I am venting about a dead XT, again.

[Stu]

I was led to believe that the long long press was like removing the battery

[jfheath]

My XT died again today, mid day on day 5 of a 7 day trip. The scenario is the similar to the last time. I stopped to visit a historic sight. I left the XT mounted and let it go to sleep as I normally do. When I returned to the bike about a half hour later the XT was dead. It will not start.

I've just re-read the original post, and a memory popped into my head. So I scanned through to see if I, or anyone else, had already made this comment. It seems not, but apologies in advance if I have missed it.

Do you have an alarm fitted to your bike ?

The reason that I ask is that I used to have an alarm fitted. I took it off, because within a week, it had driven me mad (so, I do have an excuse). One of its characteristics was that it would set itself about a 30secs to a minute after the ignition had been turned off. To show that the bike alarm was now active, it would flash the indicator lights twice.

If I had left the bike in the garage, I'd often leave the satnav on the bike. It turned off shortly after losing power and all wood be Ok. Before I got the new bike and had a £300 alarm fitted.

After that, the new bike did the same thing - except it turned out that the Zumo was always dead next day. I just never noticed it as it would spring into life and recharge on the bike's power. 15 secs ir so after turning iff the ignition, the Zumo would turn off. A minute or so after losing the power, the alarm would flash the indicators, and that would give a pulse of power for the Zumo to start up again. By the time it had started up properly, there was no external power so it assumed that it was on battery power and never turned off again. Whether this is because i had turned off automatic shut down, or whether it was due to something else - like an active route still running (I never put my home as the final destination).

But the big question is - do you have something like an alarm or a camera that might cause a brief power surge to turn the Zumo on again ?

[Peobody]

But the big question is - do you have something like an alarm or a camera that might cause a brief power surge to turn the Zumo on again ?

No. My problem is very different. Both times it has happened I have been riding for some hours and then stopped (once for lunch, the other at a tourist attraction), letting the XT go to sleep. The XT then wouldn't wake up until an overnight on an AC wall charger.

I have received a new style cable from Garmin. That cable is now installed. I do not believe that the problem is related to the cable but I figured it was a good excuse to get one. I have ridden many thousands of miles between the two occurrance of this issue so don't hold your breath waiting to hear if the new cable solves the issue. Who know when, or if, it will happen again. The first occurance I thought was related to heat but the second one was definitely not. Otherwise, the conditions were no different than the dozens of other times that I have made a stop during the day and let the XT go to sleep. FWIW, the XT always comes into the motel at night to be prepared for the next days ride. I shut it down for the night once that is done.

[jfheath]

Dislodged contact pins failing to keep the unit charged ? You need a picture in your mind of a lesser spotted jfheath, grabbing hold of stands of newly harvested corn or wheat. I haven't got a clue.

[Peobody]

Dislodged contact pins failing to keep the unit charged ? You need a picture in your mind of a lesser spotted jfheath, grabbing hold of stands of newly harvested corn or wheat. I haven't got a clue.

Understood. I didn't expect any answers because there aren't any clues to the problem. You guys are great listeners though so I posted to vent some frustration, and to make a record of the issue.

[Jim1348]

...The XT was plugged into an AC wall charger overnite (about 10 hours). In the morning it required a longer then normal press for it to start up but it started like a wake-up, not a cold boot...

I just wanted to say thank you for posting that.

This afternoon I took my Garmin Zumo XT off the charger and it went black. I left it on the charger in the house for hours, but the screen was still not lit up. So, I checked here, saw the "longer than normal press for it to start up" and it appears to be working again!

[jfheath]

Further to my previous battery 'failure' excursion, I noticed something a few days ago that surprised me. I have been working with the XTplugged into the computer or the 2A wall socket to keep the unit alive.

In the wall socket is OK.

In the computer - not allowing it to go into file transfer mode - the screen stays bright and it will stay on like that forever - I thought.
But when I unplugged the XT to work with it in my hand, it died. The battery was flat.

It seems that the computer was putting out almost about enough power the XT and keep the screen 100% bright, but in fact the XT was taking slightly more power than the computer was providing. So very very slowly, the XT was using small amounts of power from the battery - and not charging it. As soon as I disconnected from the computer, the battery didn't have enough left to power the Zumo by itself.

And I think that may have been behind what happened in my earlier post.

[Jim1348]

...It seems that the computer was putting out almost about enough power the XT and keep the screen 100% bright, but in fact the XT was taking slightly more power than the computer was providing. So very very slowly, the XT was using small amounts of power from the battery - and not charging it. As soon as I disconnected from the computer, the battery didn't have enough left to power the Zumo by itself...

I had a situation years ago with a Slacker Radio. The family and I caravanned with a number of other family members from Minnesota to Missouri for vacation (holiday). I had the Slacker Radio powered by a 12 volt charger with a USB port playing in our van. The Slacker radio powered up and played for hours, but then stopped. I found out the USB charger was rated at 500 mAh, but the Slacker Radio needed a minimum of 600 mAh to charge!

Slacker Radio.jpg (28.66 KiB) Viewed 989 times

[twowheelstom]

Understood. I didn't expect any answers because there aren't any clues to the problem. You guys are great listeners though so I posted to vent some frustration, and to make a record of the issue.

I do have a question though Peobody, when you ran your XT power cable hookup to bike power, did you connect to 'an always-on hot lead or directly to the bike battery terminals?' -or- did you connect to a 'switched key on lead that XT only gets bike power when key-on'? I'm just wondering.

[Peobody]

I do have a question though Peobody, when you ran your XT power cable hookup to bike power, did you connect to 'an always-on hot lead or directly to the bike battery terminals?' -or- did you connect to a 'switched key on lead that XT only gets bike power when key-on'? I'm just wondering.

I have the XT power cable connected to an auxiliary connection on the fuse block. It gets power when the ignition key is in the ON or AUX position as well as when the bike is running. No power when the ignition key is in the OFF or LOCK position.