Garmin gps failing
Submitted: Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 16:05
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caseh
Greetings. I have a Garmin nuvi gps model 1390. I used this gps without problems on my 6 months stint in Oz last year.
This year we took off on another 6 months expedition leaving Margaret River WA at the end of April. The gps worked without fail for the first 5 weeks or so
but the last 10 days tells me it is unable to detect the satelites. We have been on the Oodnadetta track so have not had any phone coverage. We are now at
Coober Pedy for a few days and I have been on the Garmin website and uploaded the latest maps and reset the gps to its factory settings.
I have fiddled endlessly with the gps and discovered that it works fine on battery in and out of the car, but as soon as i turn on the ignition the satelites drop off and renders the gps useless. Even having the key in the ignition and having the key set to acc so that the radio etc work effects the gps and the satelites drop away completely.
Anybody any idea's please? Many tkanks Case and Ingrid
Reply By: Ross M - Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 17:18
Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 17:18
Most GPS use a lower voltage than the vehicle,
mine uses 5v. If the voltage being delivered to the GPS by its adapter cable is more than the required voltage it will most likely not want to work for you. If you have access to a multimeter, probe the pins from the cable and
test to see if this is happening. Like phone chargers there is a voltage regulator somewhere in the system and this may be faulty or the cable has frayed/broken and it's internals are touching 12v and not just the regulated voltage for the Garmin.
I had trouble with GPS cables and found the quality of the wire cable and it's resistance to fracture is very very poor. Had to replace cabling on some of
mine.
Model 1390, I didn't know they made them way back then, must have been the star track/trek model I suppose. Just joking.
Ross M
AnswerID:
488189
Follow Up By: caseh - Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 19:28
Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 19:28
Thanks for the replies thus far guys.
I have also contacted Garmin but they state that they reply within three working days. Bye that time i will be back on the Oodnadetta track.
The voltage is not the problem as the inbuild battery works fine in the car till i turn the key, at which time the satelites drop off.
Many thanks and i will
check back later. Regards, Case.
FollowupID:
763431
Follow Up By: Ross M - Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 20:56
Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 20:56
The inbuilt battery voltage will be immediately overridden and possibly much more by the applied voltage of the cable when you turn on the ignition.
This is why I mentioned checking the applied voltage coming out of the cable to the GPS connector.
The fact it works in the car on internal battery is not in question.
Another thing is, you might have it positioned close to something which emits some form of radiated electronic field when the ign is on and this may blot out the incoming GPS signal.
Some electronics in modern vehicles do have oscillating frequencies internally and this may be the cause.
Ross M
FollowupID:
763437
Reply By: Stevesub1 - Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 22:33
Monday, Jun 11, 2012 at 22:33
My wife has a Garmin, no problems after it was sent back to the factory to get the lifetime maps working. My nephew has one, no problems with the second one, the first had his position all screwed up and was replaced under warrenty. I had one that would not detect satellites, it went to the factory for repair 3 times, then I got my money back as it was never fixed properly. Sorry but in my personal experience, 3 out of 3 duds, Garmin are not good GPS units. All this happened in the last 12 months!!!
I am back to using my phone as a GPS because the Unidon I bought lasted a week before that stopped working. I don't have the time to stuff around anymore with dud units or am I just jinxed.
AnswerID:
488222
Reply By: Member - Shane D (QLD) - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2012 at 17:44
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2012 at 17:44
I have a 5 year old 760 that spends most of it's time in the glove box, I have some trouble with it on a trips , it wouldn't/couldn't find satellites, this went on for about 3 days, it was working fine until I stopped somewhere and allowed it to "time out" and switch off by itself.
Once I started back up The 760 refused to function properly and then just as suddenly, it came good, this occurred a few times after that trip, I began not to rely on it, I still don't fully
My theory was that when I started the Cruiser with it plugged in, it got power then a power drop, then another power surge as the motor started, so what I did after that was unplug from the ciggy lighter socket, then turn the cruiser off, on start up only plug the 760 in once the motor was running, I never had a problem after that, may be superstition prehaps,
My wife has an Iphone with maps , and I have an andriod type phone so theres
plan B and c
Shane
AnswerID:
488288
Reply By: Member Boroma 604 - Tuesday, Jun 12, 2012 at 19:58
Tuesday, Jun 12, 2012 at 19:58
Gooday, Must be some sort of Virus about, we have a Garmin 2460 only 4 months old, spoke to Garmin life Support earlier today and it is hopefully in an aeroplane tonight on its way back to them, they said they would replace it.
Would not find satellites or accept any instructions.
The first thing they tried was, for me to turn it off, then, while holding a finger on the bottom right corner of the screen, switch it on again while doing this, and it came up with a message, do you wish to reset it? or words as such, click yes and hopefully it will come back to life.
Ours did not, even after several attempts.
Hope this may solve someone else's problem.
Cheers,
Boroma604
AnswerID:
488305