Don't think it was WAAS.... 660 Lost it's mind

Not willing to leave it alone....

Battery not taking a charge... Maybe that's why.

Wife & I dis-assembled it and put in the high capacity one I bought a year or so ago...

works... Charging overnight...

WHEW!!

PS: I (No, WE) hate those ribbon cables..

You are right. The nuvi should be put outside with a clear view of the sky so it can find its position. The problem is it is cold outside. The capacity of a new battery can be 50% less in cold temperatures.

Replacing the battery was needed, and be sure to charge the new battery using a wall charger for at least 5 hours.

It is likely that when you turned off WAAS, the 660 lost the WAAS satellite almanac info. (Where the satellites are.) When you turned WAAS on again it needs to download the almanac. It will scan successively through many satellites around the world, but it can only receive the WAAS almanac from one satellite in the southern sky.

If the outside location does not have an open field in the southern sky the nuvi will be using some battery power to keep scanning for the WAAS almanac without ever receiving it. Even a tree in the way could prevent this.

WAAS provides better accuracy for the 660, but if it cannot see the WAAS satellite, it will lose its position. That is why WAAS works better for airplanes or boats. In my opinion it was not a good idea for Garmin to equip a road GPS with WAAS. I would turn off WAAS for the 660, then put it outside to get its position. See whether it always has a good position in the future.

http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/dgps.htm

At the above link, there is a map of the world with locations of the WAAS satellites. However, the map is not up-to-date. There is an edit in the text below the map.

dobs108

Garmin Marine GPS 76 using WAAS

I thought something was strange yesterday when the battery wouldn't take a charge through the window mount...

Today took garmin that still boots for a test ride.

Will not power up through the window interface.
This is same symptooms I encountered yesterday.. Before the battery swapout and overnight charge.
Tried both 660 interfaces.... NG.
Tried 2nd 660 on both interfaces OK...

So, took unit into house figuring that one of the smaller ribbon cables had disconnected... Not so.

Ribbon cables seem Tight. Put it together again, and tried again... Works fine with exception of getting power from window mount...
Put in a route to see if Traffic receiver would be seen... No traffic prompts, but that could mean there is no traffic issue now...

So I dug out the traffic information, and I can't find Tools/settings/traffic.... so I'm now thinking the Traffic receiver isn't being seen either...

Note that both window mounts power up 2nd 660, and not main 660.

I'm now thinking that something actually died yesterday when it went dead.....

Question for you all:

Since I was able to charge up the new battery via the USB port... Can a DC to USB charger adapter run the 660? (I'd then power it up with that, and remove the adaptor cable to window mount...

I realize that the Traffic Receiver would no longer work, but other than in Chicago I rarely saw it work (Where by the time I'm alerted to it, I'm trapped anyhow ! )

Can I run the 660 from a car DC to USB Cable?

Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Either your cigar lighter outlet is dead or the traffic receiver cable assembly or cigar lighter plug is broken.

However, you are saying the other 660 works in that mount?

dobs108

That's right!! Second 660 works on either Window mount....

Our Main 660 will not work on either window mount, nor will it 'see' the traffic receiver, so I'm thinking that some interface to that external connector has failed....

Will a Car DC to USB Mini connector/Charger Run the 660?

If I had one, I would have tried it by now...

But maybe the second 660 is fully charged, operating on its own battery, and the mount is not delivering 12v power.

dobs108

I don't know. It depends on the pinout. Most mini USB cables would put the nuvi in PC mode, not operating mode.

dobs108

2nd 660 boots when power is sensed on either mount.
Main/bad 660 does not power up on either mount, until On/Off tab it pressed.... and then it powers up on battery...

This symptom of no power up, and no charging through the window mount(s) started yesterday morning.. after unit shut itself off while on battery.

Battery was changed and charged through USB port Late last night.... after a Simultaneous Power up and reset.

I did try 660 in car last night, but it did not power up on window mount....

THEN I changed the battery, and charged it...

The power via window mount occurred before the battery was changed...

It is possible the connector for the mount on the nuvi broke in some way or broke off the printed circuit board.

dobs108

I had a 760 go bad the same way. Get some isopropyl acohol, or spray contact cleaner and on the bottom of the bezel, use a Q-Tip and clean the long narrow contact slot.

.

Does any poster know if a mini USB cable is available to run the 660 from a 12v USB adapter in operating mode instead of PC mode?

dobs108

Could be dirt in the connector.

From Garmin, there is a power cord that has a cigarette lighter plug and a USP connector on the other end. This will allow the unit to boot up normally. You may loose the traffic function.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/shop-by-accessories/cables/v...

Looks squeaky clean, but tried first iso-alcohol, and then Cramolin Blue on a q-tip and neither helped...

Was a good suggestion though... I've had similar things happen at work... (That's why Cramolin Blue & Red are in my soldering toolkit)

deleted

That's not a mini USB, that's the interface to the Window Mount!

You're right, my bad. But there are several cables here that have the USB connector.

https://support.garmin.com/search/shopResults.faces?site=Sho...

I've also done a search on this, and came up with a few posts indicating that the 660 will do this, but the poster was trying to get a 760 to do same....
Not a definite yes, but, it seems this may work....

If I only had one..... I'll try Radio Shack (I Know, I know...) later today....

Wife wants new unit... I want to fix it, if for no other reason as a spare...

Look at this as an opportunity!

The 3597LMTHD is available both new and refurbished. I bought mine at thegpsstore.com

dobs108

More findings... It's not clear if USB will or will not power unit...

If anyone here has tried it... Please post...

Thanks

Jan

I know you stated a 12V adapter but I have a 110v wall charger that brings it down to 12V. I plug the wall charger in and attach to the mini USB port on the 660 and it automatically goes into user mode and shows charging. Very useful when making tweaks or simulated routes and not depleting the battery in the comfort of my home.
It's a genuine Garmin Wall charger and puts out 1 amp and charges far faster then charging through the USB on the PC.

I'm still amazed on the battery life on my 660. I only have it for a backup and it sits in my office drawer when I don't take it on trips. It's been sitting ther for a month now without use, I turn it on and battery shows 100%. Unheard of on an original battery when unit was purchased in 2007.

And the cigarette power plug will function for the same purpose. There isn't that much difference between the 66x series and the 76x series.

Thanks again, phranc
for confirmation...

Looks like we're going shopping for a couple things!!!

With the exception of one or two Premium units, they all run off the usb+cigarette lighter plug, now.

The Garmin 660 will boot of the USB connector on the AC Adapter...

BUT.... IT WILL NOT BOOT OFF OF THE DC ADAPTOR!!

EVEN A GARMIN DC TO USB ADAPTER...

This means, there is a wiring difference in the USB cable for PC vs. the USB cable on the AC adapter.

Anybody have a schematic of the USB Cable on the AC Adapter?

The Garmin 660 will boot of the USB connector on the AC Adapter...

BUT.... IT WILL NOT BOOT OFF OF THE DC ADAPTOR!!

EVEN A GARMIN DC TO USB ADAPTER...

This means, there is a wiring difference in the USB cable for PC vs. the USB cable on the AC adapter.

Anybody have a schematic of the USB Cable on the AC Adapter?

EXCEPT THAT--- The new Car DC converter Supplied with the 2689 DOES POWER THE 660!!
New 2689 supply that DOES WORK with 660 via USB is: GARMIN TA20 CAR CHARGER

Garmin Charger that doesn't work is: GARMIN UB40F0

This points again to difference in wiring, as they both are 5V supplies, TA20 supplying 2.0A @5V, and UB40F0 supplying 2.1A @5V.

double post, sorry

Why some supplies will, and some will not power up the 660...via the USB port... If it doesn't it goes into PC mode for data transfer.
I think I found out why, but I'm not 100% convinced yet.....
Some of the information I used to determine what the issue may be is written right on the side of the AC Supply I received with the 660!!!

My 660 AC Supply is labeled: Technics-GP 1136R

It is indicated as a 5V 1A supply with +5 on USB pin 1 and Ground on USB Pin 4.

This supply works, as does one other: the Garmin TA-20. However another, Garmin UB40F0 Won't, and they are higher current supplies!

Looking at the Technics supply on the graphic that says what voltage is on pin 1 and pin 4 is an indicator that pin 2 & 3 are SHORTED TOGETHER!

I cut apart a Standard USB cable, plugged it into the technics supply and ohmed it out with a meter.... Pin 2 & 3 ARE shorted together!!!

IF I HAD a Female mini USB cable I could destroy, I could prove that those pins (Pins 2 & 3 of the 5 pin USB Mini) on the other supplies, to prove once and for all that the one that works is also shorted, and one that doesn't isn't shorted...
and if so, I'd Open the cable up carefully and short the two pins the data is on, which I think tells the 660 to use the supply to power it up, instead of a charger to pass data to PC!

My $.02

GARMIN UB40F0 has 2 USB ports on it...
The "Inner" USB has pin 2 & 3 shorted, and the "Outer" one doesn't!
No instructions indicating why or which is for which....

So I try outer USB.... Nope, it goes to PC Mode.
So I try the inner USB.... It Kind-of works...

Comes up in PC mode, but if you unplug and replug it, garmin Reboots and then goes to Map, not PC mode!!!

I'm not drinking -- yet...

Why one wired one way, and other another?

I said it was the pinout!

dobs108

dobs108, Do you have information on the pinout?

I know that pinout is the problem with using a mini USB cable to operate a nuvi but I do not know what the pinout is.

dobs108

This should explain it.

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

Thanks...