Resurrection - is it possible - GO710

[arlowood]

Hi there

Mislaid my Tom Tom GO 710 earlier this year (around April time). Searched everywhere in the house and car but no joy. Surmised that I must have lost it or thrown it out by mistake. Bought a new TOMTom XXL as replacement.

Traded in my car a month ago and got a call from the dealer that their valleters had found the Tom Tom. Can't think where it would have been but nonetheless I've got it back.

Tried to turn it on but no joy. Plugged in mains charger but again the charging light did not come on. When I pressed the On/Off button the charging light did come on but went off again when I released the button.

Have left it with the mains charger plugged in but don't know if anything is happening as the charging light is not showing.

What I want to know is - has the unit died on me permanenetly or is there some way that I can resurrect it to work again?

 

[dhn]

Keeping it charged with the mains for a good three or four hours is a good first step. Then try resetting the unit (either by holding the power button for 10 seconds or so till you hear the drum sounds or use the dedicated reset hole, if your model has one).

The battery may be kaput... You'll have to decide whether it's worth replacing it. Anyway, try the charging method first.

 

[arlowood]

Hi

Thanks for the input

My guess is that the battery has fully discharged over the 6 months the unit was lying in the car. Probably gone beyond the point where it will take a new charge.

Have kept all the accessories - so reluctant to bin the 710 on the basis of a dud battery.

Was guided to this video by a poster on another forum. Thought it could be useful to share it for others out there.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncBUnxMbyS8[/ame]

Just need to get the new battery and a suitably sized Torx screwdriver.

Thanks again

 

[arlowood]

Have just winessed a potential "Lazarus" moment. Called my son yesterday and explained the problem with the Tom Tom.


He suggested leaving it on charge for several days as he had experienced a similar battery "death" some time ago and his unit eventually kicked into life after a couple of days on the charger.


Left the GO710 plugged into the charger but today there was still no sign of life (ie the charging light was still not lit).


Suddenly wondered if my mains charger was faulty so I dug out my multimeter and checked the output - it was OK reading 5.2V. Plugged the lead back into the USB/ charging device and Hey Presto - the charging light is now on.


Watch this space - will leave it charging overnight and see if it has sprung back to life tomorrow.


Bit gutted if it has as I had bought a Torx tool kit and ordered a new battery from Ebay in readiness for swapping out the "dud" battery.


However it may be that the existing battery has been compromised in some way. Will need to see how it performs if it does hold a charge. May have to swap it anyway.

 

[canderson]

If your 710 has never had a new battery, I wouldn't hesitate to swap in the new one no matter whether the unit works for a short while with the old one.

 

[arlowood]

Hi Guys

Just to update you. I took the 710 off charge today and fired it up.

Battery was showing a full charge and all the functions seemed to be working fine. Went out for a drive and all the speed camera warnings were working as normal so I think it has recovered OK.

Left it powered up to check the battery performance and it lasted about 5 hours before the "low battery" warning started to flash. From memory I think this is about normal for the battery life (not sure of the mAh rating of the original batteries).

However as advised I may swap out the old battery for the new 2600mAh one that I have on order from Ebay as a precaution.

 

[Andy_P]

If you're getting 5 hours, that's extremely good!

Recent models barely get half of that on a fresh battery.

 

[canderson]

5 hours IS outstanding. No idea why your battery has held its capacity for so long (they don't, typically) but enjoy it!

 

[mikealder]

Don't bother swapping the battery over until your unit really needs a new one, the 710 is quite troublesome to take to bits unless you are used to dealing with electronics, there are two clamp style ribbon cable connectors which are prone to break if released incorrectly, they cannot be repaired once broken.
With five hours on the battery thats fitted leave it well alone - Mike