Is this fixable?

[yoav]

Edge 810. Sterling service for 10 years. Rubber of on/off switch decides to disintegrate leaving a hole with the microswitch underneath just visible. For now, I can press it with the tip of a pen. But is this fixable? Is this something Garmin would do? Or is there a DIY fix? Or is it time for a new GPS?
Shame, as it works fine otherwise.

[Aidan]

If you google "garmin 810 on off switch repair"    theres a quite a few  videos on how to repair, some a bit bodgy!  but I think  you can buy the switches off Ebay.  Not done it , but considered it.  ended up buying a 1030  instead

I think I still have my 810 with non working button somewhere!

[yoav]

The button, as in the micro switch underneath, still works. I’ll see if I can bodge something, maybe with sugru that will allow me to press it without having to use an implement. Still, good excuse to buy a new one, choices, choices …

[R_nger]

As Aidan says, lots of YouTube videos - I fixed an etrex with a similar issue, top-of-pencil eraser and insulation tape, job done.

[GdS]

had exactly the same problem with my eTrex (which is now going for a song on eBay sans maps)

If I had to repair it I'd probably place a small plastic cube shaped bit of plastic next to the micro switch and fill the hole using a hot melt glue gun

Spare rubbery bits only seem to be available from various dodgy Chinese sites....

[sizbut]

My 800 has lived in a protective rubber case for most of its life and from a quick squint online you can still get them. Won't fix the switch but will protect it from further wear.

[Kim]

Someone recently mentioned that you can get new cases for the eTrex10/20/30 for worth-a-try prices on AliExpress.  Might be worth looking if they have one for the Edge 800...

[yoav]

Unfortunately, this happened in the middle of a European cycle tour, with another 10 days to go. I think I’ve managed to bodge it for now with a bit of rubber and some electrical tape I have with me, as per one of the Google links. Video of replacing the back of the unit with one from Ali Express doesn’t look too hard but that will wait till I get home. Still, maybe time for a 830, or a 1030, or a Wahoo or a Hammerhead Karoo …. Choices, choices ….

Edit: a couple of questions re the latest Garmin (and other bike GPS) units:
1. Do they still use microUSB or have they moved to USB C?
2. Do Garmins (or any of the others) still have the annoying habit that if you connect them to a dynamo USB and you stop pedalling, the unit wants to turn itself off, and there is no way to override this setting?
Answers to the above may well affect my buying decisions. Thanks

[chrisbainbridge]

The very new 1040 is usb c. Nobody knows if it stills turns off. The 1030 I have intermittently turned off so I charged it from a better pack charged by the dynamo. The 1030 now seems to do something really weird and scary if charged from a dynamo.

[Kim]

Staying on is an eTrex HCx feature.  The rotters removed it (along with the eminently useful write-a-copy-of-the-track-directly-to-the-SD-card-in-a-way-that's-tricky-to-accidentally-delete feature) in everything that came later, so I can't imagine them being in a hurry to put it back.