Charging Nuvi 660 in the car

[frozenflyboy]

My Nuvi does not seem to charge in the car. The plugin to the cigarette lighter shows a green light close to the vehicle and the next light shows what appears to be orange. It flashes two times then goes steady for a few seconds then flashes again. Seems like a code but the manual says nothing. The fuse in the unit checks OK on my Ohmmeter. There seems to be a bit of electricity getting through but not enough to charge it. The Nuvi shows a charge when plugged in.

It charges fine when plugged into my computer.

Anyone know what the problem is?

[+Chrysalides]

My Nuvi does not seem to charge in the car. The plugin to the cigarette lighter shows a green light close to the vehicle and the next light shows what appears to be orange. It flashes two times then goes steady for a few seconds then flashes again. Seems like a code but the manual says nothing. The fuse in the unit checks OK on my Ohmmeter. There seems to be a bit of electricity getting through but not enough to charge it. The Nuvi shows a charge when plugged in.

It charges fine when plugged into my computer.

Anyone know what the problem is?

 

Not sure if you have a problem. The orange light is for the FM traffic data.

 

Check this : first connect the cable to the Nuvi with the unit off, then plug in the cigarette lighter adapter. Does the unit come on? It should. If it does not, it may be a bad cable or connection. I seem to have that problem occasionally.

 

If the connection is good, I find that the unit only gets recharged quickly if it is powered off. When the unit is on, it seems to recharge at a very slow rate. I didn't measure this, merely my impression through use.

 

Another possibility could be that the voltage from your cigarette lighter socket is low. I'd say this is unlikely, but if all else fails, could be worth checking.

Edited November 10, 2008 by Chrysalides

[frozenflyboy]

Not sure if you have a problem. The orange light is for the FM traffic data.

 

Check this : first connect the cable to the Nuvi with the unit off, then plug in the cigarette lighter adapter. Does the unit come on? It should. If it does not, it may be a bad cable or connection. I seem to have that problem occasionally.

 

If the connection is good, I find that the unit only gets recharged quickly if it is powered off. When the unit is on, it seems to recharge at a very slow rate. I didn't measure this, merely my impression through use.

 

Another possibility could be that the voltage from your cigarette lighter socket is low. I'd say this is unlikely, but if all else fails, could be worth checking.

Thanks Chrysalides

The unit comes on. It also shows a charge indicator over the battery when it is plugged in.

The voltage at the plug (car) is 14.3 at idle so that seems OK

I think that you may be on to something that the unit uses most of the juice coming from the adapter so it doesn't recharge while in operation. It seems that I used to use it for Geocaching till the battery was low and then when I plugged it back into the car it charged very quickly previously.

BTW thanks for the tip on the orange light. Never would have guessed that one. I didn't see it in the manual but now that you mention it I found it.

Edited November 10, 2008 by frozenflyboy

[frozenflyboy]

oops : )

Edited November 10, 2008 by frozenflyboy

[Glenn W]

The 660 cannot efficiently charge from the car's 12V supply while the unit is operating, especially with the large screen set to maximum brightness. Periodically, when you don't need navigation, leave the unit plugged in, but turn it off manually; this will put it into charging mode.