Etrex 20 button

[Matt2matt2002]

My faithful Garmin Etrex20 has a problem.
The side button has collapsed.
It's the on/off button and I now have to use a small twig to turn it on.
Everything else works fine.
I turn it off by removing the batteries.
The outer shell does not appear to be removable or replaceable.
Shame to replace the whole unit just for this fault.

It's 6+ years old and served me in several countries on tour.

Matt

[Danneaux]

Sadly, this is a common problem with Garvin GPS units as they age. The one on my Oregon 400 went just after the 4th year of ownership. I went the rounds with their customer support who told me no replacements were sold separately and support ended.

I turned to eBay and found case halves from disassembled and faulty units were available but suffered from similar aging.

The solution came in the form of a replacement button produced by a Russian gentleman in Moscow, costing about USD $9 including shipping. It arrived quickly, I glued it in place with beta cyanoacrylate super glue and it has remained totally waterproof and in service since. It seems to be more durable than the original. I found it by searching eBay for "[model name] replacement power button".

I haven't seen them offered for some time and with the war, I'm not sure they'll be offered again from the same source.

Worth a try to search one out!

Best, Dan.

[Matt2matt2002]

Thanks Dan
I'll do some research but it's not a button as such; more a molding of the case. No button has popped out. It's just faded away. Imploded.

Matt

[RonS]

There's a YouTube video by "HadesOmega Moto" called "Garmin eTrex 20 button repair vlog". He replaces his button with a pencil eraser and silicone tape.. Might work for you.

Good luck

[Matt2matt2002]

There's a YouTube video by "HadesOmega Moto" called "Garmin eTrex 20 button repair vlog". He replaces his button with a pencil eraser and silicone tape.. Might work for you.

Good luck

Many thanks. I'll check it out tomorrow.

[mickeg]

Once they get old, things don't work so well.

My Etrex Legend (vintage roughly 20 to 25 years ago) was supposed to be waterproof to a depth of one meter for 30 minutes.  It took a bath on a kayak trip in 2018, maybe 200mm deep for maybe 5 minutes.  It had a translucent case and you could see the water inside of it.

My Garmin 62S in the first attached photo, the screen was that foggy because of the water that had accumulated in it and had condensed on the inside of the screen.  That one also had the one meter depth waterproof rating, but it was sitting on a table outside in the rain, thus depth was zero when water leaked into it.  It however still works after drying out, so I still use it for backpacking and canoeing.  But I no longer put it on the handlebars, it gets unhappy with the vibration.

My Garmin 64 is still working like new, bought that in 2017.  But, I think I will bring a spare GPS on future bike tours, one day the 64 took several minutes to turn on last month on a bike tour, it apparently had to do some form of internal reset or something like that, thus a horrendously long startup.  Second photo.

[Danneaux]

...I think I will bring a spare GPS on future bike tours...

For my multiweek solo adventures in the back-of-beyond, I bring my Garmin 400T and 600T with routes, my phone pre-loaded with maps and routes for the intended area of travel, paper maps of the area and a good compass with current area declination dialed in...plus a watch wristband compass for quick directional checks with the GPSs off.

D'wanna get lost and so far I haven't, thanks to paper maps and magnetic compass backups that came in mighty handy when the GPSs failed unexpectedly in some way. I've lost GPS signals a number of times riding in the shadow of the nearby Calapooya mountains just south of me...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calapooya_Mountains
My approach from home is from the north and they're tall enough to block the sky and satellite access at my latitude as I approach. I can sometimes get one satellite but not more for precise, accurate location and tracking. Once on the ridgetops or south side with a clear view of the sky, all is fine.

Best, Dan.

[Danneaux]

Matt, I found a number of claimed right-side (power) Garmin eTrex 20 replacement/repair buttons in a quick search. The cheapest was here...
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1729589956/garmin-etrex-10-20-30-series-11x-pcs?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_b-craft_supplies_and_tools-tools_and_equipment-tools-other&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjwtZK1BhDuARIsAAy2VzvrCRNn2Jr_fBTt7bN5-KZlyDtgyNyBu-ga1vzDCt1kqL7YefhCjy0aAn4oEALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_12563605904_121197292244_507233412152_pla-295604191622_c__1729589956_12768591&utm_custom2=12563605904&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtZK1BhDuARIsAAy2VzvrCRNn2Jr_fBTt7bN5-KZlyDtgyNyBu-ga1vzDCt1kqL7YefhCjy0aAn4oEALw_wcB
Might be worth floating an inquiry to see if it works similarly to the repair button cover and shaft I sourced for my 400T.

Here is a photo of my repaired Garmin 400T GPS power button. Came out looking original/as new after I cut out the remnants of the original using a craft knife. Ron's idea is a good substitute repair.

I tether all my GPSs to the handlebars or stem. If one attaches them in a hurry and fails to check, they don't always dock fully with the mounting plate and road vibration can cause ejection. A tether saves the day -- and GPS.

Best, Dan.

[mickeg]

...I think I will bring a spare GPS on future bike tours...

For my multiweek solo adventures in the back-of-beyond, I bring my Garmin 400T and 600T with routes, ... ...

I bought a lightly used Garmin 64 ST last winter on Ebay.  I like the 64 series, runs on AA batteries and I can charge NiMH batteries in it with a mini USB cable, which I often do on a bike tour.  (To charge AA batteries in it, you need to do a work around to make it think it has the Garmin battery pack installed in it.)  I do not know how much longer Garmin will keep making models that run on AA batteries when everybody seems to want Li Ion batteries now.  So, I thought having a spare would be a good idea while I can still buy them.

I can load Open Streets based maps into it for free, so as long as those maps are available on the internet, I can keep it updated with current roads, etc.  Thus, I have not had to worry about obsolescence.

Since I also use my GPS units for backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, I prefer a general recreation grade GPS, not a cycling specific one.  I leave for a backpacking trip in a bit under a month, I will bring enough AA batteries to last for the 9 day segment, followed by a 6 day segment.  I have a bunch of AA NiMH batteries for this purpose.

I have never had to go to a store to buy disposable AA batteries for it, but that is one more reason to have one of these for bike touring, there is that option available if my dynohub or USB charger fail.  I have not bought disposable AA or AAA batteries for over a decade, but I like having that option.

On the tour divide race this year, I was surprised to see two people brought Etrex models for their navigation, and one person used paper maps. 
https://bikepacking.com/bikes/rigs-of-the-2024-tour-divide-stats/

But I had read elsewhere that one of those Etrex users was using it for the ability to swap out batteries, but he brought a cycling GPS along as a backup in case there was a problem with his Etrex.

***

Regarding finding repair videos on youtube, that certainly is an option.  I try to look at three or more videos before I try fixing something, because some of those videos have incorrect info.  I hope that when I see a few videos saying the same thing, that it is correct.  I replaced the internal battery in my Asus Windows 10 laptop computer a few months ago, with the help of youtube videos that told me how to open up the case. 

[Matt2matt2002]

A quick thanks for all the advice.

Faithful Garmin back in action for my geocache finds.

Much appreciated

Matt

[Danneaux]

Whadja do, Matt...the pencil eraser and tape?

Glad it is back in service!

Best, Dan.