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Garmin Montana 600 Series Tips & Tricks

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:51 pm
by caprihorse
I noticed, that my device is sometimes not charging the battery when driving during the day. As the device is new, I was just about to complain with the dealer. But before doing it, I opened the manual and noticed the following statement on page 3:
"The device will not charge when outside the temperature range of 0 to 45 degC."

As typically everybody is sucking the device in front above the dashboard, the temperature is significantly above 45. So, be always sure, that your device is fully charged, before you come to desert, as the batteries will discharge in about 4 hours.

Or another trick would be to cool the unit down with cold air from your A/C.

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:50 pm
by Paul
Hi Capri

Great info.

My Jeep parks in the shade and the GPS is usually fully charged on the drive to the sand.

When out in the sun, everything gets hot..... so this will surely be an issue.
I wonder if blasting the gps with cold a/c air via the 'windshield defrost' vents will help.

Regards
Paul

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:16 pm
by caprihorse
pwood;12685 wrote:Hi Capri

Great info.

My Jeep parks in the shade and the GPS is usually fully charged on the drive to the sand.

When out in the sun, everything gets hot..... so this will surely be an issue.
I wonder if blasting the gps with cold a/c air via the 'windshield defrost' vents will help.

Regards
Paul
Yes, you can try it, but windshield defrost is just heating the windshield, same way as defrost for the rear window as we know it from our 'snow affected' areas. To see if the battery is charged or not (obviously during the drive), you need to see battery icon (blinking lightning) like in the attached image.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]830[/ATTACH]

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:07 pm
by Wasif Ahmed
So if it doesnt charge when the outside temp is in the 0 to 45 deg C range it will never charge as the tyemp in the UAE doesnt go below 0 deg C at any point in time !

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:15 pm
by caprihorse
Wasif Ahmed;12689 wrote:So if it doesnt charge when the outside temp is in the 0 to 45 deg C range it will never charge as the tyemp in the UAE doesnt go below 0 deg C at any point in time !
Hehe, below zero... I will test in next days, to find out the right position in my car, that the charging is back on, as the temperature on the dashboard, even with switched on A/C is above 60 :032:

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:18 pm
by caprihorse
Another tip for battery life is to discharge the battery fully and charge it again from time to time, at least after it Garmin is showing properly if the battery is charged by 100%. But do it at home, connecting to your comp or charger ...

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:32 pm
by Wasif Ahmed
One of my friends actually keeps her 276C in her fridge !!!!!

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:59 pm
by Arif
when the unit is connected to the car charger it automatically turns on and when disconnected a message is displayed external power lost turn off or remain on.so as long as it is connected to the car charger how can it run out of power.

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:17 pm
by Wasif Ahmed
LOL....good point !

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:08 pm
by caprihorse
Arif;12693 wrote:when the unit is connected to the car charger it automatically turns on and when disconnected a message is displayed external power lost turn off or remain on.so as long as it is connected to the car charger how can it run out of power.
LOL, probably you need to read previous posts about outside temperature :035:, we are talking about battery drainage when driving ...