Garmin Devices - General Discussion

[JasonLee]

I found below tip is useful, is this been publish before?

-Turn on your unit
-Touch and hold the battery icon for about 6-8 seconds until it enters the "Blue Secret screen" where you are displayed with a bunch of data (don't mess with anything)

You have just entered the diagnostic mode which is useful also for patching or updating of firmware

-Plug in your power source and listen for the loud BEEP
-Switch off your unit, and watch it enter charge mode!

Before you switch off...
You will notice the field Battery says Charging
When fully charged, it says Done
There is no need to switch off the unit if you want to watch the progress as the voltage of the battery keeps climbing while being charged.

Sometimes, to avoid using up one of my only 2 USB ports on my laptop, I use my Motorola V3 USB charger to charge my GPS. It charges even faster as the voltage is slightly higher.

[jumpstat]

I found below tip is useful, is this been publish before?

-Turn on your unit
-Touch and hold the battery icon for about 6-8 seconds until it enters the "Blue Secret screen" where you are displayed with a bunch of data (don't mess with anything)

You have just entered the diagnostic mode which is useful also for patching or updating of firmware

-Plug in your power source and listen for the loud BEEP
-Switch off your unit, and watch it enter charge mode!

Before you switch off...
You will notice the field Battery says Charging
When fully charged, it says Done
There is no need to switch off the unit if you want to watch the progress as the voltage of the battery keeps climbing while being charged.

Sometimes, to avoid using up one of my only 2 USB ports on my laptop, I use my Motorola V3 USB charger to charge my GPS. It charges even faster as the voltage is slightly higher.

Wouldn't the unit get spoiled if the voltage rating is higher than specs?

[JasonLee]

Not in this case because they are both USB and so have to conform to the USB specs for voltage. In fact, if you measure the USB voltage of different laptops, you will find them all to be slightly different. The difference is very small. Using the USB cable from my laptop, the VMAX is around 4.78 when charging is complete. Using the Motorola V3 USB charger, the VMAX is around 4.88. Really no issue. The faster charging is probably due to a slightly higher amperage allowed through the external charger but I have not measured the charging amperage.

One more thing...

Although I have not measured it, I would not be surprised if the USB voltage of the Garmin-supplied car cigarette-lighter adapter is much higher than the USB voltage of your laptop USB port. The amperage is definitely higher that is why your unit will boot up normally when connected to external power instead of going into PC mode as it would when connected to a PC USB source.

FYI, a Garmin original 230V A/C to USB external charger is nominally rated as 5.0V 1.0A whereas a root USB port on a PC is designed to limit the amperage it will deliver to 500mA or 0.5A. That is why the PC takes a longer time to charge and does not provide enough juice for the GPS to boot-up normally as an external power source does (unless you intentionally force the PC to put out more juice ).

Just to complete the picture, my Motorola V3 230V A/C to USB charger is rated as 5.0V 550mA so it is supposed to deliver a little more juice than the PC.

All said, it is the GPS circuitry that determines how much current to draw for charging and for running normally. You have to supply what it needs to work. Supply too little, it will not work. You can supply more (in amperage rating but not voltage) but the unit decides what it wants and draws.

[bahathir]

This is how I charge my nuvi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1exZNa-n_8

[9w2pat]

All Nuvis have auto-stop charging function when it reaches full.....so it's OK to leave it overnight?

[JasonLee]

Yes, when you are using an external USB charger. I have done it many times. No problems.

However, if you are using your PC USB power source, there may be issues as the PC may go into sleep mode and some PCs also shut off the power at the USB ports when they sleep. In such case, you won't be doing any charging and should there be a leak at your PC diodes that prevents reverse current flow, your unit may even be discharged.

Best is to stop when it is full to prolong battery life hence the method that recommends moving the power switch to OFF is not so good as you cannot see when the battery is full.

[moeyhc]

All Nuvis have auto-stop charging function when it reaches full.....so it's OK to leave it overnight?

The Nuvi uses Li-Ion or Li-Ion Polymer battery. These batteries contain a charging circuit that regulate the Current & Voltage during charging and discharging. Theoretically, you cannot over charge such batteries because the control circuit will prevent it from happening. The Li-Ion family of batteries are known to explode if they charged or discharged indiscriminately or when faulty. Hence, it is better to be safe and remove the unit after charging. Leaving it in charge mode does not harm the unit or the batteries.

Note:- When changing battery use the recommended type...

cheers!

[2uk3y]

hai guys......

what is ur startup/splash screen that u use for ur device.... ??

i know many of u got cool n nice startup/splash screen that u created, or u got somewhere else....

so plz share n upload here.... TQ

[sulphur]

go to here....viewtopic.php?p=4417#p4417

[tukibird]

This is my starup screen before password lock