Cutting holes in the Garmin 60 Series carrying case?

[vivona]

Thanks to the great input I have received from recommendations on this forum, I now have the black form-fitting Garmin #010-10578-00 case for my Garmin 60CSx. I would like to cut holes in the back to gain access to the power connector. I would also like to cut holes in the clear plastic over the buttons to make them easier to push. Has anybody done this? How did it work out?

 

What I am trying to find out is if the spandex-like case material on the back and clear plastic material on the front can have holes cut in them without it causing the material to subsequently tear at the hole or the case to deform and not fit properly. Any real-life experiences with this would be greatly appreciated.

[+Team_LPD]

Unless you have a vehicle mount that will hold the GPS and case, why bother?

 

I have the same case and find no need to cut tiny holes for the buttons. You will more likely to ruin the case trying to cut all those teeny holes.

[vivona]

Unless you have a vehicle mount that will hold the GPS and case, why bother?

 

I have the same case and find no need to cut tiny holes for the buttons. You will more likely to ruin the case trying to cut all those teeny holes.

 

Yes, I have a homemade vehicle mount that holds the GPS and case. That is why I need to have access to the power connector.

 

As to the button holes, the buttons will probably work okay through the plastic. The rocker switch less so. So I might just cut a hole big enough for the rocker switch. With an Invisible Shield on the display it sure would be nice to be able to remove the clear plastic over the LCD display. I just don't know if the case will then pull apart horizontally without the clear plastic in place.

[8mmag]

With an Invisible Shield on the display it sure would be nice to be able to remove the clear plastic over the LCD display. I just don't know if the case will then pull apart horizontally without the clear plastic in place.

 

DO NOT use this case with the Invisible Shield installed. After a set of batteries worth of use, the Garmin case sticks to the I.S. incredibly tightly. It's nearly impossible to seperate them at this point, even using a credit card between the case & the shield. Someone suggested coating the Shield with something to prevent this but I forget what it was. I thought I was going to ruin the case it took so much effort to unstick the two.

 

I too am afraid to cut out the plastic on the case, I feel pretty confident the result will be unsatisfactory.

[vivona]

Yikes, I have the case installed over the Invisible Shield. I think I will run out to the car and get the case off right now! Thanks for the heads up.

[vivona]

Well, since the clear plastic will stick to my Invisible Shield, I went ahead and cut the clear plastic out entirely with scissors. I was going to take out the stitching to remove the clear plastic, but I found that the stitching also held the neoprene and spandex material together, so I just cut the clear plastic all the way around along the edge. The case still fits fine.

 

I figured I might as well go for broke, so I cut a hole in the back to gain access to the power connector. The spandex cut without a problem and doesn't seem to want to come apart.

 

For now, the case works much better for me. Only time will tell if it will stretch out of shape in the front, or come apart at the power connector hole.

[Team Sidewinder]

I had the same brainstorm on removing the clear plastic cover on my Gilson 76cs cover and rendered the case just about worthless. As mentioned earlier the case streched out without the plastic to hold the case form. Lesson learned and had to order another one.

In cold weather ( + 30 and colder ) the clear plastic makes pushing one button at a time just about impossible due to the stiff plastic cover and the close proximity of the buttons.

[vivona]

I had the same brainstorm on removing the clear plastic cover on my Gilson 76cs cover and rendered the case just about worthless. As mentioned earlier the case streched out without the plastic to hold the case form. Lesson learned and had to order another one.

In cold weather ( + 30 and colder ) the clear plastic makes pushing one button at a time just about impossible due to the stiff plastic cover and the close proximity of the buttons.

 

Perhaps there is a difference with the design and construction of the Gilsson case. With the Garmin case, the sides are made of spandex covered with Neoprene. Also, the velcro attachment at the bottom pulls the sides in a downward direction so they do not have a tendency to move apart. After cutting out the clear plastic, the sides of the case remained in place and the overall shape of the case remained as it was before I cut the plastic out.

 

Only time and use will tell if this modification will hold up. I can tell you that it really makes the case much easier to put on and take off, like when changing batteries. The hole I cut for the power connector works out perfectly. I don't know why Garmin didn't design these cases with connector access. I like my case a lot better now that I have modified it.