Garmins and the cold

[Jon in Sweden]

Has anyone had battery issues with Garmins in the cold?

I did have a ride last year at minus 16c where it just shut down. That was fair enough, I felt.

However, today, I was out at a toasty minus 3c and went out for 2.5hrs starting at 52% battery on my Edge 530. In summer, I'll get 14hrs out of a charge, no problem.

After 1hr 45m, it got to below 10% and went into sleep mode. It only lasted about 15 minutes after that.

Should I be carrying it my pocket instead? Leave fully charged regardless of length of ride? Minus 3c isn't much - I've got minus 8c in prospect for the commute tomorrow.

[Jezrant]

Has anyone had battery issues with Garmins in the cold?

I did have a ride last year at minus 16c where it just shut down. That was fair enough, I felt.

However, today, I was out at a toasty minus 3c and went out for 2.5hrs starting at 52% battery on my Edge 530. In summer, I'll get 14hrs out of a charge, no problem.

After 1hr 45m, it got to below 10% and went into sleep mode. It only lasted about 15 minutes after that.

Should I be carrying it my pocket instead? Leave fully charged regardless of length of ride? Minus 3c isn't much - I've got minus 8c in prospect for the commute tomorrow.

It needs some thermals from Primark. Winter mountaineers carry their Garmins under their jackets rather than in their rucksacks.

[cycleruk]

Garmin Edge 830 specification = Operating temperature: -20°C to +55°C
No doubt that battery performance is much reduced at low temperatures.

[SimonCelsa]

I went out early this morning (before 6 a.m) on a 50 mile blast at temperatures between freezing and minus 2.

My Garmin Edge 130 (bought last year 2nd hand) lasted about 2.5 hours from fully charged . During the summer I was regularly getting 4 - 5 hours with a couple of bars left.

I've just ordered a new LIPO battery off eBay (300mAh as opposed to the original 180mAh), and some cheap mobile phone repair tools and will try and replace the battery myself. I don't really need a Garmin for local routes as I know most of the roads up here in the Highlands (there's not really that many) but it sometimes comes in handy so will try and get it back to full vigour if practical.

[Jdsk]

Has anyone had battery issues with Garmins in the cold?

I did have a ride last year at minus 16c where it just shut down. That was fair enough, I felt.

However, today, I was out at a toasty minus 3c and went out for 2.5hrs starting at 52% battery on my Edge 530. In summer, I'll get 14hrs out of a charge, no problem.

After 1hr 45m, it got to below 10% and went into sleep mode. It only lasted about 15 minutes after that.

Should I be carrying it my pocket instead? Leave fully charged regardless of length of ride? Minus 3c isn't much - I've got minus 8c in prospect for the commute tomorrow.

Spec on the Edge 530 is:

Operating temperature range: From -20º to 60ºC
Charging temperature range: From 0º to 45ºC
https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp ... 8A976.html

I'd keep it an internal pocket. (Memories of camera batteries!)

Jonathan

[rareposter]

Mine pops up a warning to say that it's too cold to use the backlight properly - presumably a battery saving measure. I've only seen it a couple of times on frosty mornings recently.

As with most electronic things, they get sluggish if the temperature really drops. Worth keeping it in a pocket if it's really cold.

[JohnR]

I'm unlikely to be out cycling when the temperature gets close to zero C (two layers of gloves won't stop my hands freezing) but my first thought for the Garmin is to give it one of the gel cases (eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/TUFF-LUV-Silic ... B07V6KQZNJ) which should slightly reduce the wind chill on the device.

[TrevA]

Mine is year old 520 Plus. Yesterday I did a 3 hour ride in temps between 0 and 3. It only used 25% of battery which is about what I would expect.

[plancashire]

Could you run it from a dynamo / USB charger or a power bank while riding? You can make a power bank from Eneloop cells, which have better than average cold performance. I have a gadget from Hama with space for two AA cells. You can charge them in it USB), use it as a weak torch or as a power bank (also USB). It is useful in the dark when I use the dynamo for lighting. If it were really cold, I suppose you could put the cells inside your jacket and use a longer USB cable to the navi.

[tim-b]

Batteries perform worse as the temperature drops to freezing point, we all know that, but below freezing is a big step.
Capacity, drain and recharging are all effected and, consequently, external power sources won't be as useful

[Jon in Sweden]

Thanks for all the replies folks.

It was only around minus 4c this morning and the Garmin behaved itself.

I had no issues with rides to minus 10-12c last year.

I think that I just need to make sure I have a full charge every time I go out and maybe pocket it when it's below minus 5-8c

[maanderx]

I'm unlikely to be out cycling when the temperature gets close to zero C (two layers of gloves won't stop my hands freezing) but my first thought for the Garmin is to give it one of the gel cases (eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/TUFF-LUV-Silic ... B07V6KQZNJ) which should slightly reduce the wind chill on the device.

I have one of those and it didn't appear to prevent my garmin's power reserve dropping
more rapidly in colder temperatures than it normally would have done in warmer weather.

De Sisti

[rareposter]

Could you run it from a dynamo / USB charger or a power bank while riding?

The battery won't charge at below zero - it's a battery protection system.

I've had it with lights after super cold night rides.

[plancashire]

Could you run it from a dynamo / USB charger or a power bank while riding?

The battery won't charge at below zero - it's a battery protection system.

I've had it with lights after super cold night rides.

Some devices will run directly from an external power source, not using or charging the internal battery as they do so. Does the Garmin do this?

[Psamathe]

Thanks for all the replies folks.

It was only around minus 4c this morning and the Garmin behaved itself.

I had no issues with rides to minus 10-12c last year.

I think that I just need to make sure I have a full charge every time I go out and maybe pocket it when it's below minus 5-8c

Can you estimate how many charge cycles the battery has gone through e.g. <x> rides per year, 3 years old, average ride 3 hrs and average battery 25% per ride ...

That will give you some idea how worn the battery has got through wear all such batteries suffer.

In past Garmin offered (maybe still do) a fixed price repair which is a swap-out. Unfortunately they don't routinely replace the batteries in such units so you might get a virtually new battery in the swap-out or you might get an older battery (which is the reason I've never used the service).

But as others have said, also my experience that battery performance in all devices using such batteries, gets a ;lot worse at lower temperatures - so quite possible that yours if just suffering the cold and nothing to do with Garmin. (or combination of age/wear and temperature).

Ian