Battery charging, Garmin 590.

[Easy Rider]

I think I've seen others comment about the awful battery life on the 590 and it appears to me that it does not charge AT ALL (or very little) while actually in use.

I note the battery charge display, go for a fairly long ride with the GPS in use.....a couple of hours.....and then note that the battery charge indicator is right where it started.

It also appears that when charging externally, it must be ON to charge; if completely OFF no charging takes place.

Even when fully charged from an external source, the usable battery life seems extremely short.......something like 20 minutes or less.

Anybody have any other information about this ?

[GearHd]

I don't know much about the 590 or the RT but our Zumo 660 puts a lightning bolt in the battery icon when it's charging. Does yours do that? Our 660 can be nearly dead from being off the mount but after a short ride it'll be fully charged.

My Montana is the same on my Triumph.

[DGoebel]

You will want to contact Garmin Support for assistance.
1-800-800-1020

Or check this thread, dude had somewhat the same issue,
http://outsider-adventure.blogspot.c...ttery-fix.html

[JayBros]

When I first got my 590 I used it for just a short while, couple of weeks or so, and then every time I shut off the Spyder as part of the GPS shut down I got a low battery warning. I called Garmin and they told me to charge the battery overnight by plugging the GPS into my computer. I did so twice and the battery would not register more than about 3/4 charged. Garmin replaced the battery under warranty.

[Easy Rider]

Zumo 660 puts a lightning bolt in the battery icon when it's charging. Does yours do that?

Yes.....when OFF the mount and plugged in.

I haven't noticed when ON the mount......but it powers up and works indefinitely on the mount.

[Easy Rider]

Thanks guys.
Now I have two good possibilities.
Alas, the Garmin is in the shop with the Spyder right now.

[Bfromla]

I know my 660 prefers only charges get on the dock, one mounted on bike or the spare for the car I use when I want to charge for a hike. If battery door is off to try charge with USB it fusses & tries to talk with computer. Lil annoying but I found fix works for me.
Also on subject. If you have a memory card in your unit, go ahead & export your favorites (saved locations). Mine had a glitch on last update attemp & my garmin express backup failed
45+ locations most out of state & no address just a GPS pin.
customer service could not help & we thought all were lost. Somehow couple weeks later it glitched again & "new user data" was found turned out to be my missing info I verified & saved, exported got multiple back ups now

[BitSlayer]

This might have been mentioned, but keep in mind the 590 has to "off" states. A simple push of the power button will put it in sleep mode. If you hold the button down, it will prompt you asking if you really want to power the unit off.

[Easy Rider]

This might have been mentioned, but keep in mind the 590 has to "off" states. A simple push of the power button will put it in sleep mode. If you hold the button down, it will prompt you asking if you really want to power the unit off.

Good reminder......because that isn't obvious just from using it.

My old Garmins would hold a charge for months if really OFF.
This 590 doesn't seem to last even for hours.

Will try the connector "fix" when I get it back in a couple of days.