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A Mag 315 Question


Guest spiny norman

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Guest spiny norman

On page 50 of the manual,

 

FAQ, Can I use NiCad batteries in my receiver?

 

Answer, Yes. However,the battery life of your receiver will be diminished as well as the possibility of an incorrect reading on the battery life guage etc.....

 

Do I take this to mean that the overall life of the unit will be diminished or just the batteries themselves?

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Guest bwware

Just the batteries. I can put in 2 fully charged batteries and the meter only shows it at about 75% battery level. They work just fine, but maybe just a tad bit shorter life than reg batteries.

 

Hope that helped!

 

Bill

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Guest BigDoggie

There is another potential problem with the battery display when using ni-cads. With regular batteries, the voltage provided drops off gradually as the battery is used up, so the "battery bar guage" shows a gradually diminishing bar, and the short bar alerts you to the need for new batteries soon.

 

With ni-cads, the voltage is not as high to start with (which is the reason for the initial 75% that bwware mentioned.) However, that voltage remains relatively constant until the very end, then drops off sharply. So, one minute you'll be showing 70% battery, and the next minute the GPS will be dead.

 

Potential problem #2... it is hard to keep up with whether a particular set of nicads is fresh or used or partially used... so that spare set of ni-cads in your pocket may be dead, too.

 

The moral: throw a set or two of fresh alkaline batteries in your pack/pocket for emergency use.

 

------------------

Interested in Geocaching in the state of Georgia? Visit the Georgia Geocachers Association home page at http://www.ggaonline.org

 

[This message has been edited by BigDoggie (edited 29 August 2001).]

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Guest RealDcoy

Just a note to Garmin III+ owners, ( and I assume other Garmin units), there is a place in the menus to change the selection of power so that it "knows" how to calibrate the meter. It calibrates for alkaline, NiCad, and Lithium.

 

In addition, there is "power saver" mode. In this mode, the unit only updates position every 5 seconds rather than every 1 second. (Only while stationary, or moving in a steady direction, at a relatively steady speed.) This can dramatically extend battery life.

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Guest Cermak

I use Rayovac Renewal (rechargable 'alkaline' batteries) in my 315. With the light on they last about 2 hours. No light maybe 4-5. But I have them marked in sets and have 5 sets of them (what can I say, I got 8 of them on clearance for about $6.00 plus 2 free with my $10 charger). I also have an adapter to run 110volt items in the car so recharging is no problem. But to be honest, I have only noticed slightly shorter life over regular batteries. My battery meter always reads full for about 10 minutes when I first put in the rechargables too. I could never get anywhere near the 15 hours it said in the book. May 6 hours max without using the back light. But honestly, the rechargables will pay for themselves. I have them in my flashlights too.

 

[This message has been edited by Cermak (edited 30 August 2001).]

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