The 10 year internal battery died in my gps. Have any of you replaced the internal battery in a GPS III?

I opened it up but decided to ask before I go in with a needle nose plier and start pulling on the one item that LOOKS like a watch battery.

Garmin has a flat rate of $150 to turn these around. I think at this point its time for a new GPS. But for a $3 watch battery, I'll keep it.

Bill

Bill, I've had my Pilot 3 about 9-1/2 years, so please post the results of your battery R&R so I know what to expect in the near future. I'd hate to give up a still good GPS, so like you, if I had my druthers, I'd go for the 3 dollar battery. Otherwise, the 196 at around $800 looks pretty good.

Eric

Bill- I have not changed the internal battery in the GPS III, but I would suspect you may have to initialize the GPS again. It wants to know approximate Lat/Lon, and statute or nautical miles, time zone, etc. Then it will take awhile for it to acquire enough satellites and almanac information. I use a 196 now...the 496 would be cool, too. I don't like to get too dependent on the gizmos, but that terrain and weather could be invaluable.

zero.one.victor wrote:Bill, I've had my Pilot 3 about 9-1/2 years, so please post the results of your battery R&R so I know what to expect in the near future. I'd hate to give up a still good GPS, so like you, if I had my druthers, I'd go for the 3 dollar battery. Otherwise, the 196 at around $800 looks pretty good.

Eric

If you're willing to spend $800 then get yourself a 296. I just sold mine on ebay expecting to get $700 but somebody out there took it for the buy it now price of $750.

The Lowrance airmap 1000 is comparible to the Garmin 196. Got a used Lowrance on Ebay for about $295-good deal.

What's the benefit of a 296 over a 196 other than color map and terrain alert?

I have Pilot 111's, 196 and a 296. The 111's would be my pick for an easy machine to use, unless you an old fart like me and your vision is not what it used to be, the small screen gets a bit hard to see when your bumping round on a rough day. I usually get around 2000 hours out of them before they need looking at.

The 196 is a good unit, the screen is a bit bigger and easier to see for old farts like myself.

The colour screen on the 296 is a bit hard to read in direct sunlight and the terrain stuff is just a waste of screen. I spose it depends on the data base but in this country (OZ) you can actually be below the ridgeline and some terrain doesn't show, I put it in the gimmick section. I like the nav page on the 296 with the compass rose and the automatic change to night mode.

Bill- I have not changed the internal battery in the GPS III, but I would suspect you may have to initialize the GPS again.

Your right, and this is why I want to change the internal battery. Without it there is no memory and I have to initialize it everytime it is powered up. All my waypoints are gone.

the 196 at around $800 looks pretty good.

Eric, the latest Sport'ys catalog has the 196 for $700. It also has two full pages comparing the features of the 196 to the 496.

I also was looking at the 196. But now that my eyes are over 40 years old, I think the color screen would be a nice luxury. I just don't know if the color is worth $500. Here in flat land terrain alerts don't help me very much. Cell phone towers and transmission lines are a big hazard.

This is why I would like to replace the battery in my Pilot III. For now it works and serves my purpose. I think I will e-mail or call Garmin and see if I get a response.

Bill

To me, the color is poretty much an "ooh, aah" thing- cool for the first day, then no biggie. And since I'm a day VFR guy, the terrain alert to me is a waste. If I don't know the terrain intimately and/or can't see the terrain ahead, I shouldn't be out poking around in the murk.
So my frugal nature would have me buying the 196 over the 296, and spending the money saved on gas.

Eric

Eric,

I agree. $500 is expensive

"ooh, aah" thing- cool for the first day

and if I can't see the terrain out the window, the 296 won't help.

I would like to see the difference between black/white and color. I know a couple guys who have the 196 but I'll have to ask around to see color.

Bill

Be very careful with the terrain alert. It's based on GPS altitude of course, and I see that off by 200 or 300 ft. all of the time. It almost led me into CFIT once.

Flat Country Pilot wrote:

Bill- I have not changed the internal battery in the GPS III, but I would suspect you may have to initialize the GPS again.

Your right, and this is why I want to change the internal battery. Without it there is no memory and I have to initialize it everytime it is powered up. All my waypoints are gone.

the 196 at around $800 looks pretty good.

Eric, the latest Sport'ys catalog has the 196 for $700. It also has two full pages comparing the features of the 196 to the 496.

I also was looking at the 196. But now that my eyes are over 40 years old, I think the color screen would be a nice luxury. I just don't know if the color is worth $500. Here in flat land terrain alerts don't help me very much. Cell phone towers and transmission lines are a big hazard.

This is why I would like to replace the battery in my Pilot III. For now it works and serves my purpose. I think I will e-mail or call Garmin and see if I get a response.

Bill

It's too late now since you lost your waypoints but after you're up and running again get this program

http://www.easygps.com/


It allows you to make a backup of all your waypoints, routes, etc. That way if you lose an internal battery you can put your waypoints back in. You can also transfer all your waypoints from any GPS to any GPS.

http://www.easygps.com/

Thanks. Very useful site.

Why Bonanza Man? Do you fly one and which one?

Bill

Flat Country Pilot wrote:http://www.easygps.com/

Thanks. Very useful site.

Why Bonanza Man? Do you fly one and which one?

Bill

I used to have a 182 until two years ago. The engine was getting up there with about 1300 hours and was starting to leak/burn oil. I was going to install the Pponk 520 in there. Then in July 05 we went to Schafer for the work party like we always do. Saw this Bonanza that i had seen several times before over the years owned by a guy from Helena. He used to own one of the FBO's there, now going by another name. He always had a for sale sign in the plane all the times I saw it. A friend who was a mechaninc was also there so we started kicking the tires. After we got home I did some research to make sure I could take the Bo pretty much anywhere I took my 182. Determined I could so I called him and said I'd take it. Never bothered with a prepurchase other than what we saw at Schafer. He said it was good, we shook hands and that was that. And in these last two years I have taken it every place I had taken my 182. Shortest runway was 1000 feet just outside of town here in Molt. So I got my 520 but I bought an airplane already wrapped around it. It's a 64 S35. Look at my pictures elsewhere on this site.

I too had the gps III until the internal battery went bust. Decided to trade it for a 296 and it was the best decision I could have made. I understand that the terrain isn't always accurate, but I have put it through some tests here in Alaska. Primarily, I use it to find the shorelines during ocean crossings and too find the shortest distance between points. With WX mins at 500' and 2 miles, I find myself flying through lots of, well lets call it shit! This gps is piece of mind when the weather goes down or you need to know what the tide is doing. Oh, it has a built in tide chart. 90% of my landings are in the salt water and with 16 foot tides, I'm sure you can imagine what happens to the Beaver within 5 minutes. I've gone swimming and pulled my back on a few occasions, not now though. I understand these features don't do anything for some, but I come home everynight now to sleep in my own bed. That's priceless!!!

a64pilot wrote:Be very careful with the terrain alert. It's based on GPS altitude of course, and I see that off by 200 or 300 ft. all of the time. It almost led me into CFIT once.

Yeah, that gps-derived altitude can really give a guy cFIT's!

Terrain alerts are beyond my current ability. I'll stick to looking out the window.

I called Garmin and went through the fun little automated answering crap. Finally got a warm body on the other phone.

The internal batteries are replaceable. It's a common Panasonic battery but it's soldered in. He said Garmin will replace it for $150 and recommended taking it to a local electronics shop.

Good thing I didn't give it a pull with the old needle nose plier.

Anyone want to guess on how much the replacement will be?

Bill