Garmin 430. Reckon how long to live?

[DKirkpatrick]

So Garmin will stop supporting, and admittedly, ignorant on what that means… main question is, how long can I expect to be able to get dbase updates?
Coaching appreciated.
-dan

 

[cowman]

I'm pretty sure they're going to keep selling DB updates as long as there are customers to buy them. What they mean by stop supporting is that they aren't making new parts for them so if you need a unit repaired it may not be possible to get it fixed.

IMHO the 430/530 series isn't going away any time soon. There are plenty of airplanes still using them and there will probably be plentiful good used units available for a long time to come. The one thing I wouldn't do is pay to have one installed in your panel if you don't already have a tray/harness wired up- not worth the installation cost at this point.

 

[asicer]

What they mean by stop supporting is that they aren't making new parts for them so if you need a unit repaired it may not be possible to get it fixed.

Not just that they aren't making any new parts. I believe that already happened years ago. More importantly is that their existing stock of some parts has run out and if your broken unit needs that part then you're out of luck. It's unrepairable.

The most notable part that is no longer available is the display, but there may be others.

 

[MikeNY]

AvWeb posted encouraging insight re ‘GNS longevity’ in an article two weeks ago.

Worth a look …

https://www.avweb.com/insider/gns-430-hysteria-25-years-later/

 

[Ventucky Red]

I'm pretty sure they're going to keep selling DB updates as long as there are customers to buy them. What they mean by stop supporting is that they aren't making new parts for them so if you need a unit repaired it may not be possible to get it fixed.

IMHO the 430/530 series isn't going away any time soon. There are plenty of airplanes still using them and there will probably be plentiful good used units available for a long time to come. The one thing I wouldn't do is pay to have one installed in your panel if you don't already have a tray/harness wired up- not worth the installation cost at this point.

Looking at the cost of a Garmin 175 vs a good used 430W with a recent 8130, my local shop said, the cost to install is going to be the same. I opeted to take it one step further and go with the 375 to clean up the pannel and give me in & out capability as my radios are in pretty good shape.

 

[asicer]

AvWeb posted encouraging insight re ‘GNS longevity’ in an article two weeks ago.

Worth a look …

https://www.avweb.com/insider/gns-430-hysteria-25-years-later/

"encouraging" will depend on whether you a glass-half-full vs glass-half-empty type of person.

 

[DKirkpatrick]

Thanks for the responses and help w intel. So helpful

 

[ateamer]

So Garmin will stop supporting, and admittedly, ignorant on what that means… main question is, how long can I expect to be able to get dbase updates?
Coaching appreciated.
-dan

They’re not able to replace displays on 430s anymore - none left in stock and no point to making them as they’ve been out of production for a long time - and they stopped upgrading non-WAAS units to Ws.

 

[Datadriver]

So Garmin will stop supporting, and admittedly, ignorant on what that means… main question is, how long can I expect to be able to get dbase updates?
Coaching appreciated.
-dan

I just had my 430 serviced for some buttons that were sticking. They will continue servicing until they run out of parts.

 

[hindsight2020]

what's the flat charge for that stuff these days? No longer own, asking just for the benefit of the gallery since covid M2 printer go brrr made every pricing thread pre-2021 obsolete by quite a clip.

 

[chemgeek]

Basically, if the display goes now, you are done. But otherwise Garmin is committed to supporting database updates for the foreseeable future, as long as there are operable units out there. Garmin estimates that only 1% of the remaining users are expected to have display failures. If my 430W display goes, my unit will probably turn into an Avidyne IFD440.

 

[unsafervguy]

i disagree with them. 100% will have a screen problem. the question is when. UV is a killer to the screens. low use aircraft that live in a hangar will probably never see a problem in the owners lifetime. but, park one on the ramp in the southwest without protection and in the heat, the screen will see problems. so if you have one, if it has to sit outside, make sure you keep the sunlight out of the cockpit.

 

[chemgeek]

i disagree with them. 100% will have a screen problem. the question is when. UV is a killer to the screens. low use aircraft that live in a hangar will probably never see a problem in the owners lifetime. but, park one on the ramp in the southwest without protection and in the heat, the screen will see problems. so if you have one, if it has to sit outside, make sure you keep the sunlight out of the cockpit.

Excessive is the great enemy of avionics. If you keep a plane outdoors, you need a canopy/cockpit cover to keep greenhouse heating from baking your electronics. Excess heat destroys certain capacitors and when they go usually something shorts. When I was keeping my AA-1A outside it was going through avionics repairs like Kleenex. When I got a canopy cover, those repairs largely went away. My current ride in in a hangar, but when I am traveling, I use the canopy cover. I have had one avionics repairs in 30 years, maybe 2 if you count the warranty failure of a touch screen in my NGT-9000. It was wonky out of the box and eventually failed.