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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Replacing the battery in a Garmin 276C

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/29/2015 : 10:51:04

The tiny little lithium rechargeable battery in my GPS had long since died meaning it had to do a search every time I started it up. That search almost always ended up in the last epoch, meaning it would start the search in 1999 and eventually find a date it liked in 1995. A restart would get it into the current epoch and it would find the right date and be useful.

A little searching online turned up a few pages on how to replace the battery that preserves position data while the device is powered down. It's a tiny little battery that's deep inside the guts of the GPS that's soldered to the motherboard.

I ordered the battery from a company down in LA and proceeded to do the repair.

Getting inside was relatively straight forward, but be sure to read the instructions thoroughly a couple of times so you understand what needs to be done. Remove the 8 screws around the periphery of the device, then remove the nut holding the antenna in (the external antenna lines up with some notches in the case and then can be pulled straight up to remove it). Follow the instructions for detaching the cables so you can get to the underside of the motherboard where the battery is. Make a note of the polarity of the battery and then desolder it from the board. Make sure you use a low wattage soldering iron, you don't want to damage anything. Then solder the tabs to their respective leads and you're done with the repair. Reassemble in reverse, put the battery in, and make sure it works.

I found that it started working immediately so it's acting like a new GPS again. No more 3-5 minutes to acquire a position, it's not quite instantaneous, but it's definitely less than a minute, and no more having to power it off and on again to get into the current epoch as before.

I know Tom Potter was experiencing this, so maybe it'll help to get it fixed. I also ended up with a spare battery, so if someone needs one, let me know & I'll send it to you.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3992 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2015 : 12:02:53

This reminds me of replacing the battery in my I-Pod Nano this winter. I use it strictly on the boat but it wasn't holding a charge anymore. Found the procedure on U-Tube and the battery for $5 and went at it. The I Pod is now functional again. The battery had to be soldered in also. I think you can find a "How to" for anything on U-Tube.

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2015 : 17:40:17

Hey David,
You're right I have the same problem. I've replaced the main battery a couple times, didn't know about the little battery. Looks like a straight forward replacement. Now to get the nerve to split the case.

1997 250 TR WK (sold)
1984 O'Day 28 (sold)
1979 SISU 22
Bath, NC.

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2015 : 18:54:17

Tom,
I've got an extra battery (whatever you do, don't order one from the link in the article, they want to charge you $15 shipping for a 1/10 oz battery). If you want it I'll send it to you. I canceled my order with them when they wanted to force me to ship via FedEx or UPS instead of paying $3 for USPS. They still shipped it to me in a giant box and only charged my card $2.31 which I can't be fussed to fuss about.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5231 Posts

Response Posted - 04/29/2015 : 19:42:32

Bravo!!
I'm delighted you were able to revive your old school GPS. If an old device provides reliable service and there's only a minor problem like a dead battery (however buried it was), then there's no reason NOT to try and repair it. I've got an old oldie handheld that supplies Lat-Lon to my DSC-equipped VHF radio via RS-232 at 4800 baud. Still works (but I can't upgrade the tidal data online anymore), but it just does the job year after year, no questions asked.
Now my iPad provides me charts and GPS, however it's way less rugged than my old handheld, and I can't see much in direct sunlight.
Between my iPad, the handheld GPS, my paper charts and my piloting skills, I generally don't stay lost for too long. It's great that Mfrs develop spiffy new versions and upgrades with all fully-integrated features, but if the old ones can still provide good data and keep you out of trouble, that works for me.
And remember, a bunch of us have 30+ year-old boats. That just goes to show you the "it's still good" mentality. And we love them, don't we?

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2015 : 10:39:18

This is the second time I've "rescued" this GPS, and so far it keeps ticking. I'd like to have a bigger-better one, but I can't justify the expense, especially since this one keeps working, and I'm not missing anything by using it other than updated charts.

The extra battery has been spoken for, so if anyone else wants to do this, use the Ebay link above to order it, not the link in the instructions.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9013 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2015 : 16:31:14

Mine crapped out in too many ways, including the power cord coming apart... I chose to do another replacement--to a Garmin 640. Nice upgrade, but I don't think it's on the market any more. Nor, it seems, is anything in that category with an internal battery and both marine and street navigation modes. Hope my 640 lasts!

Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.