Help! Tomtomn Go530 died suddenly!

[Befuddled]

Hi there,
My beloved Go530, cosseted and treated with love, never dropped (etc etc, you get the point!) stopped working recently.
Sometimes, it turns on long enough to get the Tomtom drum, but there is no picture at all.
I have tried charging it both in-car and USB. USB recognises it and I can use it through the PC, but there is no tomtom screen on the device.

Please advise me as to what I should do. There are so many shonky people out there claiming that they can fix any problem etc, and I don't want to be ripped off, but I really don't have a clue here!

Many thanks for your help.

 

[dhn]

Welcome to TTF.

Have you tried a pin reset on the unit?

 

[Befuddled]

Hi dhn,
Thank you for the welcome.
I have reset the unit several times, and held down the on/off button for longer than usual, in case that helped!

No joy.

 

[dhn]

It may well be a hardware issue.

Some users in a UK based gps site recommend this place:
Sat nav repairs, TomTom repair, Tom Tom repairs, TomTom repairs, Garmin repair

 

[canderson]

Before you were having this problem, had you tried to use the unit while disconnected from both house and car chargers, and did it operate for at least a few minutes? I ask, because it sounds like your battery is toast. Even plugged in, with a dead battery, these things don't behave well. I've never taken time to confirm it, but I get the sense that most of these TomTom units operate in a way similar to some other devices -- they run off the battery all the time, and charge the battery concurrently with operation, but don't/can't use the charger current to operate the unit at all.

 

[Befuddled]

It may well be a hardware issue.

Some users in a UK based gps site recommend this place:
Sat nav repairs, TomTom repair, Tom Tom repairs, TomTom repairs, Garmin repair

Thanks- it's good to have recommendations!

 

[Befuddled]

Before you were having this problem, had you tried to use the unit while disconnected from both house and car chargers, and did it operate for at least a few minutes? I ask, because it sounds like your battery is toast. Even plugged in, with a dead battery, these things don't behave well. I've never taken time to confirm it, but I get the sense that most of these TomTom units operate in a way similar to some other devices -- they run off the battery all the time, and charge the battery concurrently with operation, but don't/can't use the charger current to operate the unit at all.

Hi,
Previously, yes- I used it for a short journey and it was fine without a power source. When I found that it wouldn't work, I hadn't used it for about a week... So the battery problem makes sense.

Is the battery changeable as a user, or does it need to be done by a grown-up/specialist?!

Many thanks.

 

[canderson]

I've never cracked open a GO530, but if it follows the same design as the 730 and 930, the sticky up above this thread covers the battery replacement for those models: https://www.tomtomforums.com/tomtom...730-920-930-battery-replacement-tutorial.html

If you find that it looks the same once you've taken out the two screws that hold a 730/930 together, I'd continue to follow along with the process as described. Your 530 uses the same battery as the rest of the models, and can be purchased from the same sources.

 

[kellypups]

Broken GO530

I had a similar problem with my 920. It was total battery failure. I downloaded the change battery instructions and bought a battery on ebay for $20.00 NZ and my son in law did the whole job in 15 minutes. Tom Tom do not have an agent in New Zealand and they wanted $90.00 plus freight to send it 3000 km to Australia to look at it and then give me a quote. The instructions were perfect and the procedure simple.

 

[canderson]

Pleased to hear that we saved another one from the dust bin! It all reminds me of the uproar when Apple released their first product with a "sealed in" battery. Apple got with the "flat rate" battery exchange program pretty quickly after all of the bad press. Shame we can't get the same, although your S.I.L. was still no doubt less expensive

 

[starscraper19]

Battery solution

I had similar problem and purchased a new battery from NewPower99.com

 

[canderson]

...and purchased a new battery...

You can't get them to give you the packs at the office?

 

[Befuddled]

I had similar problem and purchased a new battery from NewPower99.com

Their youtube video of the battery replacement was phenomenal.

The sad thing is, it hasn't solved my problem :-(

I'm trying to charge it, but I'm unable to tell whether it's charging.

Oh, this is most distressing!

 

[canderson]

I'm trying to charge it, but I'm unable to tell whether it's charging.

Charging from PC cable or car adapter? What does the charge indicator light on the 530 say is happening?

 

[Befuddled]

Hi,

Charging with USB cradle I just get the green light at the bottom right of the device. No screen. A couple of times I got the tomtom drums sound when trying to turn it on, but nothing else. Charging from the car, I got nothing but the green light... I went past a few speed camera and got the warning sounds, but nothing else.
However long I leave it 'charging', the device doesn't seem to get warm. I was wondering if there's a way that I could charge the battery on its own. The new (and expensive!) battery is behaving in the same way at the original tomtom one.

My device was passcode locked before it stopped working- not sure whether this makes a difference.

 

[Befuddled]

oh, and once when I connected it with USB cradle, it gave the Windows USB device connected noise, but at no other time lately. Tomtom PC software says no device connected, whereas before, I could work the PC software, but not the device.

 

[dhn]

Try a pin reset on the 530 and see if the unit is recognized when connected to the computer/Home now.

 

[canderson]

A couple of times I got the tomtom drums sound when trying to turn it on, but nothing else. Charging from the car, I got nothing but the green light... I went past a few speed camera and got the warning sounds, but nothing else.

It sounds to me like you've had a failure of the display. If you drove past speed cameras and the unit let you know about them with an audible alert, it's obviously fully functional from a GPS and audio standpoint - you just don't have any video. My units aren't warm when they charge either, BTW.

 

[Befuddled]

Try a pin reset on the 530 and see if the unit is recognized when connected to the computer/Home now.

Thanks- I'll do that again, in case it works this time!

 

[Befuddled]

It sounds to me like you've had a failure of the display. If you drove past speed cameras and the unit let you know about them with an audible alert, it's obviously fully functional from a GPS and audio standpoint - you just don't have any video. My units aren't warm when they charge either, BTW.

That's the only sound I do get- I've had the tomtom drums a couple of times.

I thought my units did get warm...it's been so long since they worked that I may be wrong! ;-)