How Do I Get A Garmin Radio Repaired

Geico266

Geico266

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Geico
Anyone have to repair a Garmin radio, SL-40 radio lately? Where did you send it?

It transmits (I can hear a hand held click and get static) , but you can't hear the voice. When I swapped out the radio with one I know works, it worked fine.

Any ideas? :dunno:
 
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Geico266 said:
Anyone have to repair a Garmin radio, SL-40 radio lately? Where did you send it?

It transmits (I can hear a hand held click and get static) , but you can't hear the voice. When I swamped out the radio with one I know works, it worked fine.

Any ideas? :dunno:
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Did you re-seat the radio then try it? Sometimes the act of removing it and installing another will make it look like the original failed when really it was a connector issue.
 
bnt83 said:
Did you re-seat the radio then try it? Sometimes the act of removing it and installing another will make it look like the original failed when really it was a connector issue.
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Yep, :mad: several times. :redface:

Does Duncan send stuff to Garmin or repair it in house?
 
How wet did it get when you "swamped it"?

Sorry couldn't resist.
 
Don't forget to leave a signed blank check in the box as well :)
 
tmyers said:
How wet did it get when you "swamped it"?

Sorry couldn't resist.
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:rofl::rofl::rofl: Seriously? They are not water proof? I did find a frog in the back of the radio tray. Is that a bad thing? :lol:



Damn speel checker!
 
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Geico266 said:
Yep, :mad: several times. :redface:

Does Duncan send stuff to Garmin or repair it in house?
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Worth a call Duncan has done B/King overhauls in house for me in the past and not terribly expensive so maybe



This place is my favorite. They are a Garmin dealer/maintenance provider and are exceptionally Fast and very friendly to work with...solid outfit. I've had 2 radios and a transponder repaired there now and I'm a happy camper.


Lafayette Avionics, Inc.
1632 Aviation Drive
West Lafayette, IN 47906
(765) 743-3828
FAA CRS# KH2R952K
 
The flat rate is $450 from Garmin, and you need a return authorization from a Garmin dealer.

Oh well, could be worse. :dunno:
 
Geico266 said:
The flat rate is $450 from Garmin, and you need a return authorization from a Garmin dealer.

Oh well, could be worse. :dunno:
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Based on that price, it looks like the repair cost is 25% of the current street price for this unit. Wonder if this is true for all of their products.
 
Marauder said:
Based on that price, it looks like the repair cost is 25% of the current street price for this unit. Wonder if this is true for all of their products.
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No. I had a 430 worked on two years ago and it was like $650 or something like that.
 
Have you checked with Radio Ranch over in Rock Falls, IL? They did some work on the -10 and used to (maybe still) do all of the radio work for the club I was in at MLI.
 
Almost all the garmin avionics these days needs to go back to the factory.

MAKE SURE YOU SHIP IT TO THE RIGHT ONE.

If you ship the GNS480, MX20, GMX200, SL-series to Oltathe, you'll lose a few days while they just turn around and reship it to Salem.

The fixed repair price isn't a fixed % of the unit. My MX20 cost less than 10% to get it depot fixed. The PIECE OF CRAP GMA340 audio panel they wanted more than a THIRD of it's price to get it fixed with absolutely lousy turn around time. I ended up buying another one (THAT they could get overnight).
 
Marauder said:
Based on that price, it looks like the repair cost is 25% of the current street price for this unit. Wonder if this is true for all of their products.
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I suspect the repair price is reflective of the cost of materials and labor to refurb the unit. Actual troubleshooting is labor intensive and expensive. The only way it makes sense at a flat rate is if they have a known cost to gut and replace. The problem might be a $5 fuse, but it'll cost you $500 in tech time to find it; $25 to replace it.

Everything else you paid at the front end probably went to marketing, to recoup R&D, and the premium pilots have to pay because we're rich and evil and deserve to get $queezed.
 
For an EAB, have iron will solder

But without any data on what the hell to do to it:dunno:
 
Skylane81E said:
For an EAB, have iron will solder

But without any data on what the hell to do to it:dunno:
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Have you ever looked at the radio these days. The SL-30 has a few RF modules, a CPU chip, some roms and a few other random surface mount stuff.
Nothing internally you're going to repair with a "soldering iron."
 
flyingron said:
Have you ever looked at the radio these days. The SL-30 has a few RF modules, a CPU chip, some roms and a few other random surface mount stuff.
Nothing internally you're going to repair with a "soldering iron."
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Exactly:D

Besides that for most of the stuff garmin issues no repair parts or information.
 
flyingron said:
Have you ever looked at the radio these days. The SL-30 has a few RF modules, a CPU chip, some roms and a few other random surface mount stuff.
Nothing internally you're going to repair with a "soldering iron."
Click to expand...

You haven't seen the irons I sell.
 
flyingron said:
Have you ever looked at the radio these days. The SL-30 has a few RF modules, a CPU chip, some roms and a few other random surface mount stuff.
Nothing internally you're going to repair with a "soldering iron."
Click to expand...

Funny you say that. Being the cheap bastard I am I opened up the SL-40 looking for a burnt fuse or loose wire. The components take up 25% of the space of the box. Nothing in there to fix.

I took the radio to a avionics shop in town and they confirmed what I already knew. That the radio doesn't work. That will be $65 please. :eek: :lol:. At least they are giving me a discount on sending it in $360 flat rate.

I have been told that the Garmin repair center simply replace the components and gives you a "new radio". It is faster and cheaper for them just to replace boards and components until it works, and charge a flat fee.
 
Through hole technology is dead, long live surface mount! :)
 
Marauder said:
Name one...
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I sold over 200,000lbs of bar and wire solder in the past year. It wasn't being used for surface mount. I don't divulge customer names, but the ones that used bar and wire are in the automotive, medical, aviation, industrial, military, and consumer appliance sectors. I've also sold thousands of gallons of flux used in the wave soldering process and numerous soldering stations that are being used by said companies in those sectors.

So I will say it again.

Wrong.
 
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What you are seeing are the industries who have not adopted because 1) cost of conversion can't be justified financially or 2) they are locked into the design. As your customer, I can tell you everything we design and trust me, we manufacture for every major industry, is headed to surface mount.
 
Marauder said:
What you are seeing are the industries who have not adopted because 1) cost of conversion can't be justified financially or 2) they are locked into the design. As your customer, I can tell you everything we design and trust me, we manufacture for every major industry, is headed to surface mount.
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We've been hearing that for 20+ years, through hole is still here, alive, and well. Again, you're wrong. Admit it. It's OK, the world won't end. I expect through hole to go away as soon as internal combustion engines do.
 
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