GPS keeps turning itself off

My GPS is a Garmin 60CSx. At least half a dozen times now recently, and yet again tonight, it has turned itself off while I was walking with it. No, it’s not because the batteries are low in power. I always keep a sharp eye on the battery symbol and when two of the compartments turn white, I replace them.

I’ll be walking with it — and even at night I can see that there are white figures against a black background on the computer page, so I know it’s working — then I look again and the screen has gone that gold color that indicates it’s off. Then I have to turn it back on and go to the map page and retrace my steps until my now-current track meets up with the track that had been laid down before the GPS went off, so I can see how much mileage I’ve missed recording.

I don’t think it could be because the batteries have gotten cold, either, because I’ve been out when it’s been colder than this and it’s worked perfectly well. And one of the times that this happened, it was warm enough that rain had been falling much of the day. In fact, that particular day, I stepped out of my car and saw that the trip odometer read ‘‘1 ft.’’ Then I set off on my walk. But about two-tenths of a mile into it, I looked at the GPS again, and it was off. I turned it back on, and the trip odometer still read one foot! So it must have gone off immediately after I’d looked at it when I first got going. Another time, it went off twice during one walk.

Tonight, the screen had gone very very faint, as if it was fogged over, but I could still read that the odometer read .34 mile, so I figured it must be working. But when I tried to turn on the backlight to keep a closer watch on it, the light wouldn’t turn on. When the home/introductory page, whatever it’s called, suddenly flickered into sight, I knew that the GPS had turned back on, so it must have been off, even though it appeared to be on. And now the trip odometer read only .30 mile. So that was strange.

It always turns back on right away, which it wouldn’t do if the battery symbol was lying. If the batteries were dead, they would just stay dead.

So what the heck? Is it just getting old? It shouldn’t wear out, should it? I’ve been using it for six years, but this problem is getting old.

An excellent reason to never let go of map and compass skills....

Remove the memory card. It may not be seated properly, or is corrupted. This has happened to me a couple of times and a new or reformatted card fixed it. It also quickly drained batteries, even while the device appeared to be "off". Reformatting the card on a computer, or changing to a new one cured the problem.

I’ll try that, but the couple of times it did slip out of position — which happened several years ago — all the data disappeared from it, and that hasn’t happened this time. The waypoints, tracks, and my setups (different from the defaults) are still there.

I will presume this has happened with several sets of batteries. (If not, try another set.)

Possible causes:
* Dirty battery contacts. One way to clean them is to rub them with a clean dollar bill. (The paper has enough abrasiveness to clean without damaging them.) Also clean the battery ends.
* Bad battery contacts. If there is a momentary disconnect, the GPS will shut down. Make sure the contacts are firm, but be careful about bending them. (If you fatigue the contacts or break them, you will have to send the unit back to Garmin for repair.) You also might be able to put a small piece of rubber (molefoam?) behind the contacts to increase the pressure.
* Loose batteries. If the batteries are loose, they can momentarily disconnect when the GPS is bounced around. Put enough tape around the side of the batteries (separately) so they gently jam into place or are held more firmly by the cover.

This is one place where the 62s is an improvement over the 60CSx--the batteries are held in place much more firmly and the contact pressures are higher.

Doug