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GNS430W Screen Coating


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In the picture below, you can see what appear to be “smudges” on the glass screen of the 430. These are unfortunately on the backside of the glass so I can’t wipe them off. As I understand it, these smudges represent a wearing off of a coating Garmin used to use. Other than sending this in to Garmin, along with $1300, is there anything I can do to clear it up?

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Unless it’s the quality of the photo, this looks suspiciously like moisture on the inside of the lens.  Your shop could try detaching the faceplate and cleaning the inside to see if that removes what you’re seeing, as well as look around in the unit to see if there are other signs of water intrusion.  Taking it even further, your A&P could look around the airframe to see if water is getting in anywhere in general.  Short of this, you may have no choice but to send it to Garmin if you plan on keeping the unit for awhile.

Check with @Alan Fox on here for a possible solution, as he works frequently with airframe and avionics parts.

Steve

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2 hours ago, StevenL757 said:

Unless it’s the quality of the photo, this looks suspiciously like moisture on the inside of the lens.  Your shop could try detaching the faceplate and cleaning the inside to see if that removes what you’re seeing, as well as look around in the unit to see if there are other signs of water intrusion.  Taking it even further, your A&P could look around the airframe to see if water is getting in anywhere in general.  Short of this, you may have no choice but to send it to Garmin if you plan on keeping the unit for awhile.

Check with @Alan Fox on here for a possible solution, as he works frequently with airframe and avionics parts.

Steve

I have seen these delaminate , I don't believe its water , due to the condition of all the radios around it, Unfortunately its a flat rate to repair it..  They usually look good powered up , if this is the case , let it be..

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Thank you very much, @Alan Fox.  I'm not expecting it is moisture but I'll check on that at annual for sure.

It's a little tough to read in flight if the light hits it at the right angle, but nothing I can't deal with.  With the ones you've seen in the past, is there anything functional or is it just cosmetic?  The buttons are generally pretty good.  They stick a little as one would expect from a +12 year old install.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alan is of course correct, but for those with a moisture problem - I've found that putting a box with silica gel (or any other similar desiccant) in the foot well will significantly improve things.  I use kitty litter (make sure it is silica gel, they come in different forms) and change the "load" every 2 weeks or so; I  just dry the wet one in an oven (2h at 120C/250F).  One of the cheap things that won't hurt anything, even if they do nothing except make me feel good.

I've alsoread about people leaving properly protected low power incandescent (traditional) light bulbs on as little space heaters in cockpits and up cowl flaps...  Haven't gone there (yet?).

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