After about 10 years of usage the ‘back’ button of the eTrex 30 had completely disintegrated. Regarding age and usage this wasn’t an unexpected issue. Unfortunately Garmin didn’t offer repair nor spare parts for this unit anymore. So after some research a spare front shell was ordered via one of the known Chinese webshops. The price of 43 dollars wasn’t a real bargain but anyway cheaper than a new GPS.
Replacing the front shell didn’t even take more than fifteen minutes;
- remove the battery lid;
- remove the six black torx screws at the back;
- without any force the back shell can be removed;
- remove the metal colour torx screw from the PCB;
- gently lift the PCB from the middel and carefully take it out of the front shell. Don’t loose the black plastic sockets which form the middle screw holes.
Probably a white plastic pin remains at the rocker key on the PCB. As this pin is already present in the neoprene key of the new front shell, the old pin needs to be pulled of the key. Then the GPS unit can be reassembled in reverse order:
- insert the PCB carefully in the new front shell and secure it with the metal screw;
- use tweezers to remove the blue seal from the old shell and insert it in the corresponding cutouts in the new shell. Make sure the seal fits nice and tidy in the new shell;
- reassemble the back shell. It should fall into place without the use of any force;
- secure the back shell with the six black torx screws.
