Lines appearing on Nuvi 855

Have you tried a hard reset?

And then if that doesn't work, you could contact Jim at sharcnet about a possible display replacement or if adventurous, you could open your 855 and make sure all plugs and sockets are connected.

I agree that my 1st thought is shared with the OP in that it's a hardware failure.

If the hard reset didn't work here is another suggestion. Make sure your battery is fully charged.
Now remove the battery from the unit and wait about 1 minute.

I am inclined to believe your LCD screen is failing.
You can get it repaired by Jim at sharcnet but the price may not warrant it. BTW Jim is a member of this forum and his shop is in Pennsylvania.

Here is his price list for LCD repairs
http://www.sharc.net/gps_repair_prices_garmin.htm

Hers a link for information on LCD problems
http://www.sharc.net/gps_LCD_repair.htm

If you click on the "Request Quote" tab you can get in touch with him, currently his repair schedule is closed so you may need to wait a while.

I'll also say that your issue is very likely a hardware issue...either the LCD's connector to the mainboard got loose and/or is failing or an LCD failure in general. Contact Jim as mentioned above.

I did try a hard reset as well as remove the battery. There was no change. The GPS did fall to the floor of my car recently, something that has happened in the past. No scratches, it's not a long fall, but I'm wondering if it is connected to these lines appearing. I'm also curious if something is loose, although it seems unlikely that it would only cause two small lines to appear near the bottom center of the screen.

Make sure that they are firmly locked in place if your unit has them.

The fall certainly could be why it displaying the lines. In my opinion, you have four options:

1- Open the case and make sure the ribbons to the main board are tight.
2- Live with the lines if everything else works properly.
3- Send to Jim at sharcnet for repair (costly)
4- Replace the unit with one that preferably has Lifetime Map Updates.

Having lines (not meant to be there) on the LCD panel is usually an indication of a bad/loose connection of the LCD ribbon connector to the mainboard. If you're handy, try to disconnect/re-seat the LCD ribbon cable where it connects to the mainboard. The connection from the ribbon to the mainboard may be a direct push-in (held in by the ribbon cable's own friction) or push-in with a latch on the connector where the latch provides the friction/pressure for the ribbon and it's contacts to connect properly. Beware that the latches are quite easy to break if you try to flip it the wrong way. A good strong magnifier will help you to see and judge how the latch mechanism works. You'll have to be the judge on if you wish to attempt it.

You forgot a fifth option: purchase a second unit via ebay, either as a source for a replacement screen or as a total replacement.

As much as I like my 855 which I now only use as a back-up unit or when traveling in friends cars without a GPS, there is no way I would spend $ 80.00+ to repair it. Not when a brand new GPS is only a little bit more!

I do have to admit though the voice command function in the 855 is superior to my 3790LMT.

Yourself and if you are successful you keep it. If you can't just buy another GPS.

The reason why the Nuvi 8xx display is so expensive is because it also has 4 speakers included with it. It is all one assembly. There are (2) speakers on the left and (2) speakers on the right.

When you buy the display, it is all one piece.

If you want to see a picture of the display, here is a picture on our site:

http://www.sharc.net/images/Nuvi_8xx_LCD.jpg

There are (3) flex cables. The one on the left is for the speaker connections (8 wires). You can't tell by the picture but it curves to the right and runs vertically up the back of the display and then branches off to the left and right. The center flex cable is for the touchscreen (4 wires).

The last flex cable is for the LCD display itself.

Garmin charges $110.00 to exchange the unit with a refurbished unit.

Usually if the LCD flex cable has pulled out of the connector, the display will not light up at all, since the back light is also included with the LCD graphics connections. I had one customer that dropped his 8xx and the flex cable had become disconnected but the display was completely dark.

It is worth a try to take a look at the flex cable and re-seat it into place. Be careful though. Many people snap off the lock down latches. It is "GAME OVER" if you do that.

The Nuvi 8xx uses (2) microphones. One for bluetooth and one for voice commands. The newer models share one microphone. I'm not sure if that could be the reason for better performance with the 8xx.

Obviously, making the decision to replace or repair is a personal choice.

- Jim

I had actually done that years ago when the 855 got too cheap to pass up. But I decided to give it to a family member who could use a GPS instead....

Thanks! That is great information. I like to tinker with things so I will attempt to reseat the cable. Are there any tips on handling the latches?

I didn't realize that it had 4 speakers. That is one weakness of this unit, the speakers seem very underpowered, even at high volume settings.

The reason why the sound performance is poor is because the speakers are not standard speakers with a diaphragm. They are flat piezo speakers, much like what is used in watches. They are about 1/2" in diameter each.

Strangely, I can't edit the post I just made a few seconds ago, but can edit a post I made earlier....

A few years ago, this unit would not boot or accept the security code. It took months of trial and error before it became usable again. I wish I still had the steps I had used, but was eventually able to reflash the boot loader and install new firmware from Garmin despite not being able to enter a security code. I turned off the "Garmin Lock (up)" and haven't used it since. I figure if it could make it back to the land of the living from that, I owe it to try this. Then again, the GPS is still very usable with with the dark lines, they are very narrow (maybe 1-2 pixels) and toward the bottom half of the screen.

The only flex cable that you need to be concerned about is the large flex cable on the right. The touchscreen and speaker flex cables have nothing to do with what is displayed on the screen. When you open the unit and have the display facing up, the large flex cable will be on the left. My picture shows the display from the rear and that is why it is shown on the right.

I use a wide case opening tool. I slide the tool gently under the latch and then slide it back and forth, while gently flipping the latch up with my fingers.

Here is an example of a tool:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12x-Plastic-Pry-Open-Tools-4-Phone-i...

Sometimes the blades of these tools are too thick, so I use an Xacto knife to shave them down. It makes it easier to slide under the latches.

Remove the flex cable by pulling it out of the connector. Re-insert it into the connector as far as it will go and hold it into place with one hand while using (2) fingers with the other hand and pushing the locking flap down.

People make the mistake of pushing on just one end and they snap the end of the latch off. You need to use equal pressure applied across the entire latch.

Good luck!

I wonder if there is a better replacement speaker. I have a shortwave radio that had junk speakers, and they got even worse with use. Sony just happened to make a much better speaker that was an almost exact fit, which gave years of life to the radio and the sound quality was much better than it was when the radio was new.

It's maybe the display had been scratched when dropped down. That sometimes happened. My Nuvi 200W fell off from my pocket and fell down onto the carpet. It was no scratch and look just fine to me, but here was the problem. I turn it on and what I saw on the screen was vertical black line at the center of the LCD display. It's quite about a year ago. I sended to Garmin and they charged about $110. So I gass it's scratch display inside the main board. But I don't really know about speekers because I have 200w.

The problem with sourcing another speaker is:

1. They have to be small enough & flat to still fit in the unit. Anything larger will prevent the front bezel from closing and also possibly shorting out parts on the board.

2. The existing speakers are soldered to the flex cable that plugs into the main board, so somehow an alternate speaker must still interface to a flex cable so that it can plug into the main board.

It might be easier to just purchase a high-quality FM Stereo transmitter and plug it into the headphone jack and play the audio through the car stereo system.

Jim,
That is very kind of you to provide so much valuable information regarding the LCD issues forum member telecomdigest2 is having.
By doing so you may have been deprived of a repair job, this to me indicates your willingness to help others without the benefit of profit. Your web site has a wealth of information and I for one would not hesitate to use your services.

Please keep up the good work, it's truly appreciated.

Jim,

I appreciate the information very much!

UPDATE: I used the GPS tonight while driving. At the end of the drive, I noticed that the small top vertical line was almost gone (just one tiny pixel remains).

The bottom line has gotten much fatter, it is almost a circle, slightly larger than the o in Where To?

I'm not sure what caused the change while driving. Separately, I've shaken the GPS in my hand, and tapped it gently (while inside its soft case) without effect.

To me this indicates that the screen is actually ok. I'm going to see if there are any further changes before attempting to open the case....

I also own both an 855 and 3790LMT. I would describe the voice command behavior as quite different in the two machines with considerable advantages on each side. The balance of advantage I think is more a matter of personal taste than a clear difference to all users.

In favor of the 855 is the fact that you can control many more functions of display. Also in its favor is that for voice commands such as putting in an address that require you to give more than one piece of information, it does not make you wait so long before you are allowed to speak again.

On the other hand in my experience the 3790 is vastly superior in recognizing place names, city names, and street names given by voice. It is so good that very frequently it will actually display the correct street name the first try, which hardly ever happened to me on the 855.

To be honest though, I hardly ever used the voice command on the 855 after first making some experiments with it, and the only functions for which I currently use 3790 voice command commonly are "go home" and street address entry.

Update,

The top line is completely gone, and the bottom circle has enlarged slightly, with a small hole in it. I'm curious what is causing the area on the screen with non-working pixels to change.

Update again (Dec 2015):

I had decided not to open my 855 and live with the display issue. The lines had morphed into a single blob near the bottom of the display. This week a new line had appeared. The GPS has been sitting in a cold car (below freezing at night) for a few days, so maybe that made it worse. I am reconsidering opening the case if I can find the right tool....

Have you got a hammer? A hammer fixes almost anything!

A hammer works, but it's hard to find the pieces later.

...the repair will be permanent.