Sat Navs

[whiskeryron]

Can anyone on AB explain to me the electrics of a Sat Nav? I had one bought for me as a Christmas gift ( Garmin Nuvi 50) & for weeks now it has been showing the message ''Low Battery''. Yesterday it packed up altogether & refuses to work. I have had my 12v cigar lighter in the car & the Sat Nav cable checked & all is OK. I borrowed one today off my Sil & it was working OK.
So my question really is this, obviously the internal battery ( in mine) has been running down until it finally ran out of juice, BUT when I was using the borrowed one nowhere is there an indication of charging from the car charger so how does anyone know that the internal battery in the Sat Nav is EVER being charged ? I have connected my Sat Nav to my PC via usb & there does not appear to be a method of charging in that direction. I am finding this so difficult to understand that there does not appear to be a way of checking that the internal battery is actually being charged at all.

[ToraToraTora]

2 things, one is that the battery may be knackered and wil not accept a charge, ie it just runs away, eg my laptop currently says 7% it says charging but it never gets above that so I know im going to have to get a new one soon.

two: I suspect the charging indicator will show when the battery is actually charging, in any case, RTFM to check this out:
http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/nuvi_30_40_50_EN_OM.pdf
also see page 23 your power cable fuse may have gone.

also this shows how to charge with a USB cable, try that.

[ToraToraTora]

how to change the battery:

[whiskeryron]

Thanks very much 3Ts, that link is most helpful & very interesting.

[BenDToy]

When my Garmin is charging the battery level indicator does not appear on the screen. When not charging it appears. (May be no help at all but was how I found out my 12v socket was faulty!!)