Have you looked at the review by DC Rainmaker? Garmin has created a chart for various usage scenarios, with expected battery life. They claim "up to 48 hours" in very simple use, and "up to 24 hours" with a phone connected, Nav in use, the map page displayed, four sensors active, numerous interactions each hour, etc.
You can find this chart in the review, or on Garmin's web site. At Garmin.com, go to the Edge 1030 Plus, look at the overview, scroll down to find "Extended Battery Life", and click on the phrase "battery life". That will take you to charts for the Edge 130 Plus and the Edge 1030 Plus.
It's worth noting that the 1030 has tremendous battery life. I have the 1030 and the External Battery Pack. I have used my 1030 for over 25 hours without the battery pack, and 52 hours with the battery pack, not using Battery Save Mode.
Using "Battery Save Mode" on the 1030 extends life even further!
I just saw that. I believe you talking about this: https://support.garmin.com/en-IN/?faq=2dJjsNk32X5dwId0zSifJ6
This gives a good picture of what I should be riding with to get that 48hours.
Thanks for the help here Colin...
Ali - Have you bought the 1030 plus yet? Curious as I have a brand new one and I am struggling to get more than 12 hours out of it.
I have opened a ticket with Garmin Support to see if this is the norm or if I got a bad unit.
These are my current settings in the 1030 plus -
Garmin Varia Light (Ant +)
Garmin Varia Radar (Ant +)
Cateye SC10 Speed /Cadence Sensor (BLE)
Assioma Favero Duo Power Pedals (BLE)
I bought this unit to replace the cell phone that I typically use and was able to get about 10 hours on the cell phone without having to charge it in a single ride. Was hoping to not have to use the phone so the phone battery would have a longer life (Not as many full cycles of recharging)
Anyway. I'll see what Garmin Support says about it and post it here. Just wondering if other users are having the same issues.
-Sean
From the time I bought the 1030 Plus, to the day I recharged it, I did 52 hours and a few minutes of rides. Due to California wildfires fouling the air, and health issues, this ran from July to October.
You didn't mention how much you use Navigation. I'm assuming you don't _always_ use that feature, which reduces battery life by the most.
One second recording is the main difference I see between your settings and mine.
I ride with my iPhone connected, although no one ever calls me during a ride, and I seldom get texts.
I use an old Garmin heart rate strap, probably dating back to Edge 1000 days.
I have Garmin lights - HL500 and two TL300 units, but I don't use them for daylight rides.
I have Garmin Vector pedals - one pair of each generation on my three bikes.
I don't have a speed or cadence sensor on any of the bikes, although I bought the "bundle" with the 1030 Plus.
I used the lights with my old 1030 unit, and I didn't notice that the 1030 lost battery life much faster when I was running my lights.
In your situation, I think I'd try riding without some of the different sensors. First, I'd try not using BLE connections. (I can't find it right now, but I think I recall reading that BLE connections take more energy than ANT+. In looking for info on this, I see that your Favero pedals support both ANT+ and BLE.
At Garmin.com, look at the Edge 1030 Plus information. Under "Specs", find "Battery Life", then click on "See Details". Scroll down to find a chart on battery life. You have enough sensors to put you in the High use category, and one second recording puts you in Mid to High, too. But even at High, you're supposed to be able to get 24 hours.
Colin - Thanks for the reply. I dont use navigation at all. I do have my phone connected for my rides. I also should mention that I do use Live Track.
I am in the High Use category for sure. And I was pretty confident that I would not get 20 hours out of it with as many sensors, varia, phone connection and live track all going but I did expect at least 15 hours or more for a brand new unit.
As far as sensors are concerned, on my indoor trainer I only use the Cycleops Hammer Drive, wahoo S/C for cadence and a Tckr for heart rate. No GPS or phone connectivity at all and I still go through 15-20% of battery life in 1.5 hours. This should not be.
I do turn off all other sensors when not using them so the Garmin isnt constantly searching.
Pretty sure I got a unit with a bunk battery. Hopefully I hear back from Garmin Support on Monday. I'll post back here when I do.
What setting do you have for the backlight? Is it set to always on? The backlight is a substantial drain on the battery.
Secondly, if you are using email to contact Garmin support, it is far better and much faster to call them. It could take over a week for them to respond to email.
@cheracogoff Backlight is set to Auto for all my rides.
The initial contact with Garmin Support was a phone call. From that call they sent me an email asking me to charge the device to 100% an keep a record of each ride and battery levels of the device for each ride.
In 5 rides it went from 100% down to 7%. I detailed the device settings/sensors/length and time of each ride and sent that back to them on Friday of last week (11/13). So just waiting to hear back.
I've done some ultra rides: 9+ hrs, auto brightness, 1sec recording, Garmin varia light+radar, favero duo, Garmin HRM Dual strap, navi active, map page opened all day, live tracking for wifey: less than 40% battery. In fact, I did 9 hours more then next day before I recharged. I estimated I could go 24hrs+ in this config.
Joern, this sure makes the Garmin battery life claims sound plausible. You're doing everything that uses up the battery!