The unit will not turn on under battery power. When I charge it, it says it is fully charged. 12 v power and mains power it is fine. Anyone else had this problem. It is quite a new unit.
You should also be aware the Varia MC621 lithium internal clock battery in the 296 is absolutely tiny, like what would you would find in a ladies watch. If it takes a long time to acquire satellites and the time is not correct, it need either replacement at Garmin for about $300 or you DIY for about $10.
Aren't you two talking about different things here? The internal battery is for storage when off mains or batt and keeps position and time etc, and the main battery is the one with the problem by the sounds of it.
My 296 is 5 years old and the internal battery has recently died so it loses the time and struggles to pick up the sats. When this happens I plug in the large external aerial and they pick up within seconds of attaching it. If you want the sats to acquire and they aren't coming quickly (or at all) you need to reset the unit by pressing and holding enter I think it is when powering it up, however the unit will go back to factory defaults and you'll lose waypoints and user configurations.
I replied to your question with (a) a link about the main battery power, and (b) added comments of my experience with the internal clock battery and slow acquisition of satellites.
Which comment solved the problem?
BTW, the clock battery in my 296 died after 2 years.
Linear Mode
