60CSx Electronic Compass Disappears

[+docdesi]

I have had my 60CSx for abotu 3 months now as an upgrade from a Vista C. I love everything about the CSx. Annoying recent disturbance in the Force is that about once a caching adventure..the electronic compass freezes up and then i lose the compass bearings and the arrow. It works again if i turn off the electronic compass and then turn it back on..but not always. Sometimes it requires turning off/on the unit again. Any ideas or do i need to contact Garmin for a replacement...

[+Team Lost N Found]

I have had my 60CSx for abotu 3 months now as an upgrade from a Vista C. I love everything about the CSx. Annoying recent disturbance in the Force is that about once a caching adventure..the electronic compass freezes up and then i lose the compass bearings and the arrow. It works again if i turn off the electronic compass and then turn it back on..but not always. Sometimes it requires turning off/on the unit again. Any ideas or do i need to contact Garmin for a replacement...

The SAME thing is happening on my friends 60csx! It happened a couple of times last night when near power wires. Not sure if that had anything to do with it or not. But you're not alone!

[+thefiveofus]

next time it happens, see if a recalibration helps fix it (in the compass menu.. you have to hold the unit outside, away from strong magentic forces, e.g. power lines, and turn two full 360 degree revolutions while the unit figures out which way is north again)..

[+docdesi]

next time it happens, see if a recalibration helps fix it (in the compass menu.. you have to hold the unit outside, away from strong magentic forces, e.g. power lines, and turn two full 360 degree revolutions while the unit figures out which way is north again)..

 

Been there..done that....any other ideas floating around?

[+petec999]

Been there..done that....any other ideas floating around?

 

Have you updated the software and firmware?

[Vlad]

and the arrow

keep in mind the arrow will only appear if you're on a goto (waypoint, follow track or route etc)

[+thefiveofus]

next time it happens, see if a recalibration helps fix it (in the compass menu.. you have to hold the unit outside, away from strong magentic forces, e.g. power lines, and turn two full 360 degree revolutions while the unit figures out which way is north again)..

 

Been there..done that....any other ideas floating around?

 

well, you might have indicated what you've tried when you posted.

 

similar sounding thing as you describe happened to me once (not sure what caused it) and the recalibrate fixed it.

 

good luck...

[+hitman757]

Mine did this for the 2nd night in a row, I've had it for a week...no problems until last night..its so bad tonight that I had to come home, couldn't even continue geocaching..I recalibrated it, turned it off and on... etc...still keeps losing the arrow on the electronic compass...I am using energizer rechargable batteries...I can't even geocache until this problem gets resolved... anyone else having this problem?

[+Hynr]

I had some lock-ups but not since upgrading to the latest firmware (version 3.0) and software version (2.70). Those posting lock-up issues, please let us know whether you are using these. (Setup page, menu button, select "Software Version").

[+TheRoundings]

I had this happen too just after I got the unit (couple of months ago). It hasn't happened since so I can't say if the firmware upgrade's resolved the issue or it's just coincidence. (I'm also on 3.0 & 2.70)

 

I don't think it affects geocaching much though - to be honest I find the electronic compass more hassle than it's worth - frequently having to recalibrate it - and of course when you really need it you are undercover and so can't calibrate it. As a result I rarely use it. Bit disappointed with the compass really.

[+hitman757]

I had this happen too just after I got the unit (couple of months ago). It hasn't happened since so I can't say if the firmware upgrade's resolved the issue or it's just coincidence. (I'm also on 3.0 & 2.70)

 

I don't think it affects geocaching much though - to be honest I find the electronic compass more hassle than it's worth - frequently having to recalibrate it - and of course when you really need it you are undercover and so can't calibrate it. As a result I rarely use it. Bit disappointed with the compass really.

 

 

Im using 3.0/2.70 and I"m having the lock up issues..I dont know how to turn the electronic compass off...

[+Team Neos]

To turn the electronic compass off, hold down the "page" button. To turn it back on, do the same thing. It doesn't matter which screen you are on when you hold down the button.

[+hitman757]

Im wondering if I should take my unit back and exchange or if maybe garmin will have a download fix..

[+oldnavy59]

I was having the same problems but I noticed I had it on follow roads and when I got close to the cache I lost my arrow so when I get close to the cache I turn that off and I havent had it since. Dont know if that will help you or not

[+hitman757]

my unit is on "off road" and it still happens..so thats not the problem..good thinking though

[+LandRover]

I had this happen too just after I got the unit (couple of months ago). It hasn't happened since so I can't say if the firmware upgrade's resolved the issue or it's just coincidence. (I'm also on 3.0 & 2.70)

 

I don't think it affects geocaching much though - to be honest I find the electronic compass more hassle than it's worth - frequently having to recalibrate it - and of course when you really need it you are undercover and so can't calibrate it. As a result I rarely use it. Bit disappointed with the compass really.

I must be missing something here, why can't you callibrate you're compass under heavy tree cover?

[+docdesi]

I'm also on 3.0 & 2.70. I tried all variations of fixes and conditions. And it doesnt happen with any consistency, which makes it harder to pinpoint. THe easiest fix in the field is to just turn off the electronic compass, but if the compass is going bad..i would just as soon get it replaced for the money that we paid for it...

[+thefiveofus]

I wouldn't think it's the compass 'going bad'..you never know, but it would be pretty surprising. The compass should be solid state, e.g. no moving parts, so chances are either it never worked or something else is at play.

 

why can't you recalibrate the compass under heavy tree cover? the compass has nothing to do w/ the gps signals, so I would try that first.

 

also, when you say 'locked up', exactly what happens? what are you doing when this happens and what are you seeing? what is your setting for when the gps switches to electronic compass? are you navigating or just looking at the map / compass? etc.

 

also, are you near high power lines, bridges, etc.? I did have one occurrence where I was crossing the george washington bridge (NY) and the bridge knocked my GPS for a big loop (no pun intended) but it did recover on its own, although it took at least 5 mins and some distance away from the bridge.

 

maybe more info would be useful here.

[+sayter liften]

i hade some problems with mine to and then i talked to a friend of mine that works on cell phones and he said it sounded like a loose conection and he was right, haven't hade a problem with it since i fixed it.

[+Munin]

Just to toss another idea out on the table, I've read some other threads where people had sporadic problems with their GPSr apparently caused by loose batteries - the contacts would be okay much of the time, but if the GPSr got jostled around a bit the batteries would sometimes lose contact for a moment and trigger various odd behaviors. Any chance you experienced the compass oddities while hiking/biking over very uneven terrain, or maybe driving down a bumpy/potholed road?

 

(Edit: Dang, looks like sayter liften beat me by a couple of minutes with that suggestion. )

Edited August 8, 2006 by Munin

[+Kryten]

My unit suffered from all of the above issues. During a goto the arrow would lock up and stop updating, or it would dissappear leaving just a small red circle, or the compass would suddenly point in a crazy direction requiring a recal, sometimes it just powered itself off. They were all caused by bad battery connections.

 

I use re-chargeable batteries and the diameter of some brands are smaller than their alkaline equivalents. This means the batteries are not completely clamped in place by the moulding of the cover and are free to slide up and down within the battery compartment when sudden acceleration or shock loads are experienced.

 

I found that if placed horizontally on the floor of my car, heavy braking was enough to cause the problem. A unit placed vertically in a shirt pocket would work over miles of flat country, then fail when jumping about in rocky terrain.

 

The solution, bend the battery contacts slightly outward.

[+hitman757]

I'm going to bend the battery contacts outward and im gonna take my gps out for a couple hours and see if I have that problem again tonight, and I will let you know..thanks so much for the tip!

[+hitman757]

I bent the battery contactors and drove to work (half hour drive) ...I had my electronic compass on for the entire drive and I didnt have a single problem... the true test will be later on tonight when I do some "caching" .. I'll let you know if that solved the problem..thanks again

[+hitman757]

I'm happy to report that my problem with the electronic compass disappearing is now gone...ever since I bent the battery connectors, I have not had a problem , 6 hours of use and no problem to report... thanks for your guys's help *knocks on wood*