This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Shutting off in cold temperatures - but ample battery life

af0002
over 3 years ago

My Garmin Edge 530 battery had been working fine indoors, but yesterday at -16C outside, the device just turned off after about 15 minutes of use with the battery still at 60%. The device is 2 years old. I assume the issue is that the battery is not as good as it was, and now at cold temperatures the voltage is going down too low and the device turns off as a result.

Has anyone had this type of issue and found that any setting or firmware rev made any difference?

With my 2 year old 520 at cold temperatures battery life was significantly reduced, but on a full charge I would still get 5 hours of use out of it and it did not turn off until the battery hit close to zero, and with the 520 I was using it at -30C and it still worked.

The funny thing is is just recently I was thinking how good the battery in the device was...and now this.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I have this same behavior with my Edge 530 from the time it was new a couple years ago.  It does not tolerate frigid temps well and shuts down.  For me, I have a rule of thumb that if the ride will be in conditions under 10F (-12C) then I use my old Edge 510.  That old thing as never given me trouble in the frigid temps.

    EDIT 12/19/2022: make that 20F as the cutoff for when to not use the Edge 530.  Any colder and the old 510 comes back out.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I've never ridden in temperatures that low, but I am wondering if it is entering Battery Saver?

    This shuts down the screen, but it should keep recording. Pressing a button should wake the display up again if this is the case.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to mcalista

    Nah, it goes full shut down

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to ewarnerusa

    There goes that theory....

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    My 530 was working perfectly 2 winters and started now to show same problem on temperature about -5C. Even on charge level 40%-50%.

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I would also note that I got it in Feb 2020 and from Nov 2020 to Mar 2021 it worked fine in -15C.It wasn't until now that it started doing this. Other than this issue with the battery, I have found the battery way better than the Edge 520. At the same time my Edge 530 still works for 3 hours no problem inside on the trainer. But I am still wondering if the firmware has  any bearing on this problem. I wish a Garmin Software/Firmware Developer could answer to this issue, but I know if I send the issue to Garmin support, I will just get some generic answer from thier Level 1 support suggesting I can send the device back for an out-of-warranty replacement...which will probably fix the issue, but at a high cost.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to af0002

    I got my Edge 530 for Christmas 2019 I think?  I noticed the shut down behavior right away during that first winter.  I don't find myself out in <10F often, but I noticed it shutting down at around that point during the first winter ('19/'20) with the Edge 530.  So I have experienced this behavior since the unit was new, but admittedly don't ever expose it to that cold anymore and use my "Cold Temps" Edge (the old 510) whenever I find myself riding in the frigid cold.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    We had some -16C temps a couple winters ago and my 830 did the same thing. It must be that the cold temperature causes the battery voltage to drop low enough to trigger the shutdown. I stuck the unit in my pocket and it warmed up enough to stop, but obviously you don't want to ride around with it in your pocket!

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Mine is 3 years old and has exhibited what you describe since new. It’s very frustrating because I fatbike in Canada so it’s basically a summer use head unit. I now use my epix2 to record my winter riding. Interestingly I’m the only one in my riding group that uses a 530. There are a couple of 1030’s an 830 and a 520 that never shut down even at todays temps of -25 C.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 1056485

    Yeah my old 510 is reliable in the frigid cold, never shuts down. I think -15F is the coldest I've been out in. But the 530 I don't trust if it's <20F. I'll use the 510 instead