Car chargers (are they interchangeable?)

I'm not sure offhand, but checking the voltage is easy enough. Just check to see that the voltage is the same between the plugs (in this case your tom tom car charger and a car or wall charger for your new garmin) and that the wattage is sufficient. In the case of USB plugs, for example, the standard specification was 5V ±5%.

Tks your comment. The plug is the mini usb like
used on a digital "sony" camera etc..

I am thinking that when plugged into computer
with usb cable it charges thus the voltage from
computer may be the same or close.

mini plug is too small to get volt ohm meter
probes in.

The TOM TOM Unit indicates output of 5 volts 2 amps.

Cannot see what the output for garmin is.

Garmin uses a special pin configuration on their mini USB connectors to determine if the unit is using a charger cord or a computer USB cord. The only thing I can tell you is try it. It may work.

As a charger, definitely. The USB is a voltage standard. What you won't know until you try it is if the Garmin will think it's connected to a charger or computer. If it's the latter, it will go into mass storage mode. Does the cord plug directly into the Garmin, or into the Garmin cradle?

from my sons defunct Tom Tom One charges my Nuvi 765T just fine but does put it into mass storage mode when connected so I use it mostly connected to my PC for charging / uploading

The mini plug is the exact same on the tom tom
and the garmin.. The tom tom fits the garmin

Or I should say plugs directly into the Garmin.

Just double checked and yes directly plugs
into the Garmin.

Hate to simply "smoke" test this : )

As my Garmin is new to me I am not all that familiar
with Comments like "going into mass storage"?

You indicated you use your tom tom to charge ?
but it does not go into mass storage.

If one is only to charge say in a car
etc, how would this mass storage come into play ?

Yes I am a newbie to Garmin.

Garmin sells a car charger that does not seem to be unique to any particular unit.

I looked at the 'specs' for my unit and it did not give me any indication of the needed input voltage or milliamperage.

Be interested in more information if anyone has it.

I had ordered a battery for my tom tom go
which hopefully would have corrected the
problem, it did not.

However the battery for the tom tom go
is 3.7 volts at 1300mAh

The replacement battery for the garmin w55
is 3.7 volts at 1250mAh

So still thinking the tom tom charger will
also work on the Garmin.

We may be closing in on it.

As someone said perhaps just plug it in and see.

Also on ebay you can get dc chargers which
supply the correct voltage to both garmin and
tom tom. I may be beating a dead horse here
in that the tom tom charger just may well work.

There are sevaral threads in this forum discussing USB chargers and cables.

On most Garmin Nuvi units, if a generic 5V mini-USB charger is used to charge the device, then it wakes up and goes into "Mass Storage Mode" as indicated by a special screen displayed on the Nuvi showing it being attached to a computer. This is the same screen you get if you actually connect it to a computer using a USB cable. Depending on the Nuvi model, it can usually be tricked to exit Mass Storage mode if it is simply attached to a charger.

If a Garmin charger (and some other 3rd-party) chargers are attached to the Nuvi, then the Nuvi simply boots up in normal GPSr mode. The only difference in these chargers is a resistor built into the cable that has no other function or side effect than to tell the Nuvi that the "proper" charger is attached.

I've interchanged smartphone and Nuvi mini-USB chargers and they all charge each other properly. I've also found that the HTC Phone chargers have the resistor in them like the Garmin chargers.

The Motorola I have puts out 5 volts/550 ma, and puts the nuvi into navigation mode. I'd bet it reads what the voltage is, and puts it into mass storage, or Nav mode depending on what it is.

The pin configuration and charging behavior is documented here:
http://pinouts.ru/GPS/garmin_nuvi_power_pinout.shtml

Just for fun, I looked up some old threads on this forum. From external battery packs to hidden power cabling, these threads demonstrate what our clever members have been tinkering with. (OP Title included)

Garmin Power Cord
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17975

Power and Navigate NUVI from USB out of the car
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/10701

Power supply
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/10790

USB Charging
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/10697

extending battery life for nuvi
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11120

Car/Auto charger dissected...
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/16235

Thanks for you very good follow up !

It would appear with a slight modification
that the Charger in question would work..

Again many thanks !!!

what a group ..