Garmin 250xl reboots when not in D-> mode

Hi my friends,
I bought my rv4 back in March and have noticed that when I'm just flying along with out using (direct to) my 250xl randomly turns itself off then back on. It finds satellites quick with no issues, but why is it doing this? Yes I checked the power supply and there's no issues. I thought I might be dealing with a gremlin but after i googled this issue, others have had the same problem! No answers were posted other than to check the coax to the antenna. When using direct to it stays on no problem. Anybody have some feedback on this?

Thanks John

250XL Shutdowns

I've had the same problem! I bought a dc voltage data logger to record voltages at various points in the electrical system. I started with the main buss, then moved to the avionics buss and then to the output of the 250xl circuit breaker. There have been no voltage drops at any of those locations. I even changed the circuit breaker without improvement. The shutdowns seem to be entirely random in nature. Sometimes I can fly for several hours with no problem and then it will drop out 5 times on a half hour flight. Very frustrating.

There is a known issue with this.

Apparently you need a certain firmware update to be able to run the latest databases. Or at least that was what was wrong with my friend's unit....

Interesting. Garmin suggested I get with a garmin dealer for an update to the driver hardware. That was there only suggestion. They said they had never heard of this. I've heard this statement so many times with planes, RC's, powerstrokes, campers, etc, I don't even ask much anymore and go right to the forums. Haha. I will give this a try and report my findings. Thanks guys!!

Garmin 250 XL Recycling

I confused on the apparent solution(s). It sounds like there are two changes: firmware and driver updates. Is a driver update part of the firmware?

Garrmin rebooting

Mine is doing EXACTLY the same thing! I've also checked everything voltage related to the unit. Mines a pain since i'm driving my autopilot with it in the NAV mode. It disengages when the Garmin reboots.....anymore I'm just using the heading bug to drive the AP. if you find a solution please post it here,I'll do the same.

Guys, a friend of mine had the same issue.

He sent it to Garmin, paid the flat rate repair, problem solved.

Repair report said they updated the firmware and in his case his got a makeover cosmetically.

If yours does not need a makeover, I suggest you contact your dealer or nearest repair station and get the firmware updated.

Christer at SteinAir was the one who told us about this issue and set up the repair for my friend.

250XL Shutdowns

Brantel, Did the firmware update actually fix the recycle problem for your friend or did the problem return? How much has he/she flown since the update? Do you know what software version fixed the problem? Thanks, Crowbar

I called a Garmin service center to find out if the software in my 250XL was up to date (Version 2.09). He indicated that was the latest. It seems like the more I fly the less it recycles, for whatever that's worth. Sometimes it will not error for 4 or 5 hours and then it might recycle on the first takeoff during a day. I've heard that at least one other Garmin unit (not 250XL) suffers from similar problems, but at least if one has a backup battery for the unit you don't have reenter the nav data. Don't know if that would be true on the 250, since I don't have a backup battery.

Guys: I have a similiar problem with my GNC-300XL except it only reboots the GPS section not the Comm section. Anyone seen this? Dan from Reno

Crowbar said:

Brantel, Did the firmware update actually fix the recycle problem for your friend or did the problem return? How much has he/she flown since the update? Do you know what software version fixed the problem? Thanks, Crowbar

Click to expand...

His problem was solved, many hours flown since....no idea on versions.

Garmin 250 XL Recycling

I haven't lost communications when mine recycles that I have noticed. I have heard a noise in the headset when it malfunctions. It hasn't done that when I've been talking or listening.

Garmin 250 XL Recycling

Mine only reboots the GPS section. If I pay close attention, the reboot can be heard on the comm side, but comm doesn't shutdown. I still don't have a solution. I just live with it. I've flown about 9 hours in the last two weeks and it only recycled once. A new, probably unrelated problem has cropped up-the comm doesn't want to transmit sometimes. I've checked all the wiring and the PTT ground and everything seems to be ok. Also, a bench test of the radio didn't reveal a problem. What a piece of junk!

Garmin 250 XL Recycling

I may have found the smoking gun for my situation. I emphasize the "may" as I haven't had a chance to test the outcome. I've been chasing this gremlin for several years without success. The next thing to try was to rewire the 12 volt leads and grounds to the radio. I'd been putting this off because of the difficulty of disassembling the instrument panel to get access to the wires. As I was putting things back together, I noticed that the 37 pin D connector didn't appear to be seating properly on the back of the radio tray. Further investigation confirmed this. In fact, I have two radio trays and two connectors and none of the combinations seated like it should, i.e. the metal flange on the connector would not seat against the die casting on the rear of the tray. Nothing I did, without modifying the parts, would allow it seat properly. I called Garmin about this and the tech (who did his best to try to help), after some investigation, indicated that this problem has been reported. I proceeded to file away material on the radio tray until the connector seated properly and put the whole thing together. Of all the things I've done to try to correct this problem, this is the only anomaly I have found. I'll report if this solved the problem when I get a chance to test it.

Garmin 250 XL Recycling

Well modifying the 37 pin connector so it seats properly on the radio tray did not solve the issue. I've run out of ideas. I bought a Garmin Aera 660 which will be my primary nav unit from now on. I hard wired it to the plane electricals and am using it to provide GPS info to my autopilot, instead of the 250 XL. I doubt if I will even enter destination data in the 250XL anymore-just use it for com, which works ok. If anyone has any other ideas, I'd be glad to hear them.

I had the same problem. Shop updated the units software and problem resolved. It seems to have to do with the nav data. Try unit with data crad removed and probably wont reboot.

Simple test?

Anybody have some old database cards to try?

Troubleshooting

''my 250XL was up to date (Version 2.09)''

Have you tried reinstalling the firmware just in case you may have a corrupted file...never know it might be it..

2nd: Or any chance it might be a dying internal memory battery slowly dying??..

YMMV

Bruno