I am thinking of getting an external battery pack to connect to the Edge 820 during extended riding periods. Issues involve mounting the pack to the bike, size and power of the pack, and of course, water resistance at the connections. I see battery packs range from about 2500-20,000 mAHr. The smaller capacity packs are also smaller in size, but I don't know how long any of them power the 820 computers. Is anyone using one of these while riding and what is your experience given that the 820 battery runs down relatively quickly?
I use an Anker 10,000 mah. I do longs rides with navigation and can never get more than about 3 and a half hours out of my 820. I wrap all of the opening and connections with black electrical tape and use a universal mount to secure the power pack to my stem ( I use the out front mount for the garmin). It seems to do the trick. This weekend I rode a 188 mile ride in 15 hours and the power pack still had plenty of juice left.
I use an Anker 10,000 mah. I do longs rides with navigation and can never get more than about 3 and a half hours out of my 820. I wrap all of the opening and connections with black electrical tape and use a universal mount to secure the power pack to my stem ( I use the out front mount for the garmin). It seems to do the trick. This weekend I rode a 188 mile ride in 15 hours and the power pack still had plenty of juice left.
Interesting, could you please show us some pictures to get a better idea?
Following up on this. I just rode in a 400km (250 mile) event. I I had the same set up with an Anker 10,000 mah power pack. This time though, the unit would not charge. It created huge navigation difficulties for me. When I was done I noticed that the micro usb port on the 820 had a little bit of play in it and that was likely the problem. I contacted garmin support this morning (via chat) and was quite abruptly told my unit was out of warranty and to contact "repair" to purchase a replacement. The support person then quickly ended the chat session before I could even respond. I couldn't believe it! I wrote a note to support to tell them of my dissatisfaction and have not heard back yet. But I think I am done with Garmin. I have heard a lot of good things about Wahoo Bolt. I can't risk being without a dependable solution for these long rides.
I use a Pocket Juice 4000 mAh when I wish to charge or power my Edge 820 on the road. I got it on sale for $5 at BestBuy around Thanksgiving. I can boost the 820's battery charge about 20 percent on a short rest stop. I can also ride with it mounted on my handlebar using Velcro. I have the hook-loop on the handlebar and the pile on the Pocket Juice. I connect with a 20-inch USB/microUSB cord from the Pocket Juice to the port on the 820. A 12-inch cord would be a perfect length for my setup. The cord that comes with the Pocket Juice is not long enough to reach. My cord has a smaller plastic housing around the microUSB connector so it will fit in the small space available between the port and my Garmin mount. When using the external battery while riding, the backlight stays on - no halo and no difficulty reading the display in low ambient light conditions. At the end of a 25-mile test ride, the Edge 820's battery level remained at 100 percent even though the backlight was on the entire time. The biggest challenge for you will be to mount it on your bike in a suitable manner. Otherwise you can just carry it in your jersey pocket so you can charge your Edge (or phone) at a stop, or have it to loan to a fellow rider who shows up with a low battery. The Pocket Juice weighs 125 grams not including the cord. I carry it with the cord in a ziplock bag and don't notice it in my jersey pocket.ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1443220.jpg
