What's new
By:
Filters

Electronics repair people step on in...

Whistlepig

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2021
Member Number
3363
Messages
19
Loc
Northeast LA.
garmin 1.jpg
garmin 2.jpg
I have a garmin sonar that fits into a cradle to make it easy to remove to prevent theft, use in multiple boats etc. The problem is the cradle has a small circuit board that fails from moisture and they don't offer just that part. Is there anyone here that can test it to see what component failed? There also may be a decent market for repairing these since there is a lot of them out there.

There is not many parts on it, mostly cable connectors.
 
I see like 4 resistors and a bunch of cable connections. Not a whole lot going on there and nothing you couldn't troubleshoot with a cheap multi meter.

Is that an example of a bad board? I'd kind of suspect just corrosion or something, but not seeing it on that board.


Edit: what's the RJ45 (ethernet) plug go to? That's where the few resistors connect and that's a shitty plug for wet environments.


Second edit: I'd put money on any problems being with the connections on whatever that wide black plug is in the 2nd pic. Those barrel plug things will gunk up and prevent the pixies from flowing with a tiny bit of moisture. You can get tiny wire brush things for cleaning them out. I'd start there. Maybe hit the whole plug with dielectric grease before reassembling.
 
Last edited:
there's like nothing on that board
dunk it in the ultrasonic cleaner and maybe put one of the magic contact fluids on the connectors like that deoxit crap?

look at the solder joints to see if any look broken, melt some good old lead solder into them if you really just wanna put ten minutes into it
 
Need better pics :flipoff2:
Looks like some bad/cold solder joints
1st pic 4 pins under the right black connector
2nd pic looks like a few more

Get a 30w soldering iron with a fine tip and re melt the solder
 
The RJ45 connects to a live view transducer and seals pretty well when it is connected. This board failed after 2 months. I will attach pics of the whole assembly.
garmin 3.jpg
garmin 4.jpg
 
bgaidan said:
I see like 4 resistors and a bunch of cable connections. Not a whole lot going on there and nothing you couldn't troubleshoot with a cheap multi meter.

Is that an example of a bad board? I'd kind of suspect just corrosion or something, but not seeing it on that board.


Edit: what's the RJ45 (ethernet) plug go to? That's where the few resistors connect and that's a shitty plug for wet environments.


Second edit: I'd put money on any problems being with the connections on whatever that wide black plug is in the 2nd pic. Those barrel plug things will gunk up and prevent the pixies from flowing with a tiny bit of moisture. You can get tiny wire brush things for cleaning them out. I'd start there. Maybe hit the whole plug with dielectric grease before reassembling.
Click to expand...

The wide plug is where the head unit connects to the cradle. Everything is clean since it is only 2 months old. I did put dielectric grease on the new one but I also started removing the whole cradle and keeping it in the house when not in use.
 
So that was a board that actually failed?

Get your meter out and just start testing continuity. Chances are 92 s dime is right and it's just a bad joint or something. I really can't see anything on that board that looks like it obviously failed.

If you have a half decent meter it should also be able to test the resistors to to rule them out.
 
[486 said:
;n289042]there's like nothing on that board
dunk it in the ultrasonic cleaner and maybe put one of the magic contact fluids on the connectors like that deoxit crap?

look at the solder joints to see if any look broken, melt some good old lead solder into them if you really just wanna put ten minutes into it
Click to expand...

I can not see any joints or traces that look broken or corroded. It could possibly be under one of the cable connectors though.
 
bgaidan said:
So that was a board that actually failed?

Get your meter out and just start testing continuity. Chances are 92 s dime is right and it's just a bad joint or something. I really can't see anything on that board that looks like it obviously failed.

If you have a half decent meter it should also be able to test the resistors to to rule them out.
Click to expand...

I will start checking.
 
Without having the schematic is there a way to tell what the resistors value is? They don't have color bands or numbers on them that I can see.
 
the thing on a lot of these boards is that the wave soldering isn't perfect and you get cold joints... Go to the non shiny ones and reheat them til they are shiny.

spray some deoxit on the corroded stuff and when you hook it all back up a little dielectric grease will help.
 
same with the other ugly throughhole stuff
don't fuck with the surface mount stuff, I always manage to shit them up, though my default is a 400 watt iron
 
Your doomed! That shit is fucking designed on a computer and no one ever looks back. FUCK YOU GARMIN!
 
SMD resistors often show burns when they fail. I'd reflow everything (resolder the works)
 
[486 said:
;n289131]

bah just fuckin rehot it anyways
Click to expand...

Bonus points if you use a sucker to remove all the lead free shit and replace it with leaded.
 
I'd also take the 3 screws out of the RJ45 surround and see if it lifts off.
 
If you send it to me I can run over the smd stuff with a hot air rework and check the continuity on the pins. Can also do limited component tests.

If the traces are lifting that's where I would draw the line. There are ways to fix it but not what I would call rugged enough for the boat or environment
Is there specific function that is not working or is everything broken?
 
kf4zht said:
If you send it to me I can run over the smd stuff with a hot air rework and check the continuity on the pins. Can also do limited component tests.

If the traces are lifting that's where I would draw the line. There are ways to fix it but not what I would call rugged enough for the boat or environment
Is there specific function that is not working or is everything broken?
Click to expand...

Pm sent
 
I see some cold solder joints. Re solder them.
 
That SMD shit is sort of spooky. We had a few very talented women that could hand work "some" SMD components. But most of the time a robot was called into play to do the deed!

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh