730 will not stay on unless connected to Home

[bobhupe]

TomTom 730 will stay on for hours connected to Home,
If I disconnect from Home it will reboot then show the battery low graphic and shut down.
Turn it on and select Do not connect to computer, it will show the battery low graphic and shut down.
I have replaced the battery, formatted the 730 and downlowded everything from TomTom.
Tried the flash tool 3 times.
Formatted and restored map folder from the Windows Exploirer backup, connected to TomTOm from Home and downloded all the rest

Still will not stay on unless connected to TomTom Home.
I have the latest Maps, firmware, and Home.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[mikealder]

Sounds like its either a duff battery or the charger cicuit in the device has expired, what does the unit do if its in the car connected to the car charger with the engine running? - Mike

 

[bobhupe]

It will come on for 5 sec then show low battery graphic and shut down.
Tried different car chargers, wall chargers, usb cradles, all the same results
unless I connect to TT Home, then it will stay on overnight.
If I hold the power button down until I get a text screen it show the battery at 5.000 volts.

 

[mikealder]

Try it again with the Battery preferences set NOT to turn off the device when external power is lost (Change Preferences/ Battery Preferences) and see if its any different.
From what you have described it does sound like the internal charger circuit within the TomTom has packed up though - Mike

 

[bobhupe]

I can not get to the preferences.
I just see a graphic of the TomTom in a docking station while i'm connected to Home.
I can not "Operate My Go" from the TT Home
I get a Error calling method on NPObject:
Tried uninstalling Home and reinstalling no luck.
I can measure the voltage of the battery with a meter, while I am plugged in the voltage continues to go up, like it is charging.

 

[canderson]

I can measure the voltage of the battery with a meter, while I am plugged in the voltage continues to go up, like it is charging.

That's interesting. I'm also wondering if the charging circuit is the culprit, and has perhaps toasted your battery -- or the other way around.

Since you're in a position to do so ...

After an overnight of no connection at all, check the battery voltage. What does it show? Now, attempt to charge it and record what happens.

What voltage level do you see at the battery connection within 5, 10 and15 minutes or so? Can you kinda project a curve for me of what it's doing? I ask because the Li-Ion battery requires a constant voltage charge, not constant current like a NiMH battery. A constant current charge allows the voltage to vary to whatever level is necessary to deliver a specific current to the battery. That's NOT the case with lithium batteries.

 

[bobhupe]

The original battery that I took out Monday morning is showing 4.008 volts DC.
The new battery that has been on charge is showing 4.365 v DC with the charger disconnected.
After leaving it off charge for 30 min the voltage was at 4.189
plugged the usb cable in it went to 4.209
5 min 4.212
15 min 4.216
30 min 4.216

Will now try and charge the original battery and record the voltages

 

[bobhupe]

Voltage reading on the original battery
2 days after being removed from TomTom 4.008 volts
Plugged into TomTom and USB, 4.168 volts
5 min 4.204 volts
15 min 4.206 volts
30 min 4.209 volts
60 min 4.213 volts

 

[canderson]

Since everything you're showing me is in the general neighborhood of 4.2V (that's about the max you want to see, beyond which the life expectancy begins to drop on a Li-Ion pack), I'd say that both your charger and your new battery (and perhaps even your old one) are just ducky. Which I know doesn't help you a whit, but at least you seem to have made a discovery about what the problem isn't.

Next step is to see what happens when both packs get hit with the power-on cycle.

To keep things simple, and assuming the old battery might be incapable of handling a decent load in spite of the voltage it's showing, install the new battery first. Meter it up and hit the power. What sort of voltage differential do you see when the unit attempts to power up? If you meter has some sort of min/max peak hold, that might be really helpful -- I'm not sure that you're going to see what we need to see for very long. We're looking for a significant dip at the battery terminals during the power sequence.

 

[bobhupe]

On startup the voltage drops by .02 volts.
If you select connect to computer it will stay on.
If you select No do not connect it will shut down.

 

[canderson]

On startup the voltage drops by .02 volts.
If you select connect to computer it will stay on.
If you select No do not connect it will shut down.

That all actually sounds very good -- apart from the shut-down, of course. I don't think there's a thing wrong with either your charging circuit or battery.

The fact that your unit remains powered up properly in the docking cradle as long as you have a computer connection, but will not remain powered up in the cradle when you finally choose to refuse the computer connection -- that just doesn't sound like hardware at all. You've got USB power either way, and good battery power regardless.

You say Home works OK apart from "Operate My Go"? What version of Home are you running?

Any chance you have a 2GB or 4GB Class 6 SD card laying around anywhere? You don't mention having one installed in your unit (although if you do, PLEASE advise). We could try this with a Class 4 in a pinch just to see how things go, but a 6 would better. I'm wanting to have you copy your map data across to the SD card, and we'll install the application there, too, and see if your unit behaves any better.

 

[bobhupe]

Home ver 2.7.6.2056
I have an 8 gb SD HC card, not sure of the class.
Formatted internal memory, and loaded my explorer backup onto the SD card.
Still have the same symptons.
If i connect to the computer it stays on, select No to connection, it shuts down.

Any firmware issues that could cause this?

 

[canderson]

Home ver 2.7.6.2056
I have an 8 gb SD HC card, not sure of the class.
Formatted internal memory, and loaded my explorer backup onto the SD card.
Still have the same symptons.
If i connect to the computer it stays on, select No to connection, it shuts down.

Any firmware issues that could cause this?

Rats. Was hoping that operating from the SD card would improve things, as it was one of my "last ditch" efforts.

Did this all just start out of the blue, or were there updates or anything else that might have precipitated this?

I'm not aware of a firmware issue that would cause this. In fact, I can't recall a similar situation coming up here in the forums. Since you can't operate the unit, let's see what firmware you have loaded "the hard way", just in case something bizarre is there.

In the root of your unit (and your backup) there will be a file called ttgo.bif. See what is says out to the right of the "ApplicationVersionVersionNumber" entry.

Last last ditch effort is to delete the loose files (no folders) from your SD card, fire up Home, and have it load 8.351 to your SD card and see what happens.

 

[mvl]

The npobjects error means a bad home install.

- First, make sure you know your email/password for Tomtom HOME.
- Then close Tomtom HOME
- Then open the %appdata% folder on your computer. And delete the Tomtom subfolder
- Then restart HOME, login with your user/pass and again try operate my GO
- If it works, try adding a favorite in the emulator, then click done, and disconnect with the blue button.

There's a small chance it's a firmware issue and the step above often fixes the bug.

 

[bobhupe]

I completely uninstalled Home using Revo Uninstaller
Reinstalled from TomTom

Then I tried a suggestion from mvl
the prior steps don't work, close HOME, open the %appdata% folder, and delete the Tomtom subfolder. Then reopen HOME and try Operate My GO again. (you'll need to re-login with your user/pass)

Now I can Operate My Go from Home.
Added a favorite, and changed my preference to not shut down when ext. power sourse is lost.

Still will not stay on unless connected to computer.

 

[mvl]

Still will not stay on unless connected to computer.

Well that's about everything that can be fixed software-wise.

I've never opened up a Tomtom but I'll have to leave any next steps to the others who are more hardware-knowledgeable.

 

[bobhupe]

Thanks for everyones help.
I'm trying to buy a screen damaged 730 and combine parts to make one working 730.
My question is can I transfer my map update subscription to the repaired unit. I assume the serial number is on the main board i'm going to replace.

 

[canderson]

Thanks for everyones help.
I'm trying to buy a screen damaged 730 and combine parts to make one working 730.
My question is can I transfer my map update subscription to the repaired unit. I assume the serial number is on the main board i'm going to replace.

That's going to require some effort. If you send in a unit to TomTom and get back another with a new serial number, they're pretty good about swapping map subscriptions quickly. However, if they haven't seen the old unit, they're not always as cooperative. I'd give them a call, explain what you're about to do, and see if you can sweet talk them into the transfer. You'll find the serial number both when using TTHome and when looking at the status page of the unit itself.

WHATEVER you do, be sure to set up a new TomTom account for the new unit using a new (even bogus) email address so that it is distinct from the previous unit or things will go badly.

When I purchased a 2nd TomTom, I just burned an "extra" Comcast email account for the new one.