Zumo 550 power button

[Bugnatr]

The rubber power button fell out of my 550. It was a very bumpy road so now I need a replacement button. Anybody know where I can get one or do you have a dead 550 I can get for low or no cost plus shipping?

 

[0Face]

Go Here: https://www.palmdr.com/garmin-zumo-450_550-button-repair

They revived my totally dead 550.

 

[ionbeam]

The 'power button' is part of a long molded rubber sheet that runs down the right side of the GPS. The 'button' is simply a dimple pattern in the rubber sheet, the power switch is actually mounted on a circuit board behind the molded rubber sheet, the dimple deforms inward to let the button on the pcb be actuated. You need someone to send you the rubber strip (or a whole dead GPS you can take apart). My dead 550 has the rubber ripped mostly around the dimple but I was able to do a save using carefully applied RTV. In a pinch you can use a flexible adhesive like RTV and glue any rubbery item over the hole which will deform inward under finger pressure to activate the switch on the pcb.

Edit: While I was typing 0F posted a good link which shows what I was burning a lot of words to describe. If you remove the front panel, please take (very, very) careful note of how the connectors latch on the two ribbon cables (flex board), to a non electronics person it probably won't be apparent.

 

[gregory]

I need one of those to Doug, only my top button is done in. IIRC there are a couple of latches that hold the ribbon strips in.

 

[0Face]

The repair you're looking at and ionbeam describes isn't too difficult. You might be able to do it yourself, but if you're not inclined to take apart your unit, I can't say enough about these guys. I thought I totally FUBAR'd mine. The file system was corrupted, and it wouldn't play any media. They were able to essentially re-flash the unit and also replaced an internal battery. He called and explained everything, including the possibility they wouldn't be able to fix it at all. I was very pleased at the result.

 

[Big Sky]

I have no doubt Palm Dr. Shortronics is a qualified and quality outfit given the testament above, but good grief, don't they have anyone on staff that understands English, spelling and proper punctuation? Unfortunately, their second-grade level of English casts doubt on the company's professionalism.

 

[RaYzerman19]

If you use the link, an email is sent to [email protected], and you will get a reply in a day... I did use them a couple of weeks ago to get a front housing for mine which had lost a button. Chris will quote you a price if he has a good spare, and include the fix they use. I was quite happy with the service.

 

[Bugnatr]

Thanks Gents, all I need is the rubber button so it sounds like I need to follow Ionbeam's lead and rtv a flexible rubber of some type. Sheesh, always somethun'

 

[Fred W]

Well, bug, it's not quite that simple. The flexible rubber also has a protrusion on the back side to hit the electrical switch mounted on the circuit board behind it. Once you completely lose the "button" back filling the panel will not do you much good.

One of mine (now on my son's bike) had a lot of use and was broken free, but I managed to grab and save it before it went off into the nether-lands.. I then was able to stick it back in place using some black RTV (silicone sealant to most folks) applied from the inside. I remember that (in my case) it wasn't the power button that shat itself, it was one of the four on the other side. Probably the volume button as I seem to hit that one oftener. BTW, that GPS is still running fine.

I have heard rumor of people finding hollow "demo units" and using the front panel of those to restore their zumo 550's. It's going to get harder and harder for us to keep these old work horse GPSes running as time goes on, but honestly, I still think it is worth the effort. I've still not seen anything that I like better.

 

[0Face]

I'd give ShortTronics a shout and see if they have anything they can send you if you don't want to spend the money to have them fix it. Chris was super nice.

 

[jmdaniel]

When mine fell out, I called Garmin, and they sent a new (reconditioned) one, in exchange for the old one. Waaaay out of warranty, and that says a lot, to me at least, about Garmin support.