Garmin 520 External Portable Battery

cannondalerun

I love my Garmin 520, except for the power. With Bluetooth off and navigation on I struggle to get 4 hours. I did a 125K ride recently and it quit 2Km from home!

I am considering an external battery pack to give it a boost, if I can get another 2 hours from it I'll be happy.

Has anyone tried this?

What have you used, I am base din the UK

Regards

John

jgsi

I can get 6+ from mine.. the best idea I have is to have a slim tube backup battery pack and give it a quick charge up in your back pocket when stopped for a cuppa or even on the ride, it ''ll still collect data.

cannondalerun

What model / make is it that you are using?

jgsi

A quick Ebay search for tube battery backup... under a tenner mostly... also seen them in Asda.
You should be getting more than 4 hours though off the 520... if it is still under guarantee maybe do a fault report with Garmin Europe and get it swapped. I assuming you have it already product registered with Garmin?

RossoCorso34

Have you turned the back light off and turned the brightness down? I can get about 7 hours out of mine.

redvee

I got 10.5h out of my 820 when I did 100 miles back in July with 6.5h of that was actual riding. I did resort to battery save mode for the last 90 minutes. One thing to consider is the location of the USB port if you plan to charge when in use on the bars, my 820 has the USB port on the bottom and the outfront mount stops access when mounted.

bigmitch41

theboyfold wrote:

Have you turned the back light off and turned the brightness down? I can get about 7 hours out of mine.

This, should be getting much more than 4hrs!

Segovia999

I do have the remote control device on the bars, I expect that does not help. I could remove it for long rides.

I just checked my moving time 5Hrs:11mins, I still think this would not get me past a 100mile ride.

milemuncher1

Don't leave it on scrolling map either, get the display to one of the static screens ( I leave mine on the 'timer' screen ) keep turn by turn running, it will still flash up the impending turns, just not waste the battery so much. I switch to scrolling map if I'm in a complicated city, and I'm not familiar with the road layout, then switch back to 'timer' when I'm out of the tricky bit.

cgfw201

Got bored of this and sold mine for £175 on eBay, and picked up a Wahoo Bolt for £170.
Miles better in every way, and the battery lasts 15 hours, even when navigating.

milemuncher1

cgfw201 wrote:

Got bored of this and sold mine for £175 on eBay, and picked up a Wahoo Bolt for £170.
Miles better in every way, and the battery lasts 15 hours, even when navigating.

I have to agree. The Wahoo is miles better in every way

ZMC888

I use one of these from Decathlon: approx 60 grams - 10cm x 1.5cm

My 520 still gives about 12 hours of charge, with all backlights and brightness turned off but my old one replaced on warranty was down to about 5 hours. I do Everestings and Enduro bikepacking so need to charge 'on the fly'.

An Edge 520 doesn't need much power so a small charger is ideal. I simply use electrical tape to attach the charger to my stem or bar you can use a bit of old inner-tube to cushion it esp if you have carbon stem or bars.

Obviously a Wahoo would be preferable, I'm not a massive fan of the Garmin Edge 520, but for the sake of economics I would rather extend the working life and usability of the Edge 520 as much as possible.

Tips:
-Use the best quality USB cable you can.
-I might not use it in the wet for fear of getting water in the Garmin's micro USB port.
-Don't use on very rough roads as this can rattle the cable in/out and cause it to power on & off.