August 2, 2025
Garmin 66i is busted!
I bought this back in June of 2021, paying $450 for it.
I bought it new are REI during their anniversary sale.
It worked for 4 years.
Today I was at the trailhead, pulled it out of my pack, held down the
power button. No response. I tried several times, scratched my head
thinking that I was sure I had charged it, but I must be wrong and the
battery must be dead.
I got home and connected the charging cable I always use.
No response. The unit won't power up with a cable connected
and several tries holding down the power button.
I try a different cable and power source with no better results.
I check on the warranty. It has a 1 year warranty. I need to call
Garmin support and see if they can help me.
So --- after writing all this I decide to plug in the cable again,
figuring I would let it "charge" overnight and hope for the best.
But as soon as I plug the cable in, the garmin logo appears on the
screen and in a few seconds it fires up! I pull the cable and tell
it to shut down. Now I use the power button and it starts up just
like normal. It shows the battery at about 90 percent.
I don't know what to say. I would be tempted to think the power
button/switch is getting flakey, but it refused to fire up when
I plugged the cable in like it should have.
Second incident 8-13-2025
It turned on just fine at the traithead and ran for the first hour.
Then I looked at it about 2 hours into the hike and the screen was off.
Restarting it with the power button did not work.
I got home and plugged it into USB and it fired right up.
Battery looks like 80 percent charge or more.
Third incident 8-19-2025
It powered up at the trailhead. I carried a power bank so I could see if plugging
it into the power bank would revive it if it dies. Sure enough, I stopped for
a break and when I picked up my pack with the unit attached, it turned off.
Interestingly, I watched the screen go grey then slowly fade to blank.
I tried various button pushes, then used the power bank and then it fired up and
worked for the next two hours, then again I bumped it and watched it fade out.
The fading out on a bump is new information. I suspect the unit is running, but the
screen is the issue. Quite possibly me trying button pushes ends up turning it off.
But I really don't know what is going on. The main thing is I am 3 out of 3 for
taking it on hikes and having it fail me.
A replacment unit
I get on Ebay, bid on a unit and win the bid for $255.
These still sell (on Amazon) for $600 new.
The newer 67i sells for the same price.
The 67i has a USB-C connector and claims longer battery life.
The cost including $11 for shipping and $16 for tax comes to $281.
The seller description is:
This unit is approximately three years old and rarely used.
No scratches and includes an attachment clip and flotation ring.
It's on the way. I still may talk to Garmin about having my original unit repaired.
It arrived
Friday 8-22-2025. I power it on and it says "New software found, continue installation?"
I say yes, select English, and it offers activation. I select "Skip" for now.
It remembers a location in southern Idaho (which makes sense).
The unit looks absolutely perfect, new, and unused. The battery is about 50 percent charged.
I plug it into a charger and that will do for a first checkout.
More about the busted phone
I am now playing with my old unit after tranfering my inreach activation and such to the new 66i.
I was unable to power it up in the field, either via the power button or by plugging in the power
bank. This is as per incident 3 above on 8-19-2025. Now at home the power button cannot wake it
up. But I plug it into my charger via USB and it fires right up. The battery looks to be about
85 percent charged. I let it charge overnight and it is still on in the morning. I disconnect it
and tell it to stay on. Now I bump it against my other hand and (within reason) against my
desktop. It stays on and seems to be working perfectly. I even try directly tapping on the screen
and it keeps on running. My theory about "bumps" being at the root of the trouble may be wrong.
I use the power button to turn it off and that works just fine. And the power button starts it
right up again -- it now announces new software when I start it up.
Settings, About shows software version 10.20
Go inside
Have any comments? Questions?
Drop me a line!
Tom's backpacking pages / tom@mmto.org