Garmin SL-40 com radio frequency problem

[BigJohn]

Has anyone else seen this? After 3 years of flawless service the SL-40 has developed a problem where setting a new frequency in the standby side is very difficult because the frequency digits left of the decimal point jump around all over the place when the knob is turned. Once a freq is transferred to the active side it holds still.

Called Garmin and they very kindly offered to fix it for a flat fee of $550. Pretty irritating for what appears to be a minor problem with a radio I still consider to be fairly new.

Any ideas?

[GrayHawk]

Replace the radio with a brand new VAL COM 2000 for $9XX.

[Paris12Man]

Maybe a radio shop would be easier on the pocket book.

[noelf]

The flat fee from Garmin will cover EVERYTHING you list as a problem...worn knobs, scratched face plate, stiff extraction screw, inop functions, plus any applicable needed updates, etc.

[MartySantic]

John,
Have you had the top off? Does it use a mechanical switch or an optical switch. If mechanical, DeOxit is worth a try. Compressed air, if optical.

[cfiidon]

I have a similar problem with a radio. I don't want to mention the manufacturer because I'm in the middle of the repair process. The digits to the right of the decimal point only change one step. I thought it was related to cold temps, but am unsure now because it does it intermittently in the lovely Florida heat.

I noticed the problem with about 30 hours operational time. Unfortunately, because I bought the radio and it sat on the shelf for three years the warranty was up. Lesson learned there.

A representative of the company graciously offered to fix it for half of their usual flat fee. Nonetheless, I really believe it is a manufacturing defect but there is not much I can do about it at this point. There goes most of the savings I achieved by buying the radio early ... again, lesson learned.

Wouldn't it be nice if the manufacturers offered a warranty of three years and 100 hours of use? How hard would it be to clock and record power on time? Not much incentive I suppose when the market has so few players.

Don

[rocketbob]

A friend of mine had this problem and replaced a resistor network on the front board....cost was about $0.75. This resistor network functions as the pullups for the rotary encoder. Without the pullups at the right voltage the encoder doesn't send the right gray code to the MCU when turned, hence the erratic behavior.

[BigJohn]

Never heard of the VAL 2000 before - looks interesting but would require re-mounting and re-wiring. Also I don't see a monitor function, quite handy when you only have one radio,

Yeah, I know the flat fee covers everything - but I don't need all that, my radio looks like new and has only 200 hours on it.

Marty, so far I can't get the *&^*%$ thing out of the rack. It appears to be stuck. I suppose I will have to remove the avionics bay cover and go at it from the backside. Then I will take it apart and do a little old fashioned ham radio work on it.

John

[rleffler]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Never heard of the VAL 2000 before - looks interesting but would require re-mounting and re-wiring. Also I don't see a monitor function, quite handy when you only have one radio,

Yeah, I know the flat fee covers everything - but I don't need all that, my radio looks like new and has only 200 hours on it.

Marty, so far I can't get the *&^*%$ thing out of the rack. It appears to be stuck. I suppose I will have to remove the avionics bay cover and go at it from the backside. Then I will take it apart and do a little old fashioned ham radio work on it.

John

I've found the tray gets warped. I've found that I have to use small screwdriver to force the tray bottom flat. Otherwise, it gets hung up about 50% of the time.

Originally Posted by GrayHawk

Replace the radio with a brand new VAL COM 2000 for $9XX.

I had a Val, it was junk. Gave it away.