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pvalovich

Well Known Member
Flying along fat dumb and happy in my -8A, 34 hrs. into my 40 hr. test flyoff. Got a "Comm Failed" indication on the SL-30 (NAV continued to work).

Called Garmin (Apollo) service. Was told to contact a dealer to get an RMA number. I live in Ridgecrest, CA, in the Mojave Desert, 60 miles from anywhere. Called Megahertz Avionics in Bakersfield. Was told I had to go through a dealer to send the unit to Apollo for service. (Apollo said I could send it directly to them after I got an RMA number.)

I went through the same drill when I had to get the required SL-30 mod done in Oct 2010. Ended up paying Megahertz $85 for getting an RMA number and acting as go-between to get a mod done on a new unit that had ZERO flight hours on it.

Seems like having to pay $85 plus shipping (to Bakersfield instead of Apollo in OR) for a pass through is a huge rip-off. Is there any other way of getting Garmin warranty service?

I had my panel wired by Stark in GA. Seems like Plan B is to have him get the RMA number and handle the shipping to and from OR then back to me in CA. There has to be a better way!
 
Fox field has an avionics shop, might give them a call?? From Rosie: Call Jeff at 661.949.8300
Hi Desert Avionics, IIRC.

Closer than Bakersfield.
 
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I'm not an expert on the SL-30, but I think that a comm fail can also mean you've lost power to the comm power input (still have power on the nav side). Perhaps a loose wire or popped breaker. Might want to check that first and see if the comm power pin has voltage on it.
 
Marc is right, lost power on the com connector will cause a "com failure" message. On the back of the SL-30 tray are two connectors, a 15 pin and a 37 pin. The com is the 15 pin, you are looking for power on pin 1 and ground on pin 9. If you have power and ground and the unit is fully seated in the tray and you still have the failure then the unit is likely the cause.

Call your dealer (Stark in this case), they can call GarminAT and get the RMA for you, you'll just need to cover shipping to Oregon.
 
Can you meet me at APV Sunday morning?

We can swap my SL30 with yours and see if the problem follows the radio.
 
Garmin SL30 Resolution - Kinda

Appreciate all the input regarding the power pin to the SL30 comm. Turns out the problem was a blown comm power fuse. Replaced the fuse and the thing has worked fine.

Of course, no obvious answer why the fuse blew. I was cruising at 9500 ft. and had just completed an endurance bus/SD-8 test, switched back to normal alt and noticed a few minutes later I had a comm failed indication. Endurance bus/SD-8 seemed to work ok - don't know why such a test would blow the comm fuse unless there was some kind of spike when the normal alt came back on line. But none of the screens (496, AFS-3500) even blinked.

I'll fly it again tomorrow and see what happens.

Gary - I'm meeting Brian Fitzpatrick from Van Nuys FSDO Mon morning in Mojave to complete Repairman's Certificate process. Just had to connect with the right guy.
 
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