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Help! My cat ate my gpsmap 60cx


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:) Well not all of it. Our cat helped himself to the rubber stuff covering the antenna on our BRAND NEW gpsmap 60cx. Now there is a hole about the size of a peanut in the rubber covering the antenna and you can see the actual antenna. Does anyone have any suggestions on a suitable fix for a patch. I've turned the unit on and it seems to be working fine. I've tried wrapping electrical tape and duct tape around the hole but neither seems to want to stick very well. Short of sending the unit back for repairs and killing my cat (just kidding) anyone have any ideas. Should I even worry about it if the unit seems to be working? I keep thinking water will get in and ruin it completely.
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The unit is designed to be waterproof, and the damage you describe has compromised the unit's integrity. Although you may find the unit is working ok, if you get it wet you run the risk of damage to the electronics that would not have happened otherwise. Even humidity getting in will damage internal components and may affect the screen display. You need to get it fixed immediately.

 

You need to get a proper repair done by Garmin, or else you will void their warranty. Garmin might not repair the unit free of charge if they realise the unit was already damaged, but they might not charge you at all (they are known to be very generous in this regard). But even if they do charge (which they have a right to do as it is accidental damage) it won't cost anywhere near as much as you having to buy a complete new unit because you have allowed further damage to an accidentally damaged unit.

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I agree that a factory repair makes the most sense and will keep the warranty intact. However, if Garmin wants a lot of money for the repair and you don't want to spend that much, you could try sealing the opening with GOOP, a permanent sealant that is waterproof. It won't look like new, but it will look better than it does now. Once it dries, you could trim it flush with the original rubber surface with a razor blade. The downside would be that if the GOOP seeps into the antenna it will make it difficult, if not impossible, to remove the antenna cover should a repair require that in the future. I don't know what it looks like inside the antenna. Perhaps you could fit something over the exposed antenna to keep the GOOP from reaching it.

 

You can find GOOP at a hardware store. The GOOP website sometimes loads very slowly, so you may want to read about it HERE.

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There are many way to get around the cost of having garmin do it. But the down side of all of them is you run the risk of voiding your warranty. I have used Garmins warranty several times on my old gps ll+. they have replaced a cracked screen free of charge, updated the software for me and now that my unit is 10 yrs old they just replaced my internal battery free of charge. I don't know about you but thats the kind of service I want to keep. The goop will void your warranty, You can try finding a non-working unit on ebay and swapping cases( but some companies use marking to tell if a unit was was tinkered with which would void warranty). I would call them first you might be surprised.

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I am unsure if it will void the warranty if they fix it cause when I cracked my screen on my old ll+ they still covered the battery 6 years later. Now if the GPS get damaged because of moisture they wont because of the current condition. Once they fix it it will be like new hence warranty not void.

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:unsure: Well not all of it. Our cat helped himself to the rubber stuff covering the antenna on our BRAND NEW gpsmap 60cx. Now there is a hole about the size of a peanut in the rubber covering the antenna and you can see the actual antenna. Does anyone have any suggestions on a suitable fix for a patch. I've turned the unit on and it seems to be working fine. I've tried wrapping electrical tape and duct tape around the hole but neither seems to want to stick very well. Short of sending the unit back for repairs and killing my cat (just kidding) anyone have any ideas. Should I even worry about it if the unit seems to be working? I keep thinking water will get in and ruin it completely.

 

If it is rubber then maybe a bicycle tire repair thingy could work? If it's some sort of rubbery plastic then this may not work. If you think you will use it extensively when it's wet outside I would check what it would cost to repair it before trying anything myself.

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After reading all the responses I guess I'll give them a call about repairing it. I hope it won't cost an arm and a leg and hope they do repairs quickly. As far as the cat- anything in the house with that kind of rubber on it, he eats. I swear he can smell it out. Maybe I'll try the bitter apple thing on stuff I don't care about, see if it cures him. Thanks everyone.

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Our cat helped himself to the rubber stuff covering the antenna on our BRAND NEW gpsmap 60cx. Now there is a hole about the size of a peanut in the rubber covering the antenna and you can see the actual antenna. Does anyone have any suggestions on a suitable fix for a patch.
The big home centers (Lowes, Home Depot, etc) have cans of dippable liquid rubber. I think it is found in the electrical department, and intended to insulate the handles of tools. You dip the handles of your tools (pliers, etc) into it, and it puts on a rubber covering. Or maybe it is found in the glue and sealant section, I dunno. Anyway, it sounds similar to the GOOP that was suggested earlier (and boy is that an annoying web site!) The stuff is not expensive, comes in colors, and is easy to use.

 

To keep it from getting into the antenna itself, perhaps you should pour a bit of hot wax into the center of the gash, and then wiggle the remaining rubber around so the wax penetrates under the remains of the original rubber. Then roughen (nibble, score) the edges of the remaining rubber to give it some "tooth". Then pour or spoon in enough of the liquid rubber to fill the gap, and let it dry.

 

Bill

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There are many way to get around the cost of having garmin do it. But the down side of all of them is you run the risk of voiding your warranty. I have used Garmins warranty several times on my old gps ll+. they have replaced a cracked screen free of charge, updated the software for me and now that my unit is 10 yrs old they just replaced my internal battery free of charge. I don't know about you but thats the kind of service I want to keep. The goop will void your warranty, You can try finding a non-working unit on ebay and swapping cases( but some companies use marking to tell if a unit was was tinkered with which would void warranty). I would call them first you might be surprised.

They replaced the battery on your II+ ??? I sent them an e-mail (last month) about replacing the battery on my III and they replied they no longer supported the III or had the proper replacement batteries available.

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I just sent it in 2 weeks ago after it went wacky while caching never found the cache my position kept jumping by up to 4 miles. I cam home called them and they told they would replace internal battery and gave me a rma number. I haven't received it back yet but it will be going on ebay when it returns I got a 60CSX today.

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