Garmin After Market Power Cords

I just wanted to post a follow up to my original post on this topic. My wife and I have used my Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa in our Jayco RV a number of times since I bought the Gonifeto cords. I bought two that have USB-A ad one that has USB-C. I have been using the USB-C cord with my Anker Nano Car Charger. During a trip Thursday night, while navigating with the Garmin DriveSmart 65, it stopped working. It would appear to be starting up, but then power down.

After giving this some more thought, I don't think it was getting enough power. I just checked and I was using the middle port (USB-C), which is only 45 watts maximum. No other devices were connected to the Anker Nano Car Charger. In retrospect, I should have switched to the 100 watt USB-C port.

I also found another Garmin power cable at home that I have never used. I think it came with the DriveSmart 65. It states:

Garmin 320-01296-00
(Other places call that the Garmin part number 010-12840-00)

Input: 10-24VDC = 3.0 A

Output: 4.6-5.3VDC = 4.6 A

The Garmin DriveSmart 65 manual states:

The vehicle power adapter included with your Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa device is not compatible with any other Garmin devices. Connecting this vehicle power adapter to a different device could cause damage to the device.

Does anybody on here have any thought on what that could possibly damage? I suspect that is simply a standard disclaimer.

Another theory I have is that despite the claim on Amazon from Gonifeto, these might not actually provide enough power for the DriveSmart 65.

I should add that I am using the 320-01296-00 right now and the DriveSmart 65 seems to be working. I never would have expected that it needs 4.6 amps to work correctly!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ7BL16W?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_...

https://www.anker.com/products/a2737?variant=44052473315478&...

https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/drivesmart65w-alexa/...

Although the power limit for USB C, per (USB PD) 3.1 specification, is 240W, the power supplies in most vehicles do not provide anywhere near that. They seem to be designed mainly for low power applications, like charging a phone.

I have had some success powering my smaller screen GPSr's via USB C, but not with newer, larger screen models.

I do like the size of the cables you linked for ease of routing. I use them with a 200W USB C charging adapter, but that requires a 12V vehicle power outlet.

My 2023 Taos has a mat for wirelessly charging my phone and that's what I've been using. More recently, have been using an m4 iPad Pro with the boydsmaps app in the car (and used an Android tablet before that).

Plugging directly into the USB port charges these things really fast - faster than any of the wall chargers that I use in the house. A quick search says that the port provides 45 watts, which is a lot. The Apple charger that came with my iPad is only 20 watts.

I have several cigarette-lighter type Garmin power supplies from their 7" automotive devices (DriveSmart 61, DriveTrack 71, Dezl 760). The labels on these say ~5 volts @ 2 amps, which should be 10 watts according to the "West Virginia Law" (W = VA).

I no longer use any of these, but did in the past and the auto USB port had no problem powering it. There was a problem, however, with the GPS randomly "waking up" when the car was off for some reason. This didn't happen with the cig lighter, so I used that instead.

Back in my gpsreview days, we had a number of people report problems powering Garmin devices from automotive USB ports. The common complaint was that the GPS thought it was connected to a computer and went into USB disk mode. IIRC, this could be prevented if you were sure to get a power-only cable, which is (apparently) missing some of the data pins. But this was some time ago and I've never experienced that problem myself.

I have been using the Anker Nano Car Charger, which claims 100 wats on one of the USB-C ports. I am wondering if the wire is too thin to pass the power needed. The Amazon listing shows that the power cord uses upgraded pure copper 18AWG cable with 3.5mm thicker wire.

https://tinyurl.com/2uv4ervc

https://tinyurl.com/4hpuyk7t

Curious as to why you think such a beefy power supply is needed for the DriveSmart 65? Like I said, the adapter that came with my DriveSmart 61 is rated at 10 watts. I have an original Garmin AC adapter that came with my Montana 600. It powers my DriveSmart and DriveTrack devices fine and also charges the batteries.

According to the label, it only has 5 watt output (5 volts at 1.0 amp maximum).

High power usbc has its uses.

Many laptops today accept power only via usb c. These need anywhere from 40-100w (or more?) to charge and power while in use.

With that kind of current/power, usb c cables must be robust to handle it without combusting.

My hp elitebook laptop (2021 vintage) will accept power via usb c but also has a dedicated female barrel connector to accept power from the accompanying brick.

Personally I prefer the old school method. If the barrel connector gets damaged, it's a simple daughter board to swap out. Takes 5 min. If the usb c port gets damaged, that requires board level repair.

This is progress!!!!

I will be returning to the 12-volt vehicle power cable (Part Number 010-12840-00) that came with my Garmin DriveSmart 65 with Amazon Alexa. The challenge we have in our Jayco, particularly on longer drives, is keeping everything powered up. When I bought the Anker Nano Car Charger, I thought I would be all set with one port being used for the Garmin and two ports still available.

With the Garmin DriveSmart 65 (with Amazon) Vehicle Power Cable with Extra USB Charging Port (010-12840-00) I will only have one USB-A port for charging. I will look for an after market cable that gives me two or three USB-C ports.

The why is because I don't think the after-market power cords are charging fast enough. They appear to be charging, because I see a lightning bolt symbol over the battery icon, but I think it is actually losing power!

https://www.anker.com/products/a2737?variant=44052473315478&...

That will happen if the unit being charged is consuming the available current while running. More power to the unit to keep it powered on than to charge it's battery adequately.

I should know better, too.

Years ago, a whole group of my wife's side of the family caravanned from the greater Saint Paul MN area down to Branson MO. I thought we were all set because I put my Slacker Radio in the van and played music all the way to about Kansas City, when it stopped.

Once we arrived at our hotel, I did a little "snooping and pooping" online. I learned that 12 volt USB adapter that I brought provided about 500 milliamperes. However, the Slacker Radio needed about 600 milliamperes!

Do you actually use your DriveSmart 65 on battery power? I have a DriveSmart 60 and DriveTrack 71 which should be pretty similar. I stopped using both of them long ago. But I'd be surprised if they would run for more than an hour on battery, they just aren't designed for that. I think the battery is just there so you can use it for a few minutes before plugging it in. I have an old Nuvi 5000 and that model didn't even have a battery at all!

The other problem with these DriveSmart units is the (almost) no-bezel screen. I find it very difficult to grab without accidentally pushing some buttons, there's not much of a border around the active part of the screen. Anyway, just curious if you (or anyone) uses these things for more than a few minutes without external power.

I've had good luck with this 145W model:

https://www.amazon.com/PDMAX-Retractable-Type-Charging-Compa...

The retractable cords are handy when the charger isn't needed.

No, we don't run them on battery power other than to keep them running if they somehow become disconnected.

Here is what the Garmin website shows for the 010-12840-00
Vehicle Power Cable with Extra USB Charging Port.

Compatible with the Garmin DriveSmart 65 GPS navigator with Amazon Alexa only.

Input: 10-24 VDC, 3A

Output: 4.6-5.3 VDC, 4.6A

12-Volt Adapter

Single USB Type A socket with Aux Jack

Black port USB 2.0, 2.4A (extra charging port)

3.5mm Audio Jack, Aux Out, Stereo (supports user-provided 3.5mm stereo audio cable)

See Connecting to the Stereo Using an Auxiliary Audio Cable for additional information.

Attached Power Cable

USB Mini connector

Length 5.5 feet / 1.68 meters

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=AFa2vVQG9w0RJTlWs7YacA

I ordered a USB-C Splitter Cable from Amazon to use in the extra charging port. It only provides 2.4A, so the "fast charging" will be slow charging!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4D7W595?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_...

I remember seeing the nuvi 5000 on display in Circuit City way back. I believe I was using a nuvi 300 back then. The sheer size of the 5000 nearly knocked me over. I could never afford it at the time. Besides, there was no room on my 1994 Mustang GT's dash (left dash corner next to the A pillar) for it to begin to even think of sitting on.

I find this a curiosity with today's devices in this never-ending quest for a bezel-less screen, especially with the iPad. Sure there's more screen to be had but your thumbs end up blocking the screen anyways depending on how you need to hold it. At least when there were larger bezels, you had a "safe" area to hold the device without blocking the display in some way.

And how thin will be thin enough? Credit card thickness? How do you pick this up when it's laying flat on a table?

Just rambling...don't mind me.

I still have that Nuvi 5000 and it even works! Got it out recently to look for an oddity on Garmin's map from that era and decided to line up all my old GPS relics. But there were quite a few more that I gave away long ago!

https://stephencreek.com/gps/gps_relics.jpg

Actually, I think the narrow-bezel screens are very nice on these 7 inch DriveSmart devices. And no problem while mounted in the car. But really awkward for handheld use just due to the overall shape, not to mention buttons near the edge that are too easy to push. I don't think these even have a portrait mode.... do they? (has a been a few years since I actually used any of these).

Using my 11 inch m4 iPad Pro in the car now, it has some of the same issues, but not quite so bad. But I frequently end up taking screenshots by accident when I go to turn it on or off, and (somehow) I manage to put it into inverted color mode (for some kind of handicap use, I guess) by the way I grab the screen. Still haven't figured that one out. But whenever I google this kind of issue, it always says that (basically) you can't turn these "features" off, although there are weird work-arounds with some kind of screentime settings or whatever.

Apple makes such terrific hardware, but the software is going in a direction I really don't much care for...

Really interesting photo. The nuvi 5000 doesn't look quite as big and "bad" as I remember it. In fact, it looks kinda puny compared to the other larger units in the shot.

Good to see all of the units that were the topic of some great discussions in the past. I also have the GPSMAP 60CSx that you've pictured. Recently booted it up and boy is it a dog as far as acquisition times go and holding a lock. No "high sensitivity" GPS receiver in that bad boy.

Good stuff!

Yeah, lots of memories there. Then there are the "ones that got away", that I gave to friends and family or traded with friends, like a StreetPilot 2620, Nuvi 650, Nuvi 1350, eTrex Legend C, Oregon 400T, a couple Tom-Toms, even a Mio!

Back on topic for this thread.... Just noticed that Garmin is including two-port USB-C cigarette lighter plug with their new DriveSmart devices. Also available for purchase separately for $60...

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/839228/pn/010-13199-03/

I was looking back at the older thread on this. It seems like some power cables are no longer listed on the Garmin US website.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/53797

Hello