Garmin GPS Announces Limited Recall Due To Battery Problem

Garmin announced today that it is voluntarily recalling approximately 1.25 million nüvi personal navigation devices (of which approximately 796,000 units were sold in the United States) that contain batteries manufactured by a third-party supplier within a defined date code range and that have a specific printed circuit board (PCB) design.

Garmin has identified potential overheating issues when the third party supplier’s batteries manufactured within this limited date code range are used in certain Garmin devices with the PCB design. It appears that the interaction of these factors can, in rare circumstances, increase the possibility of overheating, which may lead to a fire hazard.

This issue has been identified in less than ten cases in total involving certain nüvi models. None of the reported incidents has caused significant property damage and no injuries have occurred. Nevertheless, given Garmin’s longstanding commitment to safety and customer satisfaction, Garmin is proactively recalling nüvi units with the specific PCB design and with batteries from the specific date code range out of an abundance of caution. Garmin strongly urges customers to go online to determine if their nüvi device is one of the few nüvi models affected by this recall and, if so, to participate in the program. Only the 200W, 250W, 260W, 7xx and 7xxT (where xx is a two-digit number) model numbers may be affected. These units were sold worldwide.

To determine if a unit is affected, customers can visit www.garmin.com/nuvibatterypcbrecall. They will be asked to enter their nüvi’s serial number, and if their unit has the specific PCB design and contains a battery from the specific date range, they will be given instructions on how to return their nüvi at no charge. Garmin will replace the battery and insert a spacer on top of the battery next to the PCB before returning the nüvi to affected customers free of charge.

Credits: wilswong