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Garmin 696 Won't Turn On


stevez2436

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I have a panel installed Garmin 696 in my 2010 CTLS. I love it especially the interface with my TruTrak Autopilot.

 

However, twice within the last year the 696 will not start up when I switch on the Avionics. When I look real closely at the display, I can see a very faint "Garmin" on the screen. From looking at the manual, I think the unit is in some kind of "charge" mode.

 

I tried turning the Avionics switch on/off and it just refuses to turn to on. I also tried holding and pushing the on/off switch at the top of the 696 panel, but the unit refuses to come out of this weird charge mode.

 

The only way I have been able to get it to return to normal is to pull it out of the panel and remove/insert the battery. A real pain in the butt!

 

Anyone have a "trick" to reboot the 696 when it is stuck in "charge" mode without removing the unit's battery?

 

Appreciate any suggestions?

 

Steve in Clearwater, FL

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Hi Steve. I have a 495 and believe that I had this happen to me. I recall turning off my Garmin by the switch on the unit and not allowing it to shut down by switching off the airplane main instrument switch. When the unit is turned off this way, it will reset the backlight to minimum level. When it is turned back on, the backlight is at a minimum and it appears that the unit is not on but it actually is. This may be why you faintly see the screen. On the 495, I think if I momentarily press the on/off switch, this brings up the brightness and volume control screen. Then I press the up/down rocker to set the backlight for the unit. Of course, in this situation, because the backlight is set to a minimum, you don't see this screen when the on/off switch is first pressed. Pressing the top of the rocker raises the brightness level so the screen starts to come into view and can be seen. Continuing to press the rocker increases the brightness. Not sure about the 696 but this might work for you too.

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I had this problem with mine before. The dimmer settings within the 696 had reset and I had to go into the menu screen and kick them back up. I could only see a "Garmin" when I turned on the avionics switch and it was so dim that you could barely see it. (It was actually booting up but you couldn't see that) I put the plane back in the hangar and shut the door so it was very dark. This allowed me enough to see the screen enough when it actually booted up and then I immediately went straight to the menu screens and adjusted the brightness settings. No more problems...

Hope this helps.

John

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Steve,

 

Like Dick I've had the same experience with my 496 if I turn the Garmin off while it's connected to power from the plane. If the unit is out of the plane turn on/off is normal but if connected to plane power it acts just as Dick said. The unit is actually on but in a dim mode. I bring it back just as Dick describes. I'm sure your unit is also in a sleep/dim/charge mode.

 

al meyer

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Thanks everyone!

 

It happens very rarely (only twice in the last year), so the next time I'll try some of your suggestions. Perhaps keeping my plane covered while switching the Avionics switch on will allow me to see the very faint screen.

 

Also, I found another possible interference might be coming from my GTX 330 ...

http://helicopterforum.verticalreference.com/topic/11058-interesting-bug-with-garmin-696/

 

If it happens again, I'll post the solution that worked :)

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  • 1 year later...

I'm maintenance officer of a club flying a 2008 CTLS. We've experienced what you describe. The non-responsive 696 with a very faint "Garmin" logo. When it happens, the pilot flies home without the aid of the GPS and reports the trouble to me. In every case the problem cleared up overnight and for the longest time I couldn't even reproduce the trouble.

 

Here's the good news. I finally got tired of the mysterious lock-ups and contacted Garmin. They supplied me with a reset that has resolved the problem every time it has happened since.

 

When your 696 ends up in the locked state hold down the two outside softkeys and the "up" range button ( I think it's the "up" one. If that doesn't work use the "down" one.). HOLD all three buttons in until the unit resets. It'll only take a few seconds.

 

After the reset, the 696 is good as new.

 

Stuart

N227CT

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  • 3 years later...

FYI - I also have a 2010 with Trutrack and a 696. This topic was previously discussed and I tried the reset procedure and popping out the battery and still had the intermittent problem. I was told that the life of the 696 battery is five years which makes sense. For me the problem progressively worsened.

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yes, it worked for me. takes a moment to start.

Hmm.. Maybe I didn't give enough time. When it didn't come up I assumed the battery was required to complete a circuit. I know I was concerned about running down the main battery since I didn't start the plane and engage the alternator. As noted after replacing the garmin 696 battery I haven't had a single issue.

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I've had this problem twice (two different 696s)  The first time it turned out to be a flaky back-light.  Sometimes it "appeared" as if it wouldn't turn on and other times it "appeared" to go black while in flight.  When I took a very bright flashlight and held it on the screen, I could see it was actually working, but I just couldn't see it.

 

The second unit has had a problem for a while where it didn't appear to turn on.  By looking at other forums/posts, I found there might be a point at power-up where the unit looks for various interface connections, and might hang there.  I'd turn off the radios and transponder, and then it would turn on fine.  It hasn't had a turn-on problem for months now.

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I think it's the self power off / sleep function is what is malfunctioning. An idea is to turn off the automatic power off when external power is disconnected (i think there is an option for that). It means you need to turn off the GPS separately from the rest of the avionics, but perhaps it won't freeze anymore.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks everyone!

 

It happens very rarely (only twice in the last year), so the next time I'll try some of your suggestions. Perhaps keeping my plane covered while switching the Avionics switch on will allow me to see the very faint screen.

 

Also, I found another possible interference might be coming from my GTX 330 ...

http://helicopterforum.verticalreference.com/topic/11058-interesting-bug-with-garmin-696/

 

If it happens again, I'll post the solution that worked smile.gif

I've had this problem as well, and since reading this have started turning the GTX330 off before shutting off the avionics master at the end of each flight.  So far, I've not had this problem recur.  Now that I've said that, it'll probably happen on the next flight.

 

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

However, twice within the last year the 696 will not start up when I switch on the Avionics. When I look real closely at the display, I can see a very faint "Garmin" on the screen. From looking at the manual, I think the unit is in some kind of "charge" mode.

 

I have had the 796 freeze twice, once close to home, once on a cross-country trip. 

 

Lone Mountain avionics dept says there are two known problems that happen with the 696 and 796.  First is the battery; they can wear out. sometimes prematurely and will cause random problems such as dim screens, dark screens and freezes.   The freezing on a good battery can be due to processor/memory speeds and demands on the device.   if you swipe either one quickly and ask it to do too much at once it can freeze. 

 

Garmin knows about the battery and processor/memory problems according to Lone Mountain.

 

If the problem is due to the processor/memory issue, then pulling the breaker and resetting it clears the issue.  If it's due to the battery then a replacement battery is needed.  Remember, when you put the unit back in the plane it will appear to work, but if the connector is not seated in all the way the battery will run down and the unit will stop working.

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After about 6 months without an incident, my 696 wouldn't turn on again about a week ago.  I flew home without it and pulled it, since I was going to do the latest firmware update anyway.  Of course, it powered-up from battery without a problem, and powered the unit for a long time.  Only time will tell if the firmware update will have any affect.  I did note that the description of the update says "General improvements to system operation".

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  • 6 years later...

I had this issue many times and then I started turning off the breaker to the Garmin 696 before shutting down and not turning it on until all other avionics are booted up. This worked until today. For no apparent reason while flying the Garmin 696 went black. When I got back to the hanger I could see the faint Garmin and of course, the normal button pushing does nothing. I tried one of the suggestions here and it definitely worked. Press the 2 outside buttons on the bottom row and the up arrow at the same time. It kills the freeze and turns the unit completely off. Thenboot up as normal. 

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1 hour ago, mikey70 said:

I had this issue many times and then I started turning off the breaker to the Garmin 696 before shutting down and not turning it on until all other avionics are booted up. This worked until today. For no apparent reason while flying the Garmin 696 went black. When I got back to the hanger I could see the faint Garmin and of course, the normal button pushing does nothing. I tried one of the suggestions here and it definitely worked. Press the 2 outside buttons on the bottom row and the up arrow at the same time. It kills the freeze and turns the unit completely off. Thenboot up as normal. 

Mine did that and when I removed the backup battery it all went away. Anyway, something to try - Remove the backup battery (If you have one installed)

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