Nuvi 1490 issues

Machines will do the job much more consistantly than humans. Automation will not make up for a poor design. Thus it is the design not the method that results in a poor product. Garmin engineers may have designed the circuit board and then the Chinese decided to make it differently.
Garmin might have known that a few of the 1490s would have problems. They would deal with them later. In my case, Garmin decided it was in their best interests to replace my out of warranty unit with another, at no charge to me. They also sent me a new battery for my 295w.

The fact that Garmin uses ovens to make solder joints rather than people to hand solder does not justify the comments above, in my opinion.

Let's consider the fact that, in general, Consumer Reports rates Garmin higher than the other manufacturers.

Electronic items break - especially if they are treated roughly.

If Garmin decided to make all solder connections by hand and that increased the cost of manufacturing, would the detractors be willing to pay more? Of course, that depends on the percentage increase in costs, but my guess is that the answer would be no.

Looks like spookybob is the ONLY lucky one.
I called Garmin and hey told me to buy a new cord..wonder if that will work..can you say Tom-Tom?

I've had my Nuvi1490T for a little over 2 years and it just started all same behaviors only after I purchased lifetime updates and updated my maps. It had been complaining about needing to be updated but I might have been better off ignoring it. I discovered all this while away in a new city. It would shut off and/or tell me power has been lost when I was nearing my destinations which was frustrating in busy city traffic. A new cable did not help. I though maybe the battery and since it is out of warranty, I took it apart to see if there were any loose wires or cold solder joints. It is now plugged into my computer and rebooting every few minutes. I purchased the Nuvi 2595LMT but have not opened it yet. Thanks for the advice on getting it refurbished. I was doubtful Garmin would do anything but tell me I was out of luck.

I've had my 1490LMT for about 18 months and never had problem at all with it. A few time it acted up because I did not have the plug snugly plugged into the back of the unit. I update my firmware, custom POI's and maps whenever they are available. Great little unit. Especially when Garmin allowed the maps and large JCV file to be loaded to an external micro SD card.

I think a lot of issues begin when the suction mount fails when mounted to your windshield or to your mounting disk. Imagine the amount of strain at the connection point when the unit falls when it's plugged in.

This has been a common problem with these units. A member of our forum reported that the USB port is not connected securely to the circuit board. You may have overlooked that solder joint when you examined your unit.
Garmin has replaced the defective units for some people and not for others. Good luck. We would like to hear from you again if you solve your problem, or not.

I believe I have the USB data connector problem you described. I have a Garmin nuvi 1450T.

The unit will turn on when I have it plugged into my computer USB port only if I wiggle the connector cord at the back of the GPS connector. If I wiggle it too much the unit shuts off.

I removed the bezels, and opened up the inside and can see the connector with the 5 pins but cannot see the exact location of just where to re-solder the connection(s).

Is there a clearer picture maybe with some arrows pointing to the precise location where I should solder?

I have a second 145oT which runs fine-so far but I can understand the issue you described and will try to wrap the charger cord around the unit before plugging it in.

Thanks

Been distracted but now that I'm playing with a new Zumo 665 and pulling my hair out trying to make the latest v6 version of Mapsource behave on a secured Win7 VM under RedHat 6.3, I'm back.

Jim, great input on the matter. Strain relief will help with the day to day stresses from the weight of the cable itself but won't help with what I think may be greater stresses from attaching and detaching the cable. If people tug the cable away by pulling on the cable versus the connector itself that could be especially disastrous.

In my opinion strengthening the attachment to the PCB could actually put the PCB at risk. I think the correct way to engineer this is to make the case absorb as much of the stress as possible.

I have been using my 1490T for a little over 15 months now and have not had any problems with it. Am well pleased with my unit. I do not use the windshield mount but I do use the Garmin Beanbag mount for both of my units. Best thing since sliced bread.

After 2.5 years of trouble free service, my 1490 finally wet the bed. It was probably the fragile power connection that did her in. I'll try the 2460 lmt and see how that works. Planned obsolescence, bad design, or just cheaply made, I don't know. Now it is junk. May Jill rest in peace..cz

Hmm...probably planned obsolescence. However, if you're willing, send your broken unit to me, assuming of course you're in the US.

I have yet to disassemble a GPS, after disassembling tablets, PCs, and laptops.

SA...I am going to attempt scharcnet's soldering fix. I am not skilled with an iron, so most likely I'll make a mess of it. Then, I'll send the 1490 back to Garmin after a go at it with the hammer. Will that make Garmin address the poor manufacturing technique? Probably not, but it will make me feel much better...cz

Pity...I'm quite good with a soldering iron.

Save the power cord though, as that cord should be usable on other devices.

Some of Garmin's designing of the USB connection (connector to main PCB) are downright fragile. Considering the unit has to be unplugged from the connector literally every time it's removed from the car, you'd have thought that a more robust design would've been used...

It seems to happen far more frequently on the 1xxx series than on older units don't you think? I don't recall hearing instances of 2xx series units having this problem.

There were a few reports of connector failures in the 200/205 series as I remember, but they were not nearly as common as those being reported in some of the 1400 series.

I had a 1350LMT where I had to unplug the power cable from the GPS, I now have a 2350LMT and the power cord is connected to the GPS mount and is easy to disconnect.

After nearly 2 years of use my 1490 started to not hold a full charge for more than a day. Even after a two hour journey with the unit in use and showing all green bars, after three days of storage it is down to one bar. Not to sure if the unit would revive if the power got to low.

That is about what my 1490 battery lasts. It is OK if it goes completly dead. When you plug it into power, it may take a few minutes to come to life. That has happened to me a few times.

Was the slow calculation time to plot a route. My wife suggested I get a faster unit and I did get a faster unit only 4.3 inch screen. Its faster and with life time maps should last many years. I don't plan on trashing the 1490T. May leave it in the old car, not that it goes out of town very often.

Love the large screen on the 14xx.

I can no longer use my 2595. Its started the same way as my 1595. Turning off and back on, going into computer mode while on the car charger. And now it won't charge at all.
$250 a year is getting to be too much.

I'll have to get some epoxy and secure the charging port on a new one to see if it'll last longer. I travel a lot and use it rental cars so I'm constantly plugging and un-plugging

I also travel a lot and use rentals. Try a unit with a powered cradle as the cable can remain connected to the cradle when you unsnap the unit. I also us the bean bag and stretch the cable from the car port placing the cable under the bean bag. The excess lies on top the dash for better traffic reception.

After I purchased my 2595 I got a warranty from SquareTrade. They had me ship it to them for inspection for repair or a check for its original cost. They were able to repair it in a couple of days. Got it back and its working.

Mine does the same thing and I even updated the system about 3 day ago but still doing it.

I still use the windshield suction cup with my powered mount. I loop the cable over the rearview mirror mount for two reasons. First, it takes the load off the plug-in power connector, so less chance of it getting stressed. Second, it puts the traffic receiver rectangle mostly out of sight behind the unit (where hopefully it gets better traffic signal reception).

I have had my 660's power cord wrapped around the suction cup mount since the first time the mount fell off the disc on the dash. I still have the original GTM-20 cord, but have replaced the mount due to the rubber cup tearing internally. Also replaced the battery once - I don't leave it in the vehicle on hot days anymore and it's still going strong.

I think it's more likely that it's competing for market share by having the lowest price possible.

Also, if a product run is nearing it's end, Garmin would be less likely to make a change. It's all determined by somebody's spread sheet. Cost of change (labor and parts per unit) vs. warranty savings.

Of course, companies seem to forget that a lot of consumers will spend a few bucks more if they know that they will get a product that will last and work flawlessly when compared to the competetion.

But, then again, technology is changing at a such a rapid rate and prices seem to be decreasing (for electronics) that consumers will replace their 2 year old unit for more bells and whistles just because they must have it, not because they need it. Just look at what happens when a new I-Phone or a new Samsung Galaxy comes out.

When my 660 finally dies, I will thank the members here for their help on deciding what to get. The gripes and praises are very informative. Thanks, in advance.

Our 1450 started acting up recently. Even Favorites got corrupted. Had to delete all data, reinstall latest OS and reload favorites. Hope that fixed it. I really wish you could categorize Favorites within MapSource. Doing on the GPSr is so time consuming.

Have not done it for a while but you can assign a category for a favorite using Map source. Extra Poi Editor will also do it.

Edit

Making categories for favorites using MapSource

1. Hook gps up to computer using usb cable.
2. Bring up map source.
3. Click on Waypoints then click on Transfer at top of page and select receive from device and click on it. You will now see your favorites.
4. Click on edit, preferences and click the waypoint categories.
5. Change the 1-16 as needed for the categories you want listed on the gps. Not necessary to change all of them. Hit ok after each one you select until you complete.
6. Go back to view at top and click show user data tabs.
7. Now click on the waypoint and put check mark in the category you want for that favorite. Complete all waypoints.
8. Select transfer, send to device and put check mark in waypoints only. Click send.

I try to own every model that I work on. I just haven't had the chance to pick up a broken Zumo yet. All of the units I own, except my first Nuvi (a 350) were bought broken and now join the working force on the display shelf.

FYI - The USB connector used in the 14xx series is also used in the 11xx, 12xx, 13xx, 24xx & 25xx series.

The Nuvi 2xx and 2xxW use a different style of connector but is plagued with the same problem. We've repaired a lot of those too. Any vertical mount USB will have this problem due to insufficient mechanical stability. The right angle USB connectors do not have this problem because they lay flat on the board. The Nuvi 3xx and 7xx use the right angle USB jacks, however they also use a powered cradle.

Any GPS with a powered cradle is the way to go. Stay away from the units that can only be charged via the USB jack.

- Jim

Mine did the same thing before the last software update. Seems to be OK now.

My replacement 1490 is OK, going on a year now.

Glad to hear it!

Another thing that really puts stress on the USB jack is when the window mount fails and the unit falls and the USB plug suffers an impact from hitting the dash.

Our customers tell us that this happens a lot.

The 14xx series is fairly heavy and the standard Garmin window mount cup may not be big enough.

The friction dash mount is what I use.

- Jim

i had a similar thing happen with my 1390 and it turned out to be a bad cord

Yes, we have seen bad cords on chargers, typically right at the right-angle charger plug. It is usually caused by a broken wire.

This is why, we ask the customer to send both the unit and power cord, so that we can test the entire system.

- Jim

Garmin will support every unit they have sold. Keep in mind that as a unit is discontinued option become more limited for fixing or replacing for the same model.

Actually as the units become older, it is easier to find parts and the prices become cheaper.

Many of our parts suppliers have excess inventory because the factory has discontinued producing a model.

I just priced an LCD display for a new Nuvi model. $95.00 USD... The factory wants $150.00 USD to replace the unit with a refurb....OUCH!

- Jim

I have re-boot problem on my 1490T. The unit can be re-charged through regular USB charget (5v/1000mA), and works correctly when batter is not empty.
I thought the problem was on unit itself, until when I used car chargers for 3790 to try on 1490T. It works perfectly. Now, I know I have a bad 1490T power cord.

Just replaced our 1450 with a 2595. I hope it is less problematic than the previous model.

My second unit has the same issue as my first. The usb port on the board becomes loose. Mine is out warranty so I took it apart and the solder connections are broken from the board. I tried to solder but the solder would not melt. The cord will eventually pull the connections apart. I made the upper part of the case hole bigger so I could wedge a piece of plastic on the under side to force the pins forward to contact the board. I then plugged in the cord and hot glued it in place. We will see how long it lasts. It is stupid that Garmin has the cord yanking it in the direction to pull the connections apart rather than pushing them together.

Welcome to our forum. Sorry you had bad luck with two units. The suggestions mentioned earlier in this thread work quite well.
Wrap the power cord around the unit before plugging it in. That way the cord is not tugging on the port at all.

My 2595 is still working like it should. Thanks SquareTrade, it seems to be better than when it was new. No plug issues and I'm traveling more now than the first few months that I had this unit.

Maybe its time for an upgrade. Ive had the 2460 for about two years and never once had any issues. Maybe I was just lucky.

I've had my 1490 for at least 4 years and it just started doing this last Wednesday. I went on a road trip and it started turning on and off when I got into Pennsylvania.

On the way home, it did this while in PA and in Maryland, but not in West Virginia, Virginia, or North Carolina.

However, when I tried using it today to see what would happen, it did it again. I have no idea what's going on. I don't use the Bluetooth feature, so that's not it, at least for me.