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Edge 1030 and External Battery Pack (aka "Power Pack") -- Battery Life Test.

I just completed a test of battery life using the External Battery Pack and the Edge 1030. I ran the two together until the battery pack started blinking, indicating that it was nearly exhausted. The time was 23 hours, 22 minutes. Then I ran the Edge 1030 alone until I started getting warnings that the battery was low, and offering to run the Edge in Battery Save Mode. I kept running the Edge in normal mode until I completed my ride, and the Edge battery showed only 6% power remaining. The total time was 45 hours, 4 minutes. That means I ran the Edge 1030 alone for 21 hours, 42 minutes.

I run my Edge 1030 with GPS only (no GLONASS), the back light turned off completely, and not using battery save mode. I do not believe I used Navigation at all during this test.

This is the fourth time I have run the Edge 1030 for 20 hours or more. So Garmin has really done a great job improving the battery life of their most powerful cycling computer.

If I get ambitious, I may run the test again using battery save mode. Since the screen is blank most of the time, this promised to be a really boring test.

Also, since the Edge has the back light turned on when it is connected to the battery pack, I may test while having the battery pack turned off for the first half of each ride. Then, the juice from the battery pack will be directed more toward recharging the Edge's battery, and less toward keeping the back light burning.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Hi Colin, can you charge also an iPhone with the Power Pack attached to the Edge 1030? Thanks for an answer.

0 colin-campbell over 7 years ago

Yes, the battery pack has a port for plugging in the big end of a USB cable, so you could cable the battery pack up to your iPhone for charging. Don't forget, though, that you can buy a "lipstick" battery, such as a Jackery Mini, for about 10% of the cost of Garmin's battery pack to do the same thing. I used to use electrical tape to affix the Jackery Mini to my stem and charge my Edge 1000. If you mount your iPhone on the bars of your bike, you could probably do something similar. If the phone is in your pocket, you could carry the battery there, too.

0 colin-campbell over 7 years ago

I'm going through another round of battery life testing. I have learned that having the battery pack connected to the Edge 1030 does turn the backlight on, but I can force it off manually. so far on this round, I have 24 hours of use, and the battery pack still has some power left (two blue bars, so between 25% and 50%).

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Yes, when the battery pack is connected backlight in 1030 is switched on continuously, backlight timeout not working.
It does not make sense, why waste energy, Garmin fix it, is it too hard ?

0 colin-campbell over 7 years ago

Yes, when the battery pack is connected backlight in 1030 is switched on continuously, backlight timeout not working.
It does not make sense, why waste energy, Garmin fix it, is it too hard ?

Just drag your finger down from the top of the screen, and tap the left side of the backlight line. That will turn off the backlight even though the battery pack is connected. It will definitely increase your battery (pack) life. I'm still in the midst of my latest test, and I have 47+ hours with 35% battery remaining on the Edge 1030 (and the battery pack completely discharged).

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

:)
I don't want to turn backlight off.
I want backlight timeout to work - as it should be, and not shine at 100 %.
But for Garmin, it's always to hard to do something right.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

You do know completely discharging your batteries shorten its life expectancy?

0 colin-campbell over 6 years ago

You do know completely discharging your batteries shorten its life expectancy?

How can I do a battery life test if I don't run the battery pack and Edge battery close to empty? I am actually using a replacement 1030, due to the halo issue. So the current unit has probably under 10 battery cycles, where I use the unit for 15 - 20+ hours before recharging it fully. The Edge usually gets recharged when the battery indicator says I have 5 - 8% left.

0 der_bierpuncheur over 6 years ago

How can I do a battery life test if I don't run the battery pack and Edge battery close to empty?

In short, you can't.

Apologies for the "zombie revival," after reading the thread, I'll just chime in that the battery life of the 1030 is amazing. I went from a 1000 where 5 hours was a push if navigating, to riding for a week commuting without nav and never worrying, or riding a multiple day weekend tour navigating and still not really worrying. I keep an Anger lipstick battery in backup, but I've yet to use it.

0 colin-campbell over 6 years ago

I'm doing the most boring battery life test I can think of currently. I've had the Edge in Battery Save Mode, so that I rarely see any information. I got to 24h 35m on the Edge alone, with 7% battery life remaining. Then I connected the battery pack, and after today's ride, the Edge is at 100% charge while the battery pack was showing one flashing bar as I got home. Total time is 41h 30m. I'm trying to decide whether to finish this test or go back to enjoying the data on my screen.

It looks as if I could get close to or over 60 hours. The objective was to see whether a friend could hope to complete Paris-Brest-Paris next summer with just the Edge and battery pack. That's a 1200km event completed in 90 hours or less, and if she averaged 24kph, it would require 50 hours of life.

So I agree, battery life is amazing!

UPDATE: I stopped this test at 46 hours, with the Edge 1030 showing 85% battery remaining. I couldn't stand it any longer!