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The Garmin 810 is a bit of a bitch. After being pressed thousands of times, the hard rubber power button has disintegrated and crumbled into the inside of the housing. And without the rubber plunger, the small push button on the main circuit board that switches the device on is out of reach. The bike computer still worked, but could only be put into operation with trick 17: An initial power surge via USB cable from the charger, and the - otherwise faithfully serving - data collector woke up, beeped again and leisurely cycled to the start state.
It is difficult to determine why the power button has given up the ghost. Plastic that is not very resistant to ageing can be one cause, rubbery sweat another. Many cyclists are familiar with the fact that salty bodily fluids are capable of degrading handlebar tape, cycling shorts and even steel frames. But quite apart from that: The fact that you may have to write off the whole bike because of such a mini defect is the real annoyance.
The Garmin only survived because it only came to the handlebars in predominantly fine weather. Rain would have found its way through the "switch-on hole" immediately and unchecked into the interior and killed the electronics. The dilemma: With many modern electronic devices, ease of repair no longer plays a major role. The days when TV sets, kitchen mixers or telephones could still be opened with a screwdriver are largely over.
For cost reasons and because it can be done so quickly by machine, the industry glues what the tube can hold. Later inspection of the appliance is not desirable, whether by a service technician or a "user", and is not included in the calculation. Instead, manufacturers prefer to offer discounts for a consumer-friendly exchange. This is also common practice at GPS market leader Garmin.
Our patient: The Garmin Edge 810
Our electronic patient: a Garmin Edge 810, in use since 2013. Depending on the features, it cost around 500 euros at the time. During its ten years of use, the battery has lost some of its capacity and, what's worse, its power button had crumbled and no longer worked.
Screws in sight!
With our faulty Garmin Edge 810 from 2013, the manufacturer, unlike with its more recent models, has dispensed with gluing and fitted the two halves of the housing with six five-way Torx screws for easy servicing. That's the first piece of good news. The second piece of good news is that, thanks to global online trading and powerful search engines, even non-experts can find and buy the right spare parts for a few euros, which you wouldn't have been able to get for money and good words from a specialist dealer in the past. A few searches with the right keywords are all it takes to find and order the desired spare part from a large mail order company for just a few euros. Motivated by the quick success of our search, we immediately added a new battery and some assembly tools to our virtual shopping basket, which was delivered to the editorial office 48 hours later by parcel service.
Tools and the right preparation
A curious look at the contents: We were immediately satisfied with the small assortment of tools, consisting of mounting levers, tweezers, screwdrivers and suction cups. The power button, of which there are two in the plastic bag, was obviously produced using a 3D printer and is solid, but does not have the exact shape of the recess in the housing. The flat battery looks a little shrivelled, although the cabling with plug makes a solid impression. We have documented the preparation and time required for our repair attempt below. Basically, a tidy workplace, bright light, a magnifying glass, a steady hand and patience are the best prerequisites for do-it-yourself repairs of this kind. With the right preparation, anyone can learn to repair defects, even on a technically complex device such as the Garmin Edge 810. In total, we spent around 20 euros on spare parts. In this respect, it is worth a try and the result is a great feeling to have got the Garmin back on track.
Preparation: The surgical instruments
Online retail is teeming with Tool setsmade for opening smartphones or other electronic devices. They usually contain mounting levers, suction cups or tweezers. We have also ordered such a set, but have supplemented it with a few professional tools that trained electronics technicians or dentists use on a daily basis. These include an illuminated magnifying glass, a sorting box, a 5-point Torx screwdriver with a rotating handle, a dentist's scaler, self-clamping tweezers and gaffa tape.
1. the damage
After ten years, the power button on our Garmin has disintegrated. Garmin does not offer replacements, but thanks to 3D printing technology, replicas are available online. Disadvantage: The replacement button does not seal the housing perfectly.
2. open the housing
Fortunately, the housing is screwed and not glued. This makes the task much easier. Six 5-point Torx screws hold the housing together, and instead of the small screwdriver that was included in the tool set we ordered, we prefer to use one from Wera, as it has a rotating handle, which makes it much easier to unscrew the mini screws. We loosen the screws crosswise to minimise tension and lift off the display side.
3. disconnect the plug
The display must be opened from the top as it is connected to the motherboard on the lower "button" side via a flat cable. There is a self-adhesive insulating rubber over the plug connection, which is lifted off with tweezers. The plug works vertically from top to bottom and is not particularly tight. It is tricky to assemble because of the short cable. Tip: Align the housing halves at right angles to each other beforehand for more room for manoeuvre with the short cable.
4. dismantle the display
Like the two halves of the housing, the display is also fastened with 5 mm Torx screws. As these are silver-coloured instead of black, there is no risk of confusion later during assembly. For a better overview, we recommend sorting all disassembled individual parts so that nothing gets lost, for example in an empty screw box.
5. disconnect the display cable
Now it's getting tricky! The flexible cable of the display is secured to the white connection port with a black clip with hooks on the side. To release it, use the plastic lever to push it to the left and right towards the cable without tilting the bracket too much. Then place the mini securing clip in the sorting tray. Note: The underside of the bracket has barely visible protrusions and only fits in one position!
6. lift off the seal
Once the display has been removed, it is worth taking a closer look at the seal. Fortunately, it was in very good condition and did not need to be replaced; however, replacements are easy to find by searching the internet. To loosen the seal, we use the tip of the assembly lever and start in a corner where the seal has the most material and work our way around centimetre by centimetre until the seal can be lifted off completely.
7. lift off the circuit board
If there is any dust on the sealing surface, this can be cleaned with a non-hairy brush. This should be done upside down so that the dirt does not fall into the housing. The green circuit board is not screwed to the housing and can be easily lifted off with the pointed side of the lever. Underneath, we reach the housing opening where our replacement button belongs. The weakening battery, which we also want to replace, is also stuck there. Tip: Take a photo of the battery position and plug connection with the three cables for correct assembly.
8. insert new button
Inserting the replacement button seemed to be the easiest part of the repair - which turned out to be a fallacy. The button is not symmetrical, neither its shape nor the weight distribution. Tip 1: The small bump that operates the switch on the circuit board must point closer to the sealing surface, otherwise it will slip past its counterpart when pressed when installed; accordingly, the counterholder on the button must be at the bottom. Tip 2: Adhesive tape on the outside prevents the button from rolling back into the housing.
9. heat the bonding surface
The battery is glued into the housing with an adhesive strip. To make it easier to prise it out of its adhesive bed, we heated it to around 55 degrees using a controllable hot air dryer, which works much faster than the alternative of using heating pads heated in the microwave. It is advisable to slowly approach the optimum temperature in ten-degree increments so that surrounding components are not damaged.
10. disconnect battery cabling
After heating, lever the white plug upwards and pay attention to the position of the individual cable colours with regard to the correct polarity. Close attention must also be paid to the cable routing in its original state. This is important as the installation space under the main board is limited. You can see that the cables are routed around the small plastic bar to the left and right of the mounting lever. This is where the cables of the spare battery have to go again, as otherwise they could be crushed during subsequent assembly of the housing and cause a short circuit or leak.
11. remove battery
On our Edge patient, there is an extra recess on the side of the battery bed where we can place the shovel-shaped mounting lever to separate the battery from the housing. You should hear a slight crackling sound, a sign that the adhesive has reached the right temperature and is gently separating from the base of the housing with a little resistance. Don't be alarmed, there are two cables under the battery that are soldered to a metal plate from the quarter-lock and remain untouched.
12. comparison of new and old battery
Only when the battery is removed do you realise that there are minimal differences between the original and replacement battery. The replacement part for twelve euros is a little wrinklier and oversized, one colour of the cable - which is also longer - is incorrect, and there was no adhesive film included. Our solutions: We reused the used, still slightly warm original adhesive tape, glued the new battery in place with the label facing downwards for more space for the cable and aligned the plug with the red cable on the underside.
The finale
Our repair attempt was not successful at the first attempt. We had initially mounted the replacement button the wrong way round so that it could not hit the switch on the circuit board exactly. Unfortunately, we only realised this after the first reassembly.
Mounting the display flex cable was also tricky. We had initially overlooked the fact that the black fuse bridge has barely visible "supports" on one side, which have to point towards the circuit board because the pins are not centred in the white housing opposite.
The upper half of the housing can only be fitted if the two parts are aligned at right angles to each other because of the short flex cable. In the end, however, with a little practice and without photo documentation, we had replaced the switch and the battery within a quarter of an hour and screwed the old Garmin back together again.
The final inspection with the battery charging check was successful, only the poor fit of the button in the housing is unsightly. A layer of gaffa tape covers the blemish and seals the area. Okay, black tape would have been nicer...
Tips and tricks
A few simple tricks can easily compensate for a lack of experience. Our four tips avoid unnecessary mishaps.
- A clean, tidy and bright workstation without table mats or the like makes work easier. Screws and small components are well organised and do not get lost
- Before each work step during disassembly, photos help as a template and memory aid during assembly. Typical examples are the position and colour of cables or seals
- A photo is not always self-explanatory for single-coloured mini components. Markings with a felt-tip pen (the dot marked "top") make it easier to assemble the parts correctly later on
- Aids such as clamps, adhesive tape or modelling clay help to hold components in place, for example when heating (clamp) or installing the new power button (gaffa tape)
Matthias Borchers
Editor
