cant charge my GPS

[frozentundra123456]

Hi all hope someone can help with my GPS. Recently while plugged in to a car charger, my GPS shut off with a low battery warning light. The charging circuit must have been working, because the green light was on on the adapter. However, when I plug the GPS into the charger, the green light goes out and the unit will not charge.

Does this mean the battery in the GPS unit is dead? If so, is there any way to replace it? The unit appears to be sealed. It would be a shame to have to throw away an entire unit simply because the battery failed.
The unit is a Tom Tom, not sure of the model.

 

[paperwastage]

typically, the battery in your GPS doesn't last long (you place GPS on windscreen when using, direct sunlight/heat kills it. many people leave GPS in the car, battery goes through cold/heat cycles especially in the summer)

first, try to charge it using a wall outlet charger (pretty sure it uses microUSB). if it fails, then the battery is dead

find out the model number. you could try to replace the battery, but it might be more cost effective to use it solely when plugged in (yeah, it's annoying), or get a new unit with updated maps/traffic/whatever new feature is the fad nowadays

 

[frozentundra123456]

typically, the battery in your GPS doesn't last long (you place GPS on windscreen when using, direct sunlight/heat kills it. many people leave GPS in the car, battery goes through cold/heat cycles especially in the summer)

first, try to charge it using a wall outlet charger (pretty sure it uses microUSB). if it fails, then the battery is dead

find out the model number. you could try to replace the battery, but it might be more cost effective to use it solely when plugged in (yeah, it's annoying), or get a new unit with updated maps/traffic/whatever new feature is the fad nowadays

You mean plugged in to the wall or plugged in to the car adapter?

It doesn't work now when plugged in to the car adapter.

 

[Muadib]

Does it charge when you plug it into a wall outlet in your home?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Does it charge when you plug it into a wall outlet in your home?

I don't have a wall charger, actually, but I am on a trip now and could not test it anyway. It died on the road while plugged into a car charger. That was fun, since I had to pull off the road and call the hotel we were headed to for directions. I usually just charge it from my car.

 

[paperwastage]

I don't have a wall charger, actually, but I am on a trip now and could not test it anyway. It died on the road while plugged into a car charger. That was fun, since I had to pull off the road and call the hotel we were headed to for directions. I usually just charge it from my car.

then it might be the car charger not working properly, and GPS not holding enough battery capacity to work without battery

go to the hotel front desk, ask for a microUSB charger. i'm sure they have spares(from people forgetting)

 

[frozentundra123456]

then it might be the car charger not working properly, and GPS not holding enough battery capacity to work without battery

go to the hotel front desk, ask for a microUSB charger. i'm sure they have spares(from people forgetting)

Good call. It is working from the wall charger at least when plugged in.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[pontifex]

I have a Garmin GPS that will not hold a charge. it really sucks because I had a TomTom that did the same thing as well.

They just don't last for whatever reason. They both work when plugged in, it shows charging, but take it off the charger and it dies in less than 5 minutes.

 

[Muadib]

Both of you should check the support area of your manufacturer website. The TomTom site has a forum that explains how to change the battery in certain models. I'm sure Garmin does too.

 

[MrSquished]

i had a car charger go bad recently. always try the most simple thing first.

 

[shortylickens]

typically, the battery in your GPS doesn't last long (you place GPS on windscreen when using, direct sunlight/heat kills it. many people leave GPS in the car, battery goes through cold/heat cycles especially in the summer)

first, try to charge it using a wall outlet charger (pretty sure it uses microUSB). if it fails, then the battery is dead

find out the model number. you could try to replace the battery, but it might be more cost effective to use it solely when plugged in (yeah, it's annoying), or get a new unit with updated maps/traffic/whatever new feature is the fad nowadays

Yeah those things get outdated so quickly I think they should be replaced right around the time the batter dies anyway.
My mom hardly uses hers and its taking forever for that thing to go dead.
I may have to beat it with a hammer.

 

[jhansman]

I rarely use my TomTom 720 anymore, but if I do, it has to be plugged into the car charger or it simply dies within a half hour. Battery life in these devices is notoriously poor, so I just use my tablet or phone.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Well, here is the latest. I borrowed a wall charger from the motel, and the battery did in fact charge to nearly 100 percent. I was able to use it for a short drive to the airport on the battery, but I am sure in an hour or two the battery would be drained, so unless I can get it to work on a car charger I will have to replace it.

Thanks for the advice and comments.

 

[vshah]

find a car charger with 2-amp output. it's possible the one you were using capped out at 500ma and wasn't supplying enough current to the GPS.

 

[pontifex]

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-5-Inch-...rds=garmin+gps


look at the comparison chart about 1/3 down the page. all of them show 2 hours battery life. how do they get away with this when tablets and cell phones get much better battery life? seems pretty ridiculous.

 

[shortylickens]

find a car charger with 2-amp output. it's possible the one you were using capped out at 500ma and wasn't supplying enough current to the GPS.

But then why did it work fine before?

 

[vshah]

But then why did it work fine before?

as the battery aged, it got harder to charge. perhaps as the charge circuitry attempted to provide more voltage to the battery in order to charge it, in turn requesting more current from the charger, the old charger didn't have enough grunt (hence the light on the charger going out)

 

[frozentundra123456]

as the battery aged, it got harder to charge. perhaps as the charge circuitry attempted to provide more voltage to the battery in order to charge it, in turn requesting more current from the charger, the old charger didn't have enough grunt (hence the light on the charger going out)

This sounds like a pretty good explanation, either that or the adapter just went bad, but since the light is on until I plug in the gps, it doesnt seem like the charger is totally bad.

 

[Fardringle]

It's likely that the charger isn't completely "bad" but has just lost some capacity so it is getting overloaded when the GPS demands more power than it is able to provide.