What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

garmin 396/496 "LOOK"

C

CBRXXDRV

Member
So for 3 or 4 months my Garmin 396 has had a hard time finding itself.
In the beginning if it sat unused for a couple weeks it took a while to find the satellites. Now if it sits for more than 3 days it would take several mins to find the satellites. (If your date and time on startup is wrong read on ) So I had enough after several calls to garmin and a few firmware updates and I decided to take a look and sure enough there is a MC621 Battery soldered to the CB inside the unit. This battery runs the clock in the unit so when you turn it on it will have some clue as to what satellites to find and where. I went to Radio Shack and bought a Wafer battery holder and 3v wafer battery and did my own upgrade. It is now a replaceable battery and all is well. I did find this link after the fact on the internet for a Garmin 276 battery replacement and it is the same for the 396. http://gpsinformation.biz/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4701
I am sure as these units get older this will be an issue. I have a hanger neighbor that has the same problem with his 396 and we will do his next. So in a couple years when your 196/296/396/496 does this remember this link.....or send it to Garmin for $350 and a seven day turn around.
I did this on a Sunday and after a phone call today to Batterys Plus here in Lakeland FL I could have had a battery set up like the original for about 5 bucks (welded on solder tabs) ......but I think I will just leave mine as a replaceable.

**Just a note**My 396 was purchased as one of the first released a few years ago during OshKosh. YMMV

**Another Note** I asked the guy at Garmin today if his watch Battery Lasted 4 years when I called to see if they would sell the battery :)


I love my 396 and would have no other.....

Sal
Lakeland FL.
N898SC

OskKosh Bound 7/25/08
 
Timely post for me anyway, I've been wondering why my 496 has been taking 5 or more minutes to find the satelites recently :confused:
 
Try pointing the antenna straight up, or better yet use the remote antenna. I've noticed it acquires sats faster straight up.
 
Last edited:
Very interesting information. After 4 or so years of trouble free service, recently my 296 failed to acquire. I removed the unit from the plane and brought it home, anticipating sending it out for service. I did a net search and discovered that many, many owners experience similiar problems with older Garmin handheld units. The general consensus seems to point to the internal battery as the culprit and a $350 fee seems an exhorbitant price to pay for Garmin factory service. Taking a tip from one owner, I reset the unit using AUTOLOCATE. It took at least 15 minutes of searching, but the 296 eventually did "find itself" and now seems to be functioning properly again. I'm told that if the unit is not turned on more frequently now, I can expect the same thing to happen again. Naturally, I am now chary. After all, batteries do wear out.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the solution to the same problem many of us have encountered with the internal clock not running in the Garmin GPS's.

Garmin support either did not wish to "enlighten" us about the problem or the 3 tech representatives I spoke with had no clue. Which one do you think is more frightening?

Equally scarry, the problem wasn't recognized by many users, but considered normal ops.

Thanks again,

Spuds
 
CBRXXDRV said:
I went to Radio Shack and bought a Wafer battery holder and 3v wafer battery and did my own upgrade.
Click to expand...
Sal,

Do you happen to have the Radio Shack part numbers for the holder and battery you used? My local Radio Shack can only seem to find stuff for cell phones unless I have the exact part number.

Thanks!
 
I used a larger CR1220 battery (3v) and battery holder. The holder is made to be soldered to the CB but I just added 2 leads and then put shrink tube over the whole thing after bending over the sharp points. Take a look around the case and plan ahead where the battery will go. With a little thought you can place this larger battery in the case off to one side (large cavity). I used the larger battery because that was the smallest holder they had in stock and I leave for KOSH this Friday and wanted it fixed NOW.

By the way my Battery guy told me the cross over for a MC621 is the #377 battery which he said is as popular as they get, but no holder, and he did not find it with the tails spot welded on.....be sure you use a 3v, make sure you get positive in the right spot and you can make it fit in the case and that is the fix.

Heck we build airplanes....this is easy :)


Sal
 
OR - It May be Corrupted Software

On my 296, I had similar problems, but I was not convinced that it was a failure of the internal clock battery. A search on the net revealed that this symptom also is commonly caused by a corrupted internal file/table of some kind, usually in relation to a user-defined waypoint or other "saved" input of some kind.

The solution was a "hard reset" which - IIRC- was something like "push power, page and in" buttons all at once. Don't take my word - do a quick search and you'll find it. I believe some people have gotten this info/solution direct from Garmin tech support if they call up, also.

My 296 has been working fine after this simple fix.
 
Slow Acquisition

My 396 is doing the same thing. My solution is:

1. Turn on the unit.
2. Accept the conditions.
3. When it starts "Acquiring Satellites", press "MENU".
4. Scroll down to "New Location", press "ENTER".
5. Press "AUTO".

Generally takes less than two minutes, sometimes less than a minute to come up with usable nav info. (4 or more satellites.)

I do intend to replace the battery soon though, especially if the acquisition times get longer.
 
Last edited:
Quick Way to Auto-locate

mannanj said:
My 396 is doing the same thing. My solution is:

1. Turn on the unit.
2. Accept the conditions.
3. When it starts "Acquiring Satellites", press "MENU".
4. Scroll down to "New Location", press "ENTER".
5. Press "AUTO".
quote]

I have the same problem everyone describes. Very annoying. After several calls to Garmin, I got the quick autolocate procedure from their tech area. Updating the firmware didn't make any difference, BTW. Am sure Mannan's works too, but this is easier to remember.

Here's what you can do if the date/time are incorrect - this works everytime in about three minutes:

1. Turn unit OFF
2. Hold (and continue to hold) the Zoom OUT buttom
3. Turn the unit ON (Continue holding the OUT button)
4. Once you get to the "I agree page", then release OUT button
5. "Enter" to acknowledge the agreement and from there the rest is normal. Mine usually reaquires in a minute or so. By the time I taxi to the run up area the unit has already aquired.

If the date and time do not match it won't auto aquire for a very, very long time - much longer than most people's patience level, so you need to force it with the above procedure.

Just turn the unit back off and then hold the OUT button while turning it on again and wait for the Agreement page before releasing it. That's it.

Rob
Click to expand...
 
Not only does the internal battery need to be replaced on hand-held GPS's but panel mount units also have the same problem after a few years. Changed many of them over the years.
 
Radio shack P/N

Radio Shack #'s: CR1220 Battery Holder 270-0008
Battery CR1220 23-188

My total cost including tax was less than $7.00 in GA
Quite a savings over Garmin's $350. Tnx for the post

Derrell
RV7A Sold & flying
Zenith CH701 in progress
 
Update...or info I have found from Garmin and others....

The problem with the internal clock is the battery....this has been established including how to change the battery....

The new info is that the battery is rechargable....as can be confirmed by the battery makers web site. Also Garmin is now saying this...depending on who you talk to. The issue is however that the internal clock battery only recharges when the unit is on...no when we charge the main battery.

It can take up to 24 hours of continuous use to completely charge the internal clock battery. Garmin is saying to use the unit at least 4 hours per month to keep the internal battery charged. Som of us dont fly that much....therefore the problem.

The solution is to hook the 396/496 to the external charger and turn the unit on for at least 8 hours per month. This keeps the "clock" battery happy. DO NOT SEND THE UNIT TO GARMIN without trying this first. They will change the board/battery and charge you $350!!!!! We fond this info out after a returned unit would still not keep time....and after multiple phone calls to Garmin.

I hope this helps save someone some money and agravation.:rolleyes:

Dave62 (Swift Driver)
 
I have been having this problem (not finding satellites) and talked to Garmin at OSH. They admitted it was a known issue and did a firmware update for me at the show, which was supposed to fix it. THey also said that dumping tracks/almanac data will help. They never mentioned the battery.

Just a data point. It could have been just a way to get the confrontational guy out of the booth.

:D
 
This thread alone worth the donation!

Thank you Doug for making this community possible! This thread alone saved at least several times the amount of my annual donation. (And I'd rather see you get the $ than Garmin, anyway.;) )

Since last spring, life happened, and I went close to a year without using my 296. I powered it up a couple of weeks ago and it wouldn't acquire satellites, even after leaving it on for 5 minutes the satellite status page showed flatline on all channels. It had NEVER taken anywhere close to that long to find itself. I checked the manual, and the word "troubleshoot" does not appear ANYWHERE in it.:mad:

Before giving in and having Garmin look at it, I decided to search the VAF forums, and found this thread, among others. Before reading this, I had not even noticed that the clock was off. I left the unit on for 15 minutes and voila, it eventually started tracking satellites.

The next problem occurred almost immediately when I turned off the unit to let the main battery charge, and got a "Battery Missing" message. The unit would not power on unless connected to an external source. The main battery was obviously not "missing", so I reread this thread and noticed that that message refers to the clock battery, not the main battery... something that Garmin support folks don't even seem to know.

I also learned that the clock battery is rechargable (the unit has to be ON; that's why it died after months of disuse), so I didn't need to immediately go tearing into the unit to replace it. (There's also a thread here detailing how that is done, should it ever become necessary:cool:). Sometime during the second hour of ON time the unit finally decided that the battery wasn't missing after all, and life is now good. Now, by the time I get through the legalese screen, the unit is tracking a 3D solution.

Garmin Service: $350 saved. New main battery: $60 saved. VAF forums: PRICELESS!
 
battery danger

what happens to the guys who replaced the battery with one that is not meant to be recharged? Maybe the current level is so low it doesn't matter but with regular batteries there is fire or rupture potential by using non rechargeable batteries in a charger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top