charging sat nav

worried123

I have an old garmin sat nav that i use constantly..recently it wasnt charging in he cigarette lighter.....they had a look at halfords - checked it wanst a fuse but they feel its the actual cigarette lighter which does feel wobbly....(will take it to toyota to be sorted).....they suggested plugging the dat nav into the usb port i my car.

My problem is that the usb port does indeed charge the sat nav but you cannot use the sat nav whilst its charging - I always had the sat nav in the cigarette lighter charging whilst using it.....once you take the cable out of the usb port it comes on...

my problem is that i have a 3 hour journey which includes motorway driving tomorrow and the sat nav isnt going to make it that long....i plug in at home nightly to recharge but it only lasts about an hour and its dead....

any suggestions please.....i cannot get the cigarette lighter in my car fixed before the important work related journey tomorrow and i am panicking. i dont know why the sat nav does not come on whilst its charging in the usb port and only comes on when i take it out...

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

greatgimpo

Disconnect just before motorway driving - check your exit needed first - then reconnect as soon as you're off the motorway.

droopsnoot

worried123 wrote: »

i dont know why the sat nav does not come on whilst its charging in the usb port and only comes on when i take it out...

It might be that it thinks it's in "connected to PC" mode when connected to USB, hence it's acting as a card reader so you can update maps or software.


I seem to recall some devices pop up a choice dialog to see if you want to set it in that mode, I'm not familiar with Garmin units but I guess you'd have noticed that if it happened.

waamo

A road atlas is pretty cheap and doesn't need charging.

takman

If you look at the route before hand then it will be fairly easy to remember how to get to the motorway and what junctions to come off at. You should only need the Sat Nav for the final step of the journey which will usually be alot less than an hour.

Ebe_Scrooge

This thread made me chuckle, I must admit. How difficult is it to look at a map beforehand, and write some notes on a piece of paper along the lines of "Take the M1 Southbound, exit at Junction 21, take the A1234 towards Somewhereville, go left at the first roundabout ......" then just use the SatNav for the last 5 or 10 miles if necessary. I really don't know how I survived when I was learning to drive 30-odd years ago. Even today I keep a road atlas in the car - if I'm somewhere I don't know, and I have to take a detour because of a road closure or something, I'm reasonably confident that it won't be out of batteries or unable to get a signal :rotfl:

worried123

thank you everyone....i do agree that a map would be best - i shall do rac route planner and write it all down...its just that it is not just one long motorway journey but lots of exits etc......i think we get used to just using modern technology and then cannot cope when we dont have it...

As suggested i will put the sat nav on near the end of my journey and perhaps pull into services to sort myself out or recharge...i just wish the darn thing would work whilst its charging in the usb port

thanks again..

AdrianC

worried123 wrote: »

i think we get used to just using modern technology and then cannot cope when we dont have it...

Bingo. We become complacent, lazy, and incompetent.

oldagetraveller

droopsnoot wrote: »

It might be that it thinks it's in "connected to PC" mode when connected to USB, hence it's acting as a card reader so you can update maps or software.


I seem to recall some devices pop up a choice dialog to see if you want to set it in that mode, I'm not familiar with Garmin units but I guess you'd have noticed that if it happened.

That'll be the reason. When my Garmin is connected to p.c. via u.s.b. it is not possible to do anything with it other than charge the battery and/or update via Garmin Express sofware. Screen message - connected via u.s.b. or something similar.
However, my TomTom is different in that it is possible to operate the device when connected to p.c.'s u.s.b..

Le_Kirk

Don't know which model you have but just saw a YouTube video that showed it plugged in and not working, unplug it, allow it to boot and then plug in and it worked. Also found this (on a US forum). It was for the Nuvi "Go to the test page (press the battery icon for 8-9 seconds), then you can plug in your USB cable, USB charger, etc. Then exit the test screen. The Nuvi will reboot then it will work normally"

unholyangel

OP if you have a good data plan on your phone, what about using that as a makeshift sat nav?