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820 Battery life on cold days & in general.

I've had my 820 for ~14 months. Recently, battery life has been bad & getting worse, especially in the cold. This past weekend I went for a two-hour ride when the temp was ~16-20 degrees. My battery was at 100% when I started, but at 10% when I finished. I had a Varia radar tail light, ANT+ speed/cadence, ANT+ HRM and Live Track (I normally have ANT+ power meter pedals, but no this day). I use smart recording & have GLONASS off (that's recent, I had always used GLONASS & GPS along with 1-second recording).

When the 820 was new, the battery would last all day. A few months ago, it started getting worse. Now, it's really bad, especially on cold days.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

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0 micmac24 over 7 years ago

During yesterday's ride I switched off the auto brightness, reduced the backlight to 40% and set it to 15sec. The temp. was -3 and the battery life was 5 hours. Very disappointing....

0 jj911c2 over 7 years ago

I went for a longer ride and my battery was down to 8% after 4 hours (backlight off, etc). I ended up going 7 hours total and expected the unit to die but it went to 2% and stayed there and worked for a few more hours. It did not do this when new (4 hours I would still be >50%). I am not sure if the battery is not holding voltage as well or the software for measuring battery life is not calibrated properly.

0 tedkopp over 7 years ago

Garmin instructed me to do master reset. Should I really?

They suggested that to me too....did it...it improved a little...but not the way it was before...

0 PUCCI_SEZ over 7 years ago

Same issues here. I've never had my battery charge drop so much as it has over the past two months. My 6 hour rides would end with 30-40% battery left. Now, I virtually always get the dreaded "battery save" mode message. What is really strange is how fast it drains from 20% battery to 3%.

Has Apple hacked into the 820 software? Unit battery life has become as dependable as my iPhone 6.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Add me to the list. 100km ride in +1C left me with 40% battery. No route running and I can't remember if I have Glonass on or off.

0 marknicho over 7 years ago

In recent months Ive noticed my 820 start to drain more quickly. It seems to start by draining rapidly then it seems to drain more slowly. Anyway after a 4 hour ride at the weekend I suddenly see Im at 2% but have had no warnings to turn on Battery Save Mode. So I turn Battery Save Mode On and give it the occasional check only to see the battery % increase to 14% then later in the ride 22% then 40% later again. I raised a ticket with Garmin and they have said the unit needs replacing and as its out of 12 month warranty they will send me a new one for a further £80. So be warned, if its under 12 months warranty, get a ticket raised now!

0 DavidBiddle over 7 years ago

Hi. I tried a ride home from work experimenting with battery save mode. Now, I navigated a route that took 25mins 8miles. The 820 woke only to give me a turn guidance snapshot at each junction. This used 4% of battery. I should add that I use my 820 most days and I bought the unit when it was first released.

0 Garmin-Shawn over 7 years ago

We want to encourage you to reach out to our support team if you are experiencing battery concerns.

0 bklynbiker over 7 years ago

We want to encourage you to reach out to our support team if you are experiencing battery concerns.

I did. They told me it was a known issue, the developers are working on it, and to send the contents of my Garmin folder to add to their ticket. That sounds like my company. You guys use Salesforce? I did send the files, by the way....

0 bklynbiker over 7 years ago

I emailed Garmin Support asking for an update, and they offered a replacement refurbished unit, even though they initially implied it was a software issue. Since I just started noticing the blue halo around the screen, I accepted. I just received it yesterday and set it up. I'll have time later in the week to properly test it out, so we will see if it makes a difference.