Garmin Suggestion

[david7710]

I'm brand new to this forum and need some help. I've been using a Garmin RV660LMT for several years and am quite familiar with its operation. Of late, it has lost its electronic mind and is no longer useful. It turns on and off randomly (the same in 2 vehicles with 2 different power cords). If it doesn't turn off, the screen brightness suddenly goes way down, and then back up. It forgets the current location and has to re-find itself. Occasionally it displays just a plain white screen. It's just behaving very oddly.

What I need is a Garmin GPS with:
1) a 5 or 6 inch screen
2) that accepts a download from Basecamp with a complicated, long routes, that has enough memory to store 20 or so such complicated routes
3) that will connect to a BC-30 camera wirelessly
4) that has a wide POI knowledge
5) I do not need specific RV help as the RV660LMT has
6) Cheaper is better than more expensive

Any ideas?

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

Does your unit work from it's internal battery ?, if not it may be possible to fix it with a replacement battery

When looking for a replacement unit, this list of Garmin devices that are compatible with the BC-30 might be useful :-

https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/501486#devices

 

[david7710]

Does your unit work from it's internal battery ?, if not it may be possible to fix it with a replacement battery

When looking for a replacement unit, this list of Garmin devices that are compatible with the BC-30 might be useful :-

https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/501486#devices

Thanks for the response. The unit works usually from a Garmin power supply that plugs into a 12 volt outlet. As I mentioned before, it misbehaves oddly in two separate vehicles with two different Garmin power supply cords. The unit will operate for a few minutes on the internal battery, but it was never really intended to be operated for long on the small internal battery.

The list of Garmin units that are compatible with the BC30 is helpful. Do you happen to know if there is a similar listing of Garmin devices that can accept routes and waypoints that are downloaded to it from Basecamp? I've found that information is difficult to ferret out.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

The point about the battery (which should last for an hour), is that when it is faulty it can make your unit act in the way you describe even when being supplied by the vehicle's 12 volt outlet, if the battery only lasts a few minutes there is a very good chance that it is causing your problems.

Even the most basic Garmin satnavs can accept Waypoints (also called Points Of Interest or favourites and Routes, if you want a unit that can accept a route with multiple destinations look for one with 'Trip Planner' or Muliti-point routing

 

[david7710]

The point about the battery (which should last for an hour), is that when it is faulty it can make your unit act in the way you describe even when being supplied by the vehicle's 12 volt outlet, if the battery only lasts a few minutes there is a very good chance that it is causing your problems.

Even the most basic Garmin satnavs can accept Waypoints (also called Points Of Interest or favourites and Routes, if you want a unit that can accept a route with multiple destinations look for one with 'Trip Planner' or Muliti-point routing

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

Hi David7710, I think your last post is missing something, I can only see my quote

 

[david7710]

Well, I don't know how I accomplished the weird post. Here is what I meant to say:

Thanks for the further explanation. I will check on the battery. And thanks for the "Trip Planner" and "Multi-point routing" nomenclature.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

You may find that just disconnecting the internal battery will be enough to allow the unit to work properly when supplied by an external power source, if it does it proves the old internal battery is the problem and when replaced you should have a fully working unit

 

[david7710]

I think the problem is solved. Your posts about the battery caused me to think about the power supply the Garmin unit is getting. As I mentioned, it malfunctioned in two separate vehicles with two different Garmin power supplies. The only thing common to the use of the Garmin unit in this scenario is the Garmin unit itself. I did not believe the internal battery was the cause, as I charged the unit up and ran it down at 75% screen brightness and the battery lasted 59 minutes.

I reasoned that perhaps the USB connection on the back of the Garmin unit was damaged or dirty. Under close examination with magnification and lighting, it did not appear to be damaged. So, I wet a toothpick - repeatedly - in alcohol and very gently rubbed the several contacts inside that USB connection. And after that, the Garmin unit began to behave normally. So my belief is that while it had a power supply issue, the cause was a poor USB connection causing an intermittent external battery supply.

Thanks again for your help which really set me onto the right repair.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

I'm glad the problem is fixed, I guess when the internal battery was tested and only lasted a few minutes, it was following a period of very limited charging due to the intermittent power supply via the faulty rear connector