+Tim&Bets Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 I've had my emap for almost five years now. Last week I accidentally left the unit in the car, in the garage. Now, I don't know what was different with it this time compared to all the other times I've left it in a vehicle, but for some reason when it was brought in, there was quite a bit of condensation on the screen. I took the batteries out and let the unit dry, now for a few days. However, when I try to turn the unit back on, I can't get any indication of power, there's absolutely nothing on the screen. I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 I would be inclined to turn on the oven for a little while to bring it up to 100 degrees or so. Turn it off and pop the GPS in to dry out some more. I did this with a cell phone that went in the drink, and it returned to serviceable use with no known damage. (I'd also wait for a host of other comments so someone can advise you if this is one of the worst things you could do!) Quote Link to comment
+welch Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 so you put the batteries back in and doesn't work? you're sure the batteries are good? Quote Link to comment
+Tim&Bets Posted February 27, 2005 Author Share Posted February 27, 2005 Yep, batteries were brand new out of the box. Quote Link to comment
+Tim&Bets Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 Embra, I tried putting it in the oven for a little while, it wasn't too warm, and I didn't leave it there for a very long time, but nothing has happened. I still can't get the darn thing to power up. Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment
+Milbank Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Any other ideas? Sell it on ebay Quote Link to comment
+Roo & the Bears Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 I had a cellphone which took a dunking one time. Ended up taking the battery out and using a blow dryer on low heat & high fan speed to move as much air as I could around the circuit board to dry it out (it was also dead and came back to life after about 10 minutes of blow drying time). If there is any gap which would give you access to get air moving in the board and display area with the batteries out, you might try it. Quote Link to comment
Prof. Y. Lupardi Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 This method may take a few days depending on the weather : put the GPS as open as possible in a clear plastic blownup bag . Put it in the sun. Condensation will form. Dry it out (bag inside out is the easy way) , and repeat until success has been reached. Quote Link to comment
+jacques0 Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 No offense to the previous poster, but I would skip the plastic bag and just put the gps on/over/near a radiator (assuming you're in a northern climate and the furnace is still running regularly). Otherwise, find the nearest craft/hobby shop and pick up a quantity of silica gel sufficient to engulf the gps. NOW put the gps in a plastic bag w/ the silica gel and leave if for a couple of days untile the s.g. has absborbed the moisture. Sort of like drying flowers, except completely different. Quote Link to comment
+EScout Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Not familiar with that unit but if it has screws holding the case together, I would loosen the screws and open the case slightly and use a hair dryer to gently blow warm air inside. Also, the contacts for the screen may be corroded from moisture. This means opening the case and using a contact cleaner, sprayed on a Q-Tip to clean the contacts. (Use something like De-Ox-Id, cleaner and lubricant.) I did this with a cell phone that was dropped into water by my son. I poured alcohol on it, then blow dryed it. The Li ion battery shorted and was ruined but the cell phone works fine. Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 If you are brave enough to take the emap apart, take a look at the step-by-step here. The pics are for Legend (I think), but there is some good advice. Quote Link to comment
+GixxerUT Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 don't hold ME responsible for this, but how about using a food dehydrator? I tried it on a camera I accidentally dunked. It didn't fix it, but it came out dry. LOL Quote Link to comment
SergZak Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Hmmm...just a thought but a very safe way to -try- to remedy this would be to get a few silica gel dessicant packets (those little packets shipped with electronics that look sorta like sugar packets) and put the eMap along with the packets in a small ziplock bag for a few days. These packets absorb moisture...the trouble is trying to find them since they get tossed into the garbage along with any packing materials. Aside from this idea (which I'll admit is not a very good one ) the food dehydrator sounds good if performed with care... Quote Link to comment
+RubberToes Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 (edited) Hmmm...just a thought but a very safe way to -try- to remedy this would be to get a few silica gel dessicant packets . . . Actually, if you go to an arts and crafts store, you can buy a couple pounds of dessicant. People use it for drying flowers. My daughter had some once and I poured it in a plastic bag along with a pair of binoculars that had been under water after I flipped my canoe. Of course the binoculars aren't electronic, but the dessicant did dry things out so the field glasses are usable again. Edited March 1, 2005 by RubberToes Quote Link to comment
+Tim&Bets Posted March 1, 2005 Author Share Posted March 1, 2005 Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I don't know if I have the capability to dismantle the eMap, there aren't any screws holding it together...I think it's simply two halves glued to each other. I'm not too sure about that though. Either way, I'll probably give it a shot here. I would really really like to at least get it running so I can recover my coordinates from past adventures. We'll see how it works. Quote Link to comment
+Tim&Bets Posted March 1, 2005 Author Share Posted March 1, 2005 I'm also beginning to wonder if something else is the problem. The condensation from a couple days ago is now gone, at least from the screen. As far as I can tell, the unit looks completely normal to me. It just seems like something's bungled up inside and it's causing it not to power up. I don't know, I'm clueless with portable electronics. Maybe given its age, it was just time for it to die. Quote Link to comment
+Tim&Bets Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 Sorry I'm not letting this post die. I just wanted to say that so far, still no luck on getting anything to show up on the screen. However, today I hit the power button and then the backlight button, and the light came on. So...I'm just curious if this might bring about any other suggestions now that this is happening. Quote Link to comment
peter Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Having the backlight come on is at least an encouraging sign that it's going through some kind of power-up. Do you get any beeps (assuming they were enabled before)? I'd also try hooking it up to a PC and checking if any communication is possible. It's possible that only the screen connection is messed up in which case either further drying or a reseating of the connector cable might bring it back to life. BTW, a previous description of disassembly of an eMap indicated that the case is just snap-fit together, with no glue or other sealant. But both of mine still work so I haven't been sufficiently motivated to investigate. Quote Link to comment
Orcinus Orca Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 If the unit has one, try a hardware reset. Moisture [ water ] on the circuit board can cause shorts that can confuse the brain [ computer ] inside. The unit may simply be 'thinking' that it is displaying something and it is not, or it could simply be frozen. The GPSr version of a PCs BSOD. Simply turning it off and on won't fix this. You will loose any data in the unit, but you can't access it anyway with the unit in this state. It is also possible that the unit's firmware could have been corrupted by this same process. Try uploading the current version of the proper firmware. Quote Link to comment
+Greymane Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 There is a factory reset for the eMap. If you hold ESC while powering up the unit, it should reset the unit. You will, of course, have to "bake" the unit after this to restore the satellite almanac. Quote Link to comment
+Tim&Bets Posted May 12, 2005 Author Share Posted May 12, 2005 Just wanted to add an update and thank everyone for their assistance and suggestions. Today, as i was digging around for some batteries on top of the refrigerator, I saw the emap sitting in the same spot it had been for the bast 2+ months. Just for kicks, I hit the power button expecting the same result. To my ecstatic surprise though, it turned right on, and functioned perfectly, as if nothing had ever happened. Betsy said "It must have just needed a vacation for a little while since we were using it so much." Either that, or it took that long to completely dry out, which is surprising to me. Now I'm going to sound a little cynical, but I was actually a little depressed that it turned on, since I have spent the last week doing research on getting a new unit, and was probably going to commit to a new gpsmap 60cs. Would have been a sweet unit to have, but now I think I'll just hang tight with the tried and true emap. Anyways, thanks to everyone for the help. I really appreciated all the suggestions! Quote Link to comment
Delaypat Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Glad its working.......I have a 60cs myself and love the thing, but then again I was working with a Mag.Blazer12 before I got my garmin.........totally differnt...LOL................. Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Congrats. Having dowsed the etrex, I strongly suggest you go out and buy a 60CS, just to have around as a backup in the unlikely event that the etrex finds itself stuck in a hot damp car again. You can never be too careful. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
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.