+mikeD Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Any ideas please? Had unit for 5 days and am using Garmin's AA cassette. (Not supplied with unit) Cassette comes from my 750T Having charged the latter and 64S before that via USB the charge usually completes after about 6 hours Only once has the 66 stopped when full, first time of using . Since then it does not shut off. After 12-15 hours it is still going This is not right. You cannot tell if charge is complete I charged the two cells of cassette separately out of the unit so I know it was full. Reinserted cassette, tried again and still hours and hours later, it is still going Have done this 3/4 times now I have done a master reset, same Result. Not seen this problem pop up in forums before Any suggestions please ahead of me calling Garmin tomorrow Thanks Mike Quote Link to comment
+Mineral2 Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I would contact garmin. It could either be a firmware bug that they need to fix, or you might have (by random chance) faulty hardware that fails to detect when the battery is full. Off topic and for my own curiosity, you have an Oregon 750, why did you feel the need to also buy a 66? Quote Link to comment
Moun10Bike Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 For what it's worth, I have seen this with every Garmin unit I've ever had. The charging simply never ends, and I am never sure if the battery pack is fully charged or not. Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 Thanks Mineral 2. I will be on to them tomorrow ,first thing as to your off topic question. Friends call me " gadget man" ! but seriously I have a GPS 60, 62 -now with a friend, a 64S and latterly the 750T I was drawn to the features of the 750T and have enjoyed its features over and above the 64S. However it is the first touch screen I have had and the fact that it seems to go off and do its own thing when you put it in your pocket drives me to distraction. It reorganises itself, dives off down various menus etc etc. I picked up a shortcut, to program the user key to lock the screen. This was posted on this forum or the old Garmin one That works well but you have to remember to hit the user key.. I don't always I have reset/reorganised it so many times Even 5 days in with the 66 it is like having an old friend back. It has all the features of the 750 and a few more . It does not do its own thing and I can zip though the menus as quick as the 750 Early days with the unit and but for this charging issue I am pleased with it Will keep you posted Thanks Mike Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 Moun10Bike Thanks for yours post I have used USB charging using Garmins own cassette and bigger capacity Eneloop AA batteries on both the 64s and the 750 T with no problems till now Are you using one of the dedicated Cycle units? or one of the GPSmap 6* series? Did you raise the issues with Garmin or do you just live with it? Mike Quote Link to comment
+Mineral2 Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 19 minutes ago, mikeD said: However it is the first touch screen I have had and the fact that it seems to go off and do its own thing when you put it in your pocket drives me to distraction. This was more of a problem for me with the older Oregon 450 which was pressure sensitive to touch. The Oregon 600/700 is sensitive to weak electrical signals given off by your body, so objects in my bag won't set off the touch screen. Additionally, touching the screen shouldn't turn it on as happened with the 450, so make a habit of turning off the screen before putting it in your pocket and you'll be happy. Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 Thanks The short cut I have kicks in after one press of the user key. { like you hitting the screen on/off on your power key] what it does is lock the screen, I can still see the active screen but it is locked Coupling the setting for the screen cut out [off after 15/30 secs etc , not the right term ?] and the display disappears Press The on/off " power " button and it lights up but the screen is still locked On locking the unit the " X " icon [ back ] on the bottom left of the screen changes to a " padlock " Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 1 hour ago, mikeD said: Thanks The short cut I have kicks in after one press of the user key. { like you hitting the screen on/off on your power key] what it does is lock the screen, I can still see the active screen but it is locked Coupling the setting for the screen cut out [off after 15/30 secs etc , not the right term ?] and the display disappears Press The on/off " power " button and it lights up but the screen is still locked On locking the unit the " X " icon [ back ] on the bottom left of the screen changes to a " padlock " I do almost the same thing, but I have mine set to activate with a double tap of the user button. This way an accidental bump will not unlock a locked screen... Quote Link to comment
+Red90 Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 7 hours ago, Moun10Bike said: For what it's worth, I have seen this with every Garmin unit I've ever had. The charging simply never ends, and I am never sure if the battery pack is fully charged or not. It does on a a 64S. The bulk charging uses 450 mA. Near the end, it cycles 710 mA to 150 mA. When complete, the charging animation stops and the draw is 150 mA, which I assume is what is needed for the screen. My suggestion is to connect a power meter and see if it actually does stop charging and it is just a software issue of not showing it. 1 Quote Link to comment
_Art_ Posted December 31, 2018 Share Posted December 31, 2018 I’m pretty sure mine did stop charging, but I’ve put it on again now to be sure. Quote Link to comment
_Art_ Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Same thing here after at least 16 hours (possibly up to 17). It looks like the battery is fully charged, but the charging graphic keeps animating here as well. Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Update on Basic issue Monday Spoke to Garmin UK helpdesk.- Time spent explaining issue to agent who referred to his tech experts "Sounds like a software issue!" Agreed constant charging was not right . Told that the unit does stop charging when full and will not overcharge. Checked battery setting without battery cassette. [ out of the box the unit is set to NiMh, ] Changed setting to " pre-charged " Agreed to give that a Go see if that sorted things Tried different already charged cassettes, still the same result Wednesday Different agent, agreed issue was not right. Unit being replaced Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 15 minutes ago, mikeD said: Update on Basic issue Monday Spoke to Garmin UK helpdesk.- Time spent explaining issue to agent who referred to his tech experts "Sounds like a software issue!" Agreed constant charging was not right . Told that the unit does stop charging when full and will not overcharge. Checked battery setting without battery cassette. [ out of the box the unit is set to NiMh, ] Changed setting to " pre-charged " Agreed to give that a Go see if that sorted things Tried different already charged cassettes, still the same result Wednesday Different agent, agreed issue was not right. Unit being replaced That's dumb. Problem will not re resolved with new hardware, it is a software issue. Quote Link to comment
+Cheminer Will Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Atlas Cached said: That's dumb. Problem will not re resolved with new hardware, it is a software issue. The one time I communicated with Garmin about an issue that seems to certainly be a software bug, and that others have also had, the rep was very quick to offer to exchange the unit. I declined as overall I am happy with mine and the few issues hopefully will be addressed in software/firmware updates. But they seem to offer up the exchange option very quickly and makes me wonder how closely they look at software reasons for the bugs we report?. Edited January 2, 2019 by Cheminer Will Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Cheminer Will said: The one time I communicated with Garmin about an issue that seems to certainly be a software bug, and that others have also had, the rep was very quick to offer to exchange the unit. I declined as overall I am happy with mine and the few issues hopefully will be addressed in software/firmware updates. But they seem to offer up the exchange option very quickly and makes me wonder how closely they look at software reasons for the bugs we report?. One hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. It is a form of appeasement that sours quickly when the user realizes all the time they spent setting up a completely new device was fruitless and the software issue remains. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 If you have access to an inline USB ammeter, you should be able to see the current drop to zero or extremely close to zero when it's done charging. See if any of your local friends have a "usb ammeter" - there is a ridiculous variety of choices from places like Amazon or from Asian companies like Banggood or Alibaba. You'll probably find it easier to put on the charging side than the Garmin side because these tend to be "big" and some Garmins make it hard to use cables with a slug on the end. (My Oregon 600 works badly with my miniB + Micro B retractable cables for this reason.) When it really is done charging, you should see 5V still delivered over the wire, but nearly no current(A). These testers are gold when trying to diagnose USB charging issues or see the actual remaining battery capacity of your aging phone, etc. It seems possible that the internal voltage sense across the battery (to know when it's full/empty) or the switching transistor (to disable the current to the batteries once full) is bad, but this is probably a level down from the core unit's software - the electronics are dead-easy and you want it to work when the unit is off - or the representation of that process as something readable to the CPU was buggered but it seems unlikely given the chorus of "me, too!" answers that they're actually defective and continuing to charge. Honestly, if it continued to dump voltage into the batteries and the internal resistance resulted in enough current flow to be non-trivial, there would be more reports of batteries overheating, leaking, and causing physical damage to the device. If this shows a low current (below, say, .1A) and your screen says "charging", you can be sure your screen is fibbing. To Cheminer Will's observation, support techs are often measured by the number of problems they can solve per hour. After two or more techs have verified everything they can, replacement is kind of the "we've done everything we did for this customer" option. Strangely, in many companies, the number of units replaced for any given problem is usually how they measure when a problem is severe enough to escalate to engineering/manufacturing instead of the departments actually talking to each other. That really is the knowing-Hands issue that Atlas Cached described Placebos are also very expensive to the maker. I used to work for a hardware manufacturer and we once calculated that once we RMA'ed a product, the profit on that device was some number that rounded to zero. The more surprising of that report was that once you RMA'ed *one* device for someone, the odds of being asked to do it again went WAY up - far disproportionate to the additional number of devices. Quote Link to comment
+Red90 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 As I mentioned earlier, on a 64, it does not drop to zero. The screen stays on with half backlight. It draws 150 mA when the charging is complete. Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 38 minutes ago, Red90 said: As I mentioned earlier, on a 64, it does not drop to zero. The screen stays on with half backlight. It draws 150 mA when the charging is complete. Which model 64 and which firmware revision? Quote Link to comment
+Red90 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 64S. All firmwares.... Quote Link to comment
_Art_ Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 (edited) Garmin (via Facebook) told me to contact support for an engineering ticket about other bugs, but I don’t think it’s worth the time. Especially where others have the same problem. They would probably just tell you to do a master reset, which I’ve already done, and maybe in the end, exchange the unit, but they might as well just swap units around amongst the people that returned them Edited January 4, 2019 by _Art_ Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 13 hours ago, Red90 said: As I mentioned earlier, on a 64, it does not drop to zero. The screen stays on with half backlight. It draws 150 mA when the charging is complete. I am having similar results after testing my GPSMAP 66. Screen remains on at ~50% brightness and charging animation remains active while drawing 170mA after more than 14 hours connected to a power source and powered off. I have contacted Garmin software engineers again.... Quote Link to comment
39_Steps Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 (edited) On 1/3/2019 at 3:21 PM, robertlipe said: If you have access to an inline USB ammeter, you should be able to see the current drop to zero or extremely close to zero when it's done charging. See if any of your local friends have a "usb ammeter" - there is a ridiculous variety of choices from places like Amazon or from Asian companies like Banggood or Alibaba. Two or three years ago I ordered four(4) of the $9.99 DROK meters for USB 2.0 connectors only. Gave away two for Xmas stocking stuffers. Great little units, particularly in pairs because they were consistent enough to determine voltage drop on longer or smaller gauge cables. As mentioned above, there are many more options today, but including one of the original DROKs in a purchase can come in very handy. FWIW. The DROKs can disable two of the four USB data pins thru a separate 2 pin connector. Edited January 6, 2019 by 39_Steps Quote Link to comment
_Art_ Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 I wonder what sort of current it takes to permanently damage the battery pack. It’s a slow charge, but funny pondering the possibility that everyone leaves units on charge face down, so battery gunk leaks through the card slot, and ruins the PCBs. It’s not a problem that particularly bothers me. At least it doesn’t interfere with the device working, but I’d have thought it something the manufacturer should be concerned about. Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 Thanks for your suggestion. I will be on to them first thing tomorrow. Will let you know what happens Why the 66? Well, friends call me 'gadget man' but seriously.. I have a map 60,62 ( given to friend) and a 64s as well as the 750t The latter was my first with a touch screen. Mmm!?! I like the size and the features but the way it goes off and does its own thing if you don't lock the screen every time you put it in your pocket, drives me to distraction. I have reset/reorganised it so many times Btw I picked up a handy tip to lock screen on the 750 by programming the user key from this forum or the old Garmin one. BUT you have to remember each time Even 5 days in with the 66 it was like having an old friend back. All the features of the 750 and a few more It has a very fast log on as well I can move around the menus just as quick as a touch screen It is the same size as the 6* series, so bigger in your pocket than the Oregon but you can't have everything. Will keep you posted Mike Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 Update on my " endless charging" issue Garmin sent me a brand new unit. Only had the old one active for 5 days It seems to work ok now However I have moved on on the battery front I got new Panasonic Eneloop Pro AA 2450 mAh. To replace existing ones I also got an EBL fast charger http://www.eblmall.com/product/ebl-40min-iquick-smart-usb-individual-rechargeable-battery-charger-for-aa-aaa-ni-mh-batteries/ This combination is IMHO is Excellent. The batteries are charged in 40 mins which is much better than 6 + hrs on the internal charger It also is fed by a USB. ( Less wires and power sources!) I was using the same batteries previously and the " meter" on the unit dropped a "bar" after 90 mins or so of use Not so now. 2/3 hours before it moves. Back in the charger batteries topped up again in 25 mins I tried leaving the unit outside to see how long it lasts. 18 hrs. Good signal and screen off 15 hrs with the screen on 0%. ( Turning off the screen doesn't seem to make that much difference) On Robt. L's recommendation I have bought also a usb ammeter. It says how much has gone on into the batteries. One reading for 2 bats was 2400mAh. It seems to be the same whether one batt or two. Haven't used meter that much to be sure. (Not as knowledgeable on these issues as others in this forum). Anyway The external fast charger is doing it for me Small, light and very portable Is the internal charger to the 66 putting enough charge in. ? I wonder Quote Link to comment
+oldkingog Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Glad to hear you seem to be in good shape. Can I ask what firmware your new 66 is running? Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 I think it is 2.3. Although it also says GPS Software 2.5 Take your pick Garmin express says 2.3 See attached Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Yes, many improvements in firmware 2.30, which will never be released to the public (internal only) - but they will carry over into the next public release! Quote Link to comment
+oldkingog Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Good to hear that there are a lot of improvements! My 66s is really buggy. (I'm on my 3rd one). Can't wait for the public release--I can't believe there hasn't been one since the initial firmware was established in August! Quote Link to comment
_Art_ Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Does that mean the internal charge controller is working properly now, or you didn’t try? Quote Link to comment
+mikeD Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 I checked internal charging and was ok. However as said have been using the external fast charger for the AA's since Quote Link to comment
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