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

[Christer]

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.

[Flybuddy2]

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.

[rv8ch]

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.

[Brantel]

Maybe it pays to have a few people that eat lunch in the Garmin cafeteria as active participants on this forum????

[apkp777]

Whew! Mine doesn't apply. If you have MOD AE you are fine. Pull the unit and look on the sticker.

[PJSeipel]

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

[dmaib]

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"!

[Flybuddy2]

Originally Posted by dmaib

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.

[dmaib]

Well, if not sending in the registration cards is the problem, then I am guilty as charged. 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.

[breister]

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