Question for the Electronically Savvy

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by fairbank56

I quoted svfinlandia, who claimed "I haven't seen a discrete 3 Pin transistor in a piece of electronic equipment in a long time", but the point is, discrete transistors are still widely used in electronic equipment including the OP's GPS receiver.

Eric

Yup transistors or FETs are found in every piece of electronics I open. Pretty much any power supply will contain either.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by fairbank56

I quoted svfinlandia, who claimed "I haven't seen a discrete 3 Pin transistor in a piece of electronic equipment in a long time", but the point is, discrete transistors are still widely used in electronic equipment including the OP's GPS receiver.

Eric

Could well be? I doubt if or if not it will help the OP. Finding someone to troubleshoot for less than replacement cost is unlikely.

[fairbank56]

Not "could well be", it's a fact, and I wasn't trying to help the OP, I was disputing the claim.

Eric

[DeepFrz]

I don't know how old this unit is but there are very few mechanical relays in electronics these days. And electronic relays don't go click.

I have to admit, its been more than a while...

[fairbank56]

If you routinely serviced this stuff, you would see them. The M506 that I mentioned that has over 60 discrete transistors also has 3 mechanical relays. They have their applications and are still widely used in electronic equipment.

Eric

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

My bet is that there is a relay somewhere inside that is not latching up. When you push the button do you hear a click? Also check that any connections are clean and well seated.

worth a try. clean contacts using a pencil eraser. certainly looks simple enough.

[River Cruiser]

And Garmins support is why I no longer have any Garmin electronics on my boat. I've found SH and Si-Tex have much better support.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[W4JKJ]

HI. I'm not necessarily an electronics expert, but those are membrane switches and used in a ton of modern electronics. Do a search on CaiKote-44 and/or expand that search to something like:
CaiKote-44 membrane switch repair
Normally, it's a wearing down of the contact pad surface which shorts across the circuit traces you can see in your pic.

Good luck!!

[fairbank56]

The contact pad is obviously ok because pressing the button makes the unit come on. The problem is that it shuts off again if the button is released. I can however confirm that the CaiKote is great for restoring the button pads. Use it all the time.

Eric

[transmitterdan]

I think your problem is something a bit more simple than bad hardware. The user's manual says to turn the unit "off" you press and hold the power button. Effectively that's what you are doing. What exactly happens if you just press power and release right away? Does it come on at all?

I have seen problems where the display brightness is turned all the way down and people think the unit didn't power on. But we just needed to set the unit to daytime brightness. I'm not saying that is your problem but it would help if we knew exactly what it does at power on. Does the backlight light up? Have you tried it in total blackness to make it easier to see how long the backlight stays on?

[travellerw]

Wow its truly amazing how 3 pages in, nobody goes back and reads the original post.

This thread is no longer useful and I'm pretty sure the OP has moved on and bought a new unit.

[fairbank56]

Ditto!

[transmitterdan]

I read the original post. I have seen this exact problem on a Garmin unit before. It was that the screen had been set for night time mode when last used. It would power up and then go dark. Pressing and holding power brought it back to day mode but then it powered down exactly as the OP described when the power button was released. Why is that so crazy?

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Cadence

? I was agreeing with you.

Yes, I know. I am an experienced electronic technician (was, actually, this stuff changes pretty fast) and I did this repair the way I did because I did not have access to actual Garmin parts. The average boater could not have done what I did.

[Arthur Garfield]

Try putting in defrosting type freezer.Then give it a try.If nada full sun heat up.This'll shake up those lazy electrons/corrosion.Actually engenders repair sometimes.


All the Best