Zumo 550 issues

richpeabody

richpeabody

Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
265
Location
Venice, FL
Bike
ST1100
I bought my Zumo 550 in 2008, I believe....
At one point, after a few years, the motorcycle mount failed....I attributed it to one of the little brass-looking pins not "springing back" and failing to make good contact. I tried buttering the connection with dielectric lube to no avail.
EBay had the mount, complete, for about half what Garmin wanted, so I ordered one up.
About a year later, the unit failed (I believe that the screen "cooked" and was no longer useable.....I spoke with Garmin and they allowed as how the 550 was obsolete, but that they had an exchange rebuilt model for around $250. I sent the unit and they returned a working model.
Last week the unit indicated that it was not charging.......
I got my test stuff out and determined that the fault was in the mount, and that there seemed to be no practical way to swap the charging stuff from the car mount to the bike mount.
I spoke with Garmin and they have no mounts.
EBay had one, so I ordered it up.

I usually dismount the unit even when parked for a short while, and keep the pins lubed.

Is this usual for the 550?

Thanks
 
Yes your experience has identical to mine reference the 550. I have purchased three motorcycle mounts since 2008 and the current one only works half the time and the audio doesn't work at all. As the 550, I too have received a reconditioned one from Garmin only to have the buttons fall out. Sent it off for repairs for $60 and thou it looked pretty ugly when returned it did work and was water proof again. However, I had purchased the life time maps and now I can't even get updates anymore. Not sure my next move but the 550 is really toast. I got 8 years of service for the original $800 purchase price plus three motorcycle mounts, one button repair and life time maps for $150. Seems rather pricey the service I received!
 
I have had many 550's since they were originally made and Garmin has refurbished them several times. The last issue was a complete wipe out of all my saved favorites, and I replaced it with an e-bay find. I now have a 390 and keep the 550 as a backup.
 
SteveST1300 said:
If you need to get a 550 repaired contact these guys http://www.palmdr.com/ Great service and very reasonable prices.
Click to expand...

Agreed! If you suspect a problem with the mount send it along as well.

Not sure why others are no longer able to update maps. Updates are still available and work fine with mine and it's an early days 550. I don't use Garmin Express though, I use the older mapupdater program instead. I do seem to have to put more and more of the map on the SD card and less in the internal memory with each update though.
 
+1 on palmdr. It helps to work contact cleaner into the pins, work them up and down with something wood or plastic if it is powered all the time. Clean the bottom contacts on the GPS with a pencil eraser, followed up with contact cleaner/lube. Same for the battery once in a while. Digitizer and screen assemblies are easily replaced yourself. Put all the maps on an SD card, and carry a backup card.
 
The pins on the bottom of the mount are a module assembly, IIRC (it's been a while, maybe it was the car mount I was working on), you can pry off a cover and remove a couple of screws that hold it. OTOH, repetitive soaking with contact cleaner and working the pins MAY eventually make it usable. I did revive a couple, but it took a while. It's the little springs on the bottom of the pins that get all corroded, and they also are the conductors.
 
richpeabody said:
I bought my Zumo 550 in 2008, I believe....
At one point, after a few years, the motorcycle mount failed....I attributed it to one of the little brass-looking pins not "springing back" and failing to make good contact. I tried buttering the connection with dielectric lube to no avail.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Dielectric grease is an INSULATOR. Putting it on electrical contacts makes the electrical flow go away - its as if you put a piece of paper or plastic between the to pieces of metal. The purpose of dielectric grease is to exclude air/moisture/corrosive environmental conditions from the contacts. So how do the contacts pass electricity when slathered in DiG? If you look closely at spade terminals, when you push the male into the female, the design of the pieces scrapes away the grease and presents clean metal to metal surfaces with some pressure holding them together. Absent this scraping and pressure - no electrical flow. Honda uses DiG in multi pin connectors that function the same way, and the grease prevents electricity from flowing from pin to pin within the connector. You will not find dielectric grease inside a switch, unless it incorporates by design a 'wiping' motion. To exclude moisture within one connector, use a petroleum grease that is conductive - but now it cannot touch say, a frame member or other grounded metal parts. For a more thorough discussion, read MCN's current issue - Downtime Files, i think.

The design of contacts on those quick connect holders for GPS units and cell phones provide a clean, grease free contact surface. If it did not come with grease or the instructions did not say to apply it, don't "improve" matters by using it.

As mentioned by others, contact cleaner (which strips away grease, dirt, and contaminants) or de-oxit (a contact cleaner that does the same thing) is a better choice for this application.
 
Hi
I use the grease to prevent corrosion and to make the pins move (compress) easily...I also use it on virtually every electrical connection that I make, because Hondas, and most bikes, are prone to corrosion in the connections. It keeps the electricity where is was designed to be
Thanks
 
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