+CYBret Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I know this has been discussed before, and I've looked over the past logs. The rubber stripping on my eTrex Venture has started to come loose and I need to re-glue it. Yeah, I know, I could send it back to Garmin, but they'd just use the same lousy glue on it, wouldn't they? In a previous thread, a glue that contained "Cyano" was mentioned, but I couldn't find any reference of a brand name available here in the US. If anyone's found something that works, please let me know. And Garmin, if you're reading this: what were you thinking?!?! Number 1: The glue doesn't hold up too well under heat, does it? Number 2: Why on EARTH did you put the seam for the rubber stripping right next to the data port, where it gets the MOST stress!?!?!?! Heck, why is there even a seam in the first place? Couldn't it be a solid piece of rubber? Ok, enough rant. Thanks! Bret "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44 Quote Link to comment
Idaho Ron Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I think if mine comes off I will try this. I am going to clean the parts well with mineral spirits then I am going to try clear silicone. I have been told it is not affected by heat. Ron Quote Link to comment
+culpc Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Check and see if the silicon will discolor the case. If not, RTV it! Holds up well, easy to apply, and if you mask off the area before you apply the RTV the job looks fairly professional. Also, a choice of colors! Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son! Quote Link to comment
+culpc Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Check and see if the silicon will discolor the case. If not, RTV it! Holds up well, easy to apply, and if you mask off the area before you apply the RTV the job looks fairly professional. Also, a choice of colors! Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son! Quote Link to comment
ubiquitous Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 That keeps moisture out of your battery compartment it was never meant to be glued. O-Rings are designed to "squirm" inside their grove to create a water-tight seal. I know having it fall out is annoying but it was designed that way. u There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. Mark Twain Quote Link to comment
ubiquitous Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 other rubber parts of the e-trex then ignore previous message and good luck with your glue job.. There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy?s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure. Mark Twain Quote Link to comment
+Buck8Point Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I too have experienced a slight but manageable amount of slippage on my Vista's Rubber Outer Band due to excessive heating on a few occasions. I would urge you to use EXTREME CAUTION, and discretion in using any type of GLUE to remedy this problem. Especially any glue that contains a Cyanoacrylate ester, as this will not only very likely ruin your Vista's case, but most likely Void your warranty as well. The Rubber outer band serves as a water barrier over the 2 halves of the clam shell case of the unit. The special glue used is activated or in our case unfortunately, deactivated, my extreme heat exposure. This is a purposefull design to facilitate factory dissasembly and repair, and yet maintain a waterproof rating of (IEC 529 IPX7 standards) Also notice the Stated Temperature range: 5°F to 158°F (-15°C to 70°C). My guess is thats near the temperature that the heat activated glue on the band starts to fail and cause the unit to no longer retain its water proofness. My suggestion is that if your experiencing significant slippage you should contact Garmin, get a RMA, and ship it to them to get factory authorized service to properly fix the problem, on your Vista. No sense risking the significant investment you have in your Vista over some quick fix. Buck8Poin Buck8Point ------------------------- If I can't Fix it, It's Definately Broke. Quote Link to comment
+Dawgies Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 This has the fix for one and links for others. http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=5740990093&m=3340936884&r=8320939984#8320939984 Good Luck! ~Honest Value Never Fails~ Quote Link to comment
+Dawgies Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 This has the fix for one and links for others. http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=5740990093&m=3340936884&r=8320939984#8320939984 Good Luck! ~Honest Value Never Fails~ Quote Link to comment
+Alan2 Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I just shipped my Vista back to Garmin for a free repair of the unglued rubber. Email them about your problem and they will give you a return authorization number. Obviously it's a design/production defect but they are providing free repair without question. Of course I haven't gotten it back yet.... Alan Quote Link to comment
+apersson850 Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 Well, since I'm the gluing "bandit", I can tell you one thing, that I found out, when I took the rubber gasket away. It's neither the rubber that makes the unit waterproof, nor the glue. But when you take the rubber away, which is easy to do, when you've used the unit for a while, you'll find the sealing tape under the rubber. That's what makes it waterproof. Besides, with the cyano acrylate based glue that I used (no, it doesn't change the color of the case, nor melt the unit down), it's still possible to remove the rubber, if you pull hard enough, but the glue is strong enough to keep the rubber in place when you use it. I can understand that Garmin want to be able to open up the units for service, but I seriously doubt that Garmin's intention was that the rubber should fall off just by handling the unit... Besides, I'm not really that stupid that I didn't try it on a small spot first, just to make sure that it didn't melt the thing down. I do work with machine design, so that kind of mistakes I've passed a while ago... Anders Quote Link to comment
+CYBret Posted July 20, 2002 Author Share Posted July 20, 2002 Anders, Thanks for responding to this thread, I was hoping you'd chime in again. Do you have any idea What the brand name of a cyano acrylate glue sold here in the US would be? I've searched all over and have been amazed to NOT find much of an ingredients list on the backs of the glues I've looked at. I just tried "Amazing Goop." A glue that promised to be stronger than superglue and would work on rubber and plastic. It didn't work at all. Are they making GPS's out of teflon now?!?!?! Bret "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44 Quote Link to comment
+fortworthbret Posted July 20, 2002 Share Posted July 20, 2002 CYBret, Although I wouldn't get it anywhere my GPS, cyano acrylate AKA CA glue AKA superglue is sold under many many different names here in the US. (ok, that was a longway to say its just superglue) Quote Link to comment
+CYBret Posted July 21, 2002 Author Share Posted July 21, 2002 quote:(ok, that was a longway to say its just superglue) Thanks . . . and I've already tried it . . it lasted about a day. I guess it's time to contact Garmin. Bret "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44 Quote Link to comment
+submanager Posted July 21, 2002 Share Posted July 21, 2002 Before receiving a note from Garmin saying they would send me the rubber gasket and adhesive, I went to Orchard Supply Hardware and purchased some adhesive to reattach the rubber gasket. I bought "Rubber Adhesive" manufactured by Devcon. I don't have the original box, so I can't say what it's made of. But it has set a very good bond when I followed the directions. They instruct to apply the adhesive to both surfaces and let them stand for approximately 5 minutes before joining. After joining, they instruct leaving it for an hour before using. Full bond strength achieved in about 6 hours. Excess can be rubbed off, but the two surfaces bonded seem to be tight. Quote Link to comment
+apersson850 Posted July 22, 2002 Share Posted July 22, 2002 The thing with the glue I used, the Cyano XL, is that the seal that it creates is soft. It's supposed to be able to glue O-rings, since the seal can be bent 180º after hardening. One can wonder how they measure that, but so it says. This is on the contrary to conventional cyano based glues, that gives a firm seal, that will crack if you bend it. Since the rubber gasket invariably will flex a little, the soft glue is better. I visited an industrial tool supplier to get a god tip for my glue. They had an expert from Loctite there that day. Also, notice that you have to clean off the old, cloggy glue from the unit first, or the cyano glue will not have any good surface top attach to. The good thing with the glue I used, is that I could put the rubber gasket back on the GPS, then apply a few drops of glue between the rubber and the case. No need for applying glue before attaching the rubber, with the risk of getting it misplaced, when the glue attaches to both surfaces. Anders Quote Link to comment
+Alan2 Posted July 23, 2002 Share Posted July 23, 2002 quote:Originally posted by Alan2:I just shipped my Vista back to Garmin for a free repair of the unglued rubber. Email them about your problem and they will give you a return authorization number. Obviously it's a design/production defect but they are providing free repair without question. Of course I haven't gotten it back yet.... Alan Well, I just got my Vista back. About 8 days complete turn around from the day I shipped (USPS) to the day I received (Airborne EXpress). No charges (purchased last Sept). Garmin replaced the rubber entirely. Sent it back updated with 2.28. Good service; I'm pleased. Alan Quote Link to comment
+CYBret Posted July 27, 2002 Author Share Posted July 27, 2002 Mailed the Venture off yesterday . . . counting the days now. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice. I tried just about everything possible. Hopefully Garmin knows what they're doing! Bret "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44 Quote Link to comment
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