+Mr Lost Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 I have a friend with a Meridian Gold, and I am buying one used. His, and the one I am buying both work just fine, except for the fact that the backlight does not function in either one. Has anyone noticed a pattern with the backlight not working? Also, if it is broken, how difficult / expensive / time consuming is it to repair? Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 I am that friend, and I have to say I found it weird when ML told me the GPS he was buying had a defective backlight, as mine does also. Yet, I've never heard any other Meridian users complain about this. Perhaps it is a common problem that nobody knows about. As to fixing it... Magellan quoted me somewhere around $100 a while back. I could see if I still have the email. All I know is I laughed and never thought about it again. Jamie Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 I had the backlight stop working on my Platinum. I called Magellan and got an RMA number to send it in to be repaired. Before packing it up, I reloaded the firmware (to get rid of the modified lawyer screen hack), and suddenly the light worked again. I don't know WHY it worked, but it's easy to do and can't hurt... Quote Link to comment
+High IQ Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 It might be worth trying to re-install the firmware. Download the latest version from the Magellan website. Quote Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 Mine went out long ago, but not before I had the button locations memorized. I never noticed when it happened except that it did. Quote Link to comment
dave and jaime Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 sorta related, my gps315's beeper has gone down in volume about 50% and now sounds only muffled. Quote Link to comment
+High IQ Posted November 19, 2004 Share Posted November 19, 2004 (edited) You haven't by chance just turned off the beep in the setup menu have you? (Oops! Sorry I read that wrong. Obviously if its just muffled then it isn't turned off.) Edited November 19, 2004 by High IQ Quote Link to comment
+Mr Lost Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Bump I am really interested in weather or not anyone has found a relatively cheap and quick fix for this. Is shipping it back to Meridian the only option I have for service? It is out of warranty, and I would REALLY like to have the backlight working. Quote Link to comment
+Corp Of Discovery Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 (edited) Did you try reinstalling the firmware per Stunods suggestion? If you did and that didn't work, try calling Magellan again. I recently needed to have my Gold repaired and they told me $125.00 if out of warranty. I just called back at another time and that person just went ahead and gave me the RMA number. Away it went and I got it back in about 1 1/2 weeks, repaired not replaced BTW, and with a free data/power cable thrown in. Needless to say, I am a very pleased Magellan customer, the free cable was icing on the cake. I also had to send in my Etrex Yellow at about the same time. That went pretty much the same way, except no freebie when I got that one back. I am a very pleased Garmin customer too, but this piece of cake had no icing... Edited December 20, 2004 by Corp Of Discovery Quote Link to comment
+IV_Warrior Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 The backlight on my Gold quit working a couple months ago. Strangely, a couple weeks ago, it started working again. No idea what caused it to quit, or to suddenly start working again..... Quote Link to comment
+Dan_Edwards Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Mine recently died the other day on my Merigreen. It died before and started working after a complete reset, but that did not work this time. Sounds like a common issue to me. Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Did you try reinstalling the firmware per Stunods suggestion? Yes, I helped MrL reinstall the firmware with no resulting change in the backlight. It's beginning to sound like we've exposed a weak spot in the longevity of the Meridian. Much like the display and click stick of the eTrex line, the backlights of the Meridians eventually quit working. I contacted Magellan a while back both about my backlight and about an apparent preoblem with the gasket. I was of the opinion that the problems may have arisen when I sent my GPS in to repair the "blue spots" about a year ago. They didn't acknowledge that they may have caused the problem but rather simply sent me a curt email telling me I could send the unit in along with $125 for repairs. I believe my backlight issue is a mechanical one, for several months I had a rattling piece of plastic inside my case. I'm not sure if a call to them would net me happy results or not. I fixed the gasket myself. Jamie Quote Link to comment
+goatfarmer Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I'm petrified that the backlight on my Meridian Color will eventually quit working. As some of you know, the display is basically unreadable without the backlight, even in daylight. Quote Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 I'm getting the impression most of you are talking about the screen backlight where I was talking about the buttons backlight. Quote Link to comment
+Mr Lost Posted December 23, 2004 Author Share Posted December 23, 2004 I'm getting the impression most of you are talking about the screen backlight where I was talking about the buttons backlight. Correct. The screen backlight no longer functions on my Gold. I took it apart, but not enough to really get into the guts of it. Nothing was obviously out of place that my inexperienced eyes could see. I didn't know that the buttons were lighted. If that is the case, perhaps it is on the same circuit. Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 I'm getting the impression most of you are talking about the screen backlight where I was talking about the buttons backlight. Are the buttons backlit?? I don't remember ever seeing the buttons lit up... Quote Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 Yep. Mine were for a small while... but like I said in my previous post, I never noticed when it went out because I had the buttons memorized before it happened. Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 I just checked...they are back-lit. Never even noticed this before... Quote Link to comment
+EScout Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 Merigreen in use 2 years and back light works fine. I always thought the keys lighting up was a neat feature. The keys are also at the 2 levels of brightness like the screen. Quote Link to comment
+GOT GPS? Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 (edited) Don't worry about the Meridian Color, it is a bit different, it is a white light backlight, and it should last awhile. The other Meridians, have a Blue-Green Electro-Luminescent Backlight, behind the LCD Display. I have experience with the Electro-Luminecent backlight shorting out the battery in another Device. The bad backlight could kill your batteries, even with the unit turned off, if it is like my experience with a backlight on a high-end Cannon 35mm camera. -------------------------------- Edited in: The Electro-Luminecent Display's have a certain lifetime to them, maybe not more than 5 years, or too much moisture, and cold that could shorten the life. Edited December 24, 2004 by GOT GPS? Quote Link to comment
derekdoubleut Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 I feel like kind of a goof for asking this: Which button am I supposed to press to activate the backlight? It's been a long time since I used it at night, and I can't find my manual. Thanks. Quote Link to comment
SilverLynx Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 I feel like kind of a goof for asking this: Which button am I supposed to press to activate the backlight? It's been a long time since I used it at night, and I can't find my manual. Thanks. If its the Meridian Gold, hold the power button down to activate low level light, then hold it down again to increase the light level, hold it down one more time to deactivate the light. Lynx Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 I have never had that happen to my Meridain Gold, and I drop mine all the time Maybe thats the secret. Quote Link to comment
+EScout Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Electroluminescence sticks These devices claim a life of 3,000 Hours, so maybe the backlights on the Meridians are the same. That is a lot of night use for the average user. Quote Link to comment
vagabond Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Three years on mine and everything still working great Quote Link to comment
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