zumo 340lm

[Trekker]

this is in use on my motorbike ,it is 11 years old and always performed well/

Now keeps saying BATTERY low and I believe the charging unit is working properly

Could it be it needs a new battery due to age ?

anyone any knowledge please

TIA

Trekker

[jfheath]

Hi

I don't know the 340 series, but I have just taken a quick look at the manual.

It doesn't look as though the battery is accessible without unscrewing the body - but the unit itself has 3 power sources. The battery itself, the bike cradle - 2 pins on the back which mate with 2 pins on the cradle, and the USB / car adapter.

If power from the USB does not charge the battery and power from the bike cradle does not charge the battery, but both provide sufficient power to keep it working when in the car/on the bike - then either the battery is faulty (after 11 years it is distinctly possible), or the charging / power circuitry has packed in - the electronics that allows the unit to be in use even though it is charging.

I don't know of a way to know which it is. If it was mine, I'd take a look inside and see what battery replacement you need, and then get one from Garmin - to ensure you don't get a dodgy one.


Do you ride a motorbike using the USB connector, or is it powered through the cradle ? The USB connector on the bike will be prone to too much vibration and they tend to fail - much sooner than 11 years though - which is why they use a different cradle for a motorcycle.

[adstar]

I use a Zumo 340 in a cradle on my Honda XL600LM handlebar.
I had the same problem as you.
For a long time I thought either a faulty battery or intermittent power supply due to a faulty wire or power pack.
After lots of playing around it turns out that the two pins on the cradle were not being pressed hard enough onto the connectors on the unit. I reckon this was due to many years of vibration from the old thumper engine causing wear on where the unit slots onto the cradle. I put a thin line of superglue along the forward edge of the lower cradle/unit flange in order to push the unit a little closer to the pins, plus I cleaned the pins as they had got blackened (by tiny sparks?). The problem was solved.

[finerone]

Given it's 11 years old, you're almost certainly looking at a battery that's well past its lifespan. Battery's probably worn out and won't hold charge anymore.

[Mzokk]

I have a little 340lm and a 390lm here is a how to replace screen which would also be useful if you wanted to change the battery.

I have two of the little Garmin 3XX series Satnav's (a 340LM and 390LM) that I use on my old R1150GS. The 390LM gets the bulk of the use and has been fine for many years I inherited it in 2016 as it came with a 2014 Kawasaki 1000SX that I bought. I bought the 340LM as a backup. Anyhow about a year ago it stopped reading the micro SD card in the unit and I was out last Friday around the Glens of Antrim and it did this.

IMG_20240312_144913412_HDR.jpg (134.94 KiB) Viewed 545 times

Just a plain white screen.

Anyhow when I got it home I connected the unit to the computer and it was recognised by Garmin Express and Basecamp and continued to log the route I'd taken. So I thought I'd open it up. When I did I found that the ribbon cable to the Micro SD card slot had become dislodged so I put it back in its socket and inserted an SD card and connected the unit to the computer again and low and behold the SD card slot was working again. So do I have a go at replacing the screen? They are available for £25 delivered from Ebay so I thought that I'd give it a shot. The new screen arrived and I opened up the unit again. A T5 torx bit is required and there are 10 screws securing the rear of the unit.

IMG_20240312_144729661.jpg (134.32 KiB) Viewed 545 times

The SD ribbon cable had previously been put back in its socket only the screen ribbon holds the front of the unit to the rear of the unit when the case screws have been removed. (to change the battery I doubt you'd have to remove the ribbon cable from the screen, as you could just fold the screen half of the case out to gain access to the battery and its connector..)

IMG_20240312_145118959_HDR.jpg (127.59 KiB) Viewed 545 times

Be careful when removing the white ribbon cable security tab it can become dislodged and is fragile and brittle.

IMG_20240312_145251667_HDR.jpg (138.53 KiB) Viewed 545 times

Front of the unit the display is retained using 8 T5 torx screws.

IMG_20240312_145306896.jpg (154.51 KiB) Viewed 545 times

Checking that the two screens match.

IMG_20240312_145712631.jpg (127.15 KiB) Viewed 545 times

As they say reassembly is the reverse of disassembly again be careful with the display ribbon securing tab as it is fragile.

Moment of truth was it just the screen??

IMG_20240312_200305927_HDR.jpg (173.09 KiB) Viewed 545 times

390LM on the Left and 340LM on the right. Proof of the pudding will be it wobbling about on the Migsel Mount on the R1150GS........which does have a particularly wobbly cockpit

The 3xx garmins are my favourites no nonsense sat nav’s. In many ways (Actual Navigation!!) I prefer them to the XT on my Africa twin. They are pretty much WYSIWYG when working with Basecamp routes when the basecamp and 3XX settings match. I would imagine its because the algorithm for these devices and basecamp were conceived at about the same time. Great little units well worth saving IMHO particularly as they use NTU mapping the same as the current XT and XT2.

The new screen was put on a year ago and is still functioning great.

[raesewell]

I think after 11 years you have probably had more than your monies worth out of it. Time to unlock the wallet

[Mzokk]

I think after 11 years you have probably had more than your monies worth out of it. Time to unlock the wallet

Absolutely:D but if more people were using these rather than XT's or XT2's fewer would be going round in circles wondering why

[raesewell]

We all travel in circles, you go out for however long and you always end up back home, it's the way of the world.

[jfheath]

I reckon that the 590 was the last most reliable and predictable satnav that Garmin have produced. I believe that the 390 was a variation of the 590 ? I may be wrong about that.

[Mzokk]

Yes, the 390 and 590 are of the same era. The 590 has a larger screen and the ability to process traffic data which the 390 does not. The 390 has the ability to connect to your telephone for calls and could connect to Garmins proprietary air tyre pressure monitoring caps. The 340 is a cut down 390 and only has navigation features and is none the worse for that. These were the first Nav's I moved onto from a very old Streetpilot 2610 which I had since 2004. I'm not sure if the processing hardware is the same in the 590 and 390/340 but the routing logic is likely the same.

The 3XX units have a couple of advantages even today. They use NTU Garmin Mapping which is still current and routing is WYSIWYG when used with Basecamp mirroring the settings on the unit. The routing algorithm still searches for fastest time not fastest roads. So in use when navigating routes there is nothing to compensate for or make allowances for which makes route design easy.

I've gotten used to my XT now and know how to compensate for its "Foibles" due the the hard work of folk like yourself, but for pure navigation it pains me to say that these old 3XX units are better (in my view) than the XT. No doubt the 590 falls into the same category in terms of ease of use.

One thing I will say is that the Garmin Hardware is well made. In addition to the Zumo 390 and 340. I have a BMW NAV IV a BMW R1200RT came with that and my first NAV a Streetpilot 2610 all still function perfectly. (Note to self....stop hoarding )