Nuvi battery

 

My 750 spends most of the time mounted in my car plugged into the cigarette lighter. It's turns on and off automatically with the car, as the cigarette lighter is switched with the ignition. My car spends some nights in the garage, and some nights outside in the cold.

Lately whenever I try to use my Nuvi while not plugged in, as soon as I turn it on it tells me the battery is low, and then it shuts off. I only really drive 10-20 minutes to school and back everyday (so that is how long it is powered on, and charging everyday).

Why is the battery constantly dead? Is the cold from it being outside all night (and all day in the school parking lot) affecting it?

Thanks

Chris

Battery care

chriss wrote:

Why is the battery constantly dead? Is the cold from it being outside all night (and all day in the school parking lot) affecting it?

How old is it?
Heat makes batteries age faster. Cold doesn't hurt them.

I suspect that yours is losing more charge when OFF than it is gaining back when ON. Also when the car goes off, it may be switching to battery operation without you knowing it.

Try bringing it inside for a good charge (overnight) and then turn it OFF before you turn the car off.

P.S. Do you REALLY need it for that daily 20 minute drive......which is probably the same route every day ??? rolleyes

There are some other threads on here about general battery care that reference a couple of really good web sites.

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Magellan Maestro 4250// MIO C310X

Charge it a little longer

I suspect that short daily charge isn't enough to maintain a full charge on the battery. I had the same problem with another type of gadget. I you don't really need it, try turning it off during the trip so the charge current is higher.

It will be a year old in

It will be a year old in May.

When I turn the car off a message comes up saying something like external power was lost, switch to battery power? I select no, it turns off. So I know that's it's not running on battery while the car's off. I'll try switching it to off while the car's off, though.

I've got it inside charging right now. We'll see what happens.

It could be.

It could be - cold temps will definitely affect battery charge, and if it is only powered up for a short time each day, it may not charge fully. You might want to bring it inside, and plug it into your PC - it should charge off the USB connection. Let it go for a couple of hours, and see how it reacts, to both the warmer temps and the longer charge.

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The Moose Is Loose! nuvi 760

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If your car's cigarette lighter is switched on/off with the ignition, your nuvi is not really being charged much, if at all. When it's on & being powered by the car, the majority if the power is being dedicated to running the unit. When your car is off, the nuvi is not being charged at all. If the car is only being driven for 20 minutes a day, this is nowhere near long enough for the battery to even take a small charge.

What you'll need to do to charge/maintain a charge is to:

1. While connected to the car and with you driving, power off the unit from the power switch. This will charge the battery from the cigarette lighter rather than power the unit for the 20 minutes or so that you're driving.

2. Charge the unit in the car for a few hours by turning the ignition switch on but turning the unit off from the power switch...watch what you have powered "on" in the car for that time so you don't toast your car's battery.

3. Charge the unit indoors periodically. A Garmin dedicated AC adapter/charger is about $20-$25.Or you can charge via USB on your PC (make sure your PC doesn't enter a power-saving mode where power to USB is cut off).

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nuvi 760, nuvi 765T, nuvi 855, nuvi 3790LMT, nuvi 3490LMT - SoCal area

A Different Explanation

chriss wrote:

Why is the battery constantly dead? Is the cold from it being outside all night (and all day in the school parking lot) affecting it?

Chris,

Is there any chance that you or another driver might occasionally turn off the unit before getting to the destination and turning off the ignition? Some models do not really turn off all the internal circuitry when external power is still applied, even though the screen goes blank. Then, when you turn off the ignition, the unit continues to use internal battery power until it runs all the way down. When you turn on the ignition the next day, the unit will recharge and you will never know about the problem. If, instead of turning it back on via the ignition, you try to use the battery, it will be totally dead.

I doubted this explanation until I tried it myself and verified that my 660 works this way. I believe that I only had to touch the screen to have the unit spring to life and then shut off (after having turned off the unit, then the car). I would give credit to the person who discovered this, but I forget who it was. It explained a couple random occurrences I had experienced in the past.

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Nuvi 660 -- and not upgrading it or maps until Garmin fixes long-standing bugs/problems, and get maps to where they are much more current, AND corrected on a more timely basis when advised of mistakes.

Keeping the unit indoors, I

Keeping the unit indoors, I would give it a good, long charge (overnight) uninterrupted. Then turn it on in the morning and let it run until it powers itself off. Then give it a good, long charge again. Sometimes what happens with the constant on, for a short time, and off cycles can trick the unit into thinking the charge is full when it really isn't so it seems to run down faster. At least that's what I've heard, from this guy whose a friend of a coworker's cousin's brother in law.

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Garmin nüvi 765T, nüvi 350