Garmin 530 overheating?

[ZamF16]

I am equipped with a Garmin 530 and a 430.  I have noticed on my last few cross countries after about an hour the radio in the 530 becomes scratchy.  It gets progressively worse until the reception becomes almost unreadable.  Meanwhile, the radio in the 430 continues to work just fine.  If I shut down the 530 for a while it gets better for a little while and then quickly gets unreadable again.  I also notice the face of the 530 get pretty warm to the touch.  I suspect it is overheating. The avionics fan seems to be running (at least it makes noise).  

I would like to do a little troubleshooting. When I look under the dash all I see is wire bundles.  I assume there is some ducting back there.  Any thoughts on what to inspect and how to get to it?

Dave

[Tony Armour]

If you haven't already, point the drivers or pass air vents up that way (the ones calf high)

Another thought, if it's not WAAS you could do the WAAS swap with Garmin or what I did and would certainly do again, traded my 530 in on an Avidyne 540.

Does is still have issues if you never transmit on it (use the 430) It would be hotter if used to transmit....by quite a bit I imagine.

[Piloto]

Best solution to the heating problem is to aim the front passenger side nozzle vent toward the avionics rack. This provides much better cooling than the avionics fan.

José

[ZamF16]

Thanks...never thought of the nozzle vents.  I usually close those off at altitude.  I will aim those up into the avionics and see if there is a difference.

[ZamF16]

8 hours ago, Tony Armour said:

If you haven't already, point the drivers or pass air vents up that way (the ones calf high)

Another thought, if it's not WAAS you could do the WAAS swap with Garmin or what I did and would certainly do again, traded my 530 in on an Avidyne 540.

Does is still have issues if you never transmit on it (use the 430) It would be hotter if used to transmit....by quite a bit I imagine.

Am seriously considering the WAAS upgrade, but am concerned about the reduced time to failure if I still have a cooling problem.  

I never have any issues with the 430 which is mounted directly below the 530.

[Tony Armour]

It looks to be around $6,000 to trade in your 530 for a 540. With the 530WAAS upgrade or the 540 swap you will also get a new warranty. One reason I decided to go with the 540 is because the 530 technology is 15? years old. Download the 540 sim on an ipad and go thru the utube tutorials....it's a sweet box !

If the cooling fans are working I bet your 530 is taking a dump.

[FlyDave]

20 hours ago, ZamF16 said:

Am seriously considering the WAAS upgrade, but am concerned about the reduced time to failure if I still have a cooling problem.  

I never have any issues with the 430 which is mounted directly below the 530.

Possibilities:

• The 530 has been absorbing the heat from the 430 below it for a long time and is just now showing the effects
• Maybe the 430 is now running warmer and radiating more heat for the 530 to absorb

I know the 430 in my J used to generate a fair amount of heat. If there's space in the rack maybe have an avionics guy separate them and do as others have said - point the side nozzle vents at the stack.

[ZamF16]

On December 1, 2015 at 10:36:52 AM, IrishTiger said:

I had this issue with my 430W. It turned out that the air hose going into the unit was disconnected, and the hose was old, crimped and dry rotted anyway. Check that hose that goes from the fan to the back of the units. 

That is my next step.  I just learned how to pull the 530 out of the rack.  I just need to obtain a longer hex wrench.  The socket for the 530 is pretty deep.

[ZamF16]

As follow up...I checked the airflow to the back of the 530.  It checks good.  I am going to fly a while with the air vents pointed up under the dash and see if that helps.  I may just be approaching failure of the unit.  

Edited December 31, 2015 by ZamF16

[cnoe]

As follow up...I checked the airflow to the back of the 530.  It checks good.  I am going to fly a while with the air vents pointed up under the dash and see if that helps.  I may just be approaching failure of the unit.  

It this info is of any benefit my '78 J has a couple pieces of tubing that route air from the starboard forward vent to the avionics (see pic). It leads thru an aluminum manifold, and there's no eyeball vent on that (passenger) side. The tubing is a bit grungy on the inside but I believe it directs airflow to the stack full-time.

Do others have an eyeball on the right side?

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[jetdriven]

That's a bad idea anymore, I fact Garmin and King both said do not blast cool their radios.  Too much water gets into them.  

I capped off those tubes with caplugs.  I also just bought a knee vent to put there. 

Edited December 31, 2015 by jetdriven

[cnoe]

Thanks for the note Byron. I may discuss options with you later. I don't want to introduce a cooling issue by eliminating these but it would be nice to have a passenger vent there. I need to investigate further but I think other than these lines I only have one WEAK avionics fan behind the panel. And I sure don't want overheating issues with my GNS either.

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[MB65E]

Thanks Guys, same issue. I always thought it was a poor coax or antenna. I never thought a fresh 530w would ever overheat. I have the icebox fan, but still use the heater...

-Matt

[ZamF16]

As an update, the reception is now persistent from power on through power off.  I am getting the WAAS upgrade done at the end of the month and will have Garmin fix the radio then.  The avionics shop is also going to reseat the antennas and check the coax while the 530 is with Garmin.