I carry my trusty Garmin GPSmap 62s all over. Hikes, airplane trips, bike rides. But it failed to turn on during a recent trip. Fresh batteries didn't help, but if I plugged it into USB power it would switch on and stay on.
Turns out that the power button wore out! I figured I'd desolder it, measure it, and find a replacement. Well, I destroyed it trying to desolder it. Whoops.
I had some idea how large it was so I scoured DigiKey, but couldn't find a great match. Instead, I ordered a random assortment of switches from AliExpress that I thought might have a match or two and crossed my fingers. Turns out that one of them was a near perfect match:
I was even shocked that the board posts seem to fit fine. I soldered it all in, and everything appears to be working!
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| AliExpress Match |
Some switches connect "front to back" and others "side to side". The switch in the Garmin is "side to side". The switch connects ground (pad on the upper left) to something (pad on the upper right with the via above it). The via is the shiny copper O-looking thing.
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| Empty Board with ruler (marks in mm) |
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| Bottom of the button |
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| Soldered in place! |
The GPSmap 62s has a common form factor with the 64 and 65 series and I suspect they use a similar swtich. I hope this helps someone else keep their trusty GPSmap working for a few more years!
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