430W - Black Screen of Death

[MikeOH]

Flew up to Paso Robles (PRB) yesterday and the GPS worked just fine.

Came out to the plane this morning and when I flipped on the avionics master...the GPS didn't do a thing. Total black screen.  Both needles on the CDI peg, but if I turn off the GPS with its switch the needles center; so, unit is obviously getting power. Recycled the master a couple of times with no change.

Anyone had this happen?

Flew home old-school (VOR) and after getting back in the hangar I re-racked the unit...still no difference.

Can I send the unit into Garmin or do I have to 'go through' an authorized dealer?  How many AMUs am I looking at, and what turn-around time?

 

Thanks for any advice!

[carusoam]

One of the first MS names to come to mind...?

@Baker Avionics

@TrekLawler could be helpful, but going to BT to find him may be quicker...

Best regards,

-a-

[kortopates]

Usually when the screen is going out it first becomes dim; typically in areas rather than the entire screen. Often as it warms up, you get the screen back too. Sometimes you can get it back by pressing it, but not always. I have not seen one go entirely dark. 

AFAIK, the only thing an avionics tech can do is re-seat the display to see if that might be the fault, but few are willing to do that, but probably worth asking. Likely it'll need to go to Garmin for flat rate repair.

[MikeOH]

Thanks, gentlemen!

Any idea what Garmin's flat-rate charge is?

[Eagle1671]

I just had to send my Garmin gns  480 in and I got lucky because I had only a few days left and after that the Garmin 480 is no longer serviceable by Garmin.   The flat rate was $1100.00 and has to be sent off from a Garmin dealer.   I had mine back in five days.

good luck,

Ed

Edited September 23, 2019 by Eagle1671
Miss spelled word

[Eagle1671]

I had my 1966 m20 c at brackett field for its pre buy some 12 years ago.

[MikeOH]

47 minutes ago, Eagle1671 said:

I just had to send my Garmin gns  480 in and I got lucky because I had only a few days left and after that the Garmin 480 is no longer serviceable by Garmin.   The flat rate was $1100.00 and has to be sent off from a Garmin dealer.   I had mine back in five days.

good luck,

Ed

Thanks very much for that info!!

[MBDiagMan]

I think the430 flat rate is a little more than $1100.  I want to say that mine cost $1400, but I don’t remeber for sure.

[Oldguy]

When I had my 430W done in April 2018, it was $1,200, but as some have said, likely more at this point.

[MikeOH]

Thanks, guys!

Assuming it turns out to be the 430W and I have to send it to Garmin, I'll post back what I end up paying so there'll be a current price point.

[Oldguy]

I will say when it came back it looked absolutely new!

[MikeOH]

Ok. Went to the avionics shop after work today with the 430W.  Bench test showed it dead...so, off to Garmin it goes.  Being told $1200...I'll let everyone know when it's back what the total AMUs come to!

[MBDiagMan]

On 9/22/2019 at 5:40 PM, MikeOH said:

Flew up to Paso Robles (PRB) yesterday and the GPS worked just fine.

Came out to the plane this morning and when I flipped on the avionics master...the GPS didn't do a thing. Total black screen.  Both needles on the CDI peg, but if I turn off the GPS with its switch the needles center; so, unit is obviously getting power. Recycled the master a couple of times with no change.

Anyone had this happen?

Flew home old-school (VOR) and after getting back in the hangar I re-racked the unit...still no difference.

Can I send the unit into Garmin or do I have to 'go through' an authorized dealer?  How many AMUs am I looking at, and what turn-around time?

 

Thanks for any advice!

Did you check input power.  It being totally dead is more likely a power issue than a failed 430.

Edit:  whoops!   I should have read the last post before responding?

Edited September 25, 2019 by MBDiagMan

[MikeOH]

Received my 430W back from Garmin on Monday. Current cost is still $1200, plus shipping.  As Oldguy said, the thing looks brand new

Bad news is that when I put it in today, while it now boots up properly, it pretty much fails the CDI test

Both needles only deflect about 1 1/2 dots (no where near 1/2 scale), the heading is 7 degrees off, and the VLOC/GPS indicator seems pretty dim with the plane inside my hangar; not sure I'd see it in full daylight.  Before the 430W failed the CDI was not even 1 degree off, and showed proper 1/2 scale deflection on both needles.  Not as sure about the previous brightness of the GPS/VLOC indicators.  One more thing, after hitting 'OK' on the CDI test screen the vertical course needle doesn't center; maybe a needle width off, or a little more (no GPS/VOR signal).  It is nearly perfectly centered when the power is off.

Pretty disappointed, but thought I'd post here to see if anyone has seen this issue and knows the cause.  Otherwise, it's back to the shop (which hopefully can confirm this new failure) before it goes back to Garmin...damn well better be under some kind of warranty. A little worried since I didn't see anything about warranty on the paperwork.

The paperwork that came back merely said they confirmed the dead screen and replaced the 'main board.' Not very useful, and no mention of possible cause.  They, of course, stated it passed all checks/tests.

[201Mooniac]

Not sure about the 430W but when I sent my GTN-650 in earlier this year, it came back with what the shop told me is a 1 year warranty.  I'd expect the 430W is the same.

[carusoam]

Mike,

Any instructions regarding set-up and calibration with that?

That would probably be found in the installation book... that is tightly controlled by the big G syndicate...  

Sounds like a trip to the instrument shop may be in order...

PP guessing only... Trek can be pretty helpful with things like that, information wise...

Best regards,

-a-

[kortopates]

Received my 430W back from Garmin on Monday. Current cost is still $1200, plus shipping.  As Oldguy said, the thing looks brand new

Bad news is that when I put it in today, while it now boots up properly, it pretty much fails the CDI test

Both needles only deflect about 1 1/2 dots (no where near 1/2 scale), the heading is 7 degrees off, and the VLOC/GPS indicator seems pretty dim with the plane inside my hangar; not sure I'd see it in full daylight.  Before the 430W failed the CDI was not even 1 degree off, and showed proper 1/2 scale deflection on both needles.  Not as sure about the previous brightness of the GPS/VLOC indicators.  One more thing, after hitting 'OK' on the CDI test screen the vertical course needle doesn't center; maybe a needle width off, or a little more (no GPS/VOR signal).  It is nearly perfectly centered when the power is off.

Pretty disappointed, but thought I'd post here to see if anyone has seen this issue and knows the cause.  Otherwise, it's back to the shop (which hopefully can confirm this new failure) before it goes back to Garmin...damn well better be under some kind of warranty. A little worried since I didn't see anything about warranty on the paperwork.

The paperwork that came back merely said they confirmed the dead screen and replaced the 'main board.' Not very useful, and no mention of possible cause.  They, of course, stated it passed all checks/tests.

Mike, it's probably just the required normal CDI calibration that's required after re-installing if your referring to when its in GPS mode and the self test at startup is off. Your Garmin dealer should have re-configured it with your prior settings when it was pulled to properly interface with other equipment and then done the CDI calibration. The CDI calibration is done from a page in setup mode. I recall you set the CDI to 150 degrees and then calibrate. It takes all of 1 minute to do.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeOH]

Thanks, Paul!

I'm hoping that's it; I called the shop where I took the unit and that's what they said.  The concern is that they weren't sure about the needle deflection, only that the CDI bearing offset is easily calibrated, as you mentioned.  You're memory is good, too; 150 is the OBS bearing that is used.

I found the 430W install manual on line and the procedure is described. There was some mention of needle calibration, as well...So, off to the hangar tomorrow to give it a try.

Will post results when I have them

[MikeOH]

Went to the hangar after work today and turned on the 430W in set-up mode (hold ENT down while turning on power).  Went to the CDI screen and easily calibrated the OBS to 150 and checked every 30 degrees; worst case was 1 degree error on a couple of headings (limit is 2 degrees).  This set-up screen also allowed for deflection of each needle by full scale, both directions; and peg needle.  Those checked out for both vertical and lateral.  So, I'm good to go

[carusoam]

Fantastic follow-up, Mike!

Best regards,

-a-