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Garmin Service Bulletin for the SL30, SL40, and GNS 480(CNX80)

sandpiper

Well Known Member
Is everyone aware of Garmin Service Bulletin 0921 for the SL30, SL40, and GNS 480(CNX80) comm radio spurious emmissions? Deadline for coverage under warranty is 9/30/10.
 
Where?

I've searched the garmin website but cannot find any details. Can you point to a reference?

Bevan
 
Bevan,

Go to http://ctflier.com/ and look under Avionics then General Avionics. You can download it there. It is not on the Garmin website. Nobody flying CT's knew about it and neither did the CT manufacturer.

Living near Garmin here in Oregon I was able to handcarry mine in and get one day turnaround.
 
The upgrade (at least for the 480) is free and can be performed in the field by an authorized service agent, provided the unit was already current.

There are also a number of other service bulletins outstanding. These require sending the unit back and installing a new GPS puck (which they provide).
 
Just got my SL-40 back from Garmin about a week ago. They made the repair on my new comm. I bought from another builder even though the announced period for free repair had passed.

Give Garmin a call, since your comm. is new I'm sure they will repair your for free too.


Glenn Wilkinson
 
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The one you posted in the cubcrafters link is the correct one; SB 921.

Anyone else have the experience of calling Garmin and being told that yes the SB applies to your radio, but that they will not issue an RMA to an individual, regardless of whether the SL30 is installed in an experimental, that I must go through an avionics shop to get an RMA?

PJ Seipel
RV-10 #40032
 
Several on the CT forum had the same problem. It seemed to be determined by who you talked to. Those that talked to Frank got the run around. If they talked to Gary like I did then there was no problem.
 
Which date is correct?

The original post said the SB expires on 09/30/2010. The SB says the exp date is June 30. 2010 after which there is a surcharge.
 
Several on the CT forum had the same problem. It seemed to be determined by who you talked to. Those that talked to Frank got the run around. If they talked to Gary like I did then there was no problem.

Guess I got Frank--had a "pleasant" 15 minute argument as I was looking to directly send in 2 SL40s. He said 1) Garmin does not post these SBs to the public 2) they MUST go through a dealer. Even if we are the installer he stated the philosophy of Garmin is that they get too many calls in tech support asking simplistic setup issues after unit returns directly to consumers.
Regardless of easy setup of SL40, he was adamant about dealer only. At first I wasn't going to bother with sending it back given the lack of explanation about this SB but eventually caved and took it to local avionics shop
 
Yeah, I got Frank. Unfortunately my nearest avionics dealer is over 100 miles away and my plane isn't flying yet. I'm not driving 100 miles just to get an RMA. Frank's excuse that too many of us call tech support is dumb; first place I would call is the place that sold me the gear, not Garmin.

I'm waiting on Stark Avionics (originally sold me the unit) to call me back. If they can't work it out with Garmin to get me an RMA where I can ship it back then I'm not going to comply with the SB. And I'm going to make every effort in the future to give my business to companies that are more friendly to experimental aviation.

PJ Seipel
RV-10 #40032
 
Yeah, I got Frank. Unfortunately my nearest avionics dealer is over 100 miles away and my plane isn't flying yet. I'm not driving 100 miles just to get an RMA. Frank's excuse that too many of us call tech support is dumb; first place I would call is the place that sold me the gear, not Garmin.

I'm waiting on Stark Avionics (originally sold me the unit) to call me back. If they can't work it out with Garmin to get me an RMA where I can ship it back then I'm not going to comply with the SB. And I'm going to make every effort in the future to give my business to companies that are more friendly to experimental aviation.

PJ Seipel
RV-10 #40032
I absolutely agree, I felt like I was talking to the government. Last Garmin radio that I buy. Funny part is that they actually pay the dealers an hour labor for this "service". Apparently saving money and satisfying customers is less important than an unlikely extra phone call from an owner bothering them with a setup question.
 
Thanks for posting

I took my SL30 to a Garmin dealer today. Will get upgraded at no cost.


Is everyone aware of Garmin Service Bulletin 0921 for the SL30, SL40, and GNS 480(CNX80) comm radio spurious emmissions? Deadline for coverage under warranty is 9/30/10.
 
Where are they located?

Bevan,

Go to http://ctflier.com/ and look under Avionics then General Avionics. You can download it there. It is not on the Garmin website. Nobody flying CT's knew about it and neither did the CT manufacturer.

Living near Garmin here in Oregon I was able to handcarry mine in and get one day turnaround.

Thanks. (misc. verbage to post)
 
I talked with Garmin earlier today and got the same story from "Frank", or whoever I talked to. One wrinkle was that he said the SL-40 could come directly from the customer, but the SL-30 had to come through a dealer because the SL-30 is more "complex". I assured him that I was the manufacturer of the airplane and, in fact, had already removed the unit from the airplane. But, it was to no avail.
So, I called Stein and got his usual cheerful and great customer service. He will provide me with the RMA and I will send the unit to Garmin. Unfortunately, it will have to be sent from Garmin to Stein and then on to me when it is done.:(

I really like the Garmin equipment in my airplane, but it isn't always fun doing business with them.
 
Same experience

Got an RA over the phone from Pacific Coast Avionics while they called tech support with my serial number. Garmin will let me drop it off in Salem at their counter. However, they ship it back to the dealer. At least I can fly to pick it back up as PCA is on an airfield.
 
I took my two SL-30's in to the local avionics shop yesterday to get the RMA's. While she was talking to Frank or Gary, I learned the following:

1. The affected units can bleed over to adjoining frequencies while transmitting. The SB fixes that.

2. They do not plan to extend the deadline beyond 30 Sep.

3. If you miss the deadline Garmin will charge $800 to comply with the SB. I am not sure if that is for 1 or 2 radios, but a lot of money either way.

Jim Berry
RV-10 Phase 1
 
Somebody needs to throw this on the home page...

Before it is too late. Had I not accidently bumped into this issue here in the forums, I may have never known. Now, that might not be a bad thing, but now that I know, I have to do something about it.
A few days later, it would have cost me $800. I am driving my unit to them this morning, one day ahead of the deadline.
 
Not all radios are affected

Garmin Service Bulletin 0921 Rev C only affects SL30 radios with Mod AC (without Mod AE) and Mod Y(without Mod AE) and SL40 radios with Mod AB (without Mod AE) and Mod V (without Mod AE). Please check your radios before sending the unit in to verify it is applicable to your radio.

Christer
SteinAir Inc.
 
The Plot Thickens

Despite being told by Garmin on Monday, in no uncertain terms, that it absolutely must go through a dealer I got an email back from them with an RMA saying OK to ship back directly and would be sent back to me. Prior to my call I had emailed them over the weekend asking for an RMA. Since it was too close to deadline I decided to call on Monday and wound up sending through a dealer. They really need to get their act together.
 
SB SL-40

Just spoke to Frank - he will call back with the RMA. I guess you guys have worn him down, since he didn't give me any grief. Took about 2 mins on the phone - basically long enough to read the mods off the radio, and give him the serial number, my name, address, and phone number.

BTW, my SL-40 is for sale, and it will have a fresh SB. :D
 
Maybe it pays to have a few people that eat lunch in the Garmin cafeteria as active participants on this forum????
 
Whew! Mine doesn't apply. If you have MOD AE you are fine. Pull the unit and look on the sticker.
 
My SL30 appeared to be affected by reading the SB because I have mod AC without AE, but the good folks at Steinair were nice enough to get Garmin to run my serial number to help me get an RMA and the report back was that my unit was not affected.

PJ Seipel

RV-10 #40032
 
My radio is on it's way back to Garmin at this time. I was told five to seven day turn time. That means I will have an empty hole in my panel for at least ten days, maybe more. I can handle that since I have a second nav/com. What really bothers me is that there seems to be no way for an owner/operator to be notified when these kinds of service alerts/bulletins are issued by Garmin. Now I see that Garmin has apparently changed their mind and will allow owner operators to send in the radio on their own! Yesterday I was told by two different people at Garmin that they absolutely would not allow this with the SL-30. Am I missing something here?
Had I not stumbled onto this information on this forum, I would have missed the warranty fix. That is a real "hole" in Garmin's "customer care"!
 
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My radio is on it's way back to Garmin at this time. I was told five to seven day turn time. That means I will have an empty hole in my panel for at least ten days, maybe more. I can handle that since I have a second nav/com. What really bothers me is that there seems to be no way for an owner/operator to be notified when these kinds of service alerts/bulletins are issued by Garmin. Now I see that Garmin has apparently changed their mind and will allow owner operators to send in the radio on their own! Yesterday I was told by two different people at Garmin that they absolutely would not allow this with the SL-30. Am I missing something here?
Had I not stumbled onto this information on this forum, I would have missed the warranty fix. That is a real "hole" in Garmin's "customer care"!

In my discussion with Frank he was actually miffed by all this last minute activity since this SB has been out since 6/09. I asked how we were supposed to know about as he stated they do NOT post SBs to the general public. He felt it was the owners fault for not sending in their registration
cards after purchase. Obviously this won't work for folks who purchased planes with Garmins in them plus one of my neighbors has an SL40 he bought when he finished his RV10 in 07---he didn't notified till I told him about it because someone was nice enough to post it here.
 
Well, if not sending in the registration cards is the problem, then I am guilty as charged. :eek: I still have the cards in the documentation I got from Stein two years ago when I took delivery of my panel. But, as Flybuddy2 notes, that will be no help for the owners that buy their radios or airplanes second hand.
Guess I will send them all in tomorrow and hope there is no statute of limitations on sending them in.
 
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Here is the initial text from the Service Bulletin for those who aren't sure if they are affected. PM me to email the PDF if you need it.
____________________________________________

SERVICE BULLETIN
NO.: 0921 Rev A

TO: All Garmin Aviation Service Centers

DATE: June 22, 2009

SUBJECT: SL30, SL40, GNS 480(CNX80) Comm Radio Spurious Emissions


PURPOSE

This service bulletin provides corrective action instructions for spurious emissions from the comm radio
transmitter in certain SL30, SL40, and GNS 480 (CNX80) units.

DESCRIPTION

Certain SL30, SL40 and GNS 480 units may generate spurious emissions when transmitting. When they
exist with a particular unit, it is unlikely that the pilot will be aware of the condition. Nevertheless, affected
units are to be returned to Garmin for calibration that provides a permanent correction for this condition.
Affected units are listed in the Products Affected section of this bulletin.

APPROVAL

N/A

PRODUCTS AFFECTED

The following unit models may be affected:

Model Garmin P/N Mod Level
SL30 430-6040-303 Mod Y or AC, without Mod AE
SL40 430-6040-203 Mod V or AB, without Mod AE
GNS 480 (CNX80) 430-6100-8xx Mod F or N, without Mod T
 
registration

I did send in my registration card, and I buy databases from Garmin from time to time so they do have my contact details. I didn't get notified. Did anyone get notified of this SB?
 
I have not heard of any individual being notified. I found out about this on another forum and posted it here. The person who posted on the other forum found out by word of mouth. In fact, Garmin seems to have copyrighted the SB to limit dissemination.

I will say that Garmin readilly gave me a RMA and allowed me to hand deliver and pick up direct from their Salem plant with a 24 hour turn around.

Apparently not only didn't individuals not get notified, but neither did the manufacturer of my aircraft, Flight Design, who has ordered hundreds of these radios. It also doesn't seem to be on the Garmin web site?

Hopefully they will do the right thing by extending the deadline and making a better attempt at notification.
 
I finally received a reply to an email I sent to Garmin a few days ago. It appears all of the activity has caused them to extend the deadline to 29 Oct. They still will not accept an SL30 without going via a dealer, although it sounds like they will accept the SL40 with no problems.

PJ Seipel
RV-10 #40032

Hi Patrick,

If you have properly identified the mod levels of your SL30 the unit does need to have SB0921 performed and I would encourage you to have the work done. We are requesting that all SL30 units be returned through an authorized Garmin dealer and I apologize if this causes you any inconvenience. Please note that warranty coverage for the factory work that is part of the bulletin has been extended another month until October 29, 2010, so as to allow us to accommodate additional customers.

Best Regards,

Bill Parsons

Customer Support Manager
Garmin AT Aviation Product Support
503-581-8101 voice
503-364-2138 fax
 
Quick turnaround

FYI--shipped 2 SL40s to them on Monday (via fedex), put a rtn airbill (back to local dealer). They got them on Tuesday and shipped them back on Wednesday.
 
We apologize for any inconvenience and we are looking for ways to make things more convenient for experimental customers. Making sure our customers are aware of product notifications is important to us and is one of the reasons we have decided to participate in this forum. We will be checking in here periodically and will try to answer questions as they come up. Please feel free to bring discussions on this forum to our attention by emailing [email protected].

Currently the SL30, SL40, and GNS480 have a mandatory service bulletin issued for them. The bulletin addresses an issue with the COM section of these units that may have spurious emissions. Affected units are required to come back to Garmin AT in Salem Oregon for recalibration to correct this issue.

Please use these links to determine if your unit is affected by this service bulletin.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garmin/5056942173/in/set-72157624983407147/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garmin/5056942197/in/set-72157624983407147/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garmin/5057616402/

Units that have had RMAs issued by Garmin AT from October 1, 2010 through October 29, 2010 will be processed under warranty for the service bulletin but the dealer's labor claim will not be reimbursed. Our policies do require that SL30s and GNS480s be returned to the factory via an authorized dealer. Here is a link to find the closest Garmin dealer to you http://www8.garmin.com/dealers/. Please fliter for your state and for aviation this will give you a list of aviation dealers in the selected state.
 
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Took about a week for the turn around, got mine back yesterday.

Good service, far as I can see.

Thanks Garmin.
 
Our policies do require that SL30s and GNS480s be returned to the factory via an authorized dealer. Here is a link to find the closest Garmin dealer to you http://www8.garmin.com/dealers/. Please fliter for your state and for aviation this will give you a list of aviation dealers in the selected state.
Garmin,

My frustration with this whole process is that the nearest Garmin aviation dealer to me is, per your website, over 100 miles away. Fortunately SteinAir provides such great support to the experimental community that they are helping me out, but I fail to see what advantage forcing us to use a dealer provides.

To remove an SL30 from the aircraft requires an allen wrench and about 5 minutes. Re-installation, the same. I already did that about 15 times as I built my panel so I have plenty of practice.

The argument that you get a lot of tech support calls on fixing settings in the radio might be valid, but I'll be frank, I'd be more likely to read the manual again or ask a question on this website or call Stein or another experimental friendly dealer than to call Garmin directly.

Putting a dealer in the middle of this SB just increases the shipping cost, increases the warranty cost to Garmin (assuming we got an RMA before 1 Oct; would have been nice if the email I got said that) and benefits you none whatsoever, because I can still call Garmin for tech support if I feel like it.

PJ Seipel
RV-10 #40032
 
1. The affected units can bleed over to adjoining frequencies while transmitting. The SB fixes that.

2. They do not plan to extend the deadline beyond 30 Sep.

3. If you miss the deadline Garmin will charge $800 to comply with the SB. I am not sure if that is for 1 or 2 radios, but a lot of money either way.

Charging you to fix a latent defect is just asking for a lawsuit. Not only that, the defect affects the validity of the qualification data that the design was TSO'd with. Not smart Garmin.
 
I talked to a Garmin tech and was told only a handfull of units were effected and if I had the prolbem I would know it but I carried the sl30 into one of the dealers on the list and was quoted 85.00$ plus shipping. The unit has worked very well for over a year. My understanding is its a TV transmission thing but when I go flying I aint watching TV of which 90% is garbage anyways.






Bruce 9A
 
It's hard to get away from Garmin when it comes to gps/nav/coms.

We build our own planes....I think we are capable of a two second removal from the tray of our units.
 
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No Way

This helps solidify my decision to go with GRT for my EFIS. There is no way that I would consider a G3X after this.
 
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Garmin policy

I have to admit requiring the use of an "authorized service center" to ship the radio back to Garmin seems really silly to me, I must be missing something. I'm not sure about the rest of the VAF crowd, but I have personally filled out hundreds of address labels in my lifetime, maybe even thousands. I'm pretty good at packaging items too, although I have to admit I have never sent a radio to anyone before.

Can anyone tell me what I am missing?

Do you think Garmin would just let me ship the radio directly to them if I sent a check for $100 to the service center, so I don't have to drive there?
 
Do you think Garmin would just let me ship the radio directly to them if I sent a check for $100 to the service center, so I don't have to drive there?
Probably not. Garmin stuff works well and they have good service, but in my experience, you have to pay what they want and do it their way. No exceptions.

TODR
 
It appears it is time for me to start looking at replacing all of my Garmin gear with something that is a little more experimental user friendly.
 
Garmin service wrt experimentals

I've had what I consider good service from Garmin on radios in both factory built and experimental airplanes over many years.

I've gotten RMAs directly from Garmin on a GX65 GpsComm installed in an AirCam that was not manufactured by Garmin (Apollo/iimorrrow) but was turned around quickly and free even though it was a few weeks outbox warranty. The same radio had a display failureba couple of years ago on the way to Oshkosh, and they gave me excellent service for a flat fixed rate repair.

With this SB, I called the dealer where I bought my SL30 five years ago to ask him whether I should send it to him or to Garmin. He called me back five minutes later with an RMA, and had me ship it directly to Garmin.

Over the years, I've called Garmin several times about issues (in the family we have four aircraft currently with at least some Garmin radios, two are experimental) and have always gotten quick, responsive answers. Getting a real person on the phone who understands the system is no problem.

I'm planning to put a g3x in my panel, and someone from Garmin contacted me directly after I posted on this board, and they've answered a bunch of questions from me that probably seem tedious from their end.

My experience is that they really are ga friendly, and also "experimental" friendly. This is based on years of experience.

Just my $.02
 
I'm planning to put a g3x in my panel, and someone from Garmin contacted me directly after I posted on this board, and they've answered a bunch of questions from me that probably seem tedious from their end.

If they want to sell g3x's to the masses, this is what they are going to have to do to compete even if it is tedious on their end. Goes with the territory, just ask AFS, GRT, MGL and Dynon. Looks like they are listening though cuz all of a sudden we have a new Garmin person here on the VAF participating often.

Some guys could build wire and setup a G1000 system with little to no live help. Some guys can't tie two wires together without asking questions. There are people of all skill levels in between those two extremes.

If you are going to market/target experimental builders, you are gonna have to support em and let the ones that want to or have to for budget reasons wire their own panels.
 
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It appears it is time for me to start looking at replacing all of my Garmin gear with something that is a little more experimental user friendly.

I've been running Garmin aviation GPSs since 1993. I'm now on my fifth, with the Garmin 696. All have been dependable units. I've also owned two Garmins for land vehicles. Taking care of my SL40's SB last year, wasn't much of a big deal at all. I think I stick with Garmin.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
From what I can tell, there is definitely a new "underground" movement within Garmin to support the experimental market in a new and positive way. It's funny that a company as new as Garmin (they haven't been around as long as you think) is already seen as "Big and Corporate" in their way of thinking, but the folks doing the new stuff for those of us building and flying our own airplanes are genuinely trying to make change happen and get the job done. I am really glad to see Garmin Tim chiming in here - give them a chance, and I think things will change. Heck, they have already made it so that "expired" NOS plates will continue to display on the 696 (they used to disappear after 180 days. And while the initial Geo-referenced plates for the 696 were Jepps (requiring an EXPENSIVE investment), they managed to get the resources to do the same thing with the NOS plates for a lot less. Just a couple of examples of quiet victories for the "underground forces". Of course, moving an iceberg takes time....

When you consider the alternatives to a 430, it's hard to abandon Garmin if you are going to go IFR....

Paul
 
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