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My buttons have vaporised!

marcopul
over 4 years ago

When going out for a ride this weekend, I tried to switch on my Edge 520, only to find that the power button was missing.
On closer inspection, I noticed that ALL the buttons were missing!!??
Well, some of the buttons had tiny bits remaining, but they were all pretty much gone. (see pics below)

How the heck could this have happened - and for all of them to mysteriously vanish at the same time?!

Some notes:

  • I had just used it 2 days earlier (all buttons were there).
  • My unit is around 4 years old.
  • I take extremely good care of the unit, always clean, no signs of wear and tear.

I began thinking,..
Maybe it's rats, - but I definitely don't have a rodent problem.
Maybe a chemical of sorts got onto the unit - but I don't use any chemicals on my bike and when I clean the bike, the unit is removed.
Maybe it's from sweat - but I honestly don't sweat much at all and even if I did, surely the unit would handle that.

I am really stumped. Has anyone else suffered this extremely strange issue?

Marco

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    Heat? Did you leave it in direct sunlight, or near a radiator?

    Another person involved?

    It's hard to judge by those photos, but it looks like the side of the unit was rubbed off, either accidentally (crashing the unit on tarmac at high speed) or intentionally.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to tmk2

    How would a crash leave the casing perfect but all buttons, from both sides, damaged?
    There was definitely no crash involved - and why would I be asking here if it was involved in a crash??

    The unit is only used by me, so there isn't another person involved.

    I agree that it does seem like it could've been caused by heat, but we don't have radiators here in South Africa (it doesn't get that cold) and the unit it's stored on my bike, in my garage (out of direct sunlight) next to my other bike (which also has a Garmin unit on).

    The unit case is perfect and everything still functions, you can still press the button on the PC board through the holes.

    The mystery continues...

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to marcopul

    I would guess that the damage was caused some chemical such as a cleaning fluid or suntan lotion. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to marcopul

    My Edge 500 had the buttons dissolve due to sun block.  I have been careful never to touch my 520 with sun block or any other hand cream.

    I find it interesting that all the buttons are affected.  You say you always clean the Edge so what chemicals are used?  Garage storage makes me think petrol vapors or inadvertent hand contact with a chemical.

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I have encountered the exact problem this morning.  I went to switch on my device and the button was missing, dried removing another button to temporarily replace the missing on and it crumbled.  then i noticed the wear on the buttons on the opposite side.  My question is how do you get it fixed?  Can you buy replacemnet buttons?  Where can I get help?

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to I-vita

    The buttons look to be an integral part of the case. You might get lucky and find a pre-owned case on eBay or similar, but you’d need to consider whether its worth it given the age of 520’s. Perhaps you could get a silicone case and trim some small rubber pads to fit over the internal buttons to actuate them.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to PeterK_55

    Finally I found someone with the exact same problem as I had. Yes the buttons just magically got vanished lol. And by the way I use a silicone case too. Doesn’t make a difference. See pics. What can I do to get this fixed, replaced?

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to smzhafrig

    The same on my 520. The same on my 510!!! Never more GARMIN is the answer. Have i used it in direct sulight???? HHAHHAHHAHAHHA