USB charge cable for car

I've not seen any premade cables that are jumped between pins 4 and 5. I don't think you'll ever find one, mainly because such a modification breaks the USB standard.

Be prepared to modify a cable.

Some of the USB cables that come with other devices such as phones and cameras will let the Garmin operate and not go into connected mode. It's a hit and miss affair as to finding one though.

Exactly what Box Car said - it is a hit and miss.

I got lucky and found a cable in my stash that did the trick out of a handful of cables.

If your sole intention is to charge your Nuvi 1450 you are alredy doing that even in PC mode. Although it may be a bit slower, it still is charging.

I don't understand your question? Why do you need additional cable to charge GPS when in car? It comes with power cable that is mean to use 12V outlet you have in your car. And if it is connected and there is power in outlet there it is charged as well. There is no need for additional cables or charging. Just plug it into socket and when you are driving Nuvi is being charged. You don't even need to turn it on or connect additional cables.

Why not check with your Radio Shack Dealer? They might have an answer and the right cable.

Just might the OP have another need for the lighter socket for something else? Since the USB port is unused, why not see if it can be used to power the Nuvi.

My son used the USB in his car for his Iphone because it was more convenient. He had other things plugged in to the lighter socket.

Help us understand the problem and your intentions.

If the problem is that the power (lighter) socket is used by some other device, then go to Walmart and get a socket that converts into a dual power socket.

It would seem that if the cable is recognized, then it is charging?

ITS not a problem yes i can use the lighter charger if i want a cable running up my dash and in the way. Like i said in my first post there is a place for a usb cable UNDER my dash i am going to drill a hole in my dash and run the cable to my nuvi to charge. one person said its charging even if its in pc mode yes it is but its hard to navigate when its in pc mode all you get is a black screen with a photo of a pic I hope I have cleared up the confusion......it looks like I am out of luck

I have one of these to charge my phone on the USB port on my work computer without it asking me if I want to upload pictures/files/etc. It really is designed to allow for charging an iPad on a lower amp port that is commonly available, but most devices will be OK with this as far as I know. But please do your research and I take no responsibility for anything that may break... I started using one of these for my phone because they said you can charge your iPad, but it won't transfer data while connected (as a negative feature, but what I was looking for). I just didn't want my work auto-backup system to copy my phone as an attached USB drive. I have tested it on my computers and my phone doesn't show up as an attached device, but it charges. I think this is what you are looking to do.
I think it is $6.99 regularly, but it goes on sale with a limited-use coupon for around $3.99 from time to time. Here is the link to one at Meritline:
http://www.meritline.com/usb-charging-adapter-ipad-up4000---...

LostWithoutGPS can you plug your gps into this and it not go into pc mode ? when i say pc mode after plugging it in can you still navigate the gps screen?

I can't test it in my car, but on my computer my Garmin charges and I can attempt to navigate without it going into PC mode. It first will try to go into PC mode, but then if I wait and let it finish trying, it will automatically go into regular navigation like it was plugged into the 12v outlet.

Great find, LostWithoutGPS!

I will give it a try for my old Moto cell phone that I cannot charge directly from PC's USB port. This would save me the trouble of packing the Moto charger when traveling.

Found a listing for a similar (maybe identical) device on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Battery1inc-Charger-Adapter-Charging-C...

Pillowcase If Moto stands for Motorola..In my research for this gps charger someplace was talking about trying a Motorola cable that Motorola had jacked with the wiring some how and put a resistor in it so I bet this will work for the both of us I am going to oreder it from amazon THANKS YOU ALSO LostWithoutGPS GREAT FIND

The Garmin car charger adapter has a resistor built in to not let it go into PC mode.

ooops I was to fast to post I should have read that more close YES it does have a resistor or some kind of jump wire

Yes. It is a Motorola KRZR.

Just ordered one from Amazon.

Hope it works. Will see in a few days.

You can get one off of eBay. Whether it works for connected mode or not, you'll have to check/ask the seller.

From my personal experience, I wouldn't trust Ebay to get an adapter that works no matter what the seller indicates.

I bought a 120 volt wall charger from a seller on Ebay whose ad indicated it wouuld work on my Nuvi 660.
It did NOT work, went into PC mode. I returned it and tried a different vendor, the second one didn't work either, returned that also. Neither seller had a problem with the return since they probably knew it was hit or miss.

Bought a Garmin packaged one from Amazon and works perfectly on my 660 and 2460. It even came with International adapters for other countries.
You get what you pay for.

godd item

Very true about getting what you pay for. Unless you got your GPS free you may regret getting a cheap Chinese cable off Ebay. Better off with a manufacturer approved cable.

For those that know a little electronics, the topic of USB Garmin power/charging cables was discussed 5+ years ago at

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

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

Normally an unused pin in the mini USB connector is tied to a ~17K ohm resistor.

That was before the iPad and Android tablet devices.

The USB adapters for tablets and smartphones that trick them into drawing more charging current than the standard 0.5A that a normal USB port can supply is different from the Garmin cable. The data leads are tied together and to a resistor pullup/pulldown voltage divider. I have no idea if this type of connection will trick a Garmin into operating in naviagtion mode. An article that describes a DIY procedure of making one is here:

DIY Universal USB Charging Adapter (Step-By-Step w/Pics)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1675042

My personal experience disassembling high-current chargers is that each data lead is tied separately to its own pullup/pulldown resistor voltage divider.

Let me put one together from parts in my junk box and see if it works, and I'll post back.

I tested three different USB charging circuits with both the Nuvi 1490 and a 2595. These are the results when a powered-down unit is connected to each of the charging cables.

Cable/Charger #1: Official Nuvi charger with a 17K ohm resistor between the X pin and ground inside the mini-USB plug: Both 1490 and 2595 boot straight into navigation mode.

Cable/Charger #2: USB charger with 2.1A capacity. The Data+ and Data- pins both have ~25K-30K ohm resistors to +5 and Ground. This termination is what is used for high-power tablets, similar to that described on the xd-developers web site, and same as the charger adapater/dongle sold on Amazon: Both 1490 and 2595 first boot into PC/Data mode, then after about a minute (it is actually a bit longer for the 1490) the unit times out and goes into navigation mode, and stays in that mode.

Cable/Charger #3: USB charger with 2.1A capacity. The Data+ and Data- pins are open circuited. They are not terminated: Both 1490 and 2595 first boot into PC/Data mode, then after the 1 minute timeout they attempt to go into navigation mode, then after a second they reboot back into PC/Data mode. The cycle repeats indefinitely.

I didn't test my old 350, but if I remember right, without the official cable it just stayed in PC/Data mode with no timeout.

I have a cable that has a tag on it that says "charge cable only" and when I plug it into my 1450 it goes into pc mode for 1min 9 sec and then reboots into navigation mode. but if I plug the other cables in it goes into pc mode and stays there.

The same thing happens when I plug my 1370(TW) to my Motorola cell phone charger. My 2495(US) goes immediately into the navigation mode using the same cable. The old trusted 260(US) stays in the PC mode indefinitely.

Received the adaptor from Amazon. The adaptor, however, does nothing, i.e. the Nuvis and my Motoralo cell phone behave exactly the same with or without the adaptor. Do not waste your money on this one.

To convert a USB A to Mini-B cable, or non-Garmin USB charger for navigation purposes, you can follow the instructions at:

http://pinoutsguide.com/GPS/garmin_nuvi_power_pinout.shtml

I DO NOT recommend using a wad of aluminum foil to short the X and 4 pins together in the connector, as suggested by someone at the above web page. The pins are so close together that the wad will most likely move and short the +5 and ground pins. The right way to do it is to solder the recommended resistor between the X and 4 pins inside the body of the plug.

I tried cutting away the molded rubber around the mini-B plug on an old spare cable I had, but it was so well made, the rubber filled in all the voids around the solder joints. It was impossible to get to the pins to try to add the resistor.

An alternative would be to cut the mini-B connector off and replace it with a new one, $0.95 at Adafruit:
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1389
and add the resistor.

Take note that the X pin is unconnected inside the body of a non-Garmin Mini-B connector. There is no wire running inside the cable connected to the X pin, so the resistor cannot be added to the other end of the cable.

Pluck a single strand of fine stranded copper wire small enough to fit in the holes on the mini usb on the back of your Nuvi.(1" will do) The hardest part for me was seeing what I was doing, but stacking two pair of reading glasses did the trick. push the wire in the left hole till it bottoms then fold it to mark the length. Pull it out & double it at the fold. Cut off the excess so it resembles a V. Bring the ends together until the are the same distance apart as the plug holes and push the wire
into the first two holes from the left. This shorts the 4&5 pins same as dissecting the cable and is much easier. Mash the wire flat it should stay in place but you could always put a dab of glue on if you throw it around a lot. My unit is a cheap 200 I pick up just for the speedometer function so I will never pay the $100 for lifetime updates. If you want to play with data again just pull the jumper. thanks to all the guys who researched this. I've wanted figure this out for a long time. Here's a fuzzy pic of what works for me.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/Phred501/IMG_2045_zps...

thanks for the update