Do GPS units grow old and tired?

[+G*Force]

We’ve been caching now for over three years. Our GPS unit had led us faithfully to over 600 finds, some through thick tree canopies or heavy cloud cover. Lately, our GPS unit seems to have difficulty with even light cloud cover or even with the trees before they had leaves on them. This weekend it could not latch onto a reading on a sunny day (but in pretty heavy trees). That’s never, ever happened before. So my question is, “Can GPS units fade/lose their effectiveness at some point in time?”

[+StarBrand]

Being modern electronics there really isn't anything in there to "wear out". I would have to conclude that you are seeing the effects of some kind of damage or possibly bad or weak batteries.

[+sbell111]

Agreed. I'd change the batteries before I got excited about anything. Then I'd probably do a master reset followed by a firmware update and a bask in the sun.

[+Markwell]

Being modern electronics there really isn't anything in there to "wear out". I would have to conclude that you are seeing the effects of some kind of damage or possibly bad or weak batteries.

That depends on your definition of "wear out". As my comadres above indicated modern electronics don't have stuff like old gears and such, but usual or unusual wear and tear can cause the unit to have mildly annoying issues that increase in frequency over time.

 

Case in point: my trusty Garmin 76S has served me well since April 26 2002. Over the past month it has been very slow to respond when I turn corners and the "track up" map has to adjust and redraw. Then on Memorial Day, I turned on the unit and the Black and White LCD screen looked like a bar code at the grocery store. I'm sure it was from sitting in the sun too long or some other problem, but nothing I could do would fix the display.

 

Additionally, the rubber on the back has also worn off from inserting and removing the data/power cord and the rubber edging has worn down from constant insertion and removal from my dashboard mount.

 

I sighed a deep sigh and thanked my trust unit for so many adventures.

 

My new unit is on order from Garmin. The 76S has started working again, so it's not displaying a "bar code" screen anymore, and it appears to be functioning properly, but I already had the new unit on order. So I will bequeath the older Black and White display unit to my 7th grader and use the new unit myself.

[+StarBrand]

Being modern electronics there really isn't anything in there to "wear out". I would have to conclude that you are seeing the effects of some kind of damage or possibly bad or weak batteries.

That depends on your definition of "wear out". As my comadres above indicated modern electronics don't have stuff like old gears and such, but usual or unusual wear and tear can cause the unit to have mildly annoying issues that increase in frequency over time.

 

Case in point: my trusty Garmin 76S has served me well since April 26 2002. Over the past month it has been very slow to respond when I turn corners and the "track up" map has to adjust and redraw. Then on Memorial Day, I turned on the unit and the Black and White LCD screen looked like a bar code at the grocery store. I'm sure it was from sitting in the sun too long or some other problem, but nothing I could do would fix the display.

 

Additionally, the rubber on the back has also worn off from inserting and removing the data/power cord and the rubber edging has worn down from constant insertion and removal from my dashboard mount.

 

I sighed a deep sigh and thanked my trust unit for so many adventures.

 

My new unit is on order from Garmin. The 76S has started working again, so it's not displaying a "bar code" screen anymore, and it appears to be functioning properly, but I already had the new unit on order. So I will bequeath the older Black and White display unit to my 7th grader and use the new unit myself.

Ok fair enough but I'd list all those things as sort of slow motion "damage". Happened to my older units as well. Nothing wrong with the electronics per se - just the fact I didn't keep it in crash cage all those years.

[+Styk]

I wouldn't neccessarily say electronics are immune to "wear and tear". Being in the industry, I have known about radiations damaging effects on semiconductors for quite a while. Read more here, http://planetanalog.com/features/showArtic...cleID=188700453 and

http://powerelectronics.com/power_semicond...radiation-0907/

Edited June 2, 2008 by stickman756

[+CurmudgeonlyGal]

Yes.

 

They can.

 

You should replace your unit as soon as something *new*hot*now* comes out!

 

(Or not... I'm working on 4.5+ years with The.Same.GPS. Great on one hand. Depressing on the other. I love new technology, but generally need to be able to justify it's purchase.)

 

 

michelle

[Skippermark]

Our Garmin 60CSx was about 2 years old and other than cosmetic things, it worked great. The labels were worn off the buttons and the back part of the rubber was worn down. Got tired of having to load my son's GPS one way and the 60 another, so I gave it to him and got another one now that the prices have dropped so low.

[+paleolith]

My first GPSr, a Magellan eXplorist 210, seemed to work OK the first few months. I knew almost from the beginning that I could get a better fix by rebooting the unit, and ended up doing that almost any time I was having trouble locating a cache. I figured waddyawant for $100.

 

But after a few months it started giving me readings 75'-125' off. I'd reboot it and get a reading 100' away, and again, and all of them 100' from the cache. Oh yeah, I replaced the batteries plenty of times. Best I can tell, it broke. Of course the warranty was only 90 days. I replaced it with something different and have been much happier. I don't see complaints about the 210 in general, so I expect my unit broke -- perhaps something in the receiver chip, since all the software functions seemed to be normal.

 

Edward

[+Cache Viking]

My near 8 year old Garmin V recently started having trouble locking onto sats. Tried the remote antenna thinking it was the unit antenna but no change. Now it works some days and not others.

[+Michael]

The hardest stress on electronics is when ithey are turned on and off. The on/off cycles can and do cause electronics to degrade. Some go slowly by changing in value gradually and some wait and die all at once completely. Transistors IC, capacitors and resistors all suffer from the stress of use and some do break down with time and use. This is the electronic version of mechanical wear and tear.

 

YEARS and YEARS ago when I worked for Sony I was responsible for the warranty reports on consumer TVs. The most common statement we got was "it worked the last time I turned it on and this time it didn't". Its usually a fast death when it happens but sometimes you get intermittent or out of spec problems cause by age and use.

 

This may be a sign that your GPS is on the way out.

 

And yes before all the loving reviewers come on to comment, we did have TV back in those days. They were made of stone and had a hand crank on them to start the candle so the screen would light up.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have my old Magellan Meridian Gold, I still use it from time to time and it still works fine

[+sbell111]

... (Or not... I'm working on 4.5+ years with The.Same.GPS. Great on one hand. Depressing on the other. I love new technology, but generally need to be able to justify it's purchase.)

Many times, I've fantasized about my GPSr, pda, or even my awesome digital camera dying so I would have an excuse to buy a new fancy gizmo. Unfortunately, they keep chugging along.

My near 8 year old Garmin V recently started having trouble locking onto sats. Tried the remote antenna thinking it was the unit antenna but no change. Now it works some days and not others.

My old V once decided that it wouldn't lock on to sats. It showed them aall at pretty much full strength (or whatever), but refused to lock on to them. I did the master reset trick and reloaded the newest firmware and it was fine.

[Skippermark]

Many times, I've fantasized about my GPSr, pda, or even my awesome digital camera dying so I would have an excuse to buy a new fancy gizmo. Unfortunately, they keep chugging along.

 

Maybe it could accidentally slip out of your hand and off the edge of a cliff...or onto a sharp rock face, cracking the screen beyond repair?

[+sbell111]

Many times, I've fantasized about my GPSr, pda, or even my awesome digital camera dying so I would have an excuse to buy a new fancy gizmo. Unfortunately, they keep chugging along.

 

Maybe it could accidentally slip out of your hand and off the edge of a cliff...or onto a sharp rock face, cracking the screen beyond repair?

The guilt is strong in me.

[Skippermark]

I understand. I'd be the same way.

[+sataraid1]

Check the battery contacts for wear or corrosion. If they're starting to go bad, they will lower the power getting to the receiver and impair performance.

 

Even if they look okay, consider swabbing them down thoroughly with a clean cloth dampened but not soaked with some rubbing alcohol.

 

FWIW.

[Clan Riffster]

I usually don't own high end consumer electronics long enough to suffer from degradation. I typically break them first.

Edited June 3, 2008 by Clan Riffster

[+HaLiJuSaPa]

My first GPSr, a Magellan eXplorist 210, seemed to work OK the first few months. I knew almost from the beginning that I could get a better fix by rebooting the unit, and ended up doing that almost any time I was having trouble locating a cache. I figured waddyawant for $100.

 

But after a few months it started giving me readings 75'-125' off. I'd reboot it and get a reading 100' away, and again, and all of them 100' from the cache. Oh yeah, I replaced the batteries plenty of times. Best I can tell, it broke. Of course the warranty was only 90 days. I replaced it with something different and have been much happier. I don't see complaints about the 210 in general, so I expect my unit broke -- perhaps something in the receiver chip, since all the software functions seemed to be normal.

 

Edward

 

I pretty much had the same issue with my Lowrance IFinder GO. Used to be as good as those $400+ Garmin "X" units (minus the ability to download waypoints). Still put up with it, had more DNF's and caching was more challenging, but then it locked up completely and even a hard reset/reboot didn't fix. And about a month after the extended warranty went.

 

But there's a silver lining. I had bought my wife a Garmin Forerunner 205 for her birthday to use for biking and rollerblading and I discovered that it actually works great for caching! Has a SiRFIII chip and all and has taken me right to caches! And now I am seeing refurb Forerunners for like $125 or so, so I bought one for myself for caching! Very convenient to have on the wrist and all.....

[knowschad]

I love new technology, but generally need to be able to justify it's purchase.)

 

That's why you need to go out and find a few hundred new caches after you upgrade.

[+ventura_kids]

I found 5000 or so caches with my Garmin Legend. It still works....it just needs to be smacked once or twice to get those lines off the screen.

I upgraded to a Magellan Sportrac Color for a day or so...now it has been loaned to a friend (who hasn't used it for the year he's had it).

Now I use the Garmin map60CS (for over 9000 caches). The buttons are quite worn out, and sometimes the memory chip won't take more than 24M of maps (I have to hard reset it).

But...the only time it doesn't accurately find caches .....was once when somehow I switched it to battery save mode . It was very sluggish and wandered about GZ like it was a Magellan.

[+Renegade Knight]

IF you have a GPS V the antanea contacts can loosen up and that would degrade your reception when it reaches a certain point. Pop off the antanea and pry the contacts out a bit to force contact again.

 

If you don't have a V...try the reboot method.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I've been experiencing this kind of problem for about 6 months now in my Garmin. It just seems slow to respond to either input from me, or from data it recieves. I'll be spending my stimulous check on a new unit.

[+Totem Clan]

Yes they get old and wear out. Trustme!

My old eTrex just cracked right open and quit working one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course it may have had something to do with the 50 foot plus drop on to the rocks below and the subsequent plunge into the glacial stream.

 

 

Naahh! It just got old and broke.

[+G*Force]

Thanks for all the sugggestions and stories and evil plots to get a new GPS unit. Anyway, I peformed a firmware update and cleaned the battery terminals. I strolled out the the end of the driveway with it and the accuracy was down to 6 - 8 feet! I've rarely seen it below 14 and usually it was up around 18 - 22. While I haven't field tested it amongst the trees, if this is any indication of things to come, I'm one happy clam. Happy trails to all! (Now I don't get to drop it off a cliff, though.)

[wdc293]

GPS was first used by the military for years before Ronald Reagan released it for civilian use. He saw the potential helpfulness of in the civilian community. However in order to keep the enemies of our country from getting the same accuracy as our military which is less than one foot, the government would purposely degrade the signal to the civilian community. This was called selective availability. Several years ago they did away with selective availability or at least that was suppose to happen. I have a high end unit and from time to time my accuracy is not all that great. Anyway what I am saying is it may not be your unit that is acting up. It may be a degraded signal

[+TeamGumbo]

My 5-year-old Garmin Geko 101 still works like a charm.