Jump to content

Those evil black lines, cant belive.


GOT GPS?

Recommended Posts

My Vista now has those awful horizontal black lines. With a little pressure on the right side of the unit, they appear, then when I hit it against my hand, it clears the screen. And you know what else, this is another thread added to the long list of eTrex problems. Maybe I might get a Map 76S, because there are very few bad expiriences on this board, with that GPS. Lots of bad magellan threads too.

 

I should have taken a picture of the screen problem, but I will try to remember. Also the rubberband is comming off.

Link to comment

I don't know how old your Vista is but mine was 2 years old and I called Garmin. They told me about the plug coming loose and that they had some trouble with it and I could send it in and have it fixed for $50.00. The normal charge I believe is over $125.00 so I didn't think that was too bad for a two year old unit. Included was the two day shipping back to me which they messed up on and then shipped it overnight. I think Garmin does have troubles just like the rest of them but their service impressed me. My next unit will be a Garmin.

 

murph

Link to comment

I don't know how much I consider the message boards in trying to determine the fail rate of different units. It's really hard to know what the sample sizes are for the different types. Judging by people I know who own GPS units, what I see on the trails, and based on what people have told me who work in local sporting goods stores, the eTrex series probably outsells all other units combined from all manufactures. Based on those sorts of numbers you would expect to hear much more of problems with that unit. The 76 series while a great receivers aren't nearly as popular, so you wouldn't expect to hear much regarding what sort of problems people have with that unit.

 

It would be really interesting to see hard numbers somewhere, but I doubt the manufactures are ever going to let us see their sales, and repair figures.

Link to comment

Here's my 2 cents ... I've had the same problem on my Vista ... as soon as I get the "honey-do" lists down to around 2,000 projects I'm going to disassemble mine and see about that connector. Warranty is expired. I also have a 76S ... LOVE IT ... especially the screen size. The weight is nothing ... the size ... after my Vista is not that much of a hassle. The only problem I have is optimum way to use that antenna is holding the unit vertical ... to use the compass .. flat and level ... sort of an issue but not too bad. My vista has only had this one problem ... never had a problem with the band coming off ... never had a problem with the stick ... and I've carried it all over South America, China, Linville Gorge wilderness area ... all very harsh environments and it has not been babied. The Line issue or blank screen issue has been there for a year ... but has gotten worse lately. A diagonal twist of the unit usually clears it up ... but it will come back sometimes.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

Link to comment

When I had this problem, I found the "Legend Screen Scramble" thread - you can check it out by viewing my recent posts. Like I say there, my Venture had this problem, which seems to occur across the eTrex family, and Garmin took care of it promptly, no problem. It also seems related to the nonresponsive buttons problem. I think both are caused by a loose ribbon cable between the CPU and the user interface, which is why a firm but gentle whack on the side often is effective. If mine hadn't been under warranty, I might have stuck to that.

 

-------------

"Thos' Degrees of Longitude and Latitude in Name, yet in Earthly reality are they Channels mark'd for the transport of some unseen Influence, one carefully assembl'd chain…"

– Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon

Link to comment

icon_biggrin.gif UPDATE:

Well I did it. I took it apart ... and it is back together again. Not too hard to do really but has some tricky aspects. The great thing is it works wonderfully now. The problem is the connection to the ribbon is "VERY DELICATE" ... to the point that once the small pressure clamping mechanism is in place ... and you are reassembling it ... it can very easily be pulled loose ... just a bit .. not enough to fail but enough to start causing problems later. So it's easy to see how this could happen during a production assembly operation on a high percentage of units. VERY POOR DESIGN. It would have taken so little to correct it. Anyway I've taken photos and will do a write up if anyone's interested. Note ... my Vista was purchased when they first came out and is definitely out of warranty ... but I still have $125 to $150 in my pocket and the Vista is like new. No lines ... no blank screens ... no matter how much I tap or twist it. So far no failure and I've turned it on and off over 50 times ... OH YEAH ... I'm feeling pretty good about it.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

Link to comment

I've done a little more experimenting ... the vinyl electrical tape that I substituted for the clear vinyl tape to seal the seam and buttons works great ... so far the "rubber band" is holding with the reseal ...

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

Link to comment

I was just playing around with my Venture and noticed that when they repaired my "rubber band" problem last year, they changed the design of the band. It used to have a seam at the top, where you pull the flap back for the data port. The new band is a solid piece of rubber all around. At least they moved ahead by one step on that.

 

I'm planning on sending mine in soon. Besides the rubber band needing fixed, I've also got a few scratches on the screen, my clickstik sometimes doesn't work right and I also get the lines on the screen occasionally. I figure as long as I'm paying a flat rate I might as well get everything done I possibly can.

 

Did I forget anything? Think I can talk them into just poppin' 8 more megs of memory into it and calling it a Legend? icon_wink.gif

 

Bret

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again." Mt. 13:44

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by The Alethiometrists:

I'd be interested.


 

Pop me an email with a return email and I'll be happy to send it out to you ... it's a PDF file about 335KB in size.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

Link to comment

Thanks for all the emails ... 32 so far. I'm going overseas for a while so I won't always have a good internet connection. If you want a copy of the PDF file you can find it here. If anyone has any suggestions or finds any of it confusing ... let me know and I'll see if I can help or refine the instructions. Robert's going to also post these instructions on keenpeople.com so you should be able to find it there soon. Hope it helps. Remember if your unit is under warranty ... I'd let them fix it. But if you're past that point and want to save the bucks ... a little patience and a steady hand ... pays off big time.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

Link to comment

It's just a slight goof in manufacturing design. The way it's assembled ... it's darn near guaranteed for a high percentage of failure. When I say failure ... I mean it comes lose as it gets torqued during assembly ... not enough to fail ... but it will eventually ... a little at a time in the best case scenerio. I bet one of the product engineers noticed the flaw. I mean it's basic production line common sense. icon_rolleyes.gif Sorry ... it's the engineer gene kicking in.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by quakemap.com:

I can host the file on my server and post the link here, zip it and email to slg@quakemap.com if you please!


 

If you want to do it ... follow the link above and you can snag a copy there.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Co-founder of the "NC/VA GEO-HOG ASSOCIATION"

... when you absolutely have to find it first!

Link to comment

quote:
Originally posted by GOT GPS?:

My Vista now has those awful horizontal black lines. With a little pressure on the right side of the unit, they appear, then when I hit it against my hand, it clears the screen. And you know what else, this is another thread added to the long list of eTrex problems. Maybe I might get a Map 76S, because there are very few bad expiriences on this board, with that GPS. Lots of bad magellan threads too.

 

I should have taken a picture of the screen problem, but I will try to remember. Also the rubberband is comming off.


Link to comment

I wanted to send a big THANK YOU out to Hawk-eye for posting instructions on how to fix the screen problem. With Wadel’s help we were able to get the ol’ Legend as good as new in less than a half-hour. Nice to know that such a horrible GPS problem can be so easily fixed! Thanks again!

Link to comment

I got my eTrex Venture for Christmas in 2003. In January 2005 it started having problems with the screen fading out or going dark or getting the lines across it.

 

I sent e-mail to Garmin and received a reply two days later and an RMA to return the unit for repair. They confirmed the problem and sent me a new unit, no questions asked.

 

Very nice service indeed!

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...