MnGCA

[15Tango]

Well, it's been two days since I sent my little buddy (etrex Vista) in to get the black rubber repaired, and I haven't gone through too many withdraw symptoms yet. There are a couple of caches I can seek without a GPS, and some that I attempted before but got skunked that I can use as a "geo-methadone fix" if I have to. I know others have had problems with the black rubber on their etrex's coming unglued--I'll post my experiences to this thread for anyone else wanting to send their units in. So far, I emailed Garmin a couple weeks ago and explained the problem. They emailed me back just a few hours later with an RMA number to send my GPS in to get fixed. I emailed again, asking what it would cost, since my unit is out of warrantee, and they said that since it's such a common problem, it will be treated like a warrantee issue. So, I sent it in on Monday. They did say it'd take two weeks to fix and send back. I'd had to send my old GPS (Garmin GPS II+) in to get the memory battery replaced a couple years ago, and as I recall, it came back to me less than a week later, and again, it was an issue that they treated as a warrantee repair even though my unit was out of warrantee.
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There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

[Centris]

Good to know they are fixing it for free -- my Legend has the exact same problem and it is REALLY annoying. Maybe I'll send mine in too.

I was talking to a friend who sent his Legend in for warranty repairs and he had it back within 3 days. He said they also updated and re-calibrated his unit and re-loaded all his waypoints -- good as new.

The only complaint he had was that he was used to the old callibration and drift of his GPS (you know how everyone is always a little off of everyone else's coords) It really threw him for a loop when he had to get used to the new calibration -- he says he is still a little off from everyone else -- just in a different way, hard to get used to!

We'll have to see if they do the same thing to yours.

[RJ]

The rubber coating on my Legend hasn't come off yet but the plastic that I tied the lanyard around snapped off one day last winter. Anyone else have that happen to them? I have a leather case that I clip to now so no biggy. Hey 15Tango, I always go benchmark hunting w/o a GPS (can be extremely challenging!) so maybe you could get your fix that way too!

[15Tango]

I already looked at some of the links from gc.com--all the convergence points in Minnesota have been found already (except for one in the middle of Lake of the Woods), and there are two letter boxes in Minneapolis, but the clues don't give much to go on. I was thinking of trying either trainspotting or planespotting, but I don't think I would last long standing next to the airport with a notebook and camera in this post 9/11 world. I've already planned to get to a few more benchmarks, though--I seem to do better on those with just the descriptions.
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There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

[towlebooth]

My laynard attachment broke off on my 5th cache hunt in May 2002. The lanyard was hanging free from the unit and caught a tree branch. . .

My rubber coating is also coming off. I think I'll epoxy it myself and save the trouble/time. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[15Tango]

I was also thinking of fixing it myself, but after reading a few forum posts on gc.com, I decided to send it in myself--it's a design flaw, and thus they should fix it whether the unit is still under warantee or not, and a few posters said that once they do fix it, the problem should not reoccur. Anyhow, through the magic of the internet, I found out that mine left the UPS Store (formerly Mail Boxes Etc) in Highland via UPS Ground on Tuesday morning and it was picked up by Garmin on Thursday. I'm going to get a geo-methadone fix this weekend by looking for a few benchmarks that look simple enough without a GPS. I've found that most bridges have a benchmark on the SW corner, so at least I can actually seek a few metal disks in the ground rather than snap and submit pics of water towers (it seems that most water towers are also considered a benchmark).
_________________
There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

[15Tango]

My Vista just came back this morning--so it was gone for only nine days. They replaced the rubber--also according the Service Report, there was another problem--the unit's memory battery was beginning to leak (this is not the batteries that we the users have to keep changing--this is located somewhere inside, and it's what gives the unit enough power to remember all your waypoints, routes, maps, etc. when there aren't any AA batteries in it). Thus, they replaced the front cover, lens, rear cover, keypad (a.k.a. rubber gasket) and memory battery. At their request, I had saved the waypoints to my laptop before I sent the unit in, but they had also saved my waypoints, and put them back when the repairs were done. This was all done at no cost to me--looking at the Garmin website, they normally charge a flat rate of $125 to repair out-of-warranty Vistas. As well, all repaired or replaced Garmin units have a 90-day warranty. Anyhow, I already had plans to go get the Mall of America Cache, since the house-monkeys are back in school and it is once again safe to go to the Mall of America, so it'll be this weekend before I see if I can actually find caches with my repaired GPS.
_________________
There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

[15Tango]

Reviving this old thread--I thought once the rubber band on my eTrex was replaced once, it'd be good forever, but I barely made it two years, and the glue has once again turned to soup. I filled out the customer service form on garmin.com last night to get an RMA, and still haven't heard back, but they do have a notice on the website that basically says that due to their volume, one shouldn't hold their breath waiting for a response. This time, I didn't even get the "courtesy" of an auto-response to say they even got my email!!! And this had to happen when I was knocking on the door of a major milestone (1000)!!! At any rate, I've found that once I get the rubber band lined up right so the side buttons work, if I stick my GPS in the fridge for a couple of hours, the rubber will stay stiff enough so the buttons still work for about 4 hours--after that, the rubber gets too flexible and the buttons on the outside of the rubber don't match up with the real buttons on the GPS.
_________________
There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

[TECGeoJim]

The glue holding the rubber band around my 13 month old eTrex turned to soup yesterday. I sent an e-mail to Garmin tech support today. I hope to get it repaired/replaced at no charge since it appears to be a common problem. I will post updates here.

[15Tango]

I've sent mine in twice, and I've had a reply from tech support within a couple days as soon as I emailed them with my problem, and it's been about a 9 day turn-around each time after I sent the unit to them. Each time, it's been free of charge even though my GPSr has been out of warrantee each time I've sent it in, and it's been a 9 day turn-around each time as well. The last time, I sent it from a UPS store and paid shipping, but I think you can ask in your email for free shipping--you'd then have to send it from DHL which is between MOA and the airport, and that's where you'd have to go pick it up as well, unless you can be at home, as they require a signature. Since my second repair, I've already accidentally left my GPS in my hot car a couple of times, and the repair seems to be holding up so far. So far, it seems to hold for about 2 years before I have to send it back to get a new rubber band glued on to it. Now, if only they'd upgrade it to the newer generation patch antennae so I can use it under the leaf cover, I'd be really happy!!!
_________________
There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain

[TECGeoJim]

After several e-mails to Garmin tech support, they sent me an RMA number and will apparently repair my unglued rubber bumper at no charge. I sent the unit off to Garmin yesterday.

[TECGeoJim]

I received my eTrex Vista back from Garmin today. Just 9 days including 2 weekends after mailing it.

They sent me back a unit with a lower serial number than what I sent in. I assume that it is a reconditioned unit and that my old one will be sent to someone else after it is repaired.

They transferred my waypoints but not my maps . Maps are easy to reload.

If anyone else is having a problem with the rubber coming off, I suggest contacting Garmin for an RMA and sending in your unit.

[ArmyCrayzee]

The battery housing in my unit died after a week. Needless to say I wasn't happy with Garmin. I sent it in and it took ten days to repair. The waypoints and maps were in-place so it was a great warranty return.

Then the batteries died again after two days. No I was really miffed that i couldn't start this hobby while I was in Arizona in February. I sent it back again and this time they replaced the whole unit, but there was a catch.

The dumb people at the military postal office decided that I still wasn't on-post though I was due to be there for four more months. I shook my head and my GPS went back to my wife in Saint Paul. That was after it tried to find me on-base two more times. I just got it back a few days ago nearly six months later.

Now I can start geocaching.

[buttonbox]

After three successful years of caching with my Garmin eTrex Vista, the rubber gasket is finally so loose and has a small tear that I'm worried about losing it in the field. I emailed Garmin and their reply:

[speedysk1]