GPS screen peeling?

[drswift]

While camping at the MOA rally, I awoke one morning to find the screen of my BMW Nav II had a wierd streaky sheen on it. When I rubbed it with a cloth and some Plexus, a layer of plastic film started peeling off. Pretty soon the entire area of the screen had peeled away. The touch screen and GPS still work, but I've noticed the it will jump to a larger scale without hitting any waypoints. Is this typical for older Garmins (2610)? Will they do a factory recondition on one this old (2004)?

[DavidEBSmith]

Yes, it's typical for older Garmins. Yes, they will do a factory recondition, the price people have been mentioning is about $200.

 

What I did with mine was to carefully, with a soft plastic stick, remove all the flaking film, especially under the edges of the screen. Then I polished the screen with all 3 grades of Novus polish, from coarsest to finest. Then, I put a stick-on screen protector on it. I used a shiny crystal clear one, but Boxwave makes an anti-glare screen protector that I think would be a better choice for this screen. So far so good.

[malcolmblalock]

They seem to continue working ok when this original coating is lost. However, it is very hard to see any detail when it is so dull. I bet David has the best solution.

 

When mine did it (some years ago), Garmin replaced it under a very lenient warranty policy. Still have the unit, although the maps are now pretty much obsolete.

[drswift]

Thanks, guys. Yes it does seem very dull new. I'll try polishing it up, as well as checking with Garmin.

[DavidEBSmith]

Definitely check with Garmin, sometimes people get lucky. And if you decide to pay them to replace it, you can try polishing it up, nothing to lose at that point.