Garmin Aera 500 odd behaviour while charging

[tmmorris]

My Aera 500 (bought this time last year) is fine when actually in use, and connects OK to my computer. However if I charge it from an iPad charger (which ought to be easily powerful enough) it does charge, but instead of showing the 'charging' screen (which it used to show) it goes round an infinite loop of the opening splash screen, then the charging screen, then round again and again...

I don't suppose it's doing any harm, but does anyone know why?

Tim

[RJC]

When you normally apply power does the unit turn on automatically?

Garmin portables I have used generally power up when external power is applied, then you turn them off whilst still powered and they go into "Charge Mode". Perhaps the iPad charger is powerful enough to charge it but not to run it, so it is going into a loop? Or the iPad charger is being "smart" in some way?

I do know the UK tech support people are very good and helpful over the phone, number is on the FlyGarmin help screen. E-Mail response is good too, may be worth asking if they have seen this before.

[Keef]

What voltage is your iPad charger? Mine's 5 volts at 2 amps, and the Aera charges happily from it (via the USB socket inside). It takes a while to get into Nav mode with that lead connected, but it does eventually. There's certainly no "cycling".

I usually charge it via the car connector - easier, and seems quicker.

[mad_jock]

The ipad charger might have additional outputs which talk to the ipad to get it into a different mode of charging.

These might be used for something else on the box of tricks and its confusing it.

[tmmorris]

Thanks RJC, I'll give them a ring.

It does power up automatically and the behaviour you describe is what it used to do.

Tim

[tmmorris]

Spoke to Garmin - very helpful but predictably their advice is 'buy a Garmin charger'. On the whole they concurred with mad_jock that something is probably making it think it's talking to a PC - then when it finds it's not, it gets upset. They couldn't/wouldn't tell me what the current draw when charging is likely to be.

I have to say that some of the things here make me laugh:

Garmin Aera Accessories (http://www.transair.co.uk/pp+Garmin-Aera-Accessories+2854)

For a start, that carry case: I bought a generic car GPS case for less than £10 which includes a space for cables. And £14 for a micro-USB cable? Give me a break!

Does anyone know what the equivalent Garmin road GPS unit is (i.e. the identical hardware) to the Aera 500? I'm sure I can pick up a mains charger for less than £50 or so... Interestingly some of those accessories and the car kit make me suspect it will charge at 12-14V as well (I doubt the car or aero cradles include a voltage regulator, but perhaps they do...)

Meanwhile I think I'll either charge from the computer (wasteful but it does work) or follow Keefs' suggestion and just use the car kit.

Tim

[Keef]

I've not dismantled my car cable, but I would be very surprised if there weren't a voltage regulator in there.

Mine charges happily off my iPod charger (although I don't). It also charges happily off the PC. I certainly wouldn't pay that sort of money for a mini-USB charger.

If you care what current it draws on charge, I'll put my 12v lead onto my regulated power supply and measure it. I'd guess somewhere between 1 and 2 amps when flat, reducing to not-a-lot when fully charged. There's no fuse in that lead, so no clue there.

[mad_jock]

I have a kindle fire with similar capacity for sucking current while charging after looking at the specs of the amazon kindle fast charger it turned out to be a 2.1 Amp rated charger.

I got a USB 2.1 AMP charger for 6 quid I think. Haven't had a problem with it.

I tend to avoid using any apple adaptors for anything else, they are nearly all wired funny compared to everything else.

Its a 3 amp fuse in the car charger according to the manual.

[Zulu Alpha]

You might find that your apple charger doesn't give enough output to charge the Garmin.

USB power supplies provide 5v. This is via a voltage regulator either from 240V or from 12V. If you try and take too much current then the 5v output will drop and this may switch off the charging. Without the device charging, the current draw will reduce and the output go to 5v again. It will then try and start charging and go round the whole cycle again.

Because the USB output voltage is standard (5V), then you can purchase any USB power supply, but make sure you choose one that will give 2A output. Many are less.

ebay is a great place to get these and you can get a car one for £1-2 from ebay
Dual 2 Port USB Car Charger for iPad iPhone 4G iPod 2A | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-2-Port-USB-Car-Charger-for-iPad-iPhone-4G-iPod-2A-/110631641244?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item19c228e09c)

ps make sure it is 2A as there are also 1A and 1/2 A ones.

[mad_jock]

He is using an IPad charger its 2 amps.

iPod: About the Apple iPod Power Adapter (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2537)

And it looks like it pumps out 12V as well. I presume so they can get the power output up.

But I suspect it only does that when it senses a IPad on the other end of the cable. And its that sensing which is screwing things.

A brief google says you shouldn;t be using the Ipad charger for charging your phone either.

[tmmorris]

mad_jock,

Apple's not said that, though, and I (or more accurately my wife) do that every day. (My iPhone is a 5 with a different cable so I use the original charger.)

is the charger the same for ipad and iphone? - Apple Store (UK) (http://store.apple.com/uk/question/answers/ipad?tqid=QJCC497Y4FJ4CY77CPT47A24U4YAUH79K)

Tim

[stevelup]

All Apple chargers are 5.1V - the difference is in the power rating.

The original iPhone charger was rated at 5W (1A), the iPad charger is 10W (2.1A). The latest retina iPads come with a 12W charger.

They are all fully interchangeable, but if you use an iPhone charger to charge an iPad, it will - unsurprisingly - take twice as long.

Apple use precision voltages on the data pins to tell the device which charger is connected - the device then sets the charging current accordingly. This is all within the USB spec... nothing dodgy.

It looks like your Garmin is seeing the control voltage on the data pins and thinks there is a computer connected. If you don't mind sacrificing a USB cable, cut open the insulation and snip the two thinner wires (usually white and green).