Problem with 62s: Shutdown

[DriverFound]

I've only been using the 62s for maybe 6hrs so far. Got it yesterday and loaded MetroGuide Canada, and Topo Canada onto the unit. MicroSD is in and using it to backup tracklogs.

 

The 62s will shutdown after some time when in Map view. I first noticed it last night and it happened again this afternoon. I did the update (from Garmin Connect - firmware is 2.30). Both times only have the MetroGuide map enabled. Topo and base were disabled.

 

For now, I removed MetroGuide and Topo from the unit and copied them onto the card to see if that makes any difference.

 

Anyone have problem with their 62s shutting down by itself?

[+The Ravens]

I didn't have a "shout down" problem but I did have a problem with the unit start up after disabling to base map. It took forever! Called Garmin and they had me enable the map and unit started as it should. The tech and I thought it was strange that the map would do that. It must have been searching or something.

 

Try enabling the base map and see what happens.

[DriverFound]

This is getting annoying. Went for a 3 hour drive and the 62s shutdown 5 times. I had the Satellite screen on. If I have it on on the desk, it has no issue however. It runs for hours without self shutdown.

[seldom_sn]

This is getting annoying. Went for a 3 hour drive and the 62s shutdown 5 times. I had the Satellite screen on. If I have it on on the desk, it has no issue however. It runs for hours without self shutdown.

 

Were you running on batteries, or a power adapter? My 60CSX offers to shut down on loss of power from the adapter.

Edited July 24, 2010 by seldom_sn

[DriverFound]

Were you running on batteries, or a power adapter? My 60CSX offers to shut down on loss of power from the adapter.

 

It's the new set of alkaline batteries I put in yesterday. Battery indicator only shows 1 block less. I'll try the rechargables I use with the 60CSx and see how that goes. I've reset the 62s as well.

 

The 62s was sitting side-by-side the 60CSx on the dash in sunlight while in the car. I doubt the 62s overheat and shutdown as last night it was in the cupholder and it was 13C last night. I hope it's not something serious.

[+The Ravens]

Did you enable the base map??

[DriverFound]

Did you enable the base map??

 

Yep.

[+The Ravens]

Bummer...

[DriverFound]

Just came back from about an hour drive. Used NiMH batteries. Placed on dash in sunlight. With Satellite page. No shutdown this time.

 

I'm driving up to Red Deer and back tomorrow (~3hrs). Should be able to put it to the test better.

Edited July 24, 2010 by CxCP

[DriverFound]

My 62s will shutdown when using alkaline batteries.

 

On my drive up to Red Deer this morning, I used NiMH rechargables (Energizer) and the 62s worked fine for the entire 1h19min drive. On my way back, I put in a fresh set of alkaline and 40 mins of driving, the 62s shutdown 3 times. Then I put the NiMH back in and it stayed on until I shut it off just now. I did ensure the 62s' setting is set to the corresponding battery type if that matters.

Edited July 24, 2010 by CxCP

[+ryan3295]

Does it only shut down when you are driving?

[DriverFound]

Does it only shut down when you are driving?

Yep. It works fine when I'm just playing with it at home.

 

I found another problem... Upon connecting to the computer, 62s' screen said it was saving the tracks etc. After transferring the tracklogs to the computer, the Current log was corrupted. Inspecting the xml file showed some data fields had incorrect data type. I removed those elements and MapSource was able to open the file. This sounds like a software bug.

Edited July 24, 2010 by CxCP

[DriverFound]

Invalid data

 

Unclosed tag

[+TotemLake]

Sounds like a bug in the software. You should have a chat with tech support.

[+The Ravens]

What is that? A time stamp in the elevation log?

[+TotemLake]

Yes it is. What's happening is the software is inserting a timestamp in to the elevation string.

Edited July 25, 2010 by TotemLake

[+The Ravens]

That should be an easy fix for the geeks at Garmin.

[+TotemLake]

That should be an easy fix for the geeks at Garmin.

I don't think so. You can see by the other lines, the fields are properly handled. This looks like it is a random glitch which may need to be carefully watched for.

Things to look for would be

local conditions

what you were doing at the time

what you were doing at the time with the GPS

battery level if you have an indicator

 

Interactions and how they are programmed can be a real pain to figure out sometimes.

 

on the other hand... it might be an easy fix and I'm just blowing smoke.

[DriverFound]

Went for a walk with my dog tonight at a pathway.

 

I deleted the Current.gpx file on PC before leaving the house.

Battery indicator showed fully charged.

Just walking slowly on the path. My dog can't see so it was crawl speed, back and forth as he sniffed around.

62s had Satellite page on.

Excellent reception.

I switched to map view several times.

No shutdown problem (NiMH batteries).

After getting home, I could view the current track on the 62s.

Connected to PC.

62s did its thing saving tracklogs etc etc.

Copied the Current.gpx file.

It was corrupted.

Map Source couldn't open it.

Same problem as previously posted.

Some <ele> tags have time stamp in them.

 

This time, editing those tags didn't fix the problem. Map Source still refused to open the file.

 

Then I unplugged 62s.

 

Checked the tracklog on map and it showed correctly.

I saved the current track in Track Manager.

Named it and saved without problem.

Then connected to PC again.

62s showed it was saving tracking etc etc.

Another tracklog was created in Archive folder only much larger in filesize at 607kb (previous file is 104kb).

This time that tracklog opened fine in Map Source.

 

The tracklog I saved on 62s using Track Manager opened fine in Map Source as well.

 

EDIT: The Current.gpx I copied the 2nd time I connected to PC opened fine in Map Source as well.

 

Why does the 62s write the data to files upon USB connection ?? It's like the data isn't committed until that point?? I like the way my 60CSx saves the tracklogs much better...

 

I'll get a hold of Garmin support on Monday.

 

EDIT: Emailed support tonight. Will update here when I hear from them.

Edited July 25, 2010 by CxCP

[+g-o-cashers]

I've seen a few corrupted auto archive gpx files on my 62 but never a corrupted current.gpx file. Make sure that you aren't interrupting the creation of the gpx file or trying to open it before it has been created (I'm not sure that this is even possible). Short of that I would talk to Garmin to see if your unit might have issues - esp given the problem you are seeing with alkaline batteries.

 

Note current.gpx is created every time you connect based on the contents of your tracklog, deleting it won't do anything since it'll just get overwritten the next time you connect anyway. The unit doesn't read/load anything from this file, it is just a place to stash your tracklog so you can access it from a computer. That's the way all of the new units work.

[freeday]

>>I like the way my 60CSx saves the tracklogs much better...

 

Yes, the type of tracklogs of the 60csx was much better.

But i think, garmin cannot change it to the old system.

There were already a lot of emails for the Oregons to change the logging, but they never changed it in the last years!!!

 

I do not know what's the problem therefore

[dbrletich]

>>I like the way my 60CSx saves the tracklogs much better...

 

Yes, the type of tracklogs of the 60csx was much better.

But i think, garmin cannot change it to the old system.

There were already a lot of emails for the Oregons to change the logging, but they never changed it in the last years!!!

 

I do not know what's the problem therefore

 

Haven't read the Manual on the 62s as I don't own one, but if it's anything similar in function to the Rino series:

Ensure you have the latest MapSource version (or BaseCamp 3.0.5) software updates.

Ensure your unit is fully updated. Keep updating until you get a message notifying you that you are fully updated. There may be more then one.

Ensure you have the correct battery type selected in settings for the batteries you are using as the unit does not auto detect in the older garmin units.

Ensure you have the correct power settings for charging (connected) and battery (disconnected) in settings.

 

My Rino 530HCx has a battery saver feature that needs to be disabled if you want the device to remain on when you are not fiddling with it for long periods of time (hours). All can be found in settings. I had the thing on the whole drive from Minnesota to Colorado with Radio feature turned off and the thing still had a half charge after I got in my hotel that night. 14 hours of strait use and still plenty of juice. People complain about this unit not having paperless geocaching. I don't get that. Mine is paperless no sweat. You can even edit the info in BaseCamp. Hunting in Colorado Rockies for Elk, I went up to three days without charging (turning unit off when not hunting). Don't need 3D rendering on the unit since it shows the topo lines. Save that for when you transfer data to BaseCamp for some real 3D fun on the big screen with playback feature after you've geotagged all your landscape, wildlife and kills pictures. Now if they would only add the map "overlay" feature (custom maps) to the Rino 530HCx it would be the perfect GPSr.

 

Let me know if you can resolve your 62s issues. I was looking to pick up one of those since they are selling like hotcakes, but maybe I'll wait for SP2 before I get one after they shake all the bugs out.

[+batsgonemad and his squirrel]

Well I bought mine in the Uk a week ago, and yesterday while I was on my week trip of Scotland all I got when I powered it up was the garmin name and that's where it gets stuck. No mater what I did phoned garmin and even with their help I'm still no better, it would seem like a softwear faliar so I have to send it back to them. Hugely disappointed has it had my weeks work of caching on it

[DriverFound]

Haven't heard back from Garmin support yet... I did a Reset Saturday night. The past 2 days, 62s' tracks had no issue. I biked 42Km on Sunday and the tracks were intact as well as the tracks from hiking/walks.

 

I set the track to log every 1 second. Same as my 60CSx. I run both (and the 310XT for heart rate - haven't tried the 62s with heart rate monitor yet) in parallel right now just to ensure I have the tracklog. I rely on the day's tracklog for geotagging as well. A bit disappointed that Garmin stripped that nice feature out of the 62s but oh well.

[jvcollins1965]

My 62s will shutdown when using alkaline batteries.

 

On my drive up to Red Deer this morning, I used NiMH rechargables (Energizer) and the 62s worked fine for the entire 1h19min drive. On my way back, I put in a fresh set of alkaline and 40 mins of driving, the 62s shutdown 3 times. Then I put the NiMH back in and it stayed on until I shut it off just now. I did ensure the 62s' setting is set to the corresponding battery type if that matters.

 

Hello -

 

I'm a member of a Search and Rescue group who uses the 60CX/60CSX constantly. We also use rechargables as we go through about 4-6 batteries each per month. We've noticed that most rechargables are slightly shorter than a regular battery and the nipple is a bit flatter. We were having shutoffs until we figured out that the connection wasn't very tight in the batter compartment. So ... one good jolt and dead it was.

 

We just bent out the prongs and it worked fine.

 

We're really interested in the 62 series but want to watch what happens to them first to see if they are as reliable as the 60CSX

 

James Collins

GSSD

[lalittle]

Hello -

 

I'm a member of a Search and Rescue group who uses the 60CX/60CSX constantly. We also use rechargables as we go through about 4-6 batteries each per month. We've noticed that most rechargables are slightly shorter than a regular battery and the nipple is a bit flatter. We were having shutoffs until we figured out that the connection wasn't very tight in the batter compartment. So ... one good jolt and dead it was.

 

We just bent out the prongs and it worked fine.

 

We're really interested in the 62 series but want to watch what happens to them first to see if they are as reliable as the 60CSX

 

James Collins

GSSD

 

I can report that on my 62st, my NiMH rechargeables (MAHA Energy Imedion 2400) are VERY solidly held in the unit, so much so that it takes a bit of effort to remove them compared to other devices. This is good since I don't think ANY amount of bumping could break the connection -- I think the unit would smash apart before you could get the batteries to lose their connection.

 

Note that I have had a couple unexpected shutdowns on mine (I believe this has happened twice in about 3.5 weeks), but this is a software issue, and there is already a beta version of the software out that says it addresses this. I'm waiting for the official release, however, to install it on mine.

 

Regarding comparisons to the 60csx, I have to say that I like the 62st a lot better than the 60csx. I'm not a geocacher, so I can't speak for the differences in that department, but the 62st has a lot of features that really go beyond what the 60csx is capable of, like the full color screen and the ability to see satellite imagery, which is a HUGE improvement for just navigating trails in Southern California, where the tree cover is not overly dense (at least in my area.) I really wanted to like the Colorados and later the Oregons, but their screens (including the latest ones) were just too annoying to read in daylight -- it just took too much "effort" to read the dim screens in bright light. To me, this was simply a deal breaker. The 62 does NOT have this problem. It has a highly reflective screen that is VERY bright in full sunlight, and the backlight works really well as soon as I'm in shadow. I can even leave my sunglasses on and read it daylight and shade, which is something that I just couldn't do with the Oregons.

 

Larry

[lalittle]

Duplicate Post.

Edited August 16, 2010 by lalittle