Battery types.

[Frank1]

Hi Folks. I own a Go910 and a GO950. The 910 works fine, but the 950 died on me after a recent trip to Europe. After seeking advice from TomTom and visting their head office in Amsterdam, I am no further ahead with a fix than I was on the day it died.
It seems that the fault may be the battery, as when I put it on charge, the light comes on, but I cannot get it to boot up, either when on the charger, or off it.
A repairer Down Under quoted a $100 to just let me know what the problem was, then plus what parts were required to fix it, so I declined.
Further advice from another source added that if the battery was dead, it would not boot up even when connected to a power source, so I removed the battery easily enough.
Problem is, locating a battery with the same Part Number.
The part number of the existing battery is AHL03711007. The only batteries I can find by searching online have the same number, apart from the last digit where the 7 is replaced by an 8.
Does anyone know if the one with the 8 will do the job, because I cannot find out, even from TomTom?
Any advice welcome. Thank you.

 

[dhn]

You may wish to do a search on this Aussie site (or contact them):

http://www.master-instruments.com.au/products/60185/GPSB-1697461.html

 

[Frank1]

Thanks dhn. Appreciate that. Problem is, they do not list the GO950, and a search on that site for the battery brings up a 0 found. I can easily obtain a battery, but I do not know if it will work, or even fit inside the casing due to the last Part Number being different. Not even TomTom head office could tell me when I fronted up there, but they were kind enough to drive me to a local electrical goods shop where they thought I might have got one, which I was unable to.

 

[canderson]

@frank
There's nothing too special about your 950 battery. The same 5-wire 1100mAh battery is used in the 740 and a couple of other models.

Here's a local source for them >>> http://www.gadgetcity.com.au/tomtom...r-go-740-750-950-gps-live-tm-vf1a-p-2825.html

I haven't visited the site that dhn mentioned, but see if they sell them for the 740Live as well.

 

[Frank1]

@frank
There's nothing too special about your 950 battery. The same 5-wire 1100mAh battery is used in the 740 and a couple of other models.

Here's a local source for them >>> http://www.gadgetcity.com.au/tomtom...r-go-740-750-950-gps-live-tm-vf1a-p-2825.html

I haven't visited the site that dhn mentioned, but see if they sell them for the 740Live as well.

Thanks canderson. Not sure how I missed that site. It even lists the dimensions of the battery, so that gives me peace of mind that it will fit. Heading for Europe next week, so I will buy one when I return. I will take the 910 to Europe with me and hope that it works OK there. It worked fine in the USA a few weeks back, so should be OK.

 

[Frank1]

OK Folks here is an update on the above problem. I obtained a battery from Gadget City. Excellent service from those guys, so Thank You Canderson for pointing me in the right direction. I fitted the battery, and the darn thing would still not start up. I put it aside for a couple of weeks, more in frustration than anything else. A couple of days ago, I took it apart again, and I was trying to see how it actually switched on. I could see where the Start button plunger was supposed to activate something, but I could not see what. I then had a real close look at the area where there should have been some sort of switch, and realised that it must be missing, because I could see 4 what seemed like solder points in the area. Another close look at the casing, and I found the Start switch lying in there. To test if the unit was working, I bridged the solder points with a wire, and BINGO, the Tom Tom came to life. It is a very simple operation, with only 2 of the solder points out of the 4 needed to be bridged. The other 2 were simply there to hold the starter switch in position.
Next problem was to try and solder the switch back in place. What a nightmare that was, and I had to give up in the end because I melted part if the solder switch plastic. It is tiny, and hard to hold in place, get enough heat in there, and onto the tiny lugs.
So, after some thought, I said stuff it, and decided to Jerry start it, so I assembled the unit back together minus the Start button to allow me to activate the unit by bridging the points.
So, I have the TT working, and am now just doing updates on it. I have tested it out OK regarding finding places, and I just need to make up a small tool to use to bridge the Start points, rather than having to use a screwdriver.
Conclusion thoughts. The battery was stuffed. I probably broke the Start switch off when reassembling the unit after replacing the battery. The big BUT though, is that perhaps the switch was already broken off, and was the fault all the time. It has 4 tiny lugs holding it in position, with 2 of the lugs being the Starter when bridged. ( With the TT screen facing you, and looking down through the hole where I left the Start button off, it is the 2 lugs to the right that are the Starter ones. One above the other).
It has been an interesting experience all round.

 

[canderson]

So is the switch still intact? There are some folks who can manage hand soldering of these tiny SMD parts using appropriately small soldering irons. Some of us are too old to do it without our jeweler's 'goggles' on, though!

 

[Frank1]

1. Switch is too badly damaged to bother with. I have used the Jerry start up to ensure that is works OK, and so far it is working fine. I may try to make up a new type of starter switch that I can hold in place by some other method than soldering. I have not bothered to check to see if a switch can be obtained, and am happy to operate it as is for the foreseeable future. I have noticed on some forums that report problems the same as my original one, which was the charging light was coming on, but the unit would not start up, and I am wondering if the problem could be simply the exact same as either of mine. Either a dead battery, or a starter switch faulty or broken off. Much as I am no handyman, I found it easy enough to take the Tom Tom apart, and that was before I noticed that there was a utube video showing how to do it. Anyway, the info is there to be shared, and I hope that someone may find it useful one day. Thanks again Canderson.