Zumo User Forums

Thanks I'll try and get hold of Garmin on Monday.

I noticed that my XT runs on the internal battery a lot then switches to charging. I think it is set to do that otherwise the battery would never get used which is not good for it. This could be why yours doesn’t charge up from the off. I know when it changes power sources as the screen goes dark momentarily and then the charge symbol appears. I thought it was a problem at first until I realised what it was doing. Of course sometimes it says it is powering off but usually after a big bump!

@Fourbears - I know what you mean, but this is not(!) normal when using the Zumo XT in the cradle!

When it's in the cradle and external power is used, it always runs on external power! It powers on, when you switch on external power (start your bike) and it goes, after the usual update check, into standby (not off!) when you stop the engine! There are no 'battery cycles' between - if your Zumo XT goes to battery use while the bike is running, you have a problem with the connections!

Some users on the german Naviboard have found, that even with the new power cable there are sometimes problems with the connection to the Zumo XT - one of the pins might be a little bit too short and if you have a bump or so, it loses connection to the Zumo XTs contacts!

There is even a way to check, if that could be your problem - take a slice of paper and lay it on the two rubber lines of the connector - pull it slightly down and it should stop on each of the two contacts - if a pin doesn't touch the paper, it might be a bit too short! They have found out that glueing a thin foam tape on the back side of the connections on the power lead will give more pressure to the Zumo contacts when the power lead is screwed into the cradle!

Fourbears wrote: ↑Sun May 15, 2022 9:00 am I noticed that my XT runs on the internal battery a lot then switches to charging.

Mine does not do that. When it is in the cradle and the bike is running the GPS is powered from the bike 100% of the time.

The connector/cradle issue is very visible on mine. When the connector is position in the face of the cradle you can see that the connector is not as thick as the face of the cradle. There isn't anything at the wire end of the connector to hold it in place so it is free to move a back until it hits the back of the cradle. It is a shame that Garmin engineers didn't recognize this as a potential problem during the design phase.

Spoke to Garmin, they are sending out one of the new cables F.O.C

I have exactly this problem with my XT on my Tiger 900. I have received four new mounts from Garmin and they even replaced my XT in case it was a hardware problem in the unit. Using the brand new XT this week on a touring trip and once again it has also shut down to battery mode randomly and the screen becomes too dull to view in daylight. The only solution is to stop, switch off the bike, switch off the XT, dismount and remount the XT then restart the engine. The XT then powers up again as normal.
There is no pattern to this issue and this week it worked perfectly for two days riding then the problem came back on day three and four.

All wiring installed by the Triumph dealer, and replaced with a new mount and wiring by the same dealer. They fit GPS units to all bikes in their range so nothing unusual with the Tiger 900.
Watching this forum for a solution as I don’t trust the XT and use a Beeline Moto as a backup for big trips. I will try the foam piece behind the pins as I’m also convinced it’s a tiny connection problem between the pins and the unit that is difficult to replicate in the workshop.

CeeBeeA wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 4:28 pm I have exactly this problem with my XT on my Tiger 900. I have received four new mounts from Garmin and they even replaced my XT in case it was a hardware problem in the unit. Using the brand new XT this week on a touring trip and once again it has also shut down to battery mode randomly and the screen becomes too dull to view in daylight. The only solution is to stop, switch off the bike, switch off the XT, dismount and remount the XT then restart the engine. The XT then powers up again as normal.
There is no pattern to this issue and this week it worked perfectly for two days riding then the problem came back on day three and four.

All wiring installed by the Triumph dealer, and replaced with a new mount and wiring by the same dealer. They fit GPS units to all bikes in their range so nothing unusual with the Tiger 900.
Watching this forum for a solution as I don’t trust the XT and use a Beeline Moto as a backup for big trips. I will try the foam piece behind the pins as I’m also convinced it’s a tiny connection problem between the pins and the unit that is difficult to replicate in the workshop.

I must be lucky, my XT is over 2 years old and now out of warranty, I am running the original cable set up with no issues whatsoever. I did contact Garmin and told a little white lie, before it ran out of warranty! - they sent me the latest cable which I will fit if the original goes west.

CeeBeeA wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 4:28 pm All wiring installed by the Triumph dealer, and replaced with a new mount and wiring by the same dealer. They fit GPS units to all bikes in their range so nothing unusual with the Tiger 900.
Watching this forum for a solution as I don’t trust the XT and use a Beeline Moto as a backup for big trips. I will try the foam piece behind the pins as I’m also convinced it’s a tiny connection problem between the pins and the unit that is difficult to replicate in the workshop.

How is the GPS physically connected to the bikes power system?
Have you confirmed that the fault is not a loose or bad connection at that end?

The power lead was installed by the Triumph dealer to a switched supply and the mount to an Evotech mount above the TFT screen. They have installed GPS wiring for all their different models and are well experienced in fitting them to the Tiger 800/900/1200 ranges.
When I received the new replacement power lead and mount from Garmin I paid for the dealer to replace the original mount and wiring and had exactly the same issue.
After a thorough check-over of the wiring I concluded the problem could only lie with the XT itself and Garmin offered to replace it with a new one. Once again on the this year's first big trip in the past 10 days I have once again had the same problems with the replacement XT.