396 Freeze

[Vern]

Today while flying around a restricted area {of course...just when I needed it most} using my normally faithful 396, I noted that map seemed slow to refresh. I tried a different scale and found the 396 map was frozen. No button would respond. I turned off my ships power switch and still could not shut down. After I landed the internal battery finally ran down and the 396 shut down. When I flew home, it worked perfectly.
It made me want to put a backup GPS on my Christmas list!

Any tips or suggestions? Is this a common 396 occurrence?

[n5lp]

Originally Posted by Vern

...Is this a common 396 occurrence?

It happened to me once. I removed and reinstalled the battery in flight. That squared it away and it has not happened again.

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by Vern

It made me want to put a backup GPS on my Christmas list!

Uh oh....the 396 IS my backup GPS...well, my second backup, actually......

Paul

[Tom Martin]

This used to happend with my 295. It is caused by an improper internal vent. It used to happen to me after being at altitude for a while and then descending. It would lock up for 15 to twenty minutes until the pressure stabilized and then the buttons would work again. Send it back to garmin.

Tom Martin

[lucky333]

Originally Posted by Tom Martin

This used to happend with my 295. It is caused by an improper internal vent. It used to happen to me after being at altitude for a while and then descending. It would lock up for 15 to twenty minutes until the pressure stabilized and then the buttons would work again. Send it back to garmin.

Tom Martin

Try this on for size..

Rubbery buttons are made in a sheet with the buttons drawn into them with a conductive button that makes contact with the printed circuit when pressed.

Sounds to me like while descending the increasing pressure finds a seal and presses the button(s) down. The firmware expects a press-and-release and waits and waits and waits for release. Meanwhile, nothing else gets done. Eventually, the pressure equalizes and the button 'releases' and processing resumes.

**********
I actually hope I get shot down on this and someone finds another reason because:

1) I don't like posting when I haven't tried it myself .. but..I couldn't resist and...
2) Boy, I make my living fixing things just like this and don't like the implications.
3) And I'm buying lots of Garmin and..
4) Its late.. and..
5) If 'venting' is the solution to 'processing' ... hmmmm..Experimental

Someone.. go flying and press and just hold some button and see what happens.. Holding a button indefinitely should not hang the firmware. That said, buttons in an airplane should not be sensitive to pressure changes.

Lets find the problem before I spend money
Thanx
John

[Tom Martin]

The venting issue is not something I dreamed up myself. It is a problem that was known to garmin on some of the 295s. At least this is what they told me when I called with the problem. This is the first that I have heard of it on other models but the symptoms are the same.

Tom Martin