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RTL515 shuts off after only a few seconds of weird flashing

3379788
over 1 year ago

Hi fellow riders. My much loved RTL515 seems to have stopped working. When i attempt to turn the RTL on, the status light flashes purple for 3-4 seconds (and the main riding light comes on briefly) and sometimes the green for a couple of seconds and then the whole thing shuts down abruptly. I've been through the posts on this site and tried to connect to Garmin Edge on the laptop but the RTL shuts down so quickly that the computer doesn't even register it. Love the unit and really appreciate any tips on what to do to fix it. Its not under warranty. Thanks in advance.

  • 0 4 months ago

    I had the same issue with the RTL510: Here is how I solved it:

    Symptons:

    - the unit slipped from my hands and fell to the ground. Since then it would not stay on: when turning on, the side LED flashed purple, then a short sequence of green, and then it shut off.

    - I tried the „soak the button in soapy water and press it a million times“ hint: no change

    - someone (on reddit?) recommended to drain the battery and then the problem would disappear. But how do you drain the battery if the thing won‘t stay on? So I did not try this.

    - once the purple blinking started I could press the button at a frequency of twice per second. This would keep the unit alive, and it would even connect to the Edge (830 in my case) and show the radar dots on the side. But as soon as I stopped pushing the button, it would go blinky green and swtich off.

    (my) Solution:

    Today I opened the unit by heating all sides thoroughly, then prying it open with a painter‘s tool: I locked down the unit in a vice with the rear looking down, leaving the red plexi piece above the vice. I pushed the painter‘s tool into the gap between the bottom black plastic and the red plexi, pried it upwards, and - miracle - it opened without breaking anywhere :-) (I have rarely been that lucky with glued cases)

    The electronic board is secured to the base with three small screws. I removed them, and with the board dangling from the button and battery cables, pushed the on/off button. And it worked again!! No shut off anymore!

    Now, here is the part where I am not sure what exactly solves the problem. I suspect that there was a short-circuit between the small screw that secures the button cable to the base of the casing (underneath the electronic board). I gave the screw an etra 1/4th turn, and for good measure stuck a piece of masking tape on it (see photo below. The screw is masked by the white tape).

    Next, I put everything back together.

    The glue is currently setting, but as it is, everything works normally. If that changes after the next rides, I will let you know.

    Hope this helps…

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to ralf72

    Thank you. I gave up and called Garmin. Sent it in and got a new one at half price. I hope yours keeps working!

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to cycleanalyze

    How long do you let it soak for prior to using the toothbrush?  Do you let it soak the same amount of time each soak/brush/repeat?

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to 3217433

    The toothbrush was used by a different rider. 
    For my part I can confirm that my repair still works fine after several 100 km.