GTX330ES with a "Fail" message

robertb

robertb

Pre-takeoff checklist
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robertb
Hey there gang,
I have a Skylane with a GNS530W and a GTX330ES transponder. The transponder is misbehaving.

Short version of my question:
What should I do with a bad GTX330ES that I do not need? Send it to Garmin and sell it as a freshly repaired unit? Sell it as it is?

Long version:
The transponder started acting up by giving intermittent "FAIL" messages once the GNS530W initialized and got stable GPS position on fire-up. I could power down the avionics and it would go away. Sometimes it would not give the error message at all and worked fine.
Then it failed and I could not get it to work. If I left the GNS530W turned off, I could not get the transponder to fail. But as I live in a Mode C area, I needed the 530W to feed position data to the 330ES to be ADS-B compliant.
I had an avionics shop spend a couple of hours digging through everything and update the firmware in the 330ES. It worked when I left the avionics shop but failed again a few days later.
So, I purchased another 330ES on my favorite avionics store (eBay). The new one arrived, I installed and configured it. It has been working fine since.
I find it an odd failure mode that if the 530W is off the transponder will work fine. But if the 530W and the 330ES are chatting with each other, the transponder goes into fail mode and will not function at all. (There was no way to clear the fail message that I could find aside from a power-cycle.)
I am as curious about the odd failure mode as I am about what to do with the unit. Any thoughts, contemplations, or feedback is welcome and appreciated!
 
When you say "I installed and configured it," of course you mean that the work was done under the supervision of an IA, and signed-off in your logbook, right? :)
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
When you say "I installed and configured it," of course you mean that the work was done under the supervision of an IA, and signed-off in your logbook, right? :)
Click to expand...
Of course. I am fortunate to have a very helpful A&P/IA who is happy to oversee any work done on the aircraft.
Any thoughts on what to do with the GTX330ES? Send it to Garmin (through a dealer) or just sell it as a malfunctioning unit?
 
Overheating? 530W makes a fair amount of heat, could it be heating up the 330?
 
It all depends on what you want to do. Right now you have a functioning unit so the plane is flyable. You can send the old one to Garmin, get it fixed, put it back in the plane, configure it, and sell the one you recently bought for, hopefully, something close to what you paid for it. That gives you a factory fresh unit with an 8130 in your plane.

On the other hand, it might just come down to the Benjamins. If you are satisfied with what you have now, and you can have the original one fixed and then sell it for a profit that exceeds what you would receive for selling it "as is," and the amount of profit is worth your trouble, then that's another option.

Lastly, you can just sell the old one on eBay "as is" with full disclosure, and priced accordingly.

If it were me, and assuming it functions properly and plays nicely with your 530W, I'd want the factory fresh unit in my plane, with a Garmin warranty on the repair, and I'd try to sell the replacement box for as close to what I paid for it as possible.
 
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Sell it on ebay as "needs repair" with a full explanation like in your original post.
 
Joe_B1 said:
Overheating? 530W makes a fair amount of heat, could it be heating up the 330?
Click to expand...
I like what you are saying. But, the unit fails on initial startup and before the avionics have time to get too warm.
 
Doug Reid said:
Sell it on ebay as "needs repair" with a full explanation like in your original post.
Click to expand...
That is what I was thinking initially but not sure if it has much value as is. I will certainly disclose that it is not functioning properly. I don't want any cosmic justice coming back in kick'n me in the behind when it comes to flying. ;)
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
It all depends on what you want to do. Right now you have a functioning unit so the plane is flyable. You can send the old one to Garmin, get it fixed, put it back in the plane, configure it, and sell the one you recently bought for, hopefully, something close to what you paid for it. That gives you a factory fresh unit with an 8130 in your plane.

On the other hand, it might just come down to the Benjamins. If you are satisfied with what you have now, and you can have the original one fixed and then sell it for a profit that exceeds what you would receive for selling it "as is," and the amount of profit is worth your trouble, then that's another option.

Lastly, you can just sell the old one on eBay "as is" with full disclosure, and priced accordingly.

If it were me, and assuming it functions properly and plays nicely with your 530W, I'd want the factory fresh unit in my plane, with a Garmin warranty on the repair, and I'd try to sell the replacement box for as close to what I paid for it as possible.
Click to expand...
I like that option. I hadn't thought about getting it fixed and then putting it back in my plane and selling the one I just bought. I think I paid a decent price for it so selling it again shouldn't cost me too much. I appreciate your thoughts and idea!
 
If you're going to sell the replacement box, reset your configuration, N-number, etc. I've heard of cases where people have sold transponders without resetting them, and then their N-number shows up on ADS-B on the other side of the country.
 
There is a single pin (serial-out) from the 530W that connects to a single pin (serial-in) on the 330ES. There are multiple serial-out pins on the 530W and multiple serial-in pins on the 330ES. Any can be used for this function. Then, the selected serial port has to be set correctly in each device. This sounds like a simple 'intermittent loose wire/pin' issue, not a configuration issue. I would have the shop put a new wire into different pin holes and reconfigure both to use the new serial ports for the 530W->330ES data transfer. (And turn off the old ports.) That should have been one of the first things the avionics shop did.
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback and info. I will post it here in the classifieds first and see what happens. eBay fees have gotten a bit steep.
 
FYI, sending stuff back to Garmin for repair/Diagnosis can be very costly as there is a flat rate. That flat rate was about $1725 for my G430W but I don’t know if the G330ES would be any different. If similar, I definitely would be pursuing the classified “as is” route also.
 
robertb said:
Hey there gang,
I have a Skylane with a GNS530W and a GTX330ES transponder. The transponder is misbehaving.

Short version of my question:
What should I do with a bad GTX330ES that I do not need? Send it to Garmin and sell it as a freshly repaired unit? Sell it as it is?

Long version:
The transponder started acting up by giving intermittent "FAIL" messages once the GNS530W initialized and got stable GPS position on fire-up. I could power down the avionics and it would go away. Sometimes it would not give the error message at all and worked fine.
Then it failed and I could not get it to work. If I left the GNS530W turned off, I could not get the transponder to fail. But as I live in a Mode C area, I needed the 530W to feed position data to the 330ES to be ADS-B compliant.
I had an avionics shop spend a couple of hours digging through everything and update the firmware in the 330ES. It worked when I left the avionics shop but failed again a few days later.
So, I purchased another 330ES on my favorite avionics store (eBay). The new one arrived, I installed and configured it. It has been working fine since.
I find it an odd failure mode that if the 530W is off the transponder will work fine. But if the 530W and the 330ES are chatting with each other, the transponder goes into fail mode and will not function at all. (There was no way to clear the fail message that I could find aside from a power-cycle.)
I am as curious about the odd failure mode as I am about what to do with the unit. Any thoughts, contemplations, or feedback is welcome and appreciated!
Click to expand...

When my transponder quit working it was $1495 exchange form Garmin. Mine quit working with failed message on a Thurs night. I called my avionic shop Fri morning. He ordered me a repaired unit and had it Monday morning. I flew over there after work on Monday and they installed it. That is good service IMO.
 
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