A battery story with a happy ending :)

That's good news. Thanks for the report. My 750 and 760 are getting close to two years old (if not already) and I'm expecting the batteries to start failing or at least start acting up. Even my 765 is already approaching 1 year. I'm glad these units are quite easy to open since a battery swap out-of-warranty with Garmin is likely well over $120.

I complained to Garmin about it last time I chatted with them. He said they'll stand behind the battery for up to 3 yrs. My issue was that I have this pricey screen protector in place and I'd end up losing that...they send you a refurb'd unit, not your own.

I'm glad I can provide what appears to be a "safe" source for replacement batteries. People really shouldn't be apprehensive about changing it. It's not a big deal....now those iPods, they might be a different story

I'm curious, are you using the latest 760 firmware? Version 4.90 has a fix for low battery warning behavior.

Is it easy to pry open the unit without damaging it? My 760 is almost 1 year old. I may have to replace battery next year.

Are you serious? What a rip off. I'd rather sell my current GPS and spend $120 or more to get a newer model.

I've run both 4.8 and 4.9. I dunno, things got bad and the battery issues became really noticeable when I switched to 4.9....could be completely unrelated. I think my unit had a wonky battery.

Opening the unit: You must have the correct TORX driver to remove the two tiny screws at the base. The case splits open with some gentle prying thereafter. The little tool kit I purchased had several pry tools and a couple TORX drivers.

There's a young fella on Youtube that created a video showing the whole thing. He makes it look far more difficult than it really is

(Some eBay re-sellers have packaged the battery with the tools.)

FWIW, I rarely use battery power and operate under the assumption that I'll never have to replace them. My older 360 is just fine when running on its original battery. No issues, no concerns.

Thanks for the detailed write up....that's good to know.

On the other hand, when Garmin service your GPS they always check other things too and if it has problem they fix it too for free.

If Garmin does a repair / replace of my C530 for instance my purchase of the lifetime map from Garmin will be at an end because they replaced my GPS with a refurbished unit with a DIFFERENT serial number. Therefore the lifetime maps are null and voice since its is for the original serial number!!!

So we have $120 to replace a battery and and $100 to get new maps AGAIN. I think I'll by a battery and replace it myself when the time comes. So far my battery seems to be working just great after about 2 years!

crew

Is that something you've been through before? Or are you just guessing? I'm sure Garmin has a way to update your lifetime map subscription especially if they charge you for the repair.

If Garmin replaces your unit, the map subscription is transferable.

That's why they charge so much, so people will buy a NEW unit.

BTW, there is one video on Youtube showing how to change your 760's battery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXXzsi9Ures

He's a bit butter-fingered and is rougher with his unit than you should be though. On the plus side, you can see how things are put together before you open yours so you can be more careful.

When I read the terms and conditions at the
end of the NuMaps lifetime subscription is says
this....

Your nüMaps Lifetime subscription may not be transferred to another person or another Garmin product.

Therefore my assumption that if I get a DIFFERENT/REBUILT C530 my subscription is null/void.
If the C530 does not have the same serial number...
If Garmin would transfer the subscription to a repaired C530 (repaired by them) it would be great.
Hopefully I will not have to find out...

crew

I drove this past weekend with the new battery for nearly 2 hours...I thought I was on power cord juice but realized when i got home the cigarette lighter outlet in this car is dead. With nearly two hours of powering the unit and the traffic receiver, the unit still shows the battery has about 60% capacity remaining

that garmin could not have made changing batteries an easy user function that does not require special tools.

Instead, I guess they are simply using purposely expensive battery failure as a method of planned premature obsolescence to drive sales of new units.

They were following the lead of Apple with the IPOD.

I don't really know for sure, but didn't Garmin precede IPOD?
Street Pilot - 1998? IPOD - 2001?

If you look around on the web you can find all sorts of help with this kind of stuff.
I have replaced the click wheel and battery on one ipod, battery and phone jack on another.
When my wife broke my daughter's Nintendo DS, I found a new touch screen and a youtube video on howto and replaced it lickety split.
Don't be afraid to crack one open, you can save a lot of money.

Thanks for the info. My Nuvi 660 is on it's last let when it comes to the battery. Guess I'll do some research and strap on the DIY Apron.

Thanks for the info as my 750 is getting tired and the battery seems to run down really quick.