I have and often use when activating SOTA a GARMIN etrex 10 GPS. I’ve had it for about 6 years now and yesterday, while descending from my activation of Mt. Bordaburu EA2/NV-182, the zoom out button failed. I pressed the rubber button as I had always done before and the rubber over the button broke and collapsed getting inside the hole where the switch is located. The zoom out function wasn’t working after this unfortunate event. Luckily I was able to follow the track and complete my descent without really needing the zoom out function.
Once at home, I inspected the collapsed rubber button in detail and removed all the broken rubber from inside the switch hole. This is all I got:
Do you think this is something that can be repaired? Any ideas are welcome.
It would be a real shame not being able to use a perfectly functional GPS unit just because of this rubber failure.
I’ve found that I can perfectly push on the zoom out switch with this spare IKEA furniture wooden stick, but unfortunately it will only be usable in dry weather conditions.
I’ll think about a proper home made repair after having spoken with Garmin first. Let’s see if they can fix it. This rubber shouldn’t fail this way in the entire life of this article. It would be interesting seeing their FMEA…
73,
Thanks, Andy. Quite expensive though, but they are out of stock. 0 items available now.
It’s a good idea searching for a second hand unit for sale. I’m sure there must be some…
Cheers,
That is what I did when the power button on my Oregon broke. I actually bought two with different broken bits and ended up with a second working one. Both still working well. Good luck Guru.
73,
Rod
Thanks, Andy. Quite expensive though, but they are out of stock. 0 items available now.
It’s a good idea searching for a second hand unit for sale. I’m sure there must be some…
Cheers,
For a quick fix if needed, a good old fashion zip lock sandwich bag. I had a same type of thing happen with a garmin 60. Used a bag for over a year before upgrading the gps.
The covering over the light button failed. You can see in the photo that the covering over the back button is also cracked.
I contacted Garmin, they did not offer any mechanism for repair or parts purchase, but did offer a discount on purchase of a new GPS. I will probably take them up on their offer this summer.
In the meantime, I found a small piece of plastic of the right size to fill the hole, it has to be able to move in order to push the button. I held the plastic button extension in place with a piece of electrical tape. It took a couple of tries to get the tension on the tape correct: too tight and the button is pressed continuously, too loose and the plastic piece is not kept in place. But I have been using the GPS successfully on a number of activations since this temporary repair. Maybe this works since I only use the failed button for turning the GPS off and on.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos in the midst of the repair, but the GPS now looks like this:
Hi Malcolm,
Interesting that you had the same failure. I posted here because I was guessing I wouldn’t be the first and only one having this issue. It seems to be a problem with the rubber degradating in time along with usage and several hours exposed to UV light, which probably doesn’t help.
I’ve trying to prepare a temporary fix and while doing zoom in and out several times, the zoom in button has failed exactly the same way the other one did. It’s clear that both buttons have worn at about the same pace and both have failed at almost the same time.
For the moment, since I don’t usually activate under rain, I’ll keep the holes open and will push on the switches with the IKEA furniture wooden stick I showed in my original post. I have it permanently attached to the GPS unit with a thin but strong piece of mountaneering rope.
I know it’s tacky but it works and I won’t loose the wooden stick easily.
In case being caught by the rain, I’ll try to protect the unit in a plastic bag or covering the open holes to prevent water ingress and damage to the electronics inside.
73,
Guru,
I have a brand new Garmin Etrex 20x you can have if you need a replacement. I’m not using it and would be happy to gift it to you.
Message me your address and I will get it out in the mail.
It’s very kind of you, Stuart and I thank you very much for the offer, but I’ve found 3 etrex10 for sale in Spain (2 for 40€ and 1 for 50€) and I have sent a message to all three sellers. I’ll probably buy to the first one responding to my message.
In case none of them finally becomes available, we can get in touch to find out about shipping costs, but I guess shipping accorss the pond + possible customs taxes (I don’t know if customs are applicable to a gift), may well cost similar to or even more than buying any of those 2nd hand ones.
I’ll let you know, but thank you very much again for the offer.
73,
I had the same issue with the power button of my Garmin Oregon. Erasers which are mounted on the end of a pencil are quite good spare parts: I cut the rubber off with a diameter so that the eraser would fit in, then I taped the hole. The eraser is a good replacement for the pushbutton, and the tape waterproofs it good enough.
Same problem with my Etrex 30. Garmin here in the UK were less than helpful. Told me it was obsolete and the only option was to buy a new one. Apart from the button there is nothing wrong with the unit so it’s now my fully functional but non waterproof spare backup unit. Agree on the pencil eraser solution, it fits the hole nicely.
