Garmin XT - a deep dive

[bigjohnsd]

I bought a Garmin Zumo XT and have been spending part of each snowy day here learning the idiosyncracies,

I stumbled across this video and thought others considering a Zumo XT might be interested.

[Steel_Gin]

Thank you for posting that. I've had my eye on this GPS, just hadn't taken any time yet to do some research.

[bill lumberg]

Mine is a joy to use on the bike. Like a modern Carolyn screen or a TFT. But it is not without garmin glitches.

I just created a route on the gps. It was easy and intuitive. Very easy. But it lost the route the first three times. It knew I’d named the route, because I couldn’t reuse that name, but there was no route to be found anywhere.

Fourth try, and it took the route under a different name.

My XT will not connect to any wifi network, at all.

Yesterday, the device kept power cycling. Made me wonder if the harness was messed up. My best guess is that the mount isn’t terribly positive, and it didn’t have good contact, at the contacts. Didn’t repeat today.

[Hppants]

I am enjoying the XT. I'm not very good at naturally learning a GUI. I had the Tom Tom memorized and the Garmin is a big swing. But I got it now to the point where I can do most of what I want to do, which is probably 1/10th what it CAN do.

Eating the elephant one bite at a time, boss...

[FJRoss]

Greg Rice's updated overview is really good for covering all the stuff you might want to do. Knowing what is possible is more than half the battle
http://www.gregrice.com/zumoxt/zumoxt.html

I got mine last year but only really gave it a good test run this week. (3500 km from Fredericton to Winnipeg). Does everything and more that I want/need. I can even read the damn thing in bright daylight. Still need to practice a bit...

[justacrossthehill]

Does Garmin no longer make one that has TPMS?

[Festus]

Does Garmin no longer make one that has TPMS?

They do not.

[FJRoss]

A note on an issue I had with my XT on a recent round-trip from Fredericton to Winnipeg...
Pretty much flawless except for one time when the display just blacked out! I figured the connection to the fuse block had wiggled loose (and the battery ran down) but connections were secure. It turned out that one of the spring-loaded pins in the mount was stuck and had not popped out. Puzzling because the unit had not been used much and only once in a bit of rain. I kept the rubber cover over the contacts overnight if parked outside. No corrosion in evidence and it popped out with a bit of persuasion. No issues since - perhaps a small bit of dust or dirt?
Anyway, something to watch for. (Never had any issues with pins or connections with my Zumo 665 over many years of operation under adverse conditions.)

[mcatrophy]

A note on an issue I had with my XT on a recent round-trip from Fredericton to Winnipeg...
Pretty much flawless except for one time when the display just blacked out! I figured the connection to the fuse block had wiggled loose (and the battery ran down) but connections were secure. It turned out that one of the spring-loaded pins in the mount was stuck and had not popped out. Puzzling because the unit had not been used much and only once in a bit of rain. I kept the rubber cover over the contacts overnight if parked outside. No corrosion in evidence and it popped out with a bit of persuasion. No issues since - perhaps a small bit of dust or dirt?
Anyway, something to watch for. (Never had any issues with pins or connections with my Zumo 665 over many years of operation under adverse conditions.)

I don't have a Garmin, I do have a Tomtom, the mount for which also uses little spring-loaded pins.

Many moons ago, on an earlier unit, I got a sticking pin. I wiped a smear of Vaseline over the contacts, this helped.

When I got the opportunity, I did dissemble it to see if it was fixable. The minuscule coil spring was corroded and missing a bit (corroded away). Always likely to make a bad contact.

When I upgraded to a later one (forced by theft), I continued to occasionally smear some Vaseline over the pins. The Vaseline both lubricates and prevents any moisture getting in.

No problems since.

[FJRoss]

I have always used a thin smear of dielectric grease which I work into the mechanism.. Never an issue with the Zumo 665 over many years. No corrosion or stuck pins ever on that GPS.

[raYzerman]

After learning the pins can corrode (the wee springs underneath the pin) on my original Zumo 550, I learned preventative maintenance by working in contact cleaner (it also had a lube, silicone?) a couple of times a year. Dielectric or Vaseline will likely seal for a while, but doesn't do much for the wee springs corroding.

When the XT was first released way back, there was an issue with the pins getting bent and even breaking off. Garmin quickly replaced all the cradles with the current design. All I can recommend is lube the pins once in a while and ensure you try not to bend the pins when you mount the XT. At least with this one, you can get just the power cable....