it back in the warmth for a bit. I have the same problem with my digital camera when it's cold. Wulf Quote Link to comment
Grasscatcher Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 That is another reason to use an external antenna....so you can leave the GPSr in an internal warm pocket , except for intermittent "looking" and only the ext antenna is constantly exposed to the cold. Hands can stay warmer that way too... Quote Link to comment
tsproing Posted March 4, 2006 Author Share Posted March 4, 2006 Thank you all for your advice. I charged up the batteries and took 'er out for a walk today and all was well. *Breathes a sign of relief* Quote Link to comment
robotneil Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Thank you all for your advice. I charged up the batteries and took 'er out for a walk today and all was well. *Breathes a sign of relief* That is very good news! Quote Link to comment
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