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Why did my new 60CSX batteries die so fast?


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Guys,

Granted, I was using the compass a good bit, and the backlight was just set to factory default, meaning I had not messed with it. Basically, the backlight was set from the factory, to come on for a few seconds, each time a button is hit, I THINK. Regardless, the backlight setting was left alone, and I have NOT messed with it, so I'm concluding that it is set to the factory default.

 

ANYHOW, I realize the above, causes the batteries to run down faster, but HOW MUCH FASTER is my question?

I mean, yesterday, I took my 60CSx out for the first time, and the batteries died after, approximately 4-5 hours use, and that is an over-assumption guys. I'm betting it was actually less time that that, but let's just say 5 hrs to be safe.

Now I know I read in the manual, that the average battery life, is 18hrs!

Did the compass and backlight (which comes on from time to time, and was NOT running constantly) run the batteries down THAT fast?????

I also had the unit on factory default, as far as the button beep setup goes. (I recall the manual says that button-beeps and other audibles eat batteries too).

Should I turn all audibles off? I don't NEED beeping buttons, but it's nice to hear the confirmation of a button being pushed, ya know?

 

Let me go ahead and say I had just bought the new Panasonic AA alkaline batteries the day before, and they were fresh, and NOT outdated. I think the package said they were good until the year 2010 or something?? I dunno, but I know I remember thinking they had a far-off expiration date.

 

Also, the temperature outside was probably 60 degrees, and not much less. MAYBE 55 at the least.

 

The ONLY other thing I can think of, is when I got home about 4pm after hanging my deer stands yesterday, I left the GPS out in my truck, until maybe 9pm last night. I went outside, and got the GPS and brought it back inside, so it would not stay outside all night. It probably sat in 50 degree weather, until 9pm. Not to bad, right?

 

I doubt the temps had anything to do with my batteries running down. What do you guys think?

 

Is this normal, or did my batteries run down TOO fast? Unless the manual is WAY exaggerated, then I either had bad batteries, or that dang compass and backlight pull a TON (and I mean a TON!) of juice!!!

 

I'm beginning to wonder if I should turn off all audibles, turn off the compass, and turn off the backlight completely (can you do this?), unless I absolutely need them for any reason.

What do you guys do???

 

Thanks for any help guys.

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I believe 18 hrs is average with backlight off, compass off, and batt. saver on.

 

 

Yes, that is EXACTLY what I conveyed above, and I'm fully aware of this. I'm not complaining that I didn't get 18hrs. I'm a little shocked that I got 5 hrs, which would mean the compass/etc took up 13 whole hrs of run time???? A little hard for me to believe, but then again, maybe it's true??? Dunno, would like to hear from others.

I plan on doing a test, with all of the above, OFF, to see if I get anywhere NEAR 18 hrs. I just would like to know if ANYONE on this forum, has actually had anywhere close to an 18hr run time??????

VERY interested guys...

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I use Energizer's rechargeable 2500 mah batteries in mine with the backlight on 1/2, battery saver off, and the compass to come on at less than 1 mph for more than 15 seconds and get about 16 hours out of it no problem. Maybe you got bad batteries or a bad unit. You can also set the unit for whay type of batteries you are using. The alkaline will not last as long as others. But I would agree that you should get more than 5 hours.

 

If you get these batteries and the charger get the 2500 mah batteries, they run longer. And get the 8 hour charger, it charges better and your batteries last longer.

Edited by beauxp
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I agree with El Diablo, I get 15-18 hours worth of use out of each set of batteries. I normally use just ordinary out of the box alkalines, nothing special or expensive. I use the compass, WAAS enabled, and all of the bells and whistles. I would say that you got some bad batteries there. But thats just my opinion.... :D

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I have had pretty terrible experience with NiMH rechargeables in the Map60Cx, so I started using Duracell Alkaline coppertops, and been getting decent use, and the coppertops seem to be better than the enegizers in the GPS.

 

What I did the other day when the batteries were running down too fast while out on a hike, I did the following to the settings:

* Turned off WAAS

* From Main menu -> select Interface -> Set Serial Data Format to NONE.

* Set Tracklog to NORMAL, instead of a higher rate.

* I set the backlight to timeout after 15 seconds, under Display Setup.

* When not looking at the GPS, I leave it on a non-active screen, like the Route Menu Page.

(GPS does no writting to this page, after the first couple seconds after paging to it)

* Made sure I had duracells with me, but now I got the new eneloop Rechargeables now.

 

What happened the other day, was, when the GPS went down to zero bars on the battery gauge, I did these settings, and the GPS kept going on zero bars for almost an hour, so when you do these settings the GPS still gets good readings, and you get decent tracklogs, but the batteries keep going and going and going.

 

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Added in:

The batteries I used the other day, were 2 sets of already depleted coppertops, and my Trip Odometer was 5.89 miles, and the tracklog length was 5.87, which was almost perfect.

Edited by GOT GPS?
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I agree with El Diablo, I get 15-18 hours worth of use out of each set of batteries. I normally use just ordinary out of the box alkalines, nothing special or expensive. I use the compass, WAAS enabled, and all of the bells and whistles. I would say that you got some bad batteries there. But thats just my opinion.... :)

 

I'll second that. I just use basic Duracells with everything turned on and I get at least 15 hours out of them.

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Howdy,

 

Just something to consider...although I too get long life out of DuraCells and Energizers, I have a caching buddy who's 60CSx batteries would go dead overnight, with the 60CSx turned OFF. He contacted Garmin and they sent him a replacement. You might want to give Garmin Customer Service a call.

 

Regards,

Bill

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I don't know how you guys actually measure the hours. But I am never able to keep track off how long I have my GPS on or off...but of couse it does seem a long time, but regarding the # of hours I do not know...I dont know if I got 10 hrs or 5 hrs...but it is good enough

 

I used the trip computer page to keep track. just add up the stopped and moving time(do a reset when you install fresh batteries). I wasn't very happy with the battery life of the 60cx comparied to my legendC. I was using cheap AA's and old rechargeables.

I purchased some energizer 2500mAh and a charger.... here was my results on both gpsr.

 

60cx with full backlighting - 10.5hrs

legendC with fullbacklighting - 14.5hrs

 

60cx no backlight - 20.5hrs

legendC no backlight - 32hrs

 

I'm not even kidding that I get better battery life now than I was with the cheap alkaline batterys, and way better than the 5-10hrs my old rechargeables lasted.

Edited by hogrod
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* From Main menu -> select Interface -> Set Serial Data Format to NONE.

What is this function?

 

Does it really save batteries?

 

Thanks!

I made the setting to "NONE" as you recommended.

 

I am just a little worried that it might not let me do something that I would normally do, is there any truth to that? Will I have any trouble downloading maps or uploading tracks?

 

Thanks again!

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Thanks for all the help guys.

Maybe the Panasonic batteries were no good. I will soon be trying out Duracell or Energizer.

I thought I've always read (including in the manual), that rechargeables do not last as long as disposables.???

Is this true or false?

I guess with some of todays HIGH mAh rated batteries, maybe this statement is no longer true.

 

I'm sitting here looking at some of the Eveready and other disposable batteries, and I do not see a mAh rating on the battery, OR on the packaging.

What's the deal with this? I thought they put the mAh rating on battery packages.

I guess that's only with rechargeables eh?

 

Anyhow, I will see how long of a run time I get out of better batteries, and go from there....

 

Thanks guys.

It sure is nice to get a good long list of replies when you post a thread around here. What a great forum, and a great bunch of guys...

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That was the Serial Interface, and the cables that come with the GPS are USB cables.

In the past I had turned off the Serial Interface, to reduce the workload on the processor, and I did this with the old GPS V. My Map60Cx has been having problems lately, and I been trying to find anyway I could to lessen the workload on the processor, and extend the battery life.

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Using my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx with older 1600 mAh Energizer NiMH rechargeable batteries, and I can have the unit on for the drive to/from work 5 days a week, plus 4-5 hours of caching on the weekend, and still have a little battery life left. My commute is about 20 miles, so in the traffic around here, that's about 45 minutes to an hour one way. This means that I'm getting 12-15 hours from the older 1600 mAh batteries. My charger is one of the 15 hour chargers, so it is a slow charger, not one of the "fast ones". I have the compass off most of the time, my backlight is at 20% (when it's on) with a 30 second time-out. WAAS is enabled, and I have it in "normal" mode (not battery saver mode).

 

My wife's Magellan eXplorist 600 uses a Lithium ion battery. Her compass is always on, the backlight auto-dims in 30 or 60 seconds, but the backlight is always on when the unit is on. She normally charges 2-3 times a week, and seldom gets below 20% charge remaining on her battery.

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I use Energizer's rechargeable 2500 mah batteries in mine with the backlight on 1/2, battery saver off, and the compass to come on at less than 1 mph for more than 15 seconds and get about 16 hours out of it no problem. Maybe you got bad batteries or a bad unit. You can also set the unit for whay type of batteries you are using. The alkaline will not last as long as others. But I would agree that you should get more than 5 hours.

 

If you get these batteries and the charger get the 2500 mah batteries, they run longer. And get the 8 hour charger, it charges better and your batteries last longer.

 

I agree, the rechargeables are great. Before heading to the desert in July for a month, I actually tested the rechargeables against alkalines (Duracell/Eveready, and Rayovac), and the rechargeables lasted a few hours longer.

I had purchased a DC power unit for the 60csx, and have never used it due to the length of time I'm getting from using the rechargeables.

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I agree, the rechargeables are great. Before heading to the desert in July for a month, I actually tested the rechargeables against alkalines (Duracell/Eveready, and Rayovac), and the rechargeables lasted a few hours longer.

I had purchased a DC power unit for the 60csx, and have never used it due to the length of time I'm getting from using the rechargeables.

 

What brand and capacity of NMIH batteries do you use?

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I agree, the rechargeables are great. Before heading to the desert in July for a month, I actually tested the rechargeables against alkalines (Duracell/Eveready, and Rayovac), and the rechargeables lasted a few hours longer.

I had purchased a DC power unit for the 60csx, and have never used it due to the length of time I'm getting from using the rechargeables.

 

What brand and capacity of NMIH batteries do you use?

 

What beauxp said :laughing:

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Since I use rechargeable batteries (why doesn't every cacher?), on a caching day I turn on the 60CSX and leave it on all day long. With freshly charged batteries I always get through the entire day!
This really makes the most sense, just put in freshly charged batteries before a period of heavy use. I was relying on the battery meter which is fairly useless. Yesterday it showed 4-bars when I left and after 3.5 hours of use they were dead. I'll now make sure I have a charged set ready at all times. There's really no downside.

 

Hermit

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Since I use rechargeable batteries (why doesn't every cacher?), on a caching day I turn on the 60CSX and leave it on all day long. With freshly charged batteries I always get through the entire day!

 

:rolleyes: I agree with pdxmarathonman also. Another thing to consider is the battery charger you use to charge the batteries. I keep one in the car so I always have fresh batteries. By the way I no longer use a power cord in the car-- no need as long as you have a good charger and few extra batteries.

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By the way I no longer use a power cord in the car-- no need as long as you have a good charger and few extra batteries.
Good idea. I got a windshield mount last week and tried it a few days ago . . . couldn't see a thing, too dark. I'll just leave the backlight on and recharge the batteries. Sure didn't want the expense or hassle of a cord.

 

Hermit

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I use powerex 2700 MA in my Garmin 60CSX. Whenever I have timed them, I generally get 20-24 hours on a charge. I will charge the batteries before I go out and have never come close to the batteries discharging when I was out caching.

 

I do not understand why people throw money away using disposable batteries when the recharable batteries last longer and save you all kinds of money. I also would not want a landfill in my back yard. So I do not think people should use disables that end up in a dump in someone else's back yard.

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I use powerex 2700 MA in my Garmin 60CSX.
What have you found the self-dischage of the Powerex 2700's to be. In other words, how good is the shelf life if you haven't charged them recently?

 

Thanks

Hermit

 

I also have lots of energizer 2500 ma and I have lots more trouble with shelf life with them. With the powerex, they will lose some charge after a couple of weeks, but they still have most of it. If I am going on a long trip, I will charge up all my battereis, otherwise, the set of pwerex gets me through no problem. So I highly recomend the battery.

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By the way I no longer use a power cord in the car-- no need as long as you have a good charger and few extra batteries.
Good idea. I got a windshield mount last week and tried it a few days ago . . . couldn't see a thing, too dark. I'll just leave the backlight on and recharge the batteries. Sure didn't want the expense or hassle of a cord.

 

Hermit

 

I use a windshield mount also but have it stuck to my Speedo panel in the shade with my unit backlit all the time. I keep a Maha 401 in the car hooked up to charge my extra batteries.

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I use powerex 2700 MA in my Garmin 60CSX and as backup batteries I have a 12 pack of Rayovac 2500ma batteries.

 

I had the rayovac 2500 in there when I went caching backing in Sept. 2006. That last day I used the gps for the winter I had the unit with all features on for about 6 hours. Unit sat on my shelf till a few days ago and turned it back on and used it for about 1 hour and still had quite a bit of battery left.

 

Myabe you have bad batteries, if not I would say the unit has a problem.

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have it stuck to my Speedo panel in the shade with my unit backlit all the time.
I'm surprised you get any reception under the dash like that. Do you have a SiRF III chip?

 

Hermit

 

No SiRF III chip. I have the 60CS and also a vista cx and both work fine after you get sat lock. I use a rino windshield mount for my 60 CS and a 60 CS windshield mount with the CS holder removed for my Vista. The good thing about them being under the dash is that you can't see them unless you get up close and look through the window.

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We started off using the Energizer 2500ma cells but these batteries start loosing current as soon as you take them out of the charger, and at a rapid rate as well. Calling the engineering department, they told me to expect about 10-12% loss per day just sitting.

Somehow we found out about eneloop batteries and have been real happy with their performance. You can charge them, install them a week later and they still show full charge not to mention very extended run time when compaired to the Energizer. They come charged in the package and retain 85% of their charged value after 1 year sitting on the shelf. The eneloop is just about the same price as the Energizer. Mrs. ATMA, also known as the navigator, can get at least 14 hours of non-stop use on a charge.

You should see these things work in a digital camera!

Here is the link to eneloop.

 

eneloop web page

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I use powerex 2700 MA in my Garmin 60CSX.
What have you found the self-dischage of the Powerex 2700's to be. In other words, how good is the shelf life if you haven't charged them recently?

 

Thanks

Hermit

 

I also have lots of energizer 2500 ma and I have lots more trouble with shelf life with them. With the powerex, they will lose some charge after a couple of weeks, but they still have most of it. If I am going on a long trip, I will charge up all my battereis, otherwise, the set of pwerex gets me through no problem. So I highly recomend the battery.

 

Run, don't walk and buy some of the Powerex 2700s. They are absolutely the best for this purpose. I concur that 20-24 hours continuous service is about the norm (compass on, normal mode, WAAS off). Shelf life is good for a month or two, but I would recharge after that. Sanyo has some new eneloop batteries that many jave said have a longer shelf life (6 months) but lower mah rating. I have ordered some and will give them a try, but until then, I am very satisfied with the powerex. And buy the powerex charger is is the best on the market. I have had terrible results with energizers and duracells (mainly shelf life - I do get 14-16 hours if they are freshly charged, but a week later and they last only a couple of hours.)

 

Brian

Edited by dumketu
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Brian

 

Run, don't walk and buy some of the Powerex 2700s. And buy the powerex charger is is the best on the market.
Which Maha charger do you use? I ordered the 204F after reviewing the comparison chart. It'll be my main charger wnd my Wal-Mart special will go in the RV for topping/field charging.

 

Thanks

Hermit

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I use Energizer 2500 (second set, because the first one, made in Japan, was bad, so they exchanged it for the ones made in China) and I get a decent use. I don't calculate the hours, but as far as I'm concerned, I can last at least a week on them while caching on and off almost everyday. If it's colder and I use the GPSr for 4-5 hours in a row, the batteries get low, but I can still use them the day after for another 4-5 hours. In summer, it really last longer (I assume I'm getting the 15-18 hours).

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