News: -- about 8 months after publishing this page here on-line it was reported on a news group that Garmin redesigned their plug to use "leaf springs" like our ePlugs, around when? In 2001, 2002?

Not everyone is happy with my ePlugs :-( We started with a design idea in Janurary 2000 and ten months later made the first ePlug. Six months and 30,000 ePlugs after that, we received the first complaint. (see #1 below) Keep your comments coming because I want to address all the issues and make the best plugs I can and improve them as often as I can.

Note, now, 12/17/2003, after making over 100,000 ePlugs and over 50,000 e2Plugs we hear of a guy on eBay, in Canada, Paul Atkinson, who said our plug falls out too easy. I can easily make it fit tighter but it's now very tight, almost too tight, fitting in the eMap right now.

Complaint #1. -- pins catch on eMap battery door.
Mike Flood's page here first brought this to my attention. All partys have talked to Mike about the problem since he published the page, Garmin, GPSCity, Wolf's Cables, and me. I think we have it resolved, but, I'm always eager to learn more data and facts -- so we can make better plugs!

Notice when the battery door is slightly ajar (photo on the right) a sharp ledge is formed.

Here is another view. Notice the 4 "teeth" molded in the battery door. Teeth that can "bite" the pins as the plug is removed.

Our ePlug pins are gold plated brass. When compressed there is more of a radius presented to the "teeth", but not always enough, but it appears to me that we have as much or more radius as the spring pins in Garmins connector (see below).

Garmins "spring pins" are very high quality and also gold plated. Spring pins like these are used for circuit testing. One designer told me they should not be used where horizontal pressure is applied. These also will be compressed the same amount and will present a fairly good radius to the "teeth", but it looks to me like about the same radius or even less.

But why would the battery door pop open?
Dick Plumer, Purple Computings first new employee in 10 years, discovered the answer to a riddle.   A riddle that stumped me for weeks.   He noticed that if your thumb finds a spot (see photo) on the battery door, the slightest squeeze, as you could easily do when pulling the plug out, pops the door open!   And what's more, when you're done, the door snaps back hiding the only clue.
_____________________(photo by L.H.Berg, thumb by Dick Plumer)
Not a good way to hold eMap when removing the cable.