Garmin 396..is thermal shutdown possible?

[2WHLOZK]

Weird event the other day.  Hot day, AT ~ 96F.  Garmin is working fine.  About 80 miles into a spirited ride, I stop for gas.  CT is ~ 220.  Get back on the road and realize the Garmin is not working, just black screen.  Dead.

Try to reboot...nada.  When I get home my VM reads ~ 5.5 volts present at the contact points, so I know it's getting power.  Suspecting the issue may be heat related, I bring the unit inside the house for a couple hours while I search the web for ideas and have lunch. 

With the Garmin having cooled down and back in its saddle, I hold the on/off button down with engine running.  In 15 seconds it comes back on and seems fine again, no lost settings or anything.

Garmin says the max operating temp is 113F.  While at the gas station I notice the engine heat rising straight up to the handlebar area, big time.  Wondering if that could raise the AT from 96F to 113F+ near the Garmin, thus causing the unit to shut down?

Caveat;  Complicating the (to me) mystery, while the unit was in the house cooling down I cleaned the contact points on the unit and its saddle.  I didn't think it needed cleaning as it's brand new and has only been on the bike for < two weeks.  So I can't know for sure if the contact cleaner solved it, but that seems unlikely given that the contacts looked pristine.

The Unknown;  During the ride that day, I can't say for sure that the unit was actually charging, didn't bother to check for the little lightning bolt icon charging indicator.    

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but has anyone ever had their Garmin overheat and shut down?

TIA

EDIT:  Mistake....396 max temp operation is 113F .....NOT 131F.  Mia culpa.

 

Edited July 28, 2020 by 2WHLOZK
info correction

[jdavis]

My phone GPS does the same when extremely hot, usually starts again once moving.

[keithu]

I've never had mine shut down due to heat, but I suppose it's entirely possible. You also mentioned charging... Perhaps the unit wasn't fully engaged in its cradle and wasn't charging? The mounting system on the 396 cradle makes me nervous and I always double (sometimes triple) check it. I have on occasion had it snap more fully into place during one of these checks.

[wmailhos]

I bought the 396 LMT-S last fall and just got around to wiring it to the battery and mounting it within the last month or so.

Just curious how you have it connected to the battery?  Loose connection not allowing for a good solid charge possbily?

I just stuck the exposed wires under some other terminal connections for now until I can get the end connections wired up properly and worried about it coming loose and not keeping it charged.

 

[betoney]

The same thing happened to me last year in California.  Air temp was reading 110-113F and the GPS shut down.  I sat in the shade for awhile with my jacket covering the GPS, after about 30 minutes I got back on the road and the GPS worked fine, and has continued to work fine since then.

[angrygirafe]

My phone shuts down from heat sometimes, especially in slow traffic during the summer. But I’m in Phoenix, and have seen the bike air temp gauge indicate 126 in traffic. Sometimes it won’t turn back on until it’s been inside enjoying the AC for a bit. 

[2WHLOZK]

2 hours ago, keithu said:

I've never had mine shut down due to heat, but I suppose it's entirely possible. You also mentioned charging... Perhaps the unit wasn't fully engaged in its cradle and wasn't charging? The mounting system on the 396 cradle makes me nervous and I always double (sometimes triple) check it. I have on occasion had it snap more fully into place during one of these checks.

I guess that's a possibility, perhaps it got jostled loose a little bit from vibration during the ride, just enough to break electrical contact?  I'll be watching the charging icon from now on!

[betoney]

7 minutes ago, 2WHLOZK said:

I guess that's a possibility, perhaps it got jostled loose a little bit from vibration during the ride, just enough to break electrical contact?  I'll be watching the charging icon from now on!

You would know if it loses connection to the power source.  I have been using Garmin GPS units in personal vehicles, work vehicles and on the bikes for close to 20 years, when you lose charging power you get a warning screen telling you so.  I have had a few charging cables go bad over the years, both 12v plug in and hardwire cables and always get this screen when it charging power has been lost.

[2WHLOZK]

1 hour ago, wmailhos said:

I bought the 396 LMT-S last fall and just got around to wiring it to the battery and mounting it within the last month or so.

Just curious how you have it connected to the battery?  Loose connection not allowing for a good solid charge possbily?

I just stuck the exposed wires under some other terminal connections for now until I can get the end connections wired up properly and worried about it coming loose and not keeping it charged.

 

I spliced the hot lead into a switched-live wire under the seat, soldered the connection, double shrink tubed, then re-wrapped the loom.  Negative lead received a crimped circular connector, screwed directly to battery neg terminal.

I was hoping for the problem to be a bad elec connection rather than a heat related issue.  But alas, physical inspection and VM confirmed elec connections are fine.  I could repair a bad connection, but excessive heat situs....

[2WHLOZK]

7 minutes ago, betoney said:

You would know if it loses connection to the power source.  I have been using Garmin GPS units in personal vehicles, work vehicles and on the bikes for close to 20 years, when you lose charging power you get a warning screen telling you so.  I have had a few charging cables go bad over the years, both 12v plug in and hardwire cables and always get this screen when it charging power has been lost.

Good point.  I get that screen whenever ignition is turned off, both on the new 396, and the Garmin in my truck, which is normal Garmin operation.  As you point out, the appearance of that screen alone, confirms a good elec connection.  Good catch.  At the gas stop the other day I didn't notice whether that screen appeared on the 396, wasn't paying attention.  But the unit was functioning up until stopping for gas.

Just to add to the confusion....rolling around in my head during this recent 396 shutdown, was what the Garmin in my truck did last November while on a 650 mile trip.  Started out a dawn, Garmin acting normally.  15 minutes into the trip decided to stop for breakfast.  Came out of the restaurant to resume driving....Garmin is now dead.  Tried everything I could think of for a couple hours while driving, to get it working....nada, kaput. 

Gave up on it, figured I would have to send the unit in for repairs/replacement.  Later that night I went out to the truck to listen to the radio, turned ignition on....voila....Garmin is now working fine again.  A couple months ago, it did it again, but only for about an hour before returning to normal.  Mystified, I just accept that the Garmin is going to temporarily fail every so often.  

 

[keithu]

2 hours ago, betoney said:

You would know if it loses connection to the power source.  I have been using Garmin GPS units in personal vehicles, work vehicles and on the bikes for close to 20 years, when you lose charging power you get a warning screen telling you so.  I have had a few charging cables go bad over the years, both 12v plug in and hardwire cables and always get this screen when it charging power has been lost.

Usually. Of course if you click Cancel (even accidentally) then it will continue to run on battery power. 

A few months ago I was off the bike for a few minutes and was surprised to come back and see that my 396 was still on. It hadn't powered off automatically when I switched off the ignition, so it was just sitting there running on battery power. I don't remember pressing the Cancel button, but maybe I touched it accidentally while dismounting? IIRC I had switched the bike ignition off, then back on briefly, and off again. Maybe this somehow confused the power saving feature of the Garmin. I could see this happening with an intermittent power cable too. 

[betoney]

48 minutes ago, keithu said:

A few months ago I was off the bike for a few minutes and was surprised to come back and see that my 396 was still on. It hadn't powered off automatically when I switched off the ignition, so it was just sitting there running on battery power.

Yes, mine does that on occasion as well, it must be a 'feature' associated with Garmin.

[2WHLOZK]

Update:  Just learned that Garmin max operating temp is 113F...not 131F as I originally posted.  I've edited the post, sorry for any confusion.

With this revelation I'm more convinced that my shutdown issue was most likely heat related.  

Take away:  I need to improve my diligence re Garmin 396.  Going forward....

> On hot days, anytime I stop the bike for more than a moment I'll remove the unit from its cradle to avoid overheating.

> Will observe charging icon to ensure proper elec connection.

 

Thanks to all who responded!  Cheers.

 

 

[betoney]

2 minutes ago, 2WHLOZK said:

Update:  Just learned that Garmin max operating temp is 113F...not 131F as I originally posted.

Thats good info to know for all Garmin users. Thanks

[nhchris]

16 hours ago, 2WHLOZK said:

I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but has anyone ever had their Garmin overheat and shut down?

TIA

EDIT:  Mistake....396 max temp operation is 113F .....NOT 131F.  Mia culpa.

 

Could it have been related to the ransomeware attack against Garmin the other day?

Story here...

Edited July 29, 2020 by nhchris