Garmin 430 right knob stopped working?

[AlexLev]

Hey everyone!

Was doing a flight today and the outer right knob that I use to flip pages on the 430w, type in airports (KXXX) was wonky. If I turned right three times, it would work, then my next right turn it would flip left, and then it seemingly stopped working all together. Happened in flight suddenly.

Anyone ever experienced this? What are my options? I'm a new owner and done a little research, but is there anything else aside from Garmin's flat fee? I would hate to be charged $900 for a stupid-simple fix. I'll call some local avionics shops and see if they can offer any suggestions as well, but thought I'd post here too.

[Piloto]

Try contact cleaner

[AlexLev]

6 minutes ago, Piloto said:

Try contact cleaner

Just like this? https://www.walmart.com/ip/CRC-Electronic-Cleaner-11-Oz./16817418 -- do I just spray right on the knob? LOL. Can it hurt anything?

[Piloto]

CRC is what I use, works very well. You have to pull out the knobs and spray around the shaft. Ideally the unit covers are removed and spray on the back of the switch. These are sealed switches so the contact cleaner may not reach the contacts. But is worth the try.

José 

[kortopates]

Forget the contact cleaner! Isn't the answer you've been waiting for is that its time to upgrade to the GTN-650 or IDF540!

Maybe not, so hopefully the contact cleaner works. If not you might get lucky with an avionics shop taking the faceplate off to better get at trying to clean it. But sadly Garmin is the only one that do any real work on them. They purposely don't provide documentation that would be required to allow anyone else to work on them legally.

[ArtVandelay]

If it's a 430, not a 430W, you might try to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and send it in for an upgrade, maybe they'll do the repair for cost.

[N6758N]

6 hours ago, teejayevans said:

If it's a 430, not a 430W, you might try to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and send it in for an upgrade, maybe they'll do the repair for cost.

If you send a 430/530 in to Garmin for WAAS upgrade, they will repair any problems with unit along with the upgrade all for the same price as the upgrade. Its actually really nice if your non WAAS unit has a malfunction and you were thinking of upgrading anyways. They go through the entire unit and clean everything and replace any failing part, even if it was not causing issues yet. MSRP for WAAS is around $3,500 if I recall. 

[KSMooniac]

Call Bevan Rabell in Wichita...they just fixed my 430W buttons while it was in for a software upgrade and they might be able to fix your knob.

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[Piloto]

2 hours ago, N6758N said:

If you send a 430/530 in to Garmin for WAAS upgrade, they will repair any problems with unit along with the upgrade all for the same price as the upgrade. Its actually really nice if your non WAAS unit has a malfunction and you were thinking of upgrading anyways. They go through the entire unit and clean everything and replace any failing part, even if it was not causing issues yet. MSRP for WAAS is around $3,500 if I recall. 

$3500 may as well go with the  IFD 440 and give the 430 in trade-in.

José

[N6758N]

20 minutes ago, Piloto said:

$3500 may as well go with the  IFD 440 and give the 430 in trade-in.

José

José,

What do they give for a non-WAAS 430 on trade, maybe 4k? Probably still looking at another 7-8k for a IFD 440. I'm not all that impressed with the 440, I think it came to market too late and wasn't fully developed yet. We saw lots of problems with the early ones when I was working at the avionics shop. I think they have figured out all the bugs by now though. Too each their own though. I am very happy with my decision to WASS my 430, but I do understand it does not have quite as many features as the IFD units. 

[jetdriven]

Whoever takes the trade in will deduct 1000$ from their offer, so it's only worth 4K. But a GTN-650 is more like 13k laid in. And good luck entering a fix in that thing. It reminds me of my Motorola RAZR with T9 word texting.  

Garmin says they can't put a real keyboard on that. But the Ifd 4400 has it. 

[AlexLev]

Local avionics shop suggested I give http://www.bevanrabell.com/ a call -- I did and it seems like they are only able to fix buttons, but with the knob, he mentioned the flex strip might have worn and they can't help with that.

So, my only option seems to be sending it to Garmin. Ah well. They'll probably end up charging me $900 to replace a 95 cent part. :|

Edited January 12, 2017 by AlexLev

[N6758N]

I might be wrong, but last I recall, Garmin will not repair a non-WAAS 430, forcing you to do the WAAS upgrade. It might just the 28v only units I am thinking of however. 

[AlexLev]

It's a WAAS unit.

[N6758N]

Just now, AlexLev said:

It's a WAAS unit.

Sorry, didn't catch that! You might have some luck seeing if a local avionics tech is brave enough to attempt the repair. I think the Garmin flat rate repair price is around $1,000 if I recall. 

[AlexLev]

Just now, N6758N said:

Sorry, didn't catch that! You might have some luck seeing if a local avionics tech is brave enough to attempt the repair. I think the Garmin flat rate repair price is around $1,000 if I recall. 

Will try :). The ones I've talked to so far only suggest sending it to Garmin and I believe it's $900 flat-rate. I'll probably end up doing that unless I can find someone who may be able to attempt the repair and do the ADSB upgrade at the same time.

[ArtVandelay]

And good luck entering a fix in that thing. It reminds me of my Motorola RAZR with T9 word texting.  
Garmin says they can't put a real keyboard on that. But the Ifd 4400 has it. 

It's not that difficult, if they put the whole keyboard on screen it would make the buttons pretty small, I would have made it an option for smooth rides, but when things get bouncy it's nice to have the bigger buttons. I have iPad connected via 210, so for multiple changes I just upload a new flightplan.

[carusoam]

TJ,

the whole keyboard is on the screen...  if you look closely at the bottom, the tiny 26 letters appear.   

The highlighted area is the select letters that can be touched above.

Best regards,

-a-

[jetdriven]

6 hours ago, teejayevans said:

It's not that difficult, if they put the whole keyboard on screen it would make the buttons pretty small, I would have made it an option for smooth rides, but when things get bouncy it's nice to have the bigger buttons. I have iPad connected via 210, so for multiple changes I just upload a new flightplan.

Avidyne did it. I would consider the 650 but not if I have to primarily use a iPad to enter info. I didnt buy a big box GPS for that

Can you enter fixes with the knobs only?

Edited January 13, 2017 by jetdriven

[kortopates]

Avidyne did it. I would consider the 650 but not if I have to primarily use a iPad to enter info. I didnt buy a big box GPS for that
Can you enter fixes with the knobs only?

Yes, you can operates the GTN's same as the GNS using the knob or use the touch screen.


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[jclemens]

On 1/12/2017 at 9:38 PM, jetdriven said:

Avidyne did it. I would consider the 650 but not if I have to primarily use a iPad to enter info. I didnt buy a big box GPS for that

Can you enter fixes with the knobs only?

You didn't buy a big box GPS, you bought the small box.  It's still easier than a 430.  No one is going to repair the knob on the OP's 430W, except Garmin.  I can't even buy the part.    Contact cleaner has very little chance to help, the rotary knobs are contactless, thats why they lasted as long as they did.  Garmin uses some sort of optical pick up inside those dials, so I am told.  WAAS upgrade went up to $3800 January 1st.  

[AlexLev]

Took the 430w out and sent it into Garmin yesterday through a local avionics shop. Hopefully it won't cost more than the $900 or whatever the flat fee is!

[dmevans]

On 1/18/2017 at 7:58 PM, AlexLev said:

Took the 430w out and sent it into Garmin yesterday through a local avionics shop. Hopefully it won't cost more than the $900 or whatever the flat fee is!

 

On 1/11/2017 at 8:40 PM, Piloto said:

CRC is what I use, works very well. You have to pull out the knobs and spray around the shaft. Ideally the unit covers are removed and spray on the back of the switch. These are sealed switches so the contact cleaner may not reach the contacts. But is worth the try.

José 

Jose,

You were spot on with this one... My left knob (outer portion) was no longer working on my 430. Took the unit out, sprayed it with contact cleaner, and voila!! Works like it's brand new!!

Thanks for all of the help! I never would have thought of this! Saved me a little bit of money too!

[Marauder]

Jose,
You were spot on with this one... My left knob (outer portion) was no longer working on my 430. Took the unit out, sprayed it with contact cleaner, and voila!! Works like it's brand new!!
Thanks for all of the help! I never would have thought of this! Saved me a little bit of money too!

If you want to see how great José’s recommendations can be, ask him about what you should do if you need to urinate when flying.


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[Danb]

Or WD40, the miracle wonder