Marine Electronics Forum - Garmin GPSMap 188c Problem Reading Card

Last summer I had the problem (seen elsewhere on here) where my Garmin GPSMap 188c wouldn't find satellite reception. I got the card update from Garmin, loaded it, and it worked just fine after. However, lately it is essentially freezing on the loading screen. It will say "reading card" for an extended period time but doesn't load the maps. When I pull the data card, the "I agree" button lights up and I can get to my depthfinder/charts, but the charts only show previous tracks--not the chartplotter info of depths, etc.

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how did you fix it? Thanks in advance.

I'm not much help here, but I have exactly the same problem on my 182C. I think it is the card reader in the unit, and not the card as I have tried the card in another unit and it seemed to work fine.

If you remove the card, and then start up the unit, I bet it will fire right up, just without any detailed maps. I wrote Garmin tech support and they said it was either the card itself or the card reader. Unfortunately, they don't make the card any more and don't service the unit either. Hence I am in the market for a new unit as we speak.

One more thing, I have a sneaking suspicion that the problem is actually that the contact between the card and the card reader pins is not 100%. I have found if I hold it in real tight and wiggle it around some, then sometimes it will load. So there may be a chance of cleaning the contacts and making it work. That is what I am trying at least.

Good luck.

thanks for the input. I'll try wiggling the card some.

How are you planning on cleaning it?

I bought some electronics contact cleaner at Radio Shack, I sprayed some of it in the card contacts and up into the card drawer. Hopefully it has worked (I haven't been over to the boat to check it out). I should know after the weekend and will let you know.

I tried the unit last night, and couldnt get it to read the card at all. Am headed over this morning to try my card in a friends 188 and his card in mine. I will let you know if I get my issue figured out as it will probably help with yours.

I'm now certain it is the unit. Borrowed a friend's map card, plugged it into my unit, and the unit read the map. Plugged my map card back in, and it read that one too. But when I swapped them a 3rd time, it wouldn't read it, and then wouldn't read either card.

I am bummed to have to replace the unit as other than that, it works fine. Good clear color screen too. But it looks like a new system is in my future.

Good luck with yours.

Take it to Radio shack or an electronic guru in the area. It's probably the contacts which need to be cleaned and lubed.
Usually people who fix laptops and computers have a neck for fixing these things. Spend a few small dollars before you buy a whole new unit.

Regards

I'm going to see about trying to clean the contacts.

In the meantime, I have found that sometimes pressing the page & power buttons simultaneously will get the maps to load. You have o hold them down for a few seconds, & it doesn't work every time.

Wow, I woll have to give that a try. Problem with mine though is even if the map loads, I lose the map after running a while.

I have the same issue with a Garmin 188C. Has anyone tried taking it apart to see if you can get closer to the card reader?

This cleaner is very good but it is almost impossible to get it into the card reader from outside the case.
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

I would appreciate any experiences resolving this.

thanks

Frank

I had the same problem with my 188C. Plugged the card into my buddies 188C and it worked. The card reader is shot and Garmin will not service it. Just installed a 740S and will keep the 188C for sonar. Now I have a backup! Good luck. Pietro

I was able to open up my 188C and remove the socket that reads the card. It goes into another connector attached to a circuit board. I applied lots of contact cleaner to the exposed prongs and to the socket. Put everything back together but there is no change. I am going to have to replace it.

Frank

That is the problem with modern electronic equipment. The computer will continue to run for decades, but the fragile mechanical parts fail. Wiggling the card fatigues the very thin connector pins. If even one is bent, the whole show stops. Dollars to doughnuts you will see a contact is missing, a pin broke off in the card, or some such thing!