AA battery life for Garmin GPS's which is best?

KTMphil

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Jan 11, 2011
Location
Chiang Mai, Thailand
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2007 KTM 990 Adventure Suzuki DRZ 400
AA battery life for Garmin GPS's which is best?


A large percentage of trail riders that use Garmin GPS's power their GPS units from AA batteries. My 12 volt DC, GPS hard wired power source failed in south Laos after some deep water crossing (DC voltage converter box from 12 volt DC to 5.5 volt DC water logged) and was forced to use AA batteries.


AA batteries.jpg



I've been trying different brands and types that are available in Thailand. The cheap AA batteries, obviously depending on the GPS units power setting for brightness and sleep time, tend to last about 4 hours, top end expensive can last up to 2 days of riding.


My current favorite is the Panasonic Evolta, these i've been getting up to 2 days of use. Tried the Tesco "Power High Tech", only got about 4 hours, won't be buying those again.

Currently trying the Energizer Advanced to see how they perform.
 
What about buying cheap-middle range ones (should last at least a day riding) and change them every night so you don't have to worry during the day?
 
MastaMax said:
What about buying cheap-middle range ones (should last at least a day riding) and change them every night so you don't have to worry during the day?


That's the problem. finding some that will last a full day, especially in the Montana 600 series with its big screen, you have to go top shelf to get that (you might get away with it on a 60 csx, interesting to know which product you ALWAYS get a full day out of).
 
Like the Evolta also as they seem to have longest "life". Difficult to say how long they last as I use the GPS (60CX) also on external power in the truck.
 
The lack of battery life that Phil is experiencing is simply that he is using alkaline batteries.

I've been an avid user of NIMH (nickel metal hydride) rechargeable batteries since 1996. I still use some of those batteries (AA & AAA) I bought back then(!), however, since technology advancements now provide more powerful versions (2500-2700 mAh) I now use these for my camera, GPS and some other battery powered electronics.
NIMH batteries, while not cheap, not only have a long life span and are rechargeable, but in the long run they are actually very inexpensive when compared to often replacing alkalines.
Unlike NiCad rechargeable batteries, NIMH batteries do not have a memory problem and they can be charged to full capacity. NIMH also have much more stored energy than equivalent sized NiCad rechargeables.

Currently some of the better NIMH batteries brands are from Sanyo, Energizer, Powerex, etc; there are also many off brand batteries that do not perform very well.
While the site below hasn't been updated in a few years, it will provide more info on NIMH batteries
http://www.rechargeable-battery-review. ... mance.html

You also will need a battery charger, specifically for NiMH batteries. I've been using a MAHA (Powerex) MH-C204W charger for years.
One of the top rated chargers and worldwide compatible (100-240v) and charges AA & AAA batteries. It can recharge 4-batteries as fast
as in 2-3-hours. The charger also has a feature to rejuvenate aging batteries to full capacity.

While I'm a newbie to GPS, I did notice that my Garmin has a setting for using NiMH batteries.
 
Based on my recent tour, the new AA Enhanced lithium are the best (62cx garmin). They can last 3 days of full riding with some hard usage, longer for only simple guiding.
Pics attached

But the Evolta from panasonic are also good and... they are available in thailand, lao and cambodia (in cities... not in kampong!)

Indeed the hard connection wire for those gps are a complete mess... keep disconnecting while riding.

enjoy
 

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pib said:
Based on my recent tour, the new AA Enhanced lithium are the best (62cx garmin). They can last 3 days of full riding with some hard usage, longer for only simple guiding.
Pics attached

But the Evolta from panasonic are also good and... they are available in thailand, lao and cambodia (in cities... not in kampong!)

Indeed the hard connection wire for those gps are a complete mess... keep disconnecting while riding.

enjoy

Yes I was advised that the 60Cx which I use is a much better unit then the 62 concerning the hard wired option
 
I'll second lithium batteries.
Haven't used anything else since 02-03 while in the military and for all my gear during contracting as well.
 
Lightemup said:
I'll second lithium batteries.
Haven't used anything else since 02-03 while in the military and for all my gear during contracting as well.


Where are you getting them in Chiang Mai?
 
I've been using NIMH batteries in the 62S. not sure about using the mini usb connection, it does sometimes disconnect especially on rough surfaces, and it can't be good for the device considering you have to remove the waterproof cap to get at it. it does collect the dust , so will collect dampness too.
I put fresh duracell 2450 dmah cells straight out of the charger in this morning at 8am, and ran the device until 16:30. 8 and half hours use and the battery level indicator lost just one of the 4 bars. I'm guessing atleast 2 solid days riding from the batteries, and considering the most modern chargers will recharge them in a couple of hours and its easy to carry atleast one spare set , its NIMH for me.
 
I've been using the Sony Cycle Energy 2,700 mAh , AA rechargeable batteries and have been getting over a full day of use out of them in a Garmin 62s.
 
I've been using the Energizer and got 2 full days out of them:
rechargeable.batteries.jpg


Also have a set of Panasonic, still almost full after 1 1/2 days
plentyConn_32681_1.jpg


I use a garmin 62s in battery save mode and set the battery to Ni-Mh (don't know how it affects the battery life).

The battery saving mode basically shuts the screen off after a certain amount of time (I set it to 1 minute) but still keeps recording. I realized most of the time I just follow a trail and don't need the screen to be on all the time.
 
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