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Varia 510 causes rapid drain of Edge 520 battery

I've owned an Edge 520 for a little over 2 years. I recently purchased a Varia 510. When the Varia is connected to the Edge 520, the battery on the 520 drains very quickly. Last weekend I did a 3 hour ride. The Edge was fully charged at the beginning of the ride, but down to 20% by the end of it. Without the Varia connected I see between 10 and 15 hours of battery life on the 520. I've searched the forums and Google, and haven't found anyone else reporting this issue. Has anyone else experienced this?
  • I believe I'm seeing increased battery drain on my Edge 820 as well. Unfortunately, I just received a replacement unit and am still configuring it, but a four hour ride left me with 61% battery. Without the Varia and on my old Edge 820, I would probably be around 75%, which includes an active Bluetooth connection to my Pixel 2 phone.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    Same here with my Edge 820. Rapid battery draining. ON top of the inability to successfully update to 3.30 I'd say the Varia is not sitting too high on my all time favorite bike accessory... Pretty disappointing.
  • Every time the Varia detects something, the edge light switches On! assuming that in your ride you have 50 detections, then 50x15 sec EXTRA light. off course the battery is drained. On top the Varia causes some extra processing in the edge due to the detections plus the audio prompts. it's then a good extra battery drain package which you didn't have before.
  • I am experiencing the same battery drain on my Edge 810 and the Varia connected. I just posted the situation.
    Unfortunately, I didn't see this mentioned in any of the detailed reviews prior to purchase.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago

    I went on a longer ride of just over 4 1/2 hours and it drained my Edge 520. Soon as I saved the ride the Edge shut off.  Bummer.  I really like the Varia.  I worked flawlessly.  

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago

    I went on a longer ride of just over 4 1/2 hours and it drained my Edge 520. Soon as I saved the ride the Edge shut off.  Bummer.  I really like the Varia.  It worked flawlessly.  

  • My RTL510, connected to my Edge 1030, lasts well beyond a century ride without a problem.

  • You are not wrong.
    This is one reason I'd like to have a "light on/Radar off" mode when I'm in a busy area with bike lanes.

  • I would set the display light to 0%. Every vehicle appearing from behind is activating the display light and that is a real battery drainer. My Edge 520 battery is not the greatest anymore but Varia does not cause too much additional drain without backlight on.

  • Varia Radar has probably some impact on battery drain for sure, but I guess it is not main reason... my friend has Edge 820 and he is also experiencing massive battery drain, altough he doesn't have neither Varia radar, nor any other sensors, just Edge