Garmin SL-30 software update / COM FAILURE

[dalee912]

I am having an issue with my SL30 which has worked fine for years. I had the battery go dead with some starter solenoid issues. After getting that fixed, this issue appeared. I’m not sure how but I suspect that caused this radio issue.

The SL30 shows COM FAILURE on the screen and shows com software version 0.0. I put my SL30 into another airplane and it still said COM FAILURE. I put a different SL30 into my RV8 and it works perfectly. This was after lots of diagnosing and redoing wiring. It seems as if the software on the radio got corrupted or something in the internals got fried.

Garmin said they want just about $1000 to repair/replace it. Does anyone have any experience on reloading the software to the SL30? If not, does anyone know any repair shops who can fix this issue?

There are not any usb ports or sd cards to easily load software as the radio is getting old now. I suspect I will have to send it to Garmin, but I want to get some options before I commit to that.

 

[1bigdog]

I am having an issue with my SL30 which has worked fine for years. I had the battery go dead with some starter solenoid issues. After getting that fixed, this issue appeared. I’m not sure how but I suspect that caused this radio issue.

The SL30 shows COM FAILURE on the screen and shows com software version 0.0. I put my SL30 into another airplane and it still said COM FAILURE. I put a different SL30 into my RV8 and it works perfectly. This was after lots of diagnosing and redoing wiring. It seems as if the software on the radio got corrupted or something in the internals got fried.

Garmin said they want just about $1000 to repair/replace it. Does anyone have any experience on reloading the software to the SL30? If not, does anyone know any repair shops who can fix this issue?

There are not any usb ports or sd cards to easily load software as the radio is getting old now. I suspect I will have to send it to Garmin, but I want to get some options before I commit to that.

As I recall the SL30 has 2 separate fuses. One for the NAV side and one for the COMM side. Maybe the COMM side blew.
But there is no such thing as us common folk loading code on the SL30. Even the local avionics shop would likely have to ship it to Garmin if the board has to be reworked. Start with the fuse. And good luck.

 

[RVDan]

Garmin has flat rate repairs. Hard to believe that the SW got wiped. No field reload for that.

 

[Dugaru]

I am having an issue with my SL30 which has worked fine for years. I had the battery go dead with some starter solenoid issues. After getting that fixed, this issue appeared. I’m not sure how but I suspect that caused this radio issue.

The SL30 shows COM FAILURE on the screen and shows com software version 0.0. I put my SL30 into another airplane and it still said COM FAILURE. I put a different SL30 into my RV8 and it works perfectly. This was after lots of diagnosing and redoing wiring. It seems as if the software on the radio got corrupted or something in the internals got fried.

Garmin said they want just about $1000 to repair/replace it. Does anyone have any experience on reloading the software to the SL30? If not, does anyone know any repair shops who can fix this issue?

There are not any usb ports or sd cards to easily load software as the radio is getting old now. I suspect I will have to send it to Garmin, but I want to get some options before I commit to that.

Give Bevan Aviation a call. They can fix some Garmin stuff much more cost effectively than Garmin’s flat rate repairs. Saved me a ton on some 430W work.