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Varia RTL515 battery life with Edge 1040

Pan Milan
3 months ago

Hello,

I have my Varia RTL515 for almost 3 years. Not long ago, i bought Edge1040 and i have a problem with battery life of my Varia... that problem was maybe present the whole time i had it(used with Edge820), but just this year i started to do a little longer rides so i noticed the short battery life.

According to manual:

RTL515 battery life

Up to 6 hr. in solid mode

Up to 8 hr. in peloton mode

Up to 6 hr. in night flash mode

Up to 16 hr. in day flash mode

Up to 3 mo. in standby mode

Since i have my Varia connected to Edge, there are not the same light modes in the lights settings as it is in the Varia manual. I have my lights set to "automatic" and i get warning about low battery after 3 and half hours.... Which is much less, than it should be in the brightest mode according to the manual. Is this normal?

What can i do with setting to get at least 6 hours?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

  • 0 3 months ago

    I do not know what "automatic" mode does because I've never used it. 

    I would recommend using SmartBikeLights app for controlling your Varia https://github.com/maca88/SmartBikeLights

    I use since a very long time (820, 1030, 1040)

    For example you can configure it to only day flash when a vehicle approach is detected and, afterwards, to turn off automatically.. 

    You can also use the speed, time of day, sunset/sunrise to configure its modes. 

    I do not know if it can help you with the battery life. but it is very nice to use. 

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to EyessOnlyy
    EyessOnlyy said:
    For example you can configure it to only day flash when a vehicle approach is detected and, afterwards, to turn off automatically.. 

    This is exactly what am i looking for :) Since i ride only during daylight, this is what i need... i'll try that and we will see what will the battery life be in this scenario. To be honest i thought this is the situation right now with the "Automatic" mode in Edge... but who knows, when Garmin can't even keep their settings same in 2 devices for the same sensor... Thanks

    And here is something to the "Automatic" mode i've found here on forums... 

    https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/cycling/f/varia-series/364319/light-modes-on-varia-vs-light-modes-in-edge-lights-network

    They are not able to be consistent with their own devices.... so when you connect Varia to Edge, manual for Varia is useless suddenly.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to EyessOnlyy

    Well ... problem solved. Today i did a 4hr 30min ride and with day flash... continuous, not only when a car is approaching... i still had like 60% of Varia battery available....  Thank you for showing me that SmartBikeLights app Slight smile

    To summarize: Garmin sucks when they basicaly bloodsuck energy from their devices if you use them with their settings....OMG.