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SL40 Repair?

GalinHdz

Well Known Member
Can anybody recommend a good avionics shop in the SE that can bench test and repair a Garmin SL40? A friend of mine has one that is intermittent and really doesn't want to buy another one.

:cool:
 
Thanks. The 3 places I called to check or repair a SL40 said they no longer do it because Garmin sues businesses that do it. All 3 of them said you have to go to a Garmin dealer. :mad:
 
My sl40 died recently. Garmin's flat rate was close to wh at you can buy functioning sl40s for, and not far off a new gtr200.

With nothing to lose I opened mine and it only took a few minutes to spot a burnt cap. Gave it to an electronics savvy buddy to fix but he hasn't had time to fix it yet. I'm hoping it works!
 
This is the response I got from one of the companies I asked about repairing the SL40:

"We don't service the SL-40 because II-Morrow sold to UPS, UPS sold to Garmin, Garmin repairs the unit. They will not release a service manual that contains schematics and layouts and parts lists for the boards in that unit. That way, only Garmin can repair them, and charge what they want for that.

There is bipartisan support for a new bill that would force product manufacturers to release schematics and layouts and parts lists for what they sell in the United States. If you like Garmin policy and price, you need do nothing. If you would like your radio repaired for a $499.00 flat fee, then you need to call your senators and representative to tell them that."


:mad:
 
I have a service manual for the SL40 from Apollo.
No schematics, replacement parts are assy's only (boards), so Garmin didn't start that.

Even if you could get the schematics or find the parts, component level repair with most surface mount devices can be near impossible without damaging the board.

I agree with "Right to repair", however being able to repair cost effectively is the real issue with most modern electronics.
 
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I just paid for having my SL40 repaired by Garmin and as others said you can nearly buy a new radio for what they charge. The reason I did it anyway is that I didn't feel like crawling under my dashboard to change the harness etc... . So they do have a very captive audience ... .

I agree with Walt though. For most SMD boards replace is cheaper then repair from a pure time/effort perspective (cost to Garmin to make a new board is cheaper then time/effort to fix a broken). The problem is that Garmin and others seem to have a healthy margin in their price which would allow an independent shop to come in cheaper if they could repair ... .

Oliver
 
I agree with Walt though. For most SMD boards replace is cheaper then repair from a pure time/effort perspective (cost to Garmin to make a new board is cheaper then time/effort to fix a broken). The problem is that Garmin and others seem to have a healthy margin in their price which would allow an independent shop to come in cheaper if they could repair ... .

Oliver

Oliver,

Don't forget that many of the electrical components needed to make PC boards for most products go out of production at a very rapid rate, so it is very unlikely that Garmin can still make the PC board(s) used in the SL 40.

It is more likely that at the end of the production run, Garmin invested heavily in a sizeable group of spare parts to insure that the SL 40 would have a decent service life.

Anyone that designs/sells electronic devices knows that the expensive parts obsolescence battle starts when the product is released (or before), and only ends when the product is taken out of production.

Steve
 
Oliver,

Don't forget that many of the electrical components needed to make PC boards for most products go out of production at a very rapid rate, so it is very unlikely that Garmin can still make the PC board(s) used in the SL 40.

It is more likely that at the end of the production run, Garmin invested heavily in a sizeable group of spare parts to insure that the SL 40 would have a decent service life.

Anyone that designs/sells electronic devices knows that the expensive parts obsolescence battle starts when the product is released (or before), and only ends when the product is taken out of production.

Steve

Steve, I agree with everything you wrote. And if, in fact, Garmin has the only source of some parts, then they will get that business. But by refusing to sell the latest service manuals, they take away the small jobs that a repair shop might be willing to take on. It’s the idea that you need to pay a substantial fraction of the new price when the fault might be trivial to repair, that makes owners very unhappy.
 
It’s the idea that you need to pay a substantial fraction of the new price when the fault might be trivial to repair, that makes owners very unhappy.

Been there and done that. Decided to live with the minor issue, as the flat repair fee was so high.

If I were able to make the rules, they would have a small flat fee for diagnosing the issue and then give you a quote for the actual repair and let you make the decision to fix or not.
 
Nature of SL40 failure

Can anyone share what is the nature of failure? I see SL40 failure / repair threads far more than any other avionics item...
 
Steve, I agree with everything you wrote. And if, in fact, Garmin has the only source of some parts, then they will get that business. But by refusing to sell the latest service manuals, they take away the small jobs that a repair shop might be willing to take on. It’s the idea that you need to pay a substantial fraction of the new price when the fault might be trivial to repair, that makes owners very unhappy.
Bob,

Even if you had a service manual, it would be very unusual (these days) to get the schematic diagrams needed for board level repair.

I have the expensive service/repair manuals for a pickup, 2 cars, 4 tractors, and a bulldozer, and there is not a single schematic diagram in any of those manuals. Wiring diagrams, but no schematics.

Steve
 
Not familiar with the SL40, but schematics and board layout is only part of modern electronics. More and more use custom integrated circuits and/or microprocessors and their programs (soft/firmware).

My Microair M760 transceiver has a very low receive volume (had to reduce sidetone significantly to hear incoming calls at level similar to my calls). Without schematics, board layout AND program listings I suspect it's next to impossible to fix.

Finn
 
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