GME PLB Battery Renewal.

Thanks Alby, I had heard that was pretty much the case. Scandalous isn't it.

Yeah, thanks Leigh. Scandalous isn't it. I'll shop around a bit.
Cheers ........................... Wozikev.

Thanks Cuppa.
I think I'll shop around a bit and see what I can find. If I have any joy I'll get back to you.
Cheers ................... Wozikev.

On double checking I find that I paid $355 for the Ocean Signal Rescue PLB1 with a battery use by date of Feb 2032. (Some cheaper offerings of the same thing can have a year or so less - pays to check)

And what’s your life worth?

$350, seven years, a dollar a week.

I’ll be buying a new one in a few months.

Cheers

You have it all wrong Rocco

I have a PLB and recommend every vehicle carry one, but……

Only a new PLB has a guaranteed 7 year battery life and a reconditioned PLB, GME would only guarantee for one year.

That is why I would recommend buying a new one.

Stephen

That’s what I thought I was saying.

Cheers

Sorry Rocco

Miss read your reply.

Enough electronic waste in the world now without throwing out a perfectly good device just because its battery has reached its expiration date. In this case the new unit is simply replacing another with the same functionality.

With you car scenario applied we greatly increase the landfill throwing away a large item that has had a small part fal but that's just an acceptable practice these days. In the long term no it's a bad decision we're already over polluting at a staggering rate but as humans go it's all about the convenience so we are more likely to do what suits us for the short term. Our future generations will suffer greatly living on this rubbish dump we call earth.

What a stupid reply from someone that does not know anything about this Australian company.

GME make premium Australian made products and their PLB is no exception.

If you did your homework, you will know the GME are the only PLB available here in Australia that are 100% made here in Australia, not the UK or the USA like the others available, and have been manufacturing emergency beacons in Australia for over 40 years.

By your stupid comment, you sound like the type of person that does not own one………..

Maybe so, however, there are very many other instances in cars of where we used to be able to change parts easily, but they are now parts of non-repairable assemblies.

Yep and now unless your a service centre/mechanic etc the going trend is you won't be able to get service info for them.

We now have perfectly good TV you have to scrap as the manufacures only support the smart TV apps for a few years then no longer support so it is either scrap the TV or if you can add another dongle to it to get the support from a third party supplier.

I wonder how long it will be before the car manufactures catch on to that aspect and tell you youll have to purchase a new car as we are no longer supporting the software of your current one:(

Laws were passed that motor companies have to make service available to everyone, which they have done but it comes at a price.
Not sure about other brands but Toyota went on a warpath and started prosecuting websites for having copyrighted information free for the taking and everything disappeared.
As for planned obsolescence software wise, when I bought my SR5 new in 2012 the navigation software was several years out of date and Toyota were more than happy to sell me a current SD card for a bit over $300, and this was when the vehicle was only a couple of months old.
I don't know of anyone that couldn't live with it that bought a new card, it was cheaper at the time to replace the head unit with something along the lines of Kenwood entertainment systems and got rid of the rest of the Fujitsu Australian specific limitations as well.

'By your stupid comment, you sound like the type of person that does not own one………..'

Wrong again... I have a GME PLB, and a GME handheld UHF, and an in vehicle GME UHF. Not that that has any bearing on my opinion of the battery 'con.'

I also have a VHF which is 6 months old that was inadvertantly left switched on resulting in a battery that won't recharge. Useless unless I buy a new unit or replace the battery as discussed above.

"Laws were passed that motor companies have to make service available to everyone, which they have done but it comes at a price"

Not the case, my hybrid Toyota for instance has the petrol motor, brakes etc apart from the hybrid electrics side. If you try and access service info for the petrol motor you can only do so on Toyotas website if they deem you suitably qualified to do so. Not sure how even other non Toyota car service centres will satisfy the "suitably qualified" if they haven't been Toyota trained?

Interesting Leigh,
What information were you trying to access?
I believe the law was passed following a class action to allow owners access to service information required by repairers in remote areas not serviced by the dealers.
Possibly a case of dealers pushing the boundaries till someone kicks up.
Like you say, who deems someone suitably qualified on brand new technology? If the information is made available any reasonably competant diagnostic technician will be able to apply logic to it and have a high success rate.
The dealers do reserve swapnostics for their own advantage.
20 years ago I had no experience on caterpillar equipment but gaining access to both ET and SIS I am confident that I can diagnose any electrical fault a caterpillar machine encounters. Would I have been deemed a suitably qualified person 20 years ago?

I was on Toyotas website, I wanted to look at the wiring schematics regarding adding a dash cam and just assumed it would be pay the usual fee for a days access but found as soon as I selected my hybrib model it indicate access only allowed to suitable qualified personal.

It is interesting with hybrids and electric vechicles, they use low voltage and high voltage systems, now in this respect in any other area you need to be a licensed electrician to work on the same but EV's and Hybrids seem to be flying below the radar.

It becomes a grey area, you do have 300V circuitry which needs to be treated with due respect but I don't see any reason why they should not allow access to 12V circuit schematics for example.

I see your point but the dealers being pricks in general will use it to their advantage.
Having said that if you were in a regional area it would be considered normal for the owner to gather the relivant info rather than pay said suitably qualified person $150 plus an hour to do the ground work.
If the hybrid cars are anything like dump trucks the dangerous circuitry will be very well identified and made in accessable accidentally, but that is what I imagine never having seen the workings of an on road hybrid.