Etrex bad seal - exchange or keep?

[+star-geezer]

Short story:

The gasket on my 2 yr old Garmin Etrex Vista HCx failed. It's out of warranty. Garmin wanted me to pay $89 to send it back for repair. After several email exchanges Garmin agreed to REPLACE THE UNIT at NO CHARGE - I would guess with a refurbished unit. Other than the seal problem my unit is working just fine.

 

I've read on this forum how to fix the seal myself and feel I could easily do this task. (Loctite Xtreme adhesive and TLC).

 

Question:

Have you had experience with exchanging your Etrex unit w/ Garmin (any model)?

Has that experience been good or bad?

Did the exchanged unit work better / worse / the same as your old unit?

Can you list pros and cons on replacing your original unit?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

Star-geezer (aka Neil)

[+Unobtainium]

I had a Legend HCx with the same issue. It was also out of warranty and Garmin also agreed to replace it free of charge.

 

I sent my old unit off on the 21st December and I had my replacemwent unit on the 24th. It was a referb but you couldn't tell the difference to a brand new unit.

 

Garmin were excellent!

 

The unit worked just like the old unit once I'd put all the data back.

 

Pros - Garmin professionally referbished unit verses home fixed unit.

Cons - You're without a unit and no GC'ing for less than a week.

[+briansnat]

I had an out of warranty eTrex Vista replaced for the same reason. Had the new unit within a matter of days.

[ao318]

They replaced my 60csx when it was out of warranty for a faulty on/off button. Everything works fine.

[+Prime Suspect]

Short story:

The gasket on my 2 yr old Garmin Etrex Vista HCx failed. It's out of warranty. Garmin wanted me to pay $89 to send it back for repair. After several email exchanges Garmin agreed to REPLACE THE UNIT at NO CHARGE - I would guess with a refurbished unit. Other than the seal problem my unit is working just fine.

 

I've read on this forum how to fix the seal myself and feel I could easily do this task. (Loctite Xtreme adhesive and TLC).

 

Question:

Have you had experience with exchanging your Etrex unit w/ Garmin (any model)?

Has that experience been good or bad?

Did the exchanged unit work better / worse / the same as your old unit?

Can you list pros and cons on replacing your original unit?

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

Star-geezer (aka Neil)

 

First, it's neither a gasket or a seal. It just provides some extra grip to the unit, covers the back port, and adds the "nubs" for the side buttons. That actual seal is the clear strip underneath the black band. The black band is not related to waterproofness.

 

Yes, you can easily fix this yourself. I took mine off, cleaned off all the adhesive gunk, and used some high-quality double-sided tape to reattach it. Worked a treat.