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Montana 700i keeps turning off

I have a Montana 700i, actually it's my third unit and second cradle. Just after I bought my new 700i I found that it would randomly turn off. Sometimes this happens after a few hours, other times less than 30 mins. The other day it turned off twice in 30 mins. I have to press and hold the power button to turn it back on. When it restarts it just picks up where it left off. The unit has spent all of it's time so far in the car cradle in the car with the USB cable plugged into the 12v socket adaptor. 

The dealer has done all they could by replacing 2 units and the cradle so I've contacted Garmin AU, but that has been a frustrating process and I haven't gotten anywhere except to learn that someone else in Australia has the same fault.

Anyone else got the same issue ?

  • What do your crash logs show?

  • Where and how would i find those please ?

  • Garmin support didn't ask for those?

    Open trip computer page and hold your finger over the menu button for > 5 seconds...

  • Garmin support hasn't been in touch with me. I've been in touch with Garmin AU but they seem to have trouble getting back to me. When I first rang they created a ticket but it was closed because of a lack of reply from me - they sent the request to an old email address for my a/c, not the one I gave them. I rang them back and they were supposed to re-open the ticket and send me an email (to the address I gave them.) That didn't happen so I'm going to contact them today, again. In the meantime I thought I'd pose the question.

    Thank you for your help too btw.

    Error log reports 'no error rpts'

  • I’ve had the same issue maybe half dozen times. Cradle or USB, randomly from a few hours to 15 hours. It just shuts off, no prompt to stay on. I thought it might have had something to do with the USB adapter I was using but not the case since it does it in the cradle plugged into a 12v outlet. No error report. I’ve yet to open a ticket but it’s on my to do list. I wanted to actually see it happen and look for a pattern. 

  • Haven't been able to identify any pattern so far just seems totally random. Same as yourself - there's no visual or audio warning of any kind, it just turns off. I have noticed sometimes it's a press and hold or just a press to turn it back on and sometimes I don't get the whole start up splash screen just a short version. All 3 units I've had have done the same thing.

  • When on external power (which is the case in the cradle), the Montana can be configured to shut down automatically when the power is removed.

    Main Menu > Setup > System > Advanced Setup > External Power Off

    If configured to shut down, it's important to be sure the device is firmly and fully seated in the mount. And that the power source is continuous (for example, does not depend on whether or not the engine is running).

    Also might be worth checking that the cradle pins are all "springy" and clean, and that the contacts on the device are clean. I do not have any experience with the cradle and off-roading. So I don't know if the cradle is proof against heavy shocks.

    You might try setting it to "Stay On" when external power is removed to see if that "solves" the problem. However, in that state, you need to be sure to turn it off manually when you leave the vehicle.

  • At first, I had it set to “charge” when powered. Then I switched to “turn on” when powered. No difference. If/when it does it again I’ll switch to “stay on.” I have it set to “prompt” when off power but have not seen the prompt, at least within the 30 seconds before it shuts off. I should have heard a beep if power went off at least a couple of the occurrences but don’t recall hearing any. However, when the power comes back (assuming it ever left) it should turn back on. It has shut off at least twice when in the cradle and four or more times on USB. I want to nail down what happens before I report it but it’s so random. Most of the time I just assume it’s me and I’m going crazy.

  • My 700i has randomly powered off since the first time I updated firmware (last October?) Subsequent updates haven’t cured it and the last update was over WiFi, not using Garmin Express on an iMac (which has previously been suspected of causing other issues with Micro SD cards)

    It powered off once while my ATV was stopped, engine off, parked in shade with no input from me. That threw all my power interruption, overheating, map redraw conflict theories right out the window. Once my Tempe sensor wasn’t reporting so I decided to turn the sensor off then on via the Sensors menu. When I touched the Off box the unit crashed. When I powered back up the Tempe sensor was working normally. Repeated attempts to recreate the crash were unsuccessful.

    I never pursued the bug any further, since it’s a minor annoyance and the 700i always powers back up and works normally. Sorry to hear you’ve tried multiple units without resolution but it confirms my suspicions it’s a firmware glitch

  • Feature, not Glitch. 8^)