Garmin battery life & long rides

ben@31

Hi,

I dont know if this is the right forum, but here goes...

Im really getting into long rides and building up the distance. Im now managing to do over 100 miles. But the problem is my Garmin 520 keeps running out of battery by the end of the ride. Probably at about 7 hours I get the "Low Battery" warning.

Ive tried turning the backlight off and the brightness to 0% but still no joy.

How do the ultra long distance people keep their Garmins going?

Mid ride I was doing some thinking ( I had the time ) and wondered if its worth buying one of those USB battery packs for recharging phones on the move and keeping it in my jersey pocket?

Thanks to the random Garden Centre in the middle of nowhere who recharged my Garmin for me today.

Thanks for any advice.

sniper68

I have the same problem with my Edge 820.Battery does about 6.5-7hrs without using mapping!
I've got a 220miler in June so I'm getting one of those external battery packs/chargers.......or getting rid and buying a Wahoo Elemnt!

pmannion9

Having a few similar issues with my 520.
Have read reports that latest firmware update has also affected battery life...

Would be great to hear of any tips from others.
Originally i.e first year usage i reckoned on average battery use was 6-8% per hour.
Now its more like 12-15 %.
I have start adjusting settings but not making much difference.

I have mapping screen available but not in use most of the time.
Backlight and brightness 0%
Have also disabled other screens.
Now have tried turning off bluetooth - ideally i don't want to this as I want livetracker and txt notifications still to work...as well as auto upload when finished.

Also never really tested how much usage you may get when low battery warning appears.

So anyone out there think they have optimum settings?

I might also try discharge and fully re charge it as haven't done this in a while.

ugo.santalucia

Get one of those USB charge with AA batteries, they cost 2 quid on Ebay, you place it somewhere on the top tube and it charges your Garmin as you ride. A pair of Duracell should be worth around 5 to 8 charges of the battery

ben@31

pmannion9 wrote:

Now have tried turning off bluetooth - ideally i don't want to this as I want livetracker and txt notifications still to work...as well as auto upload when finished.

So anyone out there think they have optimum settings?

According to Garmin this is a checklist of the optimum settings for the battery

https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp ... A6CED.html

Does turning Bluetooth off effect the sensors ? Or is ant+ different.

ben@31

I'm currently looking at those portable USB chargers. However there's too many to choose from. I just need to find which one has the best ratio of compactness and recharging capacity. Bang for your buck.

ugo.santalucia

ben@31 wrote:

I'm currently looking at those portable USB chargers. However there's too many to choose from. I just need to find which one has the best ratio of compactness and recharging capacity. Bang for your buck.

As I said, get the cheapos on Ebay, no point in going fancy with rechargeable ones, unless you need it every day/week

wongataa

ben@31 wrote:

pmannion9 wrote:

Now have tried turning off bluetooth - ideally i don't want to this as I want livetracker and txt notifications still to work...as well as auto upload when finished.

So anyone out there think they have optimum settings?

According to Garmin this is a checklist of the optimum settings for the battery

https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp ... A6CED.html

Does turning Bluetooth off effect the sensors ? Or is ant+ different.

Garmin Edge devices only connect with ANT+ sensors and so that will be unaffected by Bluetooth being turned off. Bluetooth is only used to connect to a phone.

rubertoe

What Ugo said - or get an edge 200 - good for 14 hours on the bike easily.

pmannion9

Well ,
Would you believe it...
Battery life seems to have improved ( sorry reverted back to where it was ) with the new updated Version 11.10.
A few users of the Edge 520 had reported decreased battery performance after an earlier update...

tangled_metal

How does 520 charge? Micro usb socket? I only ask because i use a 25 and that uses a cradle thing so can't be used and charged on the go. If 520 or other allows charging on the go then that's a good excuse to upgrade.

ryan_w-2

I'm doing LEJOG in 4 weeks time with my Garmin Edge 1000.

I've bought an Anker PowerCore 5000: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerCore-Port ... +powercore

Charges at 2A and not much bigger than a Mars Bar, for just over a tenner.

pmannion9

Tangled Metal wrote:

How does 520 charge? Micro usb socket? I only ask because i use a 25 and that uses a cradle thing so can't be used and charged on the go. If 520 or other allows charging on the go then that's a good excuse to upgrade.

Yes - Micro USB - Can be charged on go via power banks as mentioned above . You should get 10 hrs use on the 520 with most of the battery saving options set..

Nick Payne

The battery on my 1000 runs out of puff around the 12 hour mark - for longer rides I use an Anker Powercore+ mini powerbank, which has a 3300mAh capacity and is about the size of a large lipstick.

Riders on really long unsupported multi-day events tend to use dynohubs along with a USB charging option to keep their various devices charged. For example, the B&M Luxos U light has a USB charging port on the handlebar switch.

remedy_7

My Garmin 500 cannot be charged on the go. It shuts down when plugged in.
Are the updates worth doing if I don't have any issues?
The only issues I have had, is once in a while, it takes forever to start up. I them load all my rides onto my laptop then delete the Garmin's memory.

Anker is the top brand at the moment for aux usb batt banks. Cheap on Amazon.
I have the lipstick 3300mAh for emergency use and a 13000mAh for touring. Which will charge phone, lights etc. The great thing about the batt banks is that you can leave them unattended when charging. Better than getting your phone or computer nicked when in a cafe. Also if you cycle off and forget it. Only £15 lost. And that is a lot cheaper and more reliable than a dynamo hub.

apreading

If your Garmin shuts down when plugged into a charger then it may be worth trying a different cable. It thinks you have plugged it into a computer, hence why it does into sync mode and shuts down. Charging only cables have one pin disconnected I think, which gets around this.

ryan_w-2

I've just done LEJOG and I had to charge my Edge 1000 after around 6/7 hours.

I turned off the backlight and Bluetooth to help, but if definitely didn't last long connected to my HRM, PM and Di2 unit.

pirnie

apreading wrote:

If your Garmin shuts down when plugged into a charger then it may be worth trying a different cable. It thinks you have plugged it into a computer, hence why it does into sync mode and shuts down. Charging only cables have one pin disconnected I think, which gets around this.

This isn't quite correct. All the cables that come with Gamrins, and most likely all the ones in your house will trigger the 500 to go into data transfer mode

To get around this you need to get a OTG cable, which will allow it to charge while recording. Don't try to use it for anything other than this though as it can screw up some devices.

As far as I know you only need to do this for the 500. The 800, 810, etc just let you charge from a power pack while recording using a standard cable

remedy_7

I just cut an old cable. Red and black for power, connected.
Green and white for data, disconnected.

The 500 charges but still cannot be used.

What does the otg cable do? I thought it was just a plug to change from usb to micro.

remedy_7

My otg for my Samsung only allows data not power.

pirnie

Remedy 7 wrote:

I just cut an old cable. Red and black for power, connected.
Green and white for data, disconnected.

The 500 charges but still cannot be used.

What does the otg cable do? I thought it was just a plug to change from usb to micro.

It's not just an adapter, it's wired up differently than a standard cable but I don't fully understand how. If you're interested look up "on the go cable" on Wikipedia.

Here's a guide of how to get a 500 set up with an external battery pack. http://www.bikeforums.net/long-distance ... rides.html

it worked with mine before I sold it

itboffin

Bluetooth will half your battery life, leave it off and unless you really need it ditch the HRM and dont have the unit on maps then you'll get the optimum battery life

remedy_7

Thanks Pirnie.

The link should get me sorted. Now to find another otg cable to butcher.
And then I can do the Tour du Mont Blanc in a day. Again. Without my Garmin dying 3 hours before the finish.

Sam Bird

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Get one of those USB charge with AA batteries, they cost 2 quid on Ebay, you place it somewhere on the top tube and it charges your Garmin as you ride. A pair of Duracell should be worth around 5 to 8 charges of the battery

Ryan_W wrote:

I'm doing LEJOG in 4 weeks time with my Garmin Edge 1000.

I've bought an Anker PowerCore 5000: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerCore-Port ... +powercore

Charges at 2A and not much bigger than a Mars Bar, for just over a tenner.

pmannion9 wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

How does 520 charge? Micro usb socket? I only ask because i use a 25 and that uses a cradle thing so can't be used and charged on the go. If 520 or other allows charging on the go then that's a good excuse to upgrade.

Yes - Micro USB - Can be charged on go via power banks as mentioned above . You should get 10 hrs use on the 520 with most of the battery saving options set..

Hi. I'm looking to buy my husband the garmin Edge 1000 but I'm worried about the battery life on longer rides. Did the Anker PowerCore you bought work for recharging your Garmin on the go? How much more battery life did that give? Thanks.

ryan_w-2

Sam Bird wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Get one of those USB charge with AA batteries, they cost 2 quid on Ebay, you place it somewhere on the top tube and it charges your Garmin as you ride. A pair of Duracell should be worth around 5 to 8 charges of the battery

Ryan_W wrote:

I'm doing LEJOG in 4 weeks time with my Garmin Edge 1000.

I've bought an Anker PowerCore 5000: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PowerCore-Port ... +powercore

Charges at 2A and not much bigger than a Mars Bar, for just over a tenner.

pmannion9 wrote:

Tangled Metal wrote:

How does 520 charge? Micro usb socket? I only ask because i use a 25 and that uses a cradle thing so can't be used and charged on the go. If 520 or other allows charging on the go then that's a good excuse to upgrade.

Yes - Micro USB - Can be charged on go via power banks as mentioned above . You should get 10 hrs use on the 520 with most of the battery saving options set..

Hi. I'm looking to buy my husband the garmin Edge 1000 but I'm worried about the battery life on longer rides. Did the Anker PowerCore you bought work for recharging your Garmin on the go? How much more battery life did that give? Thanks.

Yes it can charge on the go, and the PowerCore will charge a Garmin 1000 about 5 times. They're really good.

I just used mine when having lunch / a break to charge up the Garmin, and I also turned off bluetooth since it's not needed and saps battery life.

redvee

I did Great Weston Ride on Sunday and had my 820 on for just under 10 hours. Before I left I turned off Bluetooth and didn't use navigation but had the route showing on the map in a contrasting colour if I was a unsure of the direction but as thius was my forth time on the ride I knew the 56 mile route. The journey home started out the same but I resorted to using it to navigate but once I was through the extra miles I added to the ride home I turned off the navigation and used battery save mode and hit the power button to see how much more I had to ride to hit the century, overall 6.5 hours cycling and ten hours on time for the Garmin.

Nick Payne

I've found on rides with my 1000, with BT and WiFi disabled, I'll get about 12 hours use if I'm not navigating (i.e. don't have a course loaded and don't display the map screen at all), and about eight hours use if I'm navigating and have the map screen visible most of the time.

Recharging the unit off a powerbank while it's in use works fine. For recharging while on the go, get yourself a cable with a right-angle MicroUSB connector, or you may find (depending on the mount you use) that you can't have the cable plugged in while the unit is on its bike mount.