Etrex repair

[Grandma & Grandpa]

After taking school kids caching last Friday, one of our yellow etrex’ came back missing the black page selection button. Are repair parts available someplace? It looks as though this is a one-piece rubber band which goes around the unit and covers all four control buttons as well as the power switch.

Thanks, Grandpa

[Team Deejay]

The problem is that most of your repair options for this unit are limited assuming your unit is out of warranty. Ideally, you could convince Garmin to send you a repair part, but I’m not sure they will do it. You could fabricate a small piece of plastic or metal to sit under the band, which would probably work for a while, but it will be challenging to keep the unit waterproof. You could send it in for refurbishment, at a cost of $59 + one way freight (the $59 includes return freight) on a unit that you can buy on Amazon for under $75. Not a lot of good options.

[EnergySaver]

Best bet would be if you could find a “broken” unit for cheap … ebay or another cacher … and use it for parts.

[One Paddle Short]

I realize that this may be a little late to help. But the black rubber band around my son’s Legend started coming loose. I called yesterday and Garmin is shipping me a replacement kit at no charge. The GPSr is not under warranty anymore- as a matter of fact they didn’t even ask for a serial number or whether it was under warranty. As soon as I told them the problem they took my address and said a replacement kit is on the way. I’ll let you know how easy of a repair it is. Perhaps a simple call to Garmin could get this GPS back up and running so you could share it with more kids.

[One Paddle Short]

A package arrived today. Garmin sent me a custom fit double-sided tape only- not the black band. My son’s black band was fine though so I cleaned everything off and applied the new tape. Seems to be ready to go caching again. But I’m sure if you called you could get a new black band to go along with the tape.

Why they sent a hunk of double sided tape in a box big enough to ship a cowboy hat I have to wonder?

[Grandma & Grandpa]

The rest of the story…

After a few emails back and forth with Garmin, I was told they’d be happy to take care of the problem under warranty, even though the GPSr is several years old. I expected them to send a new rubber band and some kind of adhesive, but they asked for the unit to be sent to them. A few days later, I got a brand new (or maybe refurb?) etrex back from them, certainly not the one I sent in which had engraved identification on it.

I am pretty impressed with this level of customer service on a $75.00 entry level piece of equipment.

Thanks, Garmin.

Grandpa Jim

[hogrod]

I used my etrex legendC in a light rain for a few hours, a few days later I noticed the rubber was coming loose and the glue had become gummy and was oozing out. I called garmin and they had me send it in, I got a refurbished one back within a week.
This problem is so common hopefully garmin’s next etrex sized model uses a different design.

[Team Hemisphere Dancer]

Whats that number for Garmin? I have an etrex with the rubber band coming off and oozing glue.

[GrouseTales]

I have two Etrex that have similar type problems.

Besides the adhesive loosening up, the rubber has torn on both units. The tears are on the rubber “flap” that covers the data port. It’s impossible to get any glue to stick to that rubber. On one Etrex I used a small piece of duct tape to hold it together. The Legend has black electrical tape holding the “rubber band” onto the GPS.

I’m not interested in paying their repair fees to get them fixed. The fees are two high. I’d be happy with repair parts, if they send you the right pieces. Better yet, I’d love to have them repair it for free 😉

[Mofongo]

I started out Geocaching with an Etrex Legend and used it for two years with no problem. Soon, the unit’s video display started acting up and eventually could only see half of the screen. I purchased a 60 CS and have used it for the last year. My son wanted to have one to use and I decided to send mine in to have it rebuilt. I called them up to ask about the process to have it refurbished and we began talking about what was wrong with it. I was amazed that after three years of use, that they would repair it under warranty. I also received a different unit and it looked almost new. Garmin’s customer service seems to be top notch… 😀

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