Any idea why GPS would behave differently on bike - power-wise?

Erci

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I have a switched 12v outlet on my bike. I use the same charger cable for my Garmin in the car and on the bike.

When I shut the car off, I immediately get a prompt on GPS which tells me the power has been lost and it says it will automatically turn off in few seconds.

When I shut the bike off.. NOTHING.. I just see that power is lost (battery indicator goes from "charging" to just showing how much it has in reserve.

There's gotta be something different between car outlet and bike outlet. Any thoughts what it could be?
 

FinalImpact

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I have a switched 12v outlet on my bike. I use the same charger cable for my Garmin in the car and on the bike.

When I shut the car off, I immediately get a prompt on GPS which tells me the power has been lost and it says it will automatically turn off in few seconds.

When I shut the bike off.. NOTHING.. I just see that power is lost (battery indicator goes from "charging" to just showing how much it has in reserve.

There's gotta be something different between car outlet and bike outlet. Any thoughts what it could be?

Have you have connected a DMM to ports to see what's really going on? Perhaps it hinges on the actual voltage at the outlet. i.e. car maintains 13.7v or better all the time and the bike before being shut off is something like 12.7v. The charging logic in the Garmin may perceive these subtle differences as if the bike is OFF even though tho its running! :Flip:
 

motojoe122

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I get the prompt for mine in the truck and the bike...I know the batt in the GPS went bad long ago. Mine is not on a switch and is straight to the battery.
 

Erci

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Not sure what you are asking, Neil. I have a different unit than Eric, but I do use mine in the truck and bike, as well.

I think that's what Neil meant (do you use same unit in your truck and on your bike).. so that's odd.

I've used 2 different GPS units (2455 and 1390) in the car and on the bike. Both exhibit the same behavior. Auto-off in car, nothing on bike.

I remember seeing same *issue* back when I had FZ6. It's really no big deal, but I just thought it was strange.

FinalImpact is probably right about the voltage playing the difference in how Garmin reacts. Oh well.. I just have to remember to shut the GPS off if I want to keep the GPS battery from draining after I shut the bike off.
 

iSteve

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Next time you should try unplugging the GPS before you shut off your bike just to see what happens. Could be a little voltage leak getting through your switch or maybe a polarity problem. Just guessing.
 
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