Garmin 60CSx - making the battery last

[reppans]

Hi all, I'm new here. I'm hoping to pick up the 60CSx shortly and was just wondering what it's real world battery life was like. Gamin says around 18 hours with alkalines but I was just wondering if people were getting significantly better than that, and what they were doing. For example:

 

- Using 2700 NiMh? In a digicam, these batts can beat Alkalines by 4-6x in # of shots or minutes of video.

- Understand there is a battery saver mode which samples less frequently. Does this add a lot to the 18 hours?

- Can you turn off the LCD screen? I got to believe it takes a lot of juice to constantly power and refresh the screen as you move, and it's not like you need to constantly watch the screen (but would want to run tracking constantly).

- Hiding unused map layers (eg, City Nav and Topo). A Garmin rep said, even if you can't see the 2nd the map layer, if it is not purposely hidden/turned off, the unit will redraw the 2nd layer underneath the primary layer using more batt. and slowing screen refresh rates.

- Any other ideas to extend battery life?

 

Thanks for your help...

[+Prime Suspect]

Hi all, I'm new here. I'm hoping to pick up the 60CSx shortly and was just wondering what it's real world battery life was like. Gamin says around 18 hours with alkalines but I was just wondering if people were getting significantly better than that, and what they were doing. For example:

 

- Using 2700 NiMh? In a digicam, these batts can beat Alkalines by 4-6x in # of shots or minutes of video.

- Understand there is a battery saver mode which samples less frequently. Does this add a lot to the 18 hours?

- Can you turn off the LCD screen? I got to believe it takes a lot of juice to constantly power and refresh the screen as you move, and it's not like you need to constantly watch the screen (but would want to run tracking constantly).

- Hiding unused map layers (eg, City Nav and Topo). A Garmin rep said, even if you can't see the 2nd the map layer, if it is not purposely hidden/turned off, the unit will redraw the 2nd layer underneath the primary layer using more batt. and slowing screen refresh rates.

- Any other ideas to extend battery life?

 

Thanks for your help...

Battery Saver mode is incompatible with WAAS. You can turn on one, or the other, but not both. Most people will choose WAAS.

 

A good tip is keep the electronic compass turned off unless you're using it at that moment. Holding down the Page key is a shortcut to toggle the compass on/off.

[ZR-mindless]

My biggest advise is to ignore it when it tells you that the batts are low. Mine beeped about 4 weeks ago with low batts, and I just hit enter and got another 6-7 hours out of it (no exaggeration). Also, I feel WAAS is useless, so I'd only use that when necessary.

[MtnHermit]

Hi all, I'm new here. I'm hoping to pick up the 60CSx shortly and was just wondering what it's real world battery life was like. Gamin says around 18 hours with alkalines but I was just wondering if people were getting significantly better than that, and what they were doing.

Dreaming, that anyone would get more than the optimized published spec.

 

- Can you turn off the LCD screen? I got to believe it takes a lot of juice to constantly power and refresh the screen as you move, and it's not like you need to constantly watch the screen (but would want to run tracking constantly).

While the backlight on any display is a considerable power drain, the LCD display is not. Just consider an LCD watch, they'll run for over a year on a tiny battery. Color only adds to the number of pixels driver, no inherent power increase in a transreflective display.

 

- Hiding unused map layers (eg, City Nav and Topo). A Garmin rep said, even if you can't see the 2nd the map layer, if it is not purposely hidden/turned off, the unit will redraw the 2nd layer underneath the primary layer using more batt. and slowing screen refresh rates.

He's probably correct, now to quantify the energy consumed?

 

- Any other ideas to extend battery life?

Yes, get a Venture/Legend/Vista Cx and double your battery life. Afterall there is a energy price to pay for that SiRF and Quadhelix!!! Carry a spare pair.

 

Hermit

[MtnHermit]

Also, I feel WAAS is useless, so I'd only use that when necessary.

Why useless and when is WAAS necessary? Sorry, I'm too much of a GPS rookie [2-weeks] to have yet formed an opinoin.

 

Thanks

Hermit

[ImpalaBob]

WAAS is a pilot thing that helps improve the accuracy when using a GPS for piloting an aircraft. It can only help a ground based GPS. As said .... backlighting is the biggest energy hog. Koikeeper and I have recently switched to Eneloop rechargeable NiMh from Sanyo and are very pleased with them. They do not have as high a milliamp hr rating but hold there charges CONSIDERABLY better than other rechargeables (PowerEx)we have used. We bought ours at Circuit City. ImpalaBob

[vivona]

Use Sanyo eneloop NiMH rechargeable batteries. They hold their charge for a year on the shelf and maintain a high voltage during their entire discharge cycle, so they will run much longer than alkalines. I wrote a review that gives more details. See it at Sanyo eneloop review.

Edited February 5, 2007 by vivona

[Grasscatcher]

Power use is NOT A PROBLEM......use any or all of your GPSr features to your hearts content and just always carry extra batteries.

It's worked for me with DAILY use for the last 12+ years. NEVER has my GPSr been without power in the field.

[+dsshepard]

I have only had my 60CSx for a few weeks, but I am using rechargeable Nimh batteries. While I haven't done a scientific study I have gotten two full days (1 weekend) of geocaching plus a few days of messing around with the GPSr while driving around and playing (this is new to me) in before the first bar went out on the battery indicator. I purposely left WAAS on and used the internal compass and have it set that it comes on below 5mph so basically it is on anytime I am walking. I always carry spare batteries any way so I am not worried. I bought an overnight charger and four 2100mah batteries at WalMart for $9.98 and couldn't be happier.

 

Yesterday when I got home, I left the GPSr on just to see what it would do when the batteries got low. After a few more hours and only one bar left on the screen, a message warned me that the batteries were getting low.

 

If I had to guess I would say that after the first bar went off on the battery indicator, you would have about 2 to 4 hours of continuous use left in full power mode using all available features.

[chuckr30]

To save battery life:

- Don't use backlight much.

- Turn off sounds/beeps.

- Turn off compass (if you have one).

 

All these were documented in my 76csx manual.

[+Prime Suspect]

Also, I feel WAAS is useless, so I'd only use that when necessary.

Why useless and when is WAAS necessary? Sorry, I'm too much of a GPS rookie [2-weeks] to have yet formed an opinoin.

 

Thanks

Hermit

ZR-mindless mindlessly neglected to mention that he doesn't live in the US. So, from his prespective, WAAS is of little use.

 

However, if you do live in the US, where there are WAAS groundstations, then WAAS does become useful.

Edited February 5, 2007 by Prime Suspect

[MtnHermit]

Also, I feel WAAS is useless, so I'd only use that when necessary.

Why useless and when is WAAS necessary? Sorry, I'm too much of a GPS rookie [2-weeks] to have yet formed an opinion.

ZR-mindless mindlessly neglected to mention that he doesn't live in the US. So, from his prespective, WAAS is of little use.

 

However, if you do live in the US, where there are WAAS groundstations, then WAAS does become useful.

Thanks Prime Suspect,

 

That would indeed make a difference. I understand that the carefully surveyed ground stations provide calibration for the satellites thereby improving their accuracy.

 

Hermit

[+GOT GPS?]

What I remember doing with my 60Cx, is that I turned off WAAS, and left the GPS on a blank route page(no routes were loaded), and the GPS kept going on for a half hour or more with all four segments of the battery gauge gone, and it seems like that takes a load off the processor, by leaving the GPS on a blank screen like the routing page.

 

This is the routing page I'm talking about:

Leaving it on that page seems to allow me to milk everything out of the already depleted batteries.

[reppans]

Thanks folks, lots of good ideas here.

 

I do carry spare batteries, and I do also have the Sanyo Eneloops which I'll be swapping with the high capacity 2700 Sanyos depending upon if running constantly or intermittently. I know battery life will be more than enough around civilization, but I'm concerned about saving juice on extended backpacking/kayaking trips. For that, I'll be carrying backups for the backups (Lithium AAs).

 

So, for max life: Disable WAAS, Compass, backlighting, sound.... and I like the blank page idea. I guess I can believe that an *unchanging* display uses low to no incremental power, but I have to believe the constant redrawing of maps as you move, and the screen scrolls, should use significant incremental power.

 

Thanks for the comments!

[ZR-mindless]

Also, I feel WAAS is useless, so I'd only use that when necessary.

Why useless and when is WAAS necessary? Sorry, I'm too much of a GPS rookie [2-weeks] to have yet formed an opinoin.

 

Thanks

Hermit

ZR-mindless mindlessly neglected to mention that he doesn't live in the US. So, from his prespective, WAAS is of little use.

 

However, if you do live in the US, where there are WAAS groundstations, then WAAS does become useful.

 

True, sorry. I am in Canada and have found out waas doesn't work here. I stick to my other statement though!!!... just because it says batt-low, don't jump to change the batteries just yet!! (unless you can't watch it to see when it powers off and need the breadcrumbs to get home).

Although, I have to ask those in the know - when I turn waas on, it often picks up the "waas" satellites (listed as #'s around 48-51??) and add's the D's under the other sat's strengths, which I though was a waas signal?? Does this sound right? In any case, whatever it is, it never helped my accuracy.

[weber_sd]

I've been using the eneloop batteries for the past month in my Venture cx. They last and last. Since they don't use charge when sitting idle, I don't have to worry pulling them out of the unit and charging if I haven't used my GPSr for a few days. I bought 4 batteries, so I always have a spare set fully charged. I'm a fan.

[+Prime Suspect]

Also, I feel WAAS is useless, so I'd only use that when necessary.

Why useless and when is WAAS necessary? Sorry, I'm too much of a GPS rookie [2-weeks] to have yet formed an opinoin.

 

Thanks

Hermit

ZR-mindless mindlessly neglected to mention that he doesn't live in the US. So, from his prespective, WAAS is of little use.

 

However, if you do live in the US, where there are WAAS groundstations, then WAAS does become useful.

 

True, sorry. I am in Canada and have found out waas doesn't work here. I stick to my other statement though!!!... just because it says batt-low, don't jump to change the batteries just yet!! (unless you can't watch it to see when it powers off and need the breadcrumbs to get home).

Although, I have to ask those in the know - when I turn waas on, it often picks up the "waas" satellites (listed as #'s around 48-51??) and add's the D's under the other sat's strengths, which I though was a waas signal?? Does this sound right? In any case, whatever it is, it never helped my accuracy.

It will help your accuracy, but not a lot. If you get WAAS data, some of what you're getting is satellite position and orbit corrections, which help regardless of where you are. But the remaining info is localized to specific groundstation areas. If the GPS detects that you're not in any of those areas, that info is disregarded.

[extremist]

Do rechargeable batteries work well in cold temperatures? In my experience, alkalines crap out pretty quickly in near-freezing cold. On the other hand, lithium batteries seem largely unaffected, and last around 50-100% longer.

[reppans]

Do rechargeable batteries work well in cold temperatures? In my experience, alkalines crap out pretty quickly in near-freezing cold. On the other hand, lithium batteries seem largely unaffected, and last around 50-100% longer.

 

Normal NiMh rechargeables, not so great.... but Eneloops claim to be. Will be testing that claim... if my 2700s every run down .

 

Quote:

- high performance even at low temperatures

down to –10 °C during your winter vacation

 

From Here:

http://www.eneloop.info/215.html

[+Brik]

Just to add - If out caching and you move from car to trail to car you can switch to DC power from the car where there. This may be obvious but I thought I would add it for completeness sake.

 

the 60Csx can get its power from USB. I picked up a auto power cord at a Sprint store that connects from the USB port to my cig lighter. I power the GPSr from that in the car. Biggest advantage is when on 'external' power the back-light stays on full time.

 

So, that gives me an idea. Carry a car battery with you! Hah, just kidding really. I wonder how long a fully charged car battery (deep cycle style) would last driving a GPSr. Hmm.

 

OK, so, how about solar? Some other small 12v power source? nah, much easier to just carry spares, even if in the field for a week at a time several sets of spares wouldn't be too bad.

[Suscrofa]

What I remember doing with my 60Cx, is that I turned off WAAS, and left the GPS on a blank route page(no routes were loaded), and the GPS kept going on for a half hour or more with all four segments of the battery gauge gone, and it seems like that takes a load off the processor, by leaving the GPS on a blank screen like the routing page.

 

This is the routing page I'm talking about:

Leaving it on that page seems to allow me to milk everything out of the already depleted batteries.

 

Wow, nice trick, have the GPS set up in french to save the battery ???

[MaadDog]

I tried using Duracell 2650mah batteries and they were terrible. They didn't even last 2 outings. I mountain bike and generally go out approx. 3 hours at a time. When I checked the 60CSx at the end of the 2nd ride it had shut down on me because the batteries had died. I had given the batteries a full charge before my first ride and checked the level indicator before the second ride. There seemed to be plenty of juice left, but apparently not. I did see on one of the Digital camera forums I also visit, that Powerex batteries seem to be the most popular there. They are available from Thomas Distrib. Anyone have any experience with them here? How about the Duracell? I have the 15 minute charger from Duracell.

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

[+larryc43230]

I tried using Duracell 2650mah batteries and they were terrible. They didn't even last 2 outings. I mountain bike and generally go out approx. 3 hours at a time. When I checked the 60CSx at the end of the 2nd ride it had shut down on me because the batteries had died. I had given the batteries a full charge before my first ride and checked the level indicator before the second ride. There seemed to be plenty of juice left, but apparently not. I did see on one of the Digital camera forums I also visit, that Powerex batteries seem to be the most popular there. They are available from Thomas Distrib. Anyone have any experience with them here? How about the Duracell? I have the 15 minute charger from Duracell.

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

I use Powerex 2700mAh batteries in my 60CSx. I carry two sets of two batteries, one in the unit and another I carry as a spare (I also carry two alkaline batteries as emergency backups; I keep the four extra batteries in one of Thomas Distributing's handy little clear plastic holders). Whenever I'm in my car, the GPSr is powered by the PTO (cigarette lighter outlet). I haven't measured power consumption very scientifically, but I know I can get in at least three 12-hour caching days before needing to switch to my spare batteries. That's with (I'm guessing here) about 50% in-car and 50% out-of-car use. Most of the time I forget to turn off the electronic compass, and I always have WAAS activated, since it does seem to improve the unit's accuracy. On the other hand, I don't use the backlight very often when running the unit off batteries.

 

--Larry

[MtnHermit]

Kevin

 

I tried using Duracell 2650mah batteries and they were terrible.

Here's what I think is happening, in order to get more-n-more capacity out of the battery, the engineers have to make the insulator film thinner and thinner. This results in more internal leakage. Therefore while your 2650 can produce 2650 mAH straight off the charger, a week later there's not much left. Bottom line, NO FREE LUNCH!!!

 

I got a lesson it this 3-weeks ago when I got my GPSr, the only NiMH I had had been charged 3-months ago. Amazingly, they powered the GPS for a couple of days with heavy backlight usage. The batteries were no-name that came with a 1-hour charger for ~$20.

 

So if you're a wedding photog with heavy flash use and you always charge the night before the shoot, then those 2650's make sense. For a low drain GPSr, use a lower mAH rated battery with lower self-discharge. Currently, the Sanyo Eneloops are the best choice for long shelf life.

 

HTH

Hermit

[NewZealand]

Though good batteries and spare batteries are important, they are useless, if you are outdoors for weeks and have no chance to recharge.

Therefore for serious outdoor jobs I strongly recommend solio:

http://www.solio.com/v2/

It's absolutely lightweight and works great!

Edited February 7, 2007 by NewZealand

[+Muddy and Amused]

I am asking this here because this question seems to fall in line with the current discussion. In relation to the Garmin 60csx (I am planning to buy one soon)...if you had NiMH installed along with the "System Setup Battery Type" set to "NiMH", will the batteries recharge in the unit while the unit is plugged in to Aux power? Or do you need to remove the batteries everytime to recharge? The owners manual doesnt state this either way.

Edited February 9, 2007 by Muddy and Amused

[Team Sidewinder]

I am asking this here because this question seems to fall in line with the current discussion. In relation to the Garmin 60csx (I am planning to buy one soon)...if you had NiMH installed along with the "System Setup Battery Type" set to "NiMH", will the batteries recharge in the unit while the unit is plugged in to Aux power? Or do you need to remove the batteries everytime to recharge? The owners manual doesnt state this either way.

 

No, that setting is only to show more a more accurate reading of remaining battery power. You still need to remove and charge rechargable batteries.

[+Atschi]

Though good batteries and spare batteries are important, they are useless, if you are outdoors for weeks and have no chance to recharge.

Therefore for serious outdoor jobs I strongly recommend Solio:

http://www.solio.com/v2/

It's absolutely lightweight and works great!

 

And how exactly do you intend to charge a 60CSx with a Solio? Remember: the batteries have to be charged in an external charger and I don't think the Solio offers this option (please correct me if I am wrong!) There are a few other solar panels on the market that can charge AA batteries, for example the Silva Solar I AA

[+Red90]

True, sorry. I am in Canada and have found out waas doesn't work here. I stick to my other statement though!!!...

 

Umm, sorry for the off topic post, but WAAS certainly DOES work in Canada and DOES improve accuracy quite a bit.

[Team Sidewinder]

Though good batteries and spare batteries are important, they are useless, if you are outdoors for weeks and have no chance to recharge.

Therefore for serious outdoor jobs I strongly recommend Solio:

http://www.solio.com/v2/

It's absolutely lightweight and works great!

 

And how exactly do you intend to charge a 60CSx with a Solio? Remember: the batteries have to be charged in an external charger and I don't think the Solio offers this option (please correct me if I am wrong!) There are a few other solar panels on the market that can charge AA batteries, for example the Silva Solar I AA

 

Well I don't know about charging the batteries but you can just run the gpsr off a solar panel. I used a Brunton solarport 2.2 to run the gps. It has a cig. lighter reciever and you just use your cig. lighter adapter that you would use to plug into your car. Here for me was the catch. Power from any solar can have its ups and downs if/when clouds are causing your solar panel to not recieve direct sunlight. I found every time I wanted to use the solar panel you would have some clouds come out of a clear sky and cause some shading problems. Not a good thing for the gpsr IMHO so I quit using it just for that reason. But on a perfectly clear day with good sun and no shade it would work great but how many times when you would really need it or for an emergency. Maybe if you had a solar panel that put out more watts it wouldn't be affected by the limited sun so much but I am no expert on that matter.

Not sure how many watts of power the Solio put out but the Brunton put out the 2.2 watts and was small enough to pack along in a daypack or backpack.

Just my experience

[reppans]

I tried using Duracell 2650mah batteries and they were terrible. They didn't even last 2 outings. I mountain bike and generally go out approx. 3 hours at a time. When I checked the 60CSx at the end of the 2nd ride it had shut down on me because the batteries had died. I had given the batteries a full charge before my first ride and checked the level indicator before the second ride. There seemed to be plenty of juice left, but apparently not. I did see on one of the Digital camera forums I also visit, that Powerex batteries seem to be the most popular there. They are available from Thomas Distrib. Anyone have any experience with them here? How about the Duracell? I have the 15 minute charger from Duracell.

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

 

The quality of NiMh batts can vary immensely. Not knowing anything, I bought some 2700s and a high tech charger of a no-name ("Power2000") from a very large electronics dealer in NYC (J&R) for my digicam. What a Piece of Crap. Couldn't muster more than a 20 min video from any combination of batteries and alkalines made it 30mins (2gigs) on the first try... returned it.

 

Did a bit of research and went for the Sanyos and a good charger... Unbelieveable! 3.5 hours (15 gigs!) of video recording from 2 AAs! I bought from here and highly recommend them:

http://ripvan100.com/

 

Then I found this site, which is the geek site of all battery geeks I've ever seen:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=133440

 

Of course, the Sanyos & Ripvan100 rate quite highly

 

Bottom line, get Sanyos... 2700s if you're going to use them continuously for a few days, Eneloops if you will use intermittently over a longer period of time or in the cold.

 

PS.. quick chargers fry your batteries... they won't last long.

[+Chuy!]

Ripvan100 appear to be a Ripoff100 .

 

Seriously, they sell Sanyo 2700 for $16; the 2500 for $14; the Eneloops for $16.

 

Thomsas Distributing have the same batteries for $12, $9, and $12, respectfully.

[+dumketu]

I tried using Duracell 2650mah batteries and they were terrible. They didn't even last 2 outings. I mountain bike and generally go out approx. 3 hours at a time. When I checked the 60CSx at the end of the 2nd ride it had shut down on me because the batteries had died. I had given the batteries a full charge before my first ride and checked the level indicator before the second ride. There seemed to be plenty of juice left, but apparently not. I did see on one of the Digital camera forums I also visit, that Powerex batteries seem to be the most popular there. They are available from Thomas Distrib. Anyone have any experience with them here? How about the Duracell? I have the 15 minute charger from Duracell.

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

 

I use the Powerex 2700 batteries and get 20-24 hours use out of them (compass on, WAAS off) minimum. I am incredibly pleased with them. I absolutely hate the Energizer and Duracell Nimh batteries. They always seem to crap out right when I need them. I have seen some posters here mentioning the Sanyo batteries. I would be interested to hear more about them.

 

Brian

[MtnHermit]

Brian

 

I use the Powerex 2700 batteries

How have your Powerex 2700's been for shelf life?

 

Thanks

Hermit

[+dumketu]

 

I use the Powerex 2700 batteries

How have your Powerex 2700's been for shelf life?

 

Thanks

Hermit

 

They have been great. I have a set in my GPS 60CSX right now that I put in before Christmas. I have several hours of use on the GPS and my battery meter is still reading 3/4 full (it reads full at startup and drops to 3/4 after 10 minutes or so, indicating I still have a very good charge.) I can still tell there is some discharge, but nothing like the energizer batteries. The energizers work well if they have just come out of the charger, but if they have been on the shelf for more than a week, they drain rapidly. The Powerex batteries also do much better in my external flash for my SLR camera. (I use my older Powerex 2300s for that.)

 

Brian

[+JEEPER1219]

This topic has near to my heart for awhile. I commonly hike 8-10 days and don't like carrying the batteries needed to power my garmin legend while out there. I have looked at the solio as well. An option that I have seriously considered was the following: there are some rechargeable AA batteries called USBCell. They look like normal AA batteries but the positive terminal flips up to reveal a male USB plug. This can be plugged into any usb port. Combine these batteries with the solio which provides a USB charging port and you have solar powered batteries. There was some talk here about the varied power from the sun. I think Solio has solved this by actually having an internal battery. The primary use of the Solio was to charge it's battery and then use that battery to charge other things. But they have seen a large market for things like mp3 players and GPS units so they have outfitted a lot of connector tips. I have also considered upgrading to the Legend Hcx because it can be powered from a USB cable which in theory could be plugged into the solio and now you have a solar powered Garmin.

 

www.usbcell.com

www.solio.com