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Edge Explore Battery meter calibration

I went went out for a ride last week. I hadn't used the device in a few months but battery was indicating 100% so I didn't charge it.

I followed a preloaded course for the ride which took 2 hours 20 mins. In that time the battery meter reading had dropped to 45%.

I then charged it up and left it running on my desk (Not following a course but just recording while stationary). Now I got 6 hours until the meter dropped to 0% and another 6 hours before the unit switched off. (Total 12 hours)

I charged it up and repeated the experiment again. Next time it ran for 8 hours 45 before showing 0% but expired after only another 30 mins. (Total 9 hours 15mins).

I'm using latest firmware (5.30) and I didn't use battery saver in any of the above tests. Screen brightness was set at 30%.

What's the best way to calibrate the battery meter? I thought it might be to fully discharge as I have been doing which does seem to sort of work, but I don't like that the battery life had dropped from 12 hours to 9:15. Should I be leaving it on the charger for a while after it shows 100%?

  • Yes, I now have the same problem, turned it off after using 50% of the battery - turned it back on and it's saying it 100% battery, so I've now got the same problem but in reverse. Does anyone know how to properly resolve this?

  • This worked but now when you turn the device off after using say 50% and then you turn it back on without recharging, the battery reading is back at 100% - so this does not resolve the issue. It's now impossible to know how much charge is left or when it is really fully charged

  • After the successful reset of the batterylevel calibration my Explore behaved normal for a few rides, but suddenly I also had the same problem. The battery was 47% after a ride and when connected to the PC with USB the indicator popped to 100%. Also when connected to a wall charger the indication remained at 100%.

    Tried the reset procedure - including the 6 hours 'overcharging' with the indicator already at 100% - again, but without success.
    Then decided to go back to an earlier version of the software - version 5.10 - and repeated the reset procedure after draining the Explore to 0 %. The difference however was that I stopped the charging with the wall charger as soon as the indicator was at 100% (not a strategic choice, but impatient...) and thus skipped the 6 hours extra charging. Then I upgraded the firmware again to version 5.30, repeated the reset procedure once again and also this time stopped the charging as soon as the indicator was at 100%.

    After setting back all my personal settings manually (not from backup files) the battery indicator behaves normal for more than 15 rides now. The only thing I restored from a backup was the Totals score by putting back the Totals.fit file in the Newfiles folder.

    So two possibilities: maybe leaving out the 6 hours 'overcharge' after beining already at 100% battery level did the trick, or the switch back and forth for the software version. At least a very time consuming process that should not be nessesary at all... Disappointed

  • I'm also seeing the same or a very similar issue.

    Completed a ride yesterday (2 hours, 30 mins with 30% screen brightness and navigation prompts on). Battery meter was showing 50% charge remaining when I powered down the Explore. Then I switched it back on again a few hours later without charging and it was showing 100%!. 

    This is despite recent calibration. I've concluded the battery meter is pretty much useless and not worth bothering with. I now just place the unit on charge for a good few hours after every ride. I don't go on all day bike rides (Most less than 4 hours) and I've never had the Edge Explore run out on me yet.

    I'm assuming/hoping the actual battery management hardware is completely independent to the meter - in other words the battery meter plays no part in deciding when the battery is full so is not involved in turning off the power when charging, and also the battery meter plays no part in deciding when to shut down the unit when the battery has nearly expired. I'm also hoping the actual battery management hardware works well enough to prevent over and undercharging. It would be good if someone could confirm my hopes!

  • I have a new (refurbished) Edge Explore and the same issue (on 5.30 and on 5.40 FW): 
    After going down from 100% to some lower state, after turning on and off, it is back at "100%". Did the calibration procedure, did not solve the issue. 
    Anyone having new information on that?

  • An option still could be the procedure I described in my answer of 12 month ago to member 79999606. Two variables - skipping the several hours overcharge when the battery level shows 100% (cannot imagine that could be the trick...), and going back to an older firmware version. Do the battery-level calibration procedure (without the overcharge) with the older firmware, then upgrade to the latest firmware and repeat the battery-level calibration, again without the overcharge. It's annoying and time consuming, but it cured exactly the same issue with my Explore.

  • Thank you - yes , very time consuming . But may give it a try - unsure what does the trick, the break at 100% or the FW change, or maybe it's just that you need to repeat the whole procedure several times

  • Can anyone make a video of this? Or post a link to an existing one? I never get to the point where the full hard reset is confirmed by asking me to set up the device again... Language options etc... I'm on firmware 5.40.

  • The procedure for a full factory reset using the buttons is (Source: Garmin):

    • Turn device off, if not already off because of empty battery. And without cable connected.
    • Hold Lap/Reset and Start/Stop (the front buttons)
    • Press the Power button for a few seconds and and release.
    • Continue to hold only Lap/Reset and Start/Stop.
    • Release Lap/Reset and Start/Stop when the Garmin Logo is cleared.
    • The unit will restart and clear non-vol. Now it will start the initial device setup starting with Language, etc..

    If you are doing the procedure for calibration of the battery charge level indicator and have let the device drain its battery until it shuts down then it is important to connect the Edge to an external wall charger and not to a USB port on the PC. In this stage the device should not come into mass storage mode.

    Note - text in italic are my own additions.

  • My Explore won’t continue to charge once I turn the screen off. It only charges when the screen is on. I don’t know why this happens. Have any idea?