And 3rd'd. Same problem here, poos contacts that need periodic cleaning and
stratching to keep a good contact.

- barney
"tom pettit" wrote in message
...
I will second the comment on poor battery contacts. I used to work for a
manufacturer of portable electronic devices, and I can tell you that proper
battery contact pressure is very important for reliable operation. Ever
had a cheap flashlight you had to shake, even with good batteries? I
talked to Garmin and they haven't been very helpful. They did send some
new contacts, but they are the same crappy construction. Good luck.
tom

ktbr wrote:
That's an indication of weak battery, so I assume you have
replaced them with verified new/good ones.

I am not impressed with the quality of the battery contacts
in the 196. Periodically I clean the contacts and carefully
bend them a tad to insure proper pressure on the battery contacts.

Other than that, there is a circuit in there to sense battery
level, perhaps that circuit is malfunctioning.