Garmin Edge Explore and Garmin Power Pack

[abcd efg]

I have a Garmin Edge Explore. It does a wonderful job for me when touring. But it has limited battery capacity. My unit has been replaced a couple of times by Garmin, but still it can be a bit of a stuggle, especially on very overcast days when I might need to have the screen lit for much of the day's ride.

At the suggestion from a Garmin help desk person, I bought a Garmin Charge Power Pack which fits underneath the Edge Explore to provide continuous power to the GPS. But unlike with other Garmin units, there is no direct connection for the two units. Instead, you are meant to run a small cable from one to the other, leaving it fully exposed to rain etc.

Has anyone any experience with this? Does it matter that a cable is being used to connect the two units?

Advice would be very much appreciated, as always. Thanks

Bob

 

[numbnuts]

I have a large power pack to run my Garmin, works well it's like this one
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/22410059...cFPGNUU7NuzSQHiLJgMHZ4/hAGxx|tkp:BFBM5urwlbtg

 

[abcd efg]

I have a large power pack to run my Garmin, works well it's like this one
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224100599678?hash=item342d6fc77e:g:n20AAOSwws1iqD1R&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAA4Gv0ggBzKRK+lKJJGs232LGihOIujtvM3YNdc57bBHpsNd/X7ogJplYyiERo4gjCsUo03AepqYCV2Ud89ZkygVfz2zF56lMHMfKdOC+IIfw5/HYN4JJwpuynMmBV84AwF4aBomFwe/4toA5vqAxKn0zoQc1E9nZ/2tnM2seifIhQKjOG7b9KIlS8sHTCzC03ivViP1/O+puynSWxghsox5+Lly4OMxoy5T3vi14EiwNA07DDrXwuE6beQvePO+1a5Fb1ckqQ2Tcg9J9icFPGNUU7NuzSQHiLJgMHZ4/hAGxx|tkp:BFBM5urwlbtg

Thanks. I'll do some homework. Do you do anything to protect the cable and spcket when it rains?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Are you using the entire Explore battery in a single day of touring?

 

[numbnuts]

Thanks. I'll do some homework. Do you do anything to protect the cable and spcket when it rains?

Yeah I don't go out the power pack goes in my handle bar bag as for the Garmin nothing .....so far so good

 

[abcd efg]

Are you using the entire Explore battery in a single day of touring?

Yes, at times. Sometimes I get as little as five or so hours.

 

[ianrauk]

Have you reset/revalibrated battery meter? I did a bit of investigation onto the battery power or lack of.
What I found on the Garmin forums is that when the machine leaves the factory, the battery is not calbrated correctly to the battery indicator, meaning the battery level shows an incorrect life cycle.
To remedy this you need to turn on the machine and let the battery run dead. Keep an eye on it as it will keep asking you if you want to shut the machine down. Keep it going until the machine actually dies and cannot be switched on. This will take longer then you think so plan on doing this in the morning.
Once the battery is fully drained, plug in the power lead and do a full factory reset. Make sure you power the machine back up to 100%.
This will recalibrate the battery to the battery meter/indicator.
Before I did the recalibration my Explore was indicating the battery draining pretty quickly. After recalibration the battery lasted a full day's ride easy.

Hope this might be of help.

 

[abcd efg]

Have you reset/revalibrated the battery meter? I did a bit of investigation onto the battery power or lack of.
What I found on the Garmin forums is that when the machine leaves the factory, the battery is not calbrated correctly to the battery indicator, meaning the battery level shows an incorrect life cycle.
To remedy this you need to turn on the machine and let the battery run dead. Keep an eye on it as it will keep asking you if you want to shut the machine down. Keep it going until the machine actually dies and cannot be switched on. This will take longer then you think so plan on doing this in the morning.
Once the battery is fully drained, plug in the power lead and do a full factory reset.
This will recalibrate the battery to the battery meter/indicator.
Before I did the recalibration my Explore was indicating the battery draining pretty quickly. After recalibration the battery lasted a full day's ride easy.

Hope this might be of help.

I hope as well. I'll give your suggestions a go tomorrow. Thanks for your advice.

Cheers

 

[ianrauk]

Hard reset

Pressing the Start/Stop, Lap & Power buttons simultaneously is the native procedure for a "hard" reset. After a short time the screen goes blank. Then you can release the buttons. Then the device restarts asking to enter language, metrics, time format, etc..

 

[newfhouse]

I might need to have the screen lit for much of the day's ride.

This is likely your problem.. Why not set it to light up for 15 seconds on demand? Do you really need to view the map that often?

My six year old Edge Explore runs for about ten hours if just recording and 7 if navigating. I use a curly lead and a small battery pack in my bar bag if I need to extend the duration. Water ingress to either end has never been an issue.

 

[cyberknight]

following
My explore is 18 months old and i still can leave it on for 5-6 hours including around 4 hours of riding with cadence sensor and navigation running and be on 45 -50%

 

[Dogtrousers]

My current GPS has adequate battery for my rides. But a while back, I used one that didn't. I forget the model (I think it was an Edge Explore but maybe not). Anyway, I bought a long USB cable which I ran from my rack bag, so I could power it from a power tank while riding. I did this a bit, with no ill effects but eventually I settled on a plan of recharging it every time I stopped for any appreciable time. I found one or two 30 min blasts were generally up to my requirements.

 

[abcd efg]

Thanks again. I am really grateful.

My current GPS has adequate battery for my rides. But a while back, I used one that didn't. I forget the model (I think it was an Edge Explore but maybe not). Anyway, I bought a long USB cable which I ran from my rack bag, so I could power it from a power tank while riding. I did this a bit, with no ill effects but eventually I settled on a plan of recharging it every time I stopped for any appreciable time. I found one or two 30 min blasts were generally up to my requirements.

Thanks, good advice

 

[GuyBoden]

I have my Garmin Edge plugged permanently into a Power Bank battery in my top tube bag, which has a see through top. The larger Power Bank battery lasts about a week plugged into the Garmin Edge.

This type of setup, but using a Garmin Edge.

 

[abcd efg]

I have always toured with a power pack and have actually used it when the GPS's power was getting low. My concern was how to keep the cable and socket underneath the Edge Explore dry should it rain. I ride an Airnimal Joey which doesn't have a top tube so that means the barttery pack has to go inside the bar bag. Mind you, I now have a Carrydice bag which has a lid that really covers the top of the bag so the power pack should stay dry. It is the socket underneath the Edge Explore that concerns me. There really isn't anyway to keep the cable end dry if it rains.