+GrnXnham Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 This is just strange. Both my Garmin Legend and 60C do this. While just walking around with either unit, they rarely shut down spontaneously, HOWEVER, recently I purchased a RAM mount for my ATV thinking it would be really cool to be able to use the GPSr while riding. When I mount either the Legend or the 60C to the ATV with the ATV running, the GPSr shuts off after maybe 20 seconds. I turn it back on. It shuts off again even sooner this time. Now I try to turn on the GPSr and it won't even turn on! I remove the batteries and then put them back into the unit. Now it will start up again. Then it shuts down again when placed back on the ATV. I give up and remove the GPSr from the ATV. Now the GPSr acts quirky for a few days (both units!) shutting down occasionally for no apparent reason even when just walking around with them. After a few days, both GPSr units now have apparently fixed themselves and act normally again. The shutdowns are gone. Once again, BOTH GPSr's do this? Is this just a Garmin thing? The ATV doesn't even have to be moving--just running. And it's not like my ATV vibrates excessively or anything. I tried mounting them on my motorcycle also. Same thing happens--more shutdowns. It never happens in any of our cars. Is this strange or what? Any ideas on how to fix this? I figure if I send the units to Garmin, they will find nothing wrong with them unless they mount them on an ATV or motorcycle--and that ain't happening so they probably won't fix them or even know how to fix them. They'll probably just figure I am blowing smoke or something. I can't believe that two units that are designed to be portable and are to be used in the outdoors would shut down so easily. Help! Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Is this just a Garmin thing? It's a fairly well-documented Garmin thing. See, Garmin's have their batteries mounted vertically, so any up-and-down motion tends to pull the batteries away from the contacts for a fraction of a second. The horizontal battery design used by some Magellan's alleviate some of this problem, but at the expense of a wider piece of equipment. I think the fix is to simply bend the contacts a little. Someone with some experience with this should be able to tell you what you need to do. Jamie Quote Link to comment
+wickedsprint Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 www.cycoactive.com dicusses this in great detail. Quote Link to comment
+hamgran Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 I guess we've been pretty lucky. We've got a Vista and a 60CS mounted on ATVs and haven't had a problem at all so far (touch wood!) - hamgran Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 The 60c has a setting telling it what to do if auxillary power is interrupted (shut down or keep going), but it doesn't sound like you were using an external power supply here. I have to go with the sloppy battery terminal contacts. Quote Link to comment
+GrnXnham Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 Yeah, I'm using batteries not an external power supply. I tried bending the battery terminals out some but it made no difference. Thanks anyway. Dave Quote Link to comment
Prof. Y. Lupardi Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Nowadays batteries and especially the NiMh types are not up to the old standard of size. So they tend to rattlle around in their compartments. It is not only the longitudinal movement that makes a no-connect but also the lateral (they buckle). Try some simple tape around them so they fit snuggly. In my Garmin GPS12 this trick does wonders! Quote Link to comment
+robert Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 small piece of foam might help. place the batteries in the unit, put in the small piece of foam, and replace the battery cover. should help keep them tightly in place. Quote Link to comment
shadango Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 This happened with my V......on my motorcycle... I contacted Garmin and they sent me (free of charge) a little springy gizmo that you put in the battery bay after the first two batteries are in... It worked great. DZ Quote Link to comment
HawkesNest Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 I've been using a Legend and just upgraded to the Legend C. I noticed that in the Legend the batteries didn't fit to snug and I only had it shut off a couple of times. I bent the contacts out a little and it hasn't shut off since. In the new Legend C the batteries fit very snug and I wondered what the difference was. I noticed that behind all four battery terminal contacts, there was a small piece of foam that keeps the contacts pressed tight against each end of the battery. Putting a small piece of foam behind each terminal contact, would be an easy fix that should work great for anyone. Maybe a thin piece of weather strip foam that is sticky on one side would work great so it would stay stuck in place and not fall out or something else of the like. Quote Link to comment
+GrnXnham Posted October 5, 2004 Author Share Posted October 5, 2004 Just to let everyone know that because of recommendations here and other places, last weekend I tried wrapping a small amount of electrical tape around each battery. I also used some dielectric compound on each terminal before putting the batteries into the 60C and mounting it on the ATV. I rode the ATV all day long on very rough trails, even took a few jumps, and the 60C didn't shut off once! Haven't tried this fix on the Legend, yet. Maybe next weekend. . . Cheap and easy fix. Thanks for the help, everyone! Quote Link to comment
Hankhan Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Is this just a Garmin thing? It's a fairly well-documented Garmin thing. See, Garmin's have their batteries mounted vertically, so any up-and-down motion tends to pull the batteries away from the contacts for a fraction of a second. Jamie My 76CS has it's batteries mounted horizontally, I've used it on my quad and cycles with no problems. Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 My 76CS has it's batteries mounted horizontally, I've used it on my quad and cycles with no problems. All my experience with Garmin's have been only with the eTrex. I stand corrected by my statement, but add that the OP concerned the eTrex. Thanks for clarifying. Jamie Quote Link to comment
ju66l3r Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 What about this one...my yellow Garmin eTrex wedges between my dash and the windshield really well in my Celica. Before, I used to run it on the batteries and it ran really smoothly. My friend got me a lighter adapter so I run it externally powered in the car now. Every now and then while driving I look over and it's shut off...adapter still plugged in firmly and still wedged on the dash the same. Sometimes it happens, other times not at all. It happens infrequently enough not to be a problem, just a minor annoyance. Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Every now and then while driving I look over and it's shut off...adapter still plugged in firmly and still wedged on the dash the same. I would gues that the lighter plug has lost contact briefly. Jamie Quote Link to comment
ju66l3r Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Hmm, totally possible. In installing my new radio some months ago, we forgot to reattach the shielding bracket on the lighter after removing the dash... I bet it's losing contact on the other side of the dash on rough bounces... Good call..hadn't thought about that shielding (since I don't usually plug anything into the lighter). Quote Link to comment
+Phone guy Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 I had this problem as well. I took a business card folded or cut to fit on top of the batteries and reattach the cover. Problem solved and I have not had another issue. Quote Link to comment
+Dawgies Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 This happened with my V......on my motorcycle... I contacted Garmin and they sent me (free of charge) a little springy gizmo that you put in the battery bay after the first two batteries are in... It worked great. DZ Last week I ordered the Garmin V handle bar mount for my bike. They sent me one of the "between" battery springs with my order. I guess they had enough issues about it to make the piece routine. Heck, will all the problems I've had in the past with the auto shut off, I would have been glad to pay for just that part! The batteries are tight enough now that I could drop kick it without worrying about it. Anyway, it was nice of them to send it up front instead of waiting to see if I'd complain later. Quote Link to comment
+Cache Viking Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 The Bar Mount for my Garmin V came with a little Spring Thing to put between the batteries. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 small piece of foam might help. place the batteries in the unit, put in the small piece of foam, and replace the battery cover. should help keep them tightly in place. This is how Garmin is shipping the new 60's. Quote Link to comment
Hoo Noze Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 I clip my Etrex to my BMW and it goes dead at 132 MPH. I think it is from the vivration. Quote Link to comment
Z15 Posted October 6, 2004 Share Posted October 6, 2004 I have a Garmin GPS III permanently mounted on my Honda Rancher but used the cigar lighter adapter cable. It only works with ATV running as power to the outlet is shut off with ignition. Had it on there since new, 2001. Another thing I found out about many Garmins. The have an internal backup battery that stores your data. If your AA batteries are weak or dead and you are plugged into lighter for power, you will get a warning that internal battery is low. You must keep fresh batteries in the receiver to keep this internal backup battery charged. If you ever get this, install fresh bat's and give it a fews days to a week to recharge the internal. Quote Link to comment
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