My gpsmap 66i starts up when usb is inserted then shuts down straight away.

As soon as I insert a usb cable into the charge port the unit shows the battery indicator then turns off. I have tried many different cables, tried with PC and tried with a conventional usb charger. I am at a wits end with this. Haven't heard back from customer support as yet. Hope someone can help. The unit is only 13 months old.

Top Replies

Garmin-Andrew over 4 years ago +1 verified

Do you have a microSD inserted in the device? If so, you may want to try removing it then powering it on as per suggestions in this article: Garmin GPSMAP 66 Series Freezes, Reboots or Won't Power On…
BIGBADFOX over 4 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew +1

Thanks for the quick response. I have tried it without sd card inserted. Still won't power up. And just found another cable and still won't work. I bought it last August. It's about 2 weeks out of warranty…
Chris42 over 3 years ago +1

I had a similar problem with my 86i. Without USB cable, the device started normally. With USB cable, it powered down after a few seconds after it displayed USB mode on the screen. Battery was fully charged…

All Replies

0 twolpert over 4 years ago

Do you know if the device is actually charging while "off"? The only way to check would be to leave it plugged in for a few hours, then power up and check the battery gauge.

Customer support is going to be your best channel.

If you have not already done so, try starting with the device off when you plug it in (or on, if you've already tried off).

You could also try a factory reset. However, I hesitate to recommend that without knowing more. It's going to delete all user data on the device, restore settings to factory defaults, and require you to repeat the outdoor portion of device activation.

+1 Garmin-Andrew over 4 years ago

Do you have a microSD inserted in the device? If so, you may want to try removing it then powering it on as per suggestions in this article: Garmin GPSMAP 66 Series Freezes, Reboots or Won't Power On. The suggestions in that article to delete corrupt files may also help. If not that and multiple cables have been tried, there may be damage to the USB port of the device in which case it would need to contact Product Support for replacement options.

0 BIGBADFOX over 4 years ago in reply to Garmin-Andrew

Thanks for the quick response. I have tried it without sd card inserted. Still won't power up. And just found another cable and still won't work. I bought it last August. It's about 2 weeks out of warranty.

0 BIGBADFOX over 4 years ago in reply to twolpert

I have tried leaving it charging overnight while turned off. Still has no effect. When I plug it in the battery indicator flashes up then the screen goes blank.

0 twolpert over 4 years ago in reply to BIGBADFOX

But does it boot if not plugged in? If so, what is the charge level?

I rather suspect that it IS a problem with the USB connector on the device. But knowing if it charges when apparently "off" would help eliminate possible firmware/device state issues.

0 4501840 over 3 years ago in reply to BIGBADFOX

Have you been able to resolve this? I am having the same problem with mine. It is flaky. If it powers off (shows power icon then screen goes blank) it will not continue to charge. If the battery symbol shows it continues charging. I haven't figured out what the trick is to make sure it keeps charging.

0 twolpert over 3 years ago in reply to 4501840

Open a support ticket.

0 BIGBADFOX over 3 years ago in reply to 4501840

I ended up sending it back to retailer and they replaced it under warranty. It was 2 weeks over the 12 month period so I was lucky.

0 atlas_cached over 3 years ago in reply to BIGBADFOX

Thanks for the update!

I suspect what happened was the GPSMAP 66i had been left powered on until the internal battery was fully depleted, so when it was connected to external power it immediately disabled the display. If the unit had been left in this state for a short period of time (~ one hour) to slowly begin the battery charging process, it likely would have either turned the display back on itself, or would have after the external power source was removed and connected again. In other words, it was likely just very low on power and needed to top off for a while before the display could again be enabled.

This is my theory, anyway.

Glad you were able to get a new unit from the retailer.

0 Chris42 over 3 years ago

I had a similar problem with my 86i. Without USB cable, the device started normally. With USB cable, it powered down after a few seconds after it displayed USB mode on the screen. Battery was fully charged, micro SD card plugged in.

Solution: USB mode started working fine after exchanging the USB cable with a new one.