700i constantly losing external power

Someone on the Forum over at advrider.com said a similar problem was caused by the pins in the mount getting stuck (not spring loaded and retracting) and causing depressions in the contacts on the 700. Eventually it wouldn’t even work in another mount. 
if you set yours to Stay On when External Power is lost does it appear to work normally?

Yeah I’ve noticed mine has holes or depressions on the brass pins to. I did check the pins on the mount and they are indeed spring loaded. I’ve only just changed it to ‘stay on’ if power has been lost, but this is probably now irrelevant is the pins are buggered

advrider.com  Forums / Mapping and Navigation / Montana 700i

A few others chimed in with dimpled connectors on the 700i and complaints of a sticking release button on the rugged mount. One person said there were power drops until they used the locking screw, then it was solid. I checked my rugged mount pins and they look pretty and work fine. I’ve never used the locking screw on either of my 2 rugged mounts for the 700 series nor any of my 600 series mounts. Mine is mounted in Landscape orientation (pins on the bottom) and I can see some scoring of the 700i contacts under magnification which are elongated in what would be front to back wiggle/wear. All my mounts are attached to RAM handlebar mounts (ATV’s)

The original  poster who had the dimpled contacts said Garmin was sending a new GPS but he was on his own as far as the rugged mounts.

Yeah Im contributing to that thread on Advrider. Only thing I can put it down to is that Id pre ordered mine well in advance before the official release and Im thinking that the first model run were perhaps a bit dodgy. Hopefully if Garmin replace my unit, which I think they should do, Ill have a better run second time round.

First thing I checked was the pins and if they were free to move as I thought they may have become stuck somehow, but they were quite easy to depress

Just an update....

I took it back to the dealer and they said they would sort it, no probs. 3 weeks went by and not having heard anything, I went back and asked what the progress was and the response was vague at best, saying that they were being given the run around by Garmin and were not being given a clear way forward as to what when or how a replacement would come or if at all.
Pissed off with that response and with Garmin, I took the unit back and decided to push my own barrow with this warranty issue, so my blood up and ready to tear someone a new a#$hole, I rang Garmin's national head office in Sydney and stated my case in regards to the issues with the device and my dealer, and and all I can say is WOW !!!

Right from the get go, I was treated as though this was a priority case, and they were determined to get to the bottom of the issue ASAP. Firstly I sent photos of my old unit with the damaged hot shoe pins, as in the above pics, and within a day I received a call from a claims officer who once again assured me the issue would be dealt with promptly as this sort of issue, not being very common, was of the utmost importance for them to make right.
So a clear plan of action was put into place and I was to send my unit, along with the rugged mount back to Garmin in Sydney so the engineers could inspect the damage, all at Garmin Australia's expense of course....WOW

So I have a big shout out to the two ladies at Garmin Australia for going above and beyond in this claim for me, because theyre attention to having the claim started, quick response and follow up once the claim was sorted out was nothing short of exemplary. Theyre also going to recoup my InReach subscription for the time i havnt had my Garmin and waive the connection fee for this new device. Gotta be happy with that.

Excellent customer service needs to be recognised and Im more than willing to show my appreciation and do my bit in that space. Well done Garmin Australia team, your after sales service and warranty claim process is world class

It is always nice to hear someone have a good experience!

Those are almost never reported....

Enjoy your new Montana 7x0!

I have a customer in New Zealand who has had trouble with the Montana rugged mounts on his motorbikes since late last year.  Both mounts were replaced under warranty then earlier this year both mounts started to show the same power faults so after protracted discussions with Garmin in Sydney the entire kit (Montana 700, 2 rugged mounts with cables and the suction mount) have been refunded as the rugged mounts  of the current design were never going to work long term for the bikes.  He has just changed over to a zumo XT and matching mounts.

I'm very pleased to hear your good experience with replacement.  Keep a close eye on the system as unless the design has changed it may happen again.