+3isamagic# Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) So, after spending a king's ransom on AA batteries from Costco for the past couple years, I decided to buy four Garmin NiMH battery packs for our two Oregon 700 receivers. They arrived today, and I have two questions:When plugged in to a USB power source, is there any indication on-screen that charging is actually happening? On virtually every device that I own, from game controllers to my cell phone, there is an onscreen indicator that the battery is charging. I could see nothing of the kind on my Oregon, and the information on the Garmin website says nothing about this one way or the other that I've been able to discern. I think I figured this part out - I was plugged into a USB multi-port brick. When I plugged my Oregon into my computer, I got the request asking if I wanted to open USB storage. I tapped "no," and now there's a charging icon where the battery indicator is. On one of our two receivers, when I install the NiMH battery pack, the option under "Settings" for "Battery Type" disappears, as in it is not even a listed option. Upon removing the battery pack and replacing it with with regular alkaline AA batteries, the option returns. This is puzzling, to say the least, because the option is clearly available on my other Oregon 700. Any thoughts? Edited January 14, 2021 by 3isamagic# Figured part of it out Quote Link to comment
+3isamagic# Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) An additional, related question: on the receiver that is having the battery type display issue (which we'll call unit "A" for clarity), I end up with this situation: When unit A is plugged into my computer, it immediately goes to USB mass storage mode. Unit B (the one that lacks the battery type display issue) always gives me the option of either going into USB mass storage mode or not (choosing "no" is how I got the charging icon in the main battery indicator). Both units have are completely updated (software version 5.30). What the heck? Edited January 14, 2021 by 3isamagic# added more info Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, 3isamagic# said: On one of our two receivers, when I install the NiMH battery pack, the option under "Settings" for "Battery Type" disappears, as in it is not even a listed option. Upon removing the battery pack and replacing it with with regular alkaline AA batteries, the option returns. This is puzzling, to say the least, because the option is clearly available on my other Oregon 700. Any thoughts? Why do you expect the GPSr to show you AA battery type configuration options in the Setup Menu when the Garmin Lithium-ion Battery Pack is installed? The Garmin battery pack is designed to depress the little rubber nub in the center of the battery tray so the GPSr automatically knows NiMH batteries are installed. If one of your GPSr is still showing the battery configuration option, something is broken. Check out the Operation > Power Sources page here. All of these question will be answered, and more. 1 hour ago, 3isamagic# said: When unit A is plugged into my computer, it immediately goes to USB mass storage mode. Unit B (the one that lacks the battery type display issue) always gives me the option of either going into USB mass storage mode or not (choosing "no" is how I got the charging icon in the main battery indicator). Both units have are completely updated (software version 5.30). What the heck? This behavior is based on the Interface option you have selected in Setup > System. Garmin Spanner always asks you what you want to happen, the others all go directly into Mass Storage Mode. Please see the link above for additional related information. Edited January 14, 2021 by Atlas Cached typo Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, 3isamagic# said: On one of our two receivers, when I install the NiMH battery pack, the option under "Settings" for "Battery Type" disappears, as in it is not even a listed option. Upon removing the battery pack and replacing it with with regular alkaline AA batteries, the option returns. This is puzzling, to say the least, because the option is clearly available on my other Oregon 700. Any thoughts? That's a pretty cool feature -- install the official battery pack, and it mechanically presses the switch to tell the device that the pack is there. The switch is the little rubber bump in the center of the battery compartment. My 650 never charged its battery pack, so I stopped used factory battery packs. Wild guess, the battery pack button is not being fully depressed in the one that allows a selection of batteries. Edited January 14, 2021 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+3isamagic# Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 10 minutes ago, Atlas Cached said: Why do you expect the GPSr to show you AA battery type configuration options in the Setup Menu when the Garmin Lithium-ion Battery Pack is installed? Well, my rationale for asking the question is that the situation is different on two seemingly identical units, but the info provided by kunarion above gives me a lead. My unit is set to Garmin Spanner, while hers is Garmin Serial. I just made the switch on hers, and it now asks for what to do when USB is plugged in. And, in a bonus, it shows a *different* battery charging icon - it shows a standard "battery charging" lightning bolt. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact I'm using the Classic mode and hers is set for Activities. Quote Link to comment
+Atlas Cached Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 12 minutes ago, 3isamagic# said: My unit is set to Garmin Spanner, while hers is Garmin Serial. I just made the switch on hers, and it now asks for what to do when USB is plugged in. And, in a bonus, it shows a *different* battery charging icon - it shows a standard "battery charging" lightning bolt. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact I'm using the Classic mode and hers is set for Activities. Interesting, I had never noticed the battery icon was different between 'Classic' and 'Activity' modes. Quote Link to comment
+3isamagic# Posted January 14, 2021 Author Share Posted January 14, 2021 Okay, I think I figured the whole mess out. I actually ordered four batteries, and when I plugged a different one into my Oregon, it now removes the battery choice menu AND shows the lightning bolt charging icon. I assume the one battery pack wasn't pushing down the button in the battery case properly. I'll have to look into it. Thanks for everyone's help! Quote Link to comment
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