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| Battery life over 1-2-3 years... (Read 429 times) |
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posted: 6/4/2008 at 4:33 PM |
A general question for "long time" users of Garmin, especially 305. Is anyone seeing a noticable decrease in battery life? The battery cannot be that big, and while it may not have power requirements like an iPod or a cell phone, those batteries only seem to be good for 2-4 years. Am I going to be looking at a new unit every couple of years if when it gets to where the charge only lasts a short time?
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posted: 6/5/2008 at 2:57 AM
modified: 6/5/2008 at 7:23 PM |
Toe,
I have a Forerunner 205 that just passed its third birthday in May, and there's no obvious battery degradation. I do try to charge it fully Sunday night, then Wednesday night rather than keeping in the cradle all the time.
I also have a spare FR205 that I keep on the shelf and remember to charge every 2 or 3 months -- and it isn't doing as well with battery life -- they definitely prefer to be used and constantly charged from my experience. |
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| view log Running Dad |
posted: 6/5/2008 at 5:06 PM |
first I don't own a garmin but as for your question it all depends on what the battery is made of. Lithiums vs NiCads is what you need to look at. Lithiums don' mind being charged where as nicads really should be fully discharged. Lithiums will last quite a while if taken care of. As for any electronic you just have to realize that any unit will degrade over time so the more it's used the quicker it will need to be replaced.
Hope this helps |
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posted: 6/5/2008 at 6:25 PM
modified: 6/5/2008 at 6:27 PM |
| Quote from Mr Medic on 6/5/2008 at 5:06 PM: first I don't own a garmin but as for your question it all depends on what the battery is made of. Lithiums vs NiCads is what you need to look at. Lithiums don' mind being charged where as nicads really should be fully discharged. Lithiums will last quite a while if taken care of. As for any electronic you just have to realize that any unit will degrade over time so the more it's used the quicker it will need to be replaced.
Hope this helps
Garmin's (all models 201-405 at least) use Lithium-Ion batteries. Charge and recharge. |
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posted: 6/8/2008 at 2:42 AM |
| Li-on batteries usually last for at least 400 charge cycles. Even after that, capacity is only down 20%. These are figures for the iPods, but they should be similar for any device that uses these rechargeable batteries. |
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dpar view log |
posted: 8/27/2008 at 1:02 PM |
Thread rehash.
It seems like I've been seeing a decrease in battery life. I'm pretty sure that I've had my 305 for 2 years now and am noticing that I have to recharge it a bit more often. I'm going to keep track now and see if it's just in my mind. |
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posted: 8/27/2008 at 1:31 PM |
| I have to recharge my 305 after every run, even if I turn it off. If I don't, I get the "low battery" warning the next time I turn it on. It's annoying. |
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| view log Blaine Moore |
posted: 8/27/2008 at 1:37 PM |
| Quote from Teresadfp on 8/27/2008 at 1:31 PM: I have to recharge my 305 after every run, even if I turn it off. If I don't, I get the "low battery" warning the next time I turn it on. It's annoying.
Open a support ticket with Garmin. They'll probably have you ship it to them and then they'll either ship a refurb or just replace the battery and ship it back. |
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posted: 8/28/2008 at 8:14 AM |
| Quote from Run To Win on 8/27/2008 at 1:37 PM: Open a support ticket with Garmin. They'll probably have you ship it to them and then they'll either ship a refurb or just replace the battery and ship it back.
Thanks, Blaine, I'll do that.
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posted: 8/28/2008 at 3:44 PM |
| I've had a 201 for 4 years, no problems so far. Tell ya the truth, you'll probably want the new whistles and bells before the battery craps out and replace it anyway. |
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posted: 8/28/2008 at 3:53 PM |
| Sorry I missed this thread the first time. I had to send my 2-year old 305 in to Garmin for replacement due to the battery losing charge capacity. This was after two years of heavy (read, daily, multi-hour) use, so I don't consider it terrible performance. Garmin billed me their standard fee for all out-of-warranty repairs, and I got back a (likely refurbished) unit that has been working perfectly. |
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