GNS 530W Repair or Replace/Upgrade

J

JOhnH

Touchdown! Greaser!
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About a year ago, my GNS 530w gave a warning message "VLOC needs service". I was on a long cross country and thought I would have it checked when I got home. But after about 3 stops, the message went away.

Fast forward to last week. The 530 gave a message "VLOC not responding". From my understanding that indicates an internal problem; not a wiring or antenna problem. So my options are send it to Garmin for a $1,500 repair; or upgrade to an IFD 5xx (expensive) or a GTN 750 (expensiver).

If I opt to send it out for repair, is this something my A&P/IA can do or should I take it to an avionics shop? Will he need to restore or set any settings on it's return?

Incidentally, I can't remember the last time we needed the VOR,
AND some of the buttons on the 530 are a little sticky. We have to push some of them several times to get them to work.
 
JOhnH said:
If I opt to send it out for repair, is this something my A&P/IA can do or should I take it to an avionics shop? Will he need to restore or set any settings on it's return?

Incidentally, I can't remember the last time we needed the VOR,
AND some of the buttons on the 530 are a little sticky. We have to push some of them several times to get them to work.
Click to expand...

My suggestion is to find a local avionics shop to do the work.

As to the buttons...I recently had my 530W back at Garmin and when it came back the buttons functioned like it was new. YMMV.

HTH!
 
JOhnH said:
About a year ago, my GNS 530w gave a warning message "VLOC needs service". I was on a long cross country and thought I would have it checked when I got home. But after about 3 stops, the message went away.

Fast forward to last week. The 530 gave a message "VLOC not responding". From my understanding that indicates an internal problem; not a wiring or antenna problem. So my options are send it to Garmin for a $1,500 repair; or upgrade to an IFD 5xx (expensive) or a GTN 750 (expensiver).

If I opt to send it out for repair, is this something my A&P/IA can do or should I take it to an avionics shop? Will he need to restore or set any settings on it's return?

Incidentally, I can't remember the last time we needed the VOR,
AND some of the buttons on the 530 are a little sticky. We have to push some of them several times to get them to work.
Click to expand...

as far as I know you’ll only get an RMA through a Garmin dealer, and you pay the dealer for the refurb
 
What I was told on the 530 is that it's a flat rate repair $1500 from garmin but if it requires things beyond their normal process it could be more. Kind of a tough choice, I personally don't see anything in the features on the new navigators that make it worth the steep cost to upgrade for me and how I fly. For me the issue would be how much longer the 530/430 are going to be supported? Right now there doesn't seem to be any end in data support or repair support in view but it has to happen someday.

If it was me I'd probably just get it fixed unless I felt a burning need to upgrade which I do not.
 
They’ll just slide it out of the panel and ship to Garmin.
 
I'll probably have my A&P pull it and I'll drive it over the Avionics shop. They are both in town, on opposite ends, but this isn't a real big town. Then I'll drive it back to have the A&P reinstall it. That is easier than flying the plane to the AV shop and leaving it for a week.
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
Yeah, but...an avionics shop shop that is Garmin authorized is the only way to get an RMA, IIRC.
Click to expand...

Which is BS, but true


JOhnH said:
I'll probably have my A&P pull it and I'll drive it over the Avionics shop. They are both in town, on opposite ends, but this isn't a real big town. Then I'll drive it back to have the A&P reinstall it. That is easier than flying the plane to the AV shop and leaving it for a week.
Click to expand...

If you have some long Allen heads you could just pull it yourself and drive it over, this falls under so easy a caveman can do it.
 
Anything you say is bad they will fix in a flat rate repair. I’ve never had a surcharge, which would defeat the purpose of a flat rate repair. Say the buttons don’t work well & they’ll replace them. Say the screen fades (if it does), and they’ll replace it.

never a bad idea to upgrade to an IFD540, but the repair will probably increase the resale price by the cost of it if you do upgrade soon. No wiring work to go to a 540.
 
JOhnH said:
I'll probably have my A&P pull it and I'll drive it over the Avionics shop. They are both in town, on opposite ends, but this isn't a real big town. Then I'll drive it back to have the A&P reinstall it. That is easier than flying the plane to the AV shop and leaving it for a week.
Click to expand...

Why not just pull it yourself and save the hassle of having your A&P do it? A long 3/32" hex key will do the job. This is the one I have: https://tinyurl.com/radio-hex-key
 
A 530 is still well worth fixing for the $1500 flat rate. And I'm one of the growing number of people who feels it's not worth installing a "new" used 530 any more... But it'll likely still be repairable for a few years, and if you send it back and get it fixed up now it should last even longer than that.

Like others say, I'd pull it and take it to the shop myself.
 
Clip4 said:
Warning, you may need to sync the indicator to the 530. It is not always a slide and play.
Click to expand...

calibrating a GI106A? Very easy and a DIY job if needed. Just did it and it took 4 mins via the config screen on the GNU device.
 
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