Garmin Battery Charging?

[dadayama]

I have a Nuvi 500, should the unit be hooked to power all the time or should the battery be left to drain?

Not sure on how things work now days, but i thought there was something about letting batteries run down before charging... is that still true?

[Theo]

I have a Nuvi 500, should the unit be hooked to power all the time or should the battery be left to drain?...{snip}

The N??vi 500/550 use a lithium-ion battery. This battery technology DOES NOT have the "memory" issues of the previous technology. In fact, l-ions don't seem to drain very much when not used. I've actually had mine in hibernation for several months only to find it better than half-charged when spring arrived!

It's a great, IPX7 waterproof unit for motorcycle use if you don't need all the bells and whistles.

[Lee]

I have a Nuvi 500, should the unit be hooked to power all the time or should the battery be left to drain?

When I'm not using my Nuvi 550 I store it in my desk and do not keep it connected to power. The battery has a great shelf life and like THEO said it will not develope a memory.

[dadayama]

Great! Thanks for the info...

What i meant by keeping it hooked to power was on the bike or in the car versus unplugging it until it needed charged again.

[brisco]

I've got a Nuvi 550 on my RT and have to disconnect it when not riding as it will run my battery down completely inside of a couple of days.
I have it wired direct with the Garmin 12V adapter.
Maybe my 550 or the power cable is bad...

[Lee]

What i meant by keeping it hooked to power was on the bike or in the car versus unplugging it until it needed charged again.

Not sure I understand. If it's connected to the bike or car it should be fully charged and will not need recharged the next time you use it.

[GlobalRider]

Not sure on how things work now days, but i thought there was something about letting batteries run down before charging... is that still true?

Depends on the type of battery chemistry.

As far as Li-Ion batteries go, you can read How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries and other topics on the Battery University site.

For storage (not in the device or connected to anything), they are best left in the 40% state of charge condition.

[tnevling]

I've got a Nuvi 550 on my RT and have to disconnect it when not riding as it will run my battery down completely inside of a couple of days.
I have it wired direct with the Garmin 12V adapter.
Maybe my 550 or the power cable is bad...

Oh yeah...I've had a dead battery twice when forgetting to unplug the Nuvi from my bike battery!!! Now I pull the plug first before I even power down the bike!! Learned that lesson the hard way!!

[cehlbeck]

Ahhh..the luxury of a K1200LT. No CANBUS and easily locatable switched power sources.