Short trips, need to plug into Cig Charger?

[Bobioden]

I have a new TT720, and am very new to GPS's in general. Quick question. I go on short jaunts durning the day, and have been using my TT which has worked wonderfully. I have not used the Cig Charger yet as I have a fully charged unit when I start the day, and bring it in at night and fully charge it again.

Is this OK to do this, or does it need to be plugged in when being used?

Thanks,

Bob

 

[dhn]

They are designed to work with a charger. You don't want to be caught short by finding the battery has drained.

 

[cacherjoe]

You can go on short trips without the charger, however I would suggest plugging it in whenever possible. I recently had an issue where the audio was scratchy and then gone all together. I thought the speaker had failed, but in the end it was because the battery had gone down. It doesn't take long for the battery to effect the operation of the unit, thus keeping it plugged in as much as possible is best.

J

 

[GarCor]

You can go on short trips without the charger, however I would suggest plugging it in whenever possible. I recently had an issue where the audio was scratchy and then gone all together. I thought the speaker had failed, but in the end it was because the battery had gone down. It doesn't take long for the battery to effect the operation of the unit, thus keeping it plugged in as much as possible is best.

J

Like you I Just completed a 3600 kl (2100 Mi ) trip and along the way the plug had somehow came loose and I didn't realize it untell my audio started scratching and like you I thought my speaker was failing but after putting the plug back in all was fine.

Bottom line it is a good idea to keep charger pluged in.

 

[killerz298]

The longer you have your unit the quicker the battery will die. I have had my unit around a year now and I don't get more than about 40-45 mins without charging while using the bluetooth and music player. Perhaps without those features it would be longer. Also, with bluetooth, even if you have some power left in the unit the voice will get all distorted and crackley. I have been setting the unit to turn off between instructions lately and that helps alot (when I am traveling with long stretches between instructions as anything under 2 miles will keep the screen on). I think TT really dropped the ball in the battery area and would like to see that enhanced in future models.

 

[maynard7]

I have a new TT720, and am very new to GPS's in general. Quick question. I go on short jaunts durning the day, and have been using my TT which has worked wonderfully. I have not used the Cig Charger yet as I have a fully charged unit when I start the day, and bring it in at night and fully charge it again.

Is this OK to do this, or does it need to be plugged in when being used?

Thanks,

Bob

On every battery-operated device I have, I completely use up the battery before recharge, if possible. Here's a cut & paste from a good web page that explains why:

""" Send your NiMH and your LSD NiMH batteries through a reconditioning (discharge) cycle about every fourth time you charge them. Send your NiCd batteries through more frequent reconditioning cycles. You may have heard that NiCd batteries develop discharge memory and that NiMH batteries do not. This is not quite true. Both NiCd and NiMH develop discharge memory, the NiCd just do it more readily. Discharge memory refers to the behavior of batteries whereby if a battery is discharged, for example, only half way every time it is used; eventually the battery can only be discharged half way before it dies. So, for example, a 1,000 mAh battery begins to behave something like a 500 mAh battery.

I recondition my batteries every time I charge them unless I am in a hurry. With over 75 rechargeable NiCd and NiMH batteries at my home, it is hard to remember which ones were reconditioned when. (You could easily have over 75 batteries in your home too.) It is far simpler to just recondition them almost every time, and if your charger automatically switches from recondition mode to recharge mode without requiring you to go to the charger to flip a switch half way though the process, then it is not an inconvenience to recondition them most times.

If you'd like to read more about batteries, see the following web site run by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB):

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WPW/Power/RechBattInfo.htm#WhatToDo

 

[canderson]

On every battery-operated device I have, I completely use up the battery before recharge, if possible. Here's a cut & paste from a good web page that explains why:

I'd note that the article addresses NiMH and NiCd, and not lithium polymer. I haven't yet seen similar data to support full discharge of these, and have in fact seen some that says quite the opposite.

 

[maynard7]

I'd note that the article addresses NiMH and NiCd, and not lithium polymer. I haven't yet seen similar data to support full discharge of these, and have in fact seen some that says quite the opposite.

My TomTom has a lithium-ion battery (not lithium polymer). Here's a cut and paste from Wikipedia about caring for lithium-ion:

Unlike Ni-Cd batteries, lithium-ion batteries should be charged early and often. However, if they are not used for a long time, they should be brought to a charge level of around 40%–60%. Lithium-ion batteries should not be frequently fully discharged and recharged ("deep-cycled") like Ni-Cd batteries, but this is necessary after about every 30th recharge to recalibrate any external electronic "fuel gauge" (e. g. State Of Charge meter). This prevents the fuel gauge from showing an incorrect battery charge.[23]
Li-ion batteries should never be depleted to below their minimum voltage, 2.4 V to 3.0 V per cell.
Li-ion batteries should be kept cool. Ideally they are stored in a refrigerator. Aging will take its toll much faster at high temperatures. The high temperatures found in cars cause lithium-ion batteries to degrade rapidly.
Li-ion batteries should not be frozen [39] (most lithium-ion battery electrolytes freeze at approximately −40 ?C; however, this is much colder than the lowest temperature reached by household freezers).
Li-ion batteries should be bought only when needed, because the aging process begins as soon as the battery is manufactured.[23]

 

[canderson]

My TomTom has a lithium-ion battery (not lithium polymer). Here's a cut and paste from Wikipedia about caring for lithium-ion:

That's accurate information for LiPo as well (e.g., x20/x30/x40 series). Don't drain 'em to the bottom. The old rules for discharging have changed with the chemistry! So have the rules for charging. The charge method for NiCd/NiMH vs. lithium is radically different.

 

[Petrite]

Dealing with that power cord is a pain for all us short trippers. Looks like my (LiPo) Go 730 is gonna be getting a new mount.. one with the charger intergrated.

 

[Opie]

I have a TomTom One 125 and I am having a hard time with mounting it in a 2001 Avalon. The lighter plug and cord are always in the way. I understand the battery will last between 2 to 3 hours, but sometimes I drive all day and the cord must be plugged into the device. I am thinking that I would like to purchase a different cord and connector and hard wire it into the Avalon.

Has anybody done this before?

Opie

 

[drledger]

Not on that model but I had a local sound shop wire my 910 last year. They charged twenty five dollars and installed a positive cut off switch and ran the cables so they were hidden.