>From: JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com >In responding to a post on the eTrex GPS, Bill Hansen wrote, "yes, I'd be >very interested in knowing if the unit is truly waterproof. My personal >luck with Garmin (RE: both water-resistance of their "waterproof" units, >and also RE: repairs) has been poor, though I know that others have had >much better experiences." SNIP As to its submersibility: one piece of anecdotal information (from a retailer of eTrex, suggesting his source was Garmin) is that, while the electronics portion of the unit is submersible, the battery container may not be. I'd be surprised if Garmin is weasle-wording its watereproof statement, however, and the battery case does have a thin "O" ring seal on it, but I'm going to test this bit out now and will provide some feedback. If the battery compartment leaks, it goes back for a refund. END QUOTES I work for a pretty large outdoor retailer, and did a kayak camping trip over the Easter weekend with our Q.C. manager and his wife. We chatted about the E-Trex, among other things. He's seen a few returns (out of many, many sold) for leakage. Some of these were damaged or defective units, others up to Garmin "specs". Our Q.C. guy said that Garmin was guite candid that the electronics area is sealed, but the battery compartment is not always waterproof; Garmin did not seem to consider this a "state secret" or a defect. (I'm speculating that the battery comparment is not full-on watertight so that batteries can "off-gas" in a non-explosive manner - the better diving lights have built-in over-pressure relief valves for this.) If you want to go straight to the source, why not submit a question to the tech support through Garmin's web site (www.garmin.com)? I submitted a couple of questions about my GPS12 (which I always carry in an Aqua-Pac when kayaking) re Y2K and the year-end rollover, and I got polite and helpful replys within hours. Philip Torrens N49°16' W123°06' ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Philip Torrens noted, "our Q.C. guy said that Garmin was guite candid that the electronics area is sealed, but the battery compartment is not always waterproof; Garmin did not seem to consider this a "state secret" or a defect......" "If you want to go straight to the source, why not submit a question to the tech support through Garmin's web site (www.garmin.com)? I submitted a couple of questions about my GPS12 (which I always carry in an Aqua-Pac when kayaking) re Y2K and the year-end rollover, and I got polite and helpful replys within hours." Good idea. Tried calling them, but was on hold in their call center for an extended time listening to music. Emailed the question in. (The site said that it could take five to seven days to get out a response.) Will post the results. Jack *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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