Cycling UK Forum

Sweep wrote:

Syd wrote:You device is 6 years old and sounds like it has gone through a great many charge / discharge cycles. The batteries have a limited number of cycles and deteriorate as cycle count increases.

I cant find the spec on the oem battery but suspect your battery is close to or exceeded that. Time to replace.

With an etrex20.
None of this built in battery nonsense.
Batteries available everywhere from corner shop to petrol station to lidl to ikea.

True but the OP was referring to their Edge 800.

Syd wrote:

Sweep wrote:

Syd wrote:You device is 6 years old and sounds like it has gone through a great many charge / discharge cycles. The batteries have a limited number of cycles and deteriorate as cycle count increases.

I cant find the spec on the oem battery but suspect your battery is close to or exceeded that. Time to replace.

With an etrex20.
None of this built in battery nonsense.
Batteries available everywhere from corner shop to petrol station to lidl to ikea.

True but the OP was referring to their Edge 800.

Apologies.
I took the replace to be referring to the unit.
In truth probably meant the battery.
By the by I would advise against powering on the bike from a powerbank. I don't think usb connectors were engineered for that sort of use. You can of course recharge the unit from a powerbank at a stop.
I think there is every chance my etrex will outlive me.

PH wrote:For now, on longer rides, I'm using a powerbank, initially I was running off it, but I've started charging it when I stop for a break, I've got into the habit of making that the first thing I do.

Sweep wrote:You can of course recharge the unit from a powerbank at a stop.

That's what I do. Whether I'm recharging the USB battery pack off the dynamo or not.

Jonathan

mattsccm wrote:Any tips for making the life on my Garmin 800 a bit longer...

My 810 is an evolution of your 800 and I don't get much more out of mine either, never have! I've done all the recommended settings, screen brightness reduced, Bluetooth off and displaying a data screen when following a route that flips to the map screen at a navigation point, seven hours is about my limit.

I'm surprised there are not more aftermarket powerbanks aimed specifically at this issue. I have seen some in development built into stems like NRG and Picycle and the odd battery like Goobay, otherwise it's make do options like I have, the bar bag is only a compromise if I don't want take it and the top tube bag doesn't have a cable routing I'd like. I do intend to look at a smaller neater bag and use something like that Goobay battery.



FWIW I rode 8 hours last week with my Goji G10PBWP17 Powerbank plugged in midway through when I knew I may not get back with what battery I had. When I got home it had charged back up to 100%, the Powerbank itself has battery indicator with four LEDs so you know how much charge it has left; it had all four still lit. I do intend to try my USE Exposure Toro with their Mini Boost cable, that may prove to be an ideal option.

We do seem to end up in quite a lot of threads with the state of the art being intermittent recharging from a USB battery pack.

Jonathan

Sweep wrote:By the by I would advise against powering on the bike from a powerbank. I don't think usb connectors were engineered for that sort of use.

The only real issues are vibrating lose and weather proofing. The first is an irritation, particularly if you don't notice the message and it switches itself off. The second can be more serious, some get away with it for years, but if you're unlucky it can kill a Garmin.
There's no other reason not to charge while using, Garmin make their own extended battery pack to do just that.

PH wrote:

Sweep wrote:By the by I would advise against powering on the bike from a powerbank. I don't think usb connectors were engineered for that sort of use.

The only real issues are vibrating lose and weather proofing. The first is an irritation, particularly if you don't notice the message and it switches itself off. The second can be more serious, some get away with it for years, but if you're unlucky it can kill a Garmin.
There's no other reason not to charge while using, Garmin make their own extended battery pack to do just that.

My understanding is that the vibration can also damage the socket over time. So, again, dead garmin, not something I would have thought you could economically fix.
Usb connectors have always seemed somewhat delicate, needing to be treated with care even on a desk.

The newer X30 series Edges have the additional power connector in the mount. It is designed for their proprietary extra power pack, that mounts under the out front mount. It would be good if Garmin, or a 3rd party, would do the connector with a USB tail (like they have made for some models of the Virb cameras) so you could use any USB power source to charge on the go.

Cheers for the ideas. I was after things like, "turn x feature off " or set it to such and such. As I said I am not replacing it yet, nor the battery. I do use a powerpack for camping trip when i have a bar bag fitted and am away from power for several days but to put such an abomination on my best road bike is beyond ??????? I can't even think of such a word.

If only there was a modern unit that took one removable 18560 battery. I like them. Easy to carry spares, one wouldn't be too big and rechargeable. They match my front light as well. When i finish my DIY dynamo light I'll start on that. Guess I'll be in my grave first though.

mattsccm wrote:Cheers for the ideas. I was after things like, "turn x feature off " or set it to such and such. As I said I am not replacing it yet, nor the battery. I do use a powerpack for camping trip when i have a bar bag fitted and am away from power for several days but to put such an abomination on my best road bike is beyond ??????? I can't even think of such a word.

Back light & using the map screen seem to me to be the 2 biggest power consumers in my experience. Bluetooth &/or WiFi won't help either. When navigating my 1000 will switch to map as you approach a turn which can help minimise map use.

A small bag behind the steerer on top of the top tube (popular with triathletes & bikepsckers) could discretely carry a battery on a road bike.

I've used a long cable velcroed to my toptube to power a camera from a battery in my seatpack before now. Similar could be used to power a Garmin.

toontra wrote:

De Sisti wrote:

mattsccm wrote:Quite possibly my charging regime doesn't help as it is also used for daily commuting ,

I would have thought that you would have committed your daily commute to memory by now?

Some people use their devices for recording stats rather than route-following.

Absolutely, even in the car I have Waze as a navigation tool to avoid road issues

I have an Edge 800, purchased in 2012. By 2019 the battery was pretty much gone - it could run for about 5 hours, forget using the backlight!

I watched a YouTube video, bought a new battery from Amazon/eBay plus the tiny torx driver to open it up, and swapped the battery over. Piece of cake (but if you decide to do it, use a little bit of padded double-sided tape to hold the new battery in place; I didn’t, so mine rattles if I shake it).

No soldering involved, in case you’re worried; the old battery unplugs, the new one plugs straight in.

I’ve not checked how long the new battery lasts - 10 hours? But I’ve charged mine today for the first time in a fortnight, over which time I’ve covered over 120 miles and it had been on for over 8 hours; it had not, however, given me the "low battery" warning yet.

Jdsk wrote:We do seem to end up in quite a lot of threads with the state of the art being intermittent recharging from a USB battery pack.

That works well for me. On long Audax rides, I plug my Garmin into a powerbank at control points, and disconnect the powerbank when I start off again. That's sufficient to prolong the battery life well past what I need for 300km and 400km rides, even when I have navigation running and the unit on the map screen. For 600s and longer, I'm usually catching a few hours overnight sleep, so I start each day with the battery fully charged.

mattsccm wrote:I was after things like, "turn x feature off " or set it to such and such.

Jdsk wrote:Garmin: "Maximising Battery Life"
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/vivoactive3/EN-US/GUID-BAA41419-4A42-4E5F-91A9-DE301C5A817F.html

Jonathan