Lithium Batteries Still Wont Work In 60csx After V.2.70

[Didjerrydo]

Whatever the change Garmin has made concerning "lithium ion" or lithium cells, in its new firmware update v.2.70 for the 60CSx units, mine still won't operate properly with Eveready Lithium AA batteries.

What happens in my unit is that the unit comes on to the welcome screen for a moment, then just slowly fades out and the unit goes off.

What does this "improvement" actually mean?

[+rjb43nh]

I just tried the Energizer lithium AA (these are NOT lithium-ion) in my 60CSX and they do work. However, you may have to do a little "magic" to make them work properly.

 

Out of the package the lithium AA batteries have a voltage of about 1.78V. This drops very quickly with use to about 1.58V (alkalines are about 1.56V new). If you put new lithium batteries in your 60CSx they may give the problems others have described because of the higher initial voltage. I first put the new lithium AA batteries in a flashlight with an incandecent bulb (not an LED flashlight) and turned it on for 1 minute. What this does is put a reasonable load on the batteries to discharge them just enough to get the voltage down to the voltage level they will be for rest of their useful life. After just 1 minute the lithium battery voltage dropped to about 1.58 volts and still had essentially 100% of their capacity.

 

Now I turned on my 60CSX with the NiMh batteries in it and, in setup, selected "lithium ion" for the battery type. What will happen now is the battery gauge is recalibrated to indicate the charge condition of the lithium cells (which is higher than the 1.2V-1.4V NiMh) and will show zero bars and perhaps give a "battery low" warning. Turn the GPS off, replace the NiMh batteries with the lithium and the unit will power up normally and the battery gauge will indicate 4 bars(full).

 

Lithium AAs will work well at low temps but the limiting factor in a GPS will probably be the LCD screen as the liquid in the screen gets more and more viscous as the temps drop. Where the lithiums may work best are as a backup battery set because of the extremely low self-discharge rate. NiMh batteries will discharge much faster even just sitting in your pack.

[+photomaniac]

I just tried the Energizer lithium AA (these are NOT lithium-ion) in my 60CSX and they do work. However, you may have to do a little "magic" to make them work properly.

 

Out of the package the lithium AA batteries have a voltage of about 1.78V. This drops very quickly with use to about 1.58V (alkalines are about 1.56V new). If you put new lithium batteries in your 60CSx they may give the problems others have described because of the higher initial voltage. I first put the new lithium AA batteries in a flashlight with an incandecent bulb (not an LED flashlight) and turned it on for 1 minute. What this does is put a reasonable load on the batteries to discharge them just enough to get the voltage down to the voltage level they will be for rest of their useful life. After just 1 minute the lithium battery voltage dropped to about 1.58 volts and still had essentially 100% of their capacity.

 

Now I turned on my 60CSX with the NiMh batteries in it and, in setup, selected "lithium ion" for the battery type. What will happen now is the battery gauge is recalibrated to indicate the charge condition of the lithium cells (which is higher than the 1.2V-1.4V NiMh) and will show zero bars and perhaps give a "battery low" warning. Turn the GPS off, replace the NiMh batteries with the lithium and the unit will power up normally and the battery gauge will indicate 4 bars(full).

 

Lithium AAs will work well at low temps but the limiting factor in a GPS will probably be the LCD screen as the liquid in the screen gets more and more viscous as the temps drop. Where the lithiums may work best are as a backup battery set because of the extremely low self-discharge rate. NiMh batteries will discharge much faster even just sitting in your pack.

I have had the same exact trouble with my 60csx and this sounds like a very good explanation of the trouble except that I was using Energizer alkaline batteries. I thought it was caused by the firmware or software (topo canada). It happened last month while I was in Canada about 6 or 7 times and hasn't happened since.

Edited August 7, 2006 by photomaniac