GMA340 Audio Control Panel

[Jim Peace]

I have two minor problems with the panel that are just annoying enough to want to get it repaired.

 

Garmin says their flat rate fee is 200 dollars and it will be as good as new......except that they tell me only an avionics shop can remove the panel and request a repair order from them and the shop must be the ones to reinstall it.  They will not accept the panel from me.

 

The shop quoted me 3 hours labor at 120/hour for removal and replace...

 

With tax and shipping costs I am looking at north of 700 dollars for this repair........

 

any suggestions to ease the pain,,,,,

 

different brand?  etc  

 

I am going to wait till after I visit Sun N Fun to see if I come up with a better solution.....

 

Thanks

Jim

 

 

 

[KSMooniac]

You need a new avionics shop.

 

If you can't find someone to reasonably work through for such a repair, then I would recommend buying a PS Engineering unit that is tray-compatible with the 340, and trade the 340 in on the deal.

 

In your neck of the woods, look up Alpha Avionics in Torrance and talk to Ray.  Tell him Scott sent you.

[rbridges]

am I missing something?  isn't it a matter of turning a hex screw to remove the panel?

 

BTW, I noticed Garmin is peculiar about their stuff.  When shopping transponders, I noticed Sarasota Avionics would only sell Garmin stuff to a dealer, but they sold the Bendix unit directly to me.  Same with the PS Engineering audio panel.  

[KSMooniac]

Yes, Garmin is very particular about their sales... They like to control their entire ecosystem, much like Apple I'm afraid.  Advantages and disadvantages with that approach.

[laytonl]

An A&P can sign off the PS audio panel since it's a direct replacement for the garmin unit. Lee

[Jim Peace]

Thanks. I will look into the ps engineer stuff.

Long night tonight. Just landed Memphis and I am supposed to be in Kentucky. Lots of bad wx out there tonight.

[carusoam]

Article on the latest from PS-engineering...

http://www.ps-engineering.com/PMA450.shtml

Highest of high tech audio panels...

They have a guy check in with us on MS every now and then....

$2300 or so

Hope that helps,

-a-

[ShermAv8tor]

Try networking with your avionics shop....in other words ask the shop if you bring them the panel will they ship it out for repair for you, then just give it back to you upon its return.......They simply open a work order and send it out, maybe they charge you an hour for their time in paperwork and shipping? How is Garmin going to know who really removes & Installs it? They only see the work order request from the shop. My question is whats the difference of using an AP or a "shop" to do the install? The shop most likely is working under a 145 CRS (Certified repair Station) while an AP is certified without the CRS. Under the 145 CRS the guy doing the removal & install does not even have to be an AP since he is signing off under the 145 CRS number instead of an AP number.

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[Marauder]

I have two minor problems with the panel that are just annoying enough to want to get it repaired.

Garmin says their flat rate fee is 200 dollars and it will be as good as new......except that they tell me only an avionics shop can remove the panel and request a repair order from them and the shop must be the ones to reinstall it. They will not accept the panel from me.

The shop quoted me 3 hours labor at 120/hour for removal and replace...

With tax and shipping costs I am looking at north of 700 dollars for this repair........

any suggestions to ease the pain,,,,,

different brand? etc

I am going to wait till after I visit Sun N Fun to see if I come up with a better solution.....

Thanks

Jim

Jim -- reading through this makes me wonder if this response from Garmin isn't some form of "tying" (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/tying_arrangement).

I can understand this stance of warranty work. Did they say it had to be one of their authorized shops?

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[takair]

Jim

What is the panel doing? Most audio panel problems are the airplane.

[Jim Peace]

Jim -- reading through this makes me wonder if this response from Garmin isn't some form of "tying" (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/tying_arrangement).

I can understand this stance of warranty work. Did they say it had to be one of their authorized shops?

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They said that only a Garmin dealer can remove and ship and receive back the audio control panel.  A shop in Van Nuys told me they would charge 3 hours for that.  A garmin dealer here in Alaska told me that they would accept the unit from me as a walk in and ship it to Garmin and hand it back to me for a hundred dollars plus the shipping plus the 200 dollar garmin overhaul fee.  I think that is what I will do when I finally get the plane to Caldwell NJ.  

 

Yes I am all over the place....the glamor life of a pilot.......

 

Jim

What is the panel doing? Most audio panel problems are the airplane.

While transmitting and receiving on Comm2 the panel will not allow me to select to monitor comm 1 audio.  Also the speaker button must be pushed so damn hard to select it.  I know its minor but I use comm 2 as my primary and the ability to monitor guard on comm 1 is what I want......I will just do it in reverse until it is fixed......

 

Jim

[Marauder]

They said that only a Garmin dealer can remove and ship and receive back the audio control panel. A shop in Van Nuys told me they would charge 3 hours for that. A garmin dealer here in Alaska told me that they would accept the unit from me as a walk in and ship it to Garmin and hand it back to me for a hundred dollars plus the shipping plus the 200 dollar garmin overhaul fee. I think that is what I will do when I finally get the plane to Caldwell NJ.

Yes I am all over the place....the glamor life of a pilot.......

While transmitting and receiving on Comm2 the panel will not allow me to select to monitor comm 1 audio. Also the speaker button must be pushed so damn hard to select it. I know its minor but I use comm 2 as my primary and the ability to monitor guard on comm 1 is what I want......I will just do it in reverse until it is fixed......

Jim

Reading this Jim makes me happy that I bought a PS Engineering unit.

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[Ned Gravel]

Reading this Jim makes me happy that I bought a PS Engineering unit.

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+1.  I had to replace my GMA 340 with the PS 8000 because the Garmin unit is insufficiently shielded against radiated emissions from within the two Narco radios (known electromagnetically dirty devices) in my panel.  The 340 is cheaply engineered in my opinion - to save them money and charge us more.  

 

Just my opinion.