910 Charging Problems

[harleybuell1]

Hi, I have searched for this topic but can't find it so apologies if it is here somewhere and I have missed it. Anyway I have a really annoying problem with my 910 .........

The unit works and charges fine in its PC dock, however when I put it in the car dock the power eventually runs down (no power taken from car, only uses battery) until the battery flashes red and eventually switches off.

The yellow light on the 910 unit comes on

I have a standard and FM dock and it does it on both

When tilting the unit in the dock sometimes the battery warning light goes out

I have had a look at the power point on the unit (sprung loaded pin within small brass circle?) and it seems to be fine

The unit charges fine in the PC dock which has the same power link system


Has anyone had this problem or got any advice?

Many Thanks,
Garry

[mikealder]

Get it reported under warranty tel 0845 161 0009 it sounds like a connection problem although it could be the car charger adaptor that is causing this.
The sprung loaded ring with a center pin is in fact the contacts used for an external GPS feed aerial - Mike

[harleybuell1]

Thanks, I will give them a call on Monday, I'll also get another charging cable just incase that cures it.

Garry

[Andy_P]

[harleybuell1]

Thanks for your replies. I decided to bin the Tom Tom as this is the third time (others on PDA) that I have had problems with and I finf their back up really bad (Now on a Garmin NUVI ... so we'll see!)

Regards,
Garry

[stuart]

I have been having similar charging problems with my 520T. It charges up OK in the dock, but on the road, with the 12V charger plugged in, it crashes after 4 hours. Today I had to wedge the usb plug into the socket and all was fine. I have just contacted Dixons and asked for a replacement..Its only 5 weeks old.

[Andy_P]

I think this may become a "standard problem" in time,

Mini USB sockets were never really designed for the sort of use we put them to.
For a SatNav, you can expect to connect and disconnect several times a day

The Mini-USB specification seems to be only 1,500 mating cycles (or 5,000 for the “mini-B” connector). (see http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/ecn1.pdf)

So, if you ONLY use your SatNav to go to work and back, that's 2 cycles a day or an expected life of less than two years!
On top of that, the solder joints holding the socket to the motherboard are probably even less durable, and more likely to fail under slightly rough handling.

I notice the new "Micro-USB" connectors, developed for mobile phones will have a spec. of 10,000 mating cycles.
(http://www.usb.org/press/pressroom/2007_01_04_usbif.pdf)

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!