Suction Cup Won¹t Suck

[Larry Weil]

I have a Nuvi 250 that�s about 4 years old. Lately I�ve been finding
that the suction cup mount has very little suction, if I hit a bump the
GPS winds up in my lap. I�m guessing that the suction material has lost
it�s flexibility. So, does anyone know of a method to restore the
flexibility, or do I need to buy a new mount?

Thanks for your help.

Larry

--
Larry Weil
Lake Wobegone, NH

[Ed Pawlowski]

You may be right about the flexibility. Do you wet the cup first?
I've heard of using a tiny bit of cooking oil around the perimeter
also.

[Larry Weil]

In article <230m28hn453f4rkcj...@4ax.com>,

Thanks. I do wet the cup, but I will try the cooking oil. Hopefully it
won�t smell too bad on a hot day.

[Sunshine]

I don't know anyone who carries cooking oil in their vehicle, but a
bit of saliva might work. Or, the OP could do what many others have
done and simply trash the old suction cup, which was a bad idea to
start with, and use a different type of mount. I like the bean bag
(friction) mount, while others have advocated the vent/grill mount.
Either would be much better than a suction cup.

[willshak]

I've wiped the cup with tire wet, the stuff that makes the tires look
nice and black after detailing. It lasts much longer than plain water or
saliva.

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

[Mike Lane]

Larry Weil wrote on Aug 15, 2012:

> I have a Nuvi 250 thatï¿œs about 4 years old. Lately Iï¿œve been finding

> that the suction cup mount has very little suction, if I hit a bump the

> GPS winds up in my lap. Iï¿œm guessing that the suction material has lost
> itï¿œs flexibility. So, does anyone know of a method to restore the

> flexibility, or do I need to buy a new mount?
>

The suction cup mounts don't last forever. Once it starts falling off there's
no magic cure in my experience. You either have to buy a new one - they're
readily available - or better IMO get Garmin 'bean-bag' style friction mount
where the unit sits on the dashboard.


--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire
mike_lane at mac dot com

[keith]

I've found glycerine works well, and doesn't seem to change
characteristics over time, so if you need to detach/re-attach the cup it
works the second time. I've been told that under no circumstance should
one use mineral oil, as it attacks the rubber, but I suspect that it's a
butyl rubber used for the cup, so should be immune to such degradation
(but I haven't desired to test this thesis, in case I'm wrong!)

Keith

[willshak]

I use the suction cup and have been for years on the 4 Garmins I have
owned. I did try the vent grill type for a few days, but the flimsy
vanes in the vent are not designed to hold things, and one of the vanes
in the grill broke when taking the GPS out of the cradle.
As for the bean bag mount, it's really tacky looking. I would have to
put a bobblehead gnome next to it to divert attention from it.
YMMV

[Sunshine]

On Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:02:43 -0400, willshak <will...@00hvc.rr.com>
wrote:

Waitaminute! :-) You can't advocate the use of the suction cup and
call the bean bag tacky at the same time. The suction cup pegs the
tacky meter.

[Ed Pawlowski]

On Wed, 15 Aug 2012 09:58:39 -0500, Sunshine <suns...@none.invalid>
wrote:

>>As for the bean bag mount, it's really tacky looking. I would have to
>>put a bobblehead gnome next to it to divert attention from it.
>>YMMV
>
>Waitaminute! :-) You can't advocate the use of the suction cup and
>call the bean bag tacky at the same time. The suction cup pegs the
>tacky meter.

Last week I bought a new car with built in NAV. No more worries about
suction cups. Expensive as all hell though, but I do like that big
screen and voice activation.

[Han]

Ed Pawlowski <e...@snet.net> wrote in
news:85mo2815lch4rmjpg...@4ax.com:

Congratulations, Ed! What kind of car was that? I can't understand why
the price is so high on those built-in NAVs. Is there a way to upgrade
them as more features get available? What about map updates? Are you
taking the car to Italy when you visit there? (Just teasing)

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

[willshak]

I see a lot of those new mid-dash screens serve many purposes. GPS,
back-up camera screen, Serius/XM music data, etc. Everything is becoming
digital, maybe too much. They may become as dangerous as texting while
driving.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I bought a Hyundai Sonata (my third one) and it has every convenience
made. And the turbo engine with 0 to 60 times of 5.8 seconds. Voice
activated navigation, phone, radio. The map is updatable by the
dealer AFAIK. I can sit at the computer and add POI's and have them
sent to the car via BlueLink.

The NAV comes as part of an overpriced options package. You get a
better radio, panoramic sunroof, backup camera, etc. The backup
camera is something every car should have. Really nifty to use.

I'm keeping the Garmin for Italy. I'd really like to take the car
though!. I'd not go to Europe again without the GPS. It was very
nice to have last trip.

[Ed Pawlowski]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:10:06 -0400, willshak <will...@00hvc.rr.com>
wrote:

>>
>> Last week I bought a new car with built in NAV. No more worries about
>> suction cups. Expensive as all hell though, but I do like that big
>> screen and voice activation.
>
>
>I see a lot of those new mid-dash screens serve many purposes. GPS,
>back-up camera screen, Serius/XM music data, etc. Everything is becoming
>digital, maybe too much. They may become as dangerous as texting while
>driving.

The voice activation really does make some thing simple and you can
keep your eyes on the road. One feature it has that should be banned
is the ability to send a voice text. Sending the text is not so bad,
but people that send them will read the reply.

[BobMCT]

Hello Ed,

I recently rode with a friend with a new high end Toyota with the
built in Nav. Problem with his is as soon as teh car rolls the screen
is locked out. Therefore, no paging, list of turns, map views, etc.

Such a PIA that he bought a Nuvi 1450 to use instead. Besides, its
also transportable to other cars.

Does the Hyundai do that as well?

[Sunshine]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:41:04 -0400, Ed Pawlowski <e...@snet.net> wrote:

>I bought a Hyundai Sonata (my third one) and it has every convenience
>made. And the turbo engine with 0 to 60 times of 5.8 seconds. Voice
>activated navigation, phone, radio. The map is updatable by the
>dealer AFAIK. I can sit at the computer and add POI's and have them
>sent to the car via BlueLink.
>
>The NAV comes as part of an overpriced options package. You get a
>better radio, panoramic sunroof, backup camera, etc. The backup
>camera is something every car should have. Really nifty to use.

I bought a Hyundai Santa Fe V6 Limited a couple of months ago that
came with every option except the panoramic sunroof and AWD. I didn't
want the NAV system and pushed the dealer to find me a similar vehicle
that didn't have it, but in the end they made the price so attractive
that I caved. I took the Garmin along on my first major (2000 miles+)
road trip, just to compare the factory unit with the Nuvi, and ended
up relying primarily on the Nuvi.

The factory NAV units have a lot going for them, but from what I've
read and what my spouse and I experienced when running this one side
by side with the Nuvi, the Nuvi won hands down. It was so much easier
to use, so much more informative, and just generally more convenient
than the factory unit. Part of that was due to familiarity, but not
all.

To answer someone else's question, yes, the Hyundai factory NAV units
can be updated via the USB port. My dealer recommended stopping by
about once a year and said the cost would be "about $80".

[Sunshine]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:04:03 -0400, BobMCT <r.mar...@fdcx.net>
wrote:

My new Hyundai does not do that. That would be extremely irritating
and I'd be surprised if it couldn't be disabled somehow. A NAV unit
that can't be accessed while driving isn't really worth having.

[Han]

Sunshine <suns...@none.invalid> wrote in
news:4egr28tabq0sdjr8p...@4ax.com:

Back to ask the question what nuvi? We had an older 255W that stopped
accepting the chrge cable, so before I could think clearly my wife had
ditched it, including the European map card in it. Now I want (don't
really need) a new nuvi or something equivalent. Looking for unlimited
maps, traffic too. No idea whether bluetooth is worth it, unless I could
play my iPhone through that (can I?). Current car has no iPhone
connection.

[Sunshine]

On 17 Aug 2012 17:09:58 GMT, Han <nob...@nospam.not> wrote:

>Back to ask the question what nuvi?

My Garmin is a Nuvi 760.

>We had an older 255W that stopped
>accepting the chrge cable, so before I could think clearly my wife had
>ditched it, including the European map card in it. Now I want (don't
>really need) a new nuvi or something equivalent. Looking for unlimited
>maps, traffic too. No idea whether bluetooth is worth it, unless I could
>play my iPhone through that (can I?). Current car has no iPhone
>connection.

I doubt that you can play music through the BT connection, but in my
case the Nuvi worked surprisingly well as a hands-free phone when
paired to my phone via BT.

[Ed Pawlowski]

On Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:04:03 -0400, BobMCT <r.mar...@fdcx.net>
wrote:

No, it does not lock up. You can change the map, get the list of
turns.

So far, I see no negatives, but I've not used it all that much for the
POIs. No one system is perfect in every situation.

The Nuvi has an advantage is trip planning in that I can sit in my
recliner and put in addresses of places we will visit. I can send
them to the car from my computer though, but you still need some
interaction in the car to put them where you want.

I do like the larger screen of the built in. It gives a good view of
upcoming intersections that I can barely make out on the Nuvi.

[Han]

Sunshine <suns...@none.invalid> wrote in
news:jm7t28lba4cd9hqak...@4ax.com:

Thanks!

[ps56k]

I just bought another one on eBay - for my Nuvi 260 / 255 -
it was just a couple of bucks -