GPSrChive Discussion Forum

Hi all,

I've been using my new 66i for about 3 months (coming from an Explorer+). Having a compass issue, and would like to know if anyone else is seeing the same problem I am. In short, when standing still after moving, the compass will take up to a minute (sometimes more) to settle and have the N arrow point the correct direction. The North arrow (or the map, depending on orientation setting) will swing wildly in all directions. The problem is immediately fixed after starting to move (walking, driving, etc), but often recurs after stopping. I estimate that about 60% of the time it takes between 5-60 seconds to settle, 30% it takes >1 minute, and 10% it settles right away.

For comparison, my Explorer+ never took any noticible time for the compass arrow to settle when stationary after moving. I think that this is a flaw, that the compass direction when becoming stationary should settle right away almost (or all) of the time. Whether it's a flaw just for my particular unit, or for others too, I don't yet know. I have an open ticket with Garmin and they are looking into it; it'd be useful to know if others are seeing similar compass behavior.

While investigating I have controlled for all of the following factors, observing that none of these have any effect on the problem.
- toggling Compass=>Auto to Off then On (fixes only temporarily, then recurs soon thereafter)
- Compass calibration
- Using default Profiles instead of my own customized ones
- Changing the North Reference setting
- Ensuring no magnets or magnetic fields while walking with the device
- Clear view of the horizon, and clear of vegetation
- Activities being recorded, or not (I don't use Tracking, i.e. sending points to mapshare)
- wifi active or not
- bluetooth active or not
- Sensors and GPS setting are set to default

Appreciate any and all input.
~Bob

We have been testing our GPSMAP 66i v9.50 and are unable to duplicate any Compass issues as you describe.

What options do you have configured in Setup > Heading on your device?

Sorry for late reply, just now saw yours. Setup->Heading is
- display: directional letters
- N Ref: magnetic
- Go To Line: bearing medium
- Compass: Auto
NOTE: I have experimented with all of these (knowing that some are most certainly not relevant), no difference. Compass -> Auto is the only one here that affects my problem. Toggling off/on only temporarily fixes the compass aberration. It almost always recurs as soon as I stop again.

I am pretty much convinced that there is a run of devices that are defective in their hardware/firmware, where the Compass->Auto function is effectively turned off without user interaction. I am currently awaiting Garmin Help Desk latest response.

Please back up important files on your device then perform a Master Reset and retest.

See GPSrChive > GPSMAP 66i > Troubleshooting for details.

Reset has already been tried - twice, to no avail. My first 66i was replaced with current one, both have the identical compass incorrect behavior. I am awaiting Help Desk's latest reply. This is a hard-coded problem, so to speak; I suspect that the compass->heading->auto function is constantly reverting to "off".

I do not see anyone else reporting similar issues, and I find it very unlikely you received two devices with identical hardware issues. We are all using the same software, so there must be something else causing the behavior you are observing. Next step would be testing at new locations.

Both 66i's have been used in many parts of Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona: compass behavior remains the same and does not work as expected. Could have been a bad run in production, so more than one unit showing issues. Didn't mention before, but they are "refurbished", not retail new.

Here's an update on the compass problem I was having. I hope this helps anyone else who might have the same issue.

Received my third 66i, and out of the box (no updates or altered settings) the compass is fine (settles direction immediately without hesitation every time). It came with firmware 8.5, was set to Taiwan timezone, and was labelled "recertified" instead of "refurbished". To test, I made changes and customizations to the unit in small steps, observing the compass behavior each time. I could not get the compass to malfunction at all (with one exception, below).

The exception was when I loaded a saved Profile from my previous unit, at which point compass reverted to malfunctioning. I immediately reset the 66i (using option "reset profile settings") whereupon the compass again is working fine. I recently saw another post somewhere (can't find it now) warning against loading Profiles from non-matching firmware versions, so perhaps that's what happened during this test. Note that with my previous two units, I also tried resets but that didn't fix the problem then. I see that just-released firmware 9.8 has "Fixed possible issue where data may persist a factory reset", this might be addressing the compass issue I reported to Garmin and Profiles from non-matching firmware versions. It's now up to date at version 9.8.

It has been over 2 weeks and the unit is working as designed. I've stopped holding my breath and it seems that I finally have a dependable 66i.

Thank you for the update! Glad you got that sorted out!

FWIW, would you agree that the 'Refurbished' or 'Recertified' units are indiscernible from factory new units?

Superficially, yes - they all appeared to be the same with perfect exterior condition. However, I've never had a "factory new" 66i because by Garmin policy it was a special-offer upgrade for my old Explorer+.