Etrex Vista HCx case chipped/cracked....

[andyoxon]

No idea how this happened, but discovered it last night on battery change...  Can't see the 'chip' anywhere, so may have happened a while ago.





It may be related to the fact that etrex arrived off ebay, with leaking batteries (hence reduction to £35).  On the last ride it turned off with a full battery (for a few mins before i realised), and this may have had something to do with the fact that the end battery contact had come loose. 

I've put some contact adhesive on the battery terminal plate and case, but was wondering how I could best build up the corner of this battery chamber, to make sure water can't get in?

[Ashaman42]

Would Sugru work?

[frankly frankie]

I'd adopt a policy of only riding in fine weather 

It's not a critical area - apart from the thin crack leading out towards the rubber and possibly down underneath it.  I would run a thin superglue over that to seal it.
The battery compartment is never fully watertight, and it is separate from the rest of the GPS innards so a bit of water in there is not too bad.  And the seal such as it is, is made against the flat area outside the lip, not on the lip itself, so the condition of that lip is not critical at all provided the battery contact is held firm.

[andyoxon]

Thanks ff & Ash.  I hadn't noticed the hairline crack to the edge.  There are two similar cracks at the top of the battery compartment i.e. on the outside of the top of battery comp.  Looks like probable acid damage to me.  I'll try running superglue across them.  If the case starts falling apart, I could think about doing a 'transplant', as I have a 'for spares' HCx which has a power issue (no power through USB & 3-4hrs on AA battery), but whose case is fine.  It would require removing the 'rubber band' I guess, but I gather super strong double sided tape does the trick for replacing this(?)