16 pin connector

[Rcgreg]

So the positive connection to the cradle connector strip fails after the 4 pin connector in the cradle. In other words the positive cable to the bike is fine but inside the cradle something is not connected to the 26 pin strip so the GPS doesn't get battery power from the bike.anyone know which pin's on the connector need to have 12 volts on them to power The unit?

[Fallguy67]

Not sure if this will help or not...

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthrea ... elp-needed!

[Rcgreg]

Perfect - thanks!

[slayman]

Wondering if you've resolved this? I believe I am having the same issue. 550 works fine in the car cradle but not in the moto cradle.
TIA

[Nick V]

Not sure if this will help or not...

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthrea ... elp-needed!

That's my post.

After thinking I'd lost my 500's faulty powered mount, I found it in my new workshop, at the bottom of a cardboard box I hadn't looked in for years.
I took the faulty mount apart with intent to fix it, and found corrosion on the main board's ribbon cable connector, and on the ribbon cable itself (see attached pics).

To get access to both ends of the ribbon cable, you need to:
1) Remove the small Phillips screw holding the magnetic sealing plug/rubber strip at the bottom of the mount.
2) Use a thin-bladed knife or Stanley knife to carefully prise the rubber strip off the bottom of the mount (it's held on with very thin double-sided tape).
3) With the rubber strip off, remove the two small Phillips screws that are now exposed.
4) With all three screws removed, you need to prise the lower plastic sealing cap off the bottom of the mount. This job is very tricky to do without damaging the mount or the cap; the cap is held on with silicone-type adhesive.

With the sealing cap off, you'll see where the other end of the ribbon cable goes into the block holding the 24-pin connector.

I have a powered car mount I have no intent to use, and considered trying to pilfer the cable from that.
Sadly, no go - the car mount and bike mount use completely different ribbon cables.

Seeing as how Garmin no longer provide any support for the 400 / 450 / 500 / 550s, my best course of action will be to clean the corroded cable connector and cable with a good electrical contact cleaner.
If I can't salvage the current ribbon cable, I'm going to try finding a generic cable that can work as a substitute. My local computer store might be able to help.
Failing both of those options, I'll finally have to admit defeat.

[Nick V]

Update:
I found a repair-shop owner (specializing in flat-screen TVs) who says he can more than likely do the job.
The ribbon cable has non-standard dimensions (no surprises there - what fun would it be for Garmin if every pleb could repair a broken unit themselves?), but my guy says that removing the cable, de-soldering the cable connectors, and hard-wiring the two boards together using Kynar-insulated wire might be an option.

I'm going to let him do it - what have I got to lose?
Watch this space.

[Nick V]

Success!

The rest of the ribbon cable and its connectors work fine. The corroded power connectors were bypassed with very fine-gauge wire, and soldered to the ribbon-cable pins:

20221108_112439.jpg (178.55 KiB) Viewed 8926 times

20221108_112419.jpg (234.09 KiB) Viewed 8926 times

My 500 charges just fine through the repaired mount.

I asked the chap who did the repair if he'd be willing to do more repairs like it. Unfortunately, his reponse was a very firm 'NO'. He's semi-retired, and looking to be fully retired within the next year.
So, the best advice I can give is that if your 400 / 450 / 500 / 550 isn't charging because of a damaged ribbon cable and/or cable connectors, find an electronics repair shop employing a technician willing to go down to component level.

It hasn't been an easy journey - but I got my result!