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I have a Garmin GNC420 (GNS430 without the VOR functionality) as my Comm 1 and primary navigation instrument. Early last month I noticed a large blotch on the screen that hadn't been there before. It looked ugly! But, I could still see through it even though it was a bit fuzzy, which to me indicated something had let loose or delaminated. I did some sleuthing on the ol' interwebs and found out this is a fairly common problem with these older Garmin GPS units. Garmin no longer supports the 420/430 units. But, they can repair them using parts from cannibalized units they have in stock. So for around $2000, they will install a display from a unit they have saved as a source for spare parts. That is a LOT to pay for a repair to a unit that is a couple of decades old. I also found an avionics repair shop in Kansas that does the same repair, but for "only" $1600! I was seeing quite a bit of money flying out the window if I wanted to have this one fixed.
Enter Chris Short of Short Tronics Inc., in Mankato MN. His company website is known as the Palm Doctor, or PalmDR (www.PalmDR.com) for short. He was mentioned briefly in a comment on one of the message boards (I think BeechTalk) as someone rumored that can repair this type of display failure. So I found his company and contacted him, forwarding the pictures of my GPS. He said that it is a common repair they do. There is a protective glass layer over the actual display and it's the bonding interface between these two that fails, causing the ugly separation. I sent him pictures of what it looked like and he said it shouldn't be a problem to do the repair as they have seen a lot of these, but would confirm when he actually evaluated the unit. Cost for the repair? $485, not including shipping! I couldn't get it in the mail fast enough. It turns out they can do quite a bit of repair to these units, replacing faulty switches, etc. Fortunately mine was in good condition and didn't need any additional love. They even replaced the internal battery at no charge (it didn't meet spec). Chris even offered to update the aviation and terrain card data, but that was extra and I had planned on doing that anyway when it got back to me. There is a 90 day warranty on their work.
So, a big THANK YOU to Chris Short and his company for great work, wonderful service, and saving me thousands!
20250209_154805.jpg 20250209_154905.jpg 20250325_210221.jpg 20250325_210455.jpg
I have a Garmin GNC420 (GNS430 without the VOR functionality) as my Comm 1 and primary navigation instrument. Early last month I noticed a large blotch on the screen that hadn't been there before. It looked ugly! But, I could still see through it even though it was a bit fuzzy, which to me indicated something had let loose or delaminated. I did some sleuthing on the ol' interwebs and found out this is a fairly common problem with these older Garmin GPS units. Garmin no longer supports the 420/430 units. But, they can repair them using parts from cannibalized units they have in stock. So for around $2000, they will install a display from a unit they have saved as a source for spare parts. That is a LOT to pay for a repair to a unit that is a couple of decades old. I also found an avionics repair shop in Kansas that does the same repair, but for "only" $1600! I was seeing quite a bit of money flying out the window if I wanted to have this one fixed.
Enter Chris Short of Short Tronics Inc., in Mankato MN. His company website is known as the Palm Doctor, or PalmDR (www.PalmDR.com) for short. He was mentioned briefly in a comment on one of the message boards (I think BeechTalk) as someone rumored that can repair this type of display failure. So I found his company and contacted him, forwarding the pictures of my GPS. He said that it is a common repair they do. There is a protective glass layer over the actual display and it's the bonding interface between these two that fails, causing the ugly separation. I sent him pictures of what it looked like and he said it shouldn't be a problem to do the repair as they have seen a lot of these, but would confirm when he actually evaluated the unit. Cost for the repair? $485, not including shipping! I couldn't get it in the mail fast enough. It turns out they can do quite a bit of repair to these units, replacing faulty switches, etc. Fortunately mine was in good condition and didn't need any additional love. They even replaced the internal battery at no charge (it didn't meet spec). Chris even offered to update the aviation and terrain card data, but that was extra and I had planned on doing that anyway when it got back to me. There is a 90 day warranty on their work.
So, a big THANK YOU to Chris Short and his company for great work, wonderful service, and saving me thousands!
20250209_154805.jpg 20250209_154905.jpg 20250325_210221.jpg 20250325_210455.jpg
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