Garmin-Sticky Plastic

timwinters

timwinters

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Okay, here's the deal...

A Garmin GNC300XL was installed in my plane back in 2004. I never clean the panel with anything other than a dry, soft cloth and canned air...and, on a very rare occasion, a damp cloth in case something gets splashed on an instrument.

So, 8 years later (and during an extremely hot summer) all the plastic on my Garmin is getting sticky. The buttons, the frame around the screen, everything. It's like the plastic is breaking down. The screen itself is fine but the plastic is getting nasty.

Anyone had this happen? Anyone have an ideas as to how one can "unsticky" plastic. Garmin says they've never had this problem (I've found this to be their standard answer on every issue) but they can fix it; for a flat fee of course...nearly $600.

(and, yes, I realize the door is wide open) ;)
 
timwinters said:
Okay, here's the deal...

A Garmin GNC300XL was installed in my plane back in 2004. I never clean the panel with anything other than a dry, soft cloth and canned air...and, on a very rare occasion, a damp cloth in case something gets splashed on an instrument.

So, 8 years later (and during an extremely hot summer) all the plastic on my Garmin is getting sticky. The buttons, the frame around the screen, everything. It's like the plastic is breaking down. The screen itself is fine but the plastic is getting nasty.

Anyone had this happen? Anyone have an ideas as to how one can "unsticky" plastic. Garmin says they've never had this problem (I've found this to be their standard answer on every issue) but they can fix it; for a flat fee of course...nearly $600.

(and, yes, I realize the door is wide open) ;)
Click to expand...

Might just be finger oils. Use eyeglass cleaner to get it off.

Dan
 
Thanks, Dan, I'll try that but I really don't think I've been "fingering" it that much. It's all the plastic. Front, sides, top, bottom, ALL the plastic is sticky.

It feels & acts like plastic that's had lacquer thinner spilled on it...
 
Tell Buddy to stop licking the panel.
 
timwinters said:
Thanks, Dan, I'll try that but I really don't think I've been "fingering" it that much. It's all the plastic. Front, sides, top, bottom, ALL the plastic is sticky.

It feels & acts like plastic that's had lacquer thinner spilled on it...
Click to expand...

Not sure what material Garmin used in that unit, but my guess would be that the plasticizer is migrating out of the base resin over time. This is usually accelerated by heat and sunlight.

I've had luck with a light solvent like IPA (rubbing alcohol) reducing the stickiness temporarily, but it will likely come back.

Still beats a $600 repair until you can't bear it any more.
 
Dip the plastic parts in liquid nitrogen for 15 minutes, remove and let stand. After warming back to room temperature, apply a clear satin acrylic coating. Use about three coats with 26 hours of cure time between coats.

Oops, 'bout forgot: the cure time is for ISA. Check density altitude and adjust accordingly.




Don't bother to thank me Tim, I'm always glad to help out. :D
 
Last edited:
timwinters said:
Okay, here's the deal...

A Garmin GNC300XL was installed in my plane back in 2004. I never clean the panel with anything other than a dry, soft cloth and canned air...and, on a very rare occasion, a damp cloth in case something gets splashed on an instrument.

So, 8 years later (and during an extremely hot summer) all the plastic on my Garmin is getting sticky. The buttons, the frame around the screen, everything. It's like the plastic is breaking down. The screen itself is fine but the plastic is getting nasty.

Anyone had this happen? Anyone have an ideas as to how one can "unsticky" plastic. Garmin says they've never had this problem (I've found this to be their standard answer on every issue) but they can fix it; for a flat fee of course...nearly $600.

(and, yes, I realize the door is wide open) ;)
Click to expand...
I ain't just Garmin. I have the same problem on the radios in one of my cars. Fortunately, I never use the radio in that car (the engine noise is better) so I can easily ignore it. Not so easy on a GPS.
 
Lemon Pledge and a new micro fiber rag. I've been using this for years on computer screens, Garmin 155, 1555XL,430W, King KX 165A....etc.

That will clean off the crud and make it look like new.
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
I've had luck with a light solvent like IPA (rubbing alcohol) reducing the stickiness temporarily, but it will likely come back.
Click to expand...

You suggested this, and someone over at CPS did also. Two votes convinced me to try it and, yes, it did the trick. It took repeated applications and some elbow grease but it worked. The "black sticky ****" was visibly coming off on the rag. A couple of the buttons took a beating during the process, specifically the D-> and NRST but they're still readable.

Bottom line, no more sticky unit or buttons. The frame was actually the worse (top, sides and bottom) and it took the most time.

On another front, my #2 radio, a 170B with a MAC 1700 face has looked horrible since I bought the plane. It looked like this:

24092-MAC1700Before.jpg

I thought the face was "breaking down" but, then, during last year's annual I noticed that I could scrape the nasty stuff off with my fingernail. Some electronics are shipped with a protective sheet of plastic over the face that is peeled off before use, it appeared as if that's what this was. It was never peeled off and it was breaking down. Though, I'm not sure how old this radio is and if that "protective sheet" practice was in use back then.

But, anyway, I messed around with it last Friday when the plane was at the A&P's shop getting some tweaks. I started with NuFinish and tried to buff it clean. It was working but it was painfully slow. So, I picked up the mechanic's pocket knife and stated carefully scraping the "crud" off of the screen. It, too was painfully slow but not AS painfully slow. I scraped it all off and then buffed the face with NuFinish. It turned out pretty well. It still has a ring of crud around all the knobs that I just couldn't get off (or wasn't patient enough to) but that's minor by comparison:

24094-MAC1700After.jpg
 
timwinters said:
Garmin GNC300XL...all the plastic on my Garmin is getting sticky. The buttons, the frame around the screen, everything. It's like the plastic is breaking down. The screen itself is fine but the plastic is getting nasty.

Anyone had this happen? Anyone have an ideas as to how one can "unsticky" plastic. Garmin says they've never had this problem (I've found this to be their standard answer on every issue) but they can fix it; for a flat fee of course...nearly $600.
Click to expand...
Had a GNC 250XL in a Husky that did the same thing. I never tried to clean it - just tried not to touch it.
 
Ken Ibold said:
I ain't just Garmin. I have the same problem on the radios in one of my cars. Fortunately, I never use the radio in that car (the engine noise is better) so I can easily ignore it. Not so easy on a GPS.
Click to expand...

I have a similar situation, problem is that the car that sounds good has a radio and the obnoxious one has no radio
 
timwinters said:
You suggested this, and someone over at CPS did also. Two votes convinced me to try it and, yes, it did the trick. It took repeated applications and some elbow grease but it worked. The "black sticky ****" was visibly coming off on the rag. A couple of the buttons took a beating during the process, specifically the D-> and NRST but they're still readable.

Bottom line, no more sticky unit or buttons. The frame was actually the worse (top, sides and bottom) and it took the most time.

On another front, my #2 radio, a 170B with a MAC 1700 face has looked horrible since I bought the plane. It looked like this:

24092-MAC1700Before.jpg
...It still has a ring of crud around all the knobs that I just couldn't get off (or wasn't patient enough to) but that's minor by comparison:
Click to expand...

Nice job. Glad it worked.

With regards to the MAC, look at the little holes on the sides of the knobs in your pictures. There should be a little Allen head set-screw in each of those. Back off the screw and with a little bit of gentle persuasion the knobs (small ones first) should come off so you can clean the rest of the crud off.
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
Nice job. Glad it worked.

With regards to the MAC, look at the little holes on the sides of the knobs in your pictures. There should be a little Allen head set-screw in each of those. Back off the screw and with a little bit of gentle persuasion the knobs (small ones first) should come off...
Click to expand...

Not when they're rusted. :redface:
 
timwinters said:
Okay, here's the deal...

A Garmin GNC300XL was installed in my plane back in 2004. I never clean the panel with anything other than a dry, soft cloth and canned air...and, on a very rare occasion, a damp cloth in case something gets splashed on an instrument.

So, 8 years later (and during an extremely hot summer) all the plastic on my Garmin is getting sticky. The buttons, the frame around the screen, everything. It's like the plastic is breaking down. The screen itself is fine but the plastic is getting nasty.

Anyone had this happen? Anyone have an ideas as to how one can "unsticky" plastic. Garmin says they've never had this problem (I've found this to be their standard answer on every issue) but they can fix it; for a flat fee of course...nearly $600.

(and, yes, I realize the door is wide open) ;)
Click to expand...
Tried Collenite insulator wax yet? :popcorn:
 
Well, I never did send this unit back to Garmin and have them put a new face on it. I just couldn't bring myself to pay the $595 (now down to $550) flat fee to fix something that was obviously a product defect in the first place.

Last week the radio quit transmitting. The avionics shop diagnosed it as a problem with the radio itself and not any ancillary component in the plane. So, now I'll get everything fixed for the same price.

Procrastination (cheapness) has it's benefits...rarely...but sometimes...

;)
 
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