[David M]

I bought a nuvi 255 last summer and was very pleased with it.
In December it disappeared- waited until June - it never turned up.

bought another from Canadian Tire. Sound is noticably worse - a few mis directions ( I put down to requiring a download update) . I considered returning

But... 2 months after purchase ( Can Tire has a 1 month refund policy)
The unit is only usable when plugged in. The outlet on the stick shift Ford Focus is in a poor location ; interferes with gear changing. The Nuvi 255 battery indicator shows fully charged. As soon as it's disconnected the unit goes dead and won't restart.
Plugged in again, the battery shows a single red bar and indicating that the unit is re-charging.
Quick search on this site - RMA ( return authorization) and ship to nuvi - wait 4 weeks.

I wonder how difficult it is to change battery myself.... ?

I'll go back to Can Tire to see what they say

Suggestions ?
TIA

 

[timmaywpg]

from your description, I kind of doubt that it's a battery issue..a battery should not die so quickly. First thing I would do is run the webupdater, and make sure your software is upto date.
If that doesn't work, you may have a problem with the charging circuit, the internal battery connection might be poor, the,etc...

FYI, opening up the Nuvi's is quite tricky, I did it once and it was a major PITA


Btw what do you mean by your original Nuvi "disappeared"?

 

[TKG26]

i opened mine up, after i had to boost my truck one winter morning, i had forgot to unplug the gps, anyway i thought i nuked it. I opened up the case removed and replace the battery to reset the gps..

Here is how to replace the battery if a reset and pc hook up dont fix it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwAbKYOgiZg&feature=related

 

[TKG26]

lol please excuse the guys sales pitch! Watch the volume off!

 

[David M]

reBtw what do you mean by your original Nuvi "disappeared"?

I suspect theft

Updater from Garmin.com didn't solve the problem

Garmin has a limited 1 year warranty

This warranty does not apply to: (i) cosmetic damage, such as scratches, nicks and dents; (ii) consumable parts, such as batteries, unless product damage has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship;

Can Tire has a 1 week return policy , if the box hasn't been opened. Up to 30 days replacement

 

[DJDiggler]

David M, I had the exact same problem with my 750, I sent it in to the company in Quebec listed for warranty work, (Raytech) and a new (refurbished) unit was sent back right away. It took a week or so at most.

My replacement unit looked new and worked fine until just recently, the SAME problem all over again! I'm wondering if it's my usage pattern... I usually leave it in the charger in my work truck all 10hours a day, (unit turned off usually), is this bad for it?

If the unit is out of warranty you can replace it yourself, the battery is pretty cheap also from what I found. I was going to try this method but figured I'd use my warranty for once!
How to replace Garmin battery Tutorial

 

[TKG26]

biggest lipo killer is over discharging them.. but the units usually turn off after you turn off the truck so im not sure how we could over discharge them.

 

[David M]

RMA # - Return authorization number

Just getting around to doing this , now that the summer driving season is over.

The unit is sorta usable plugged into car.

According to the Garmin website a RMA is needed before they will accept it.

I've being doing this by e-mail .
Can't imagine doing this by phone.

3 replies back from Garmin

master reset ( pressure on bottom R corner on startup)
update ( there haven't been any since my last check in July)

--
Next I'm told to do a "circuit reset" -- plug into computer via usb - hold power on for 15 secs.

Hopefully, resolution is near

 

[99gecko]

David,

It is really easy to change the battery yourself. I changed the battery on my 760 last year with instructions I found at one of the POI websites. The battery cost less than $15 shipped - I found it at an ebay battery store. I discovered afterward that the battery in the nuvi's is the same as found in some newer cell phones and are not uncommon aftermarket.

The new battery is performing much better than the original.

cheers.

 

[David M]

warranty

... after resetting the circuit - hold on for 15 secs while plugged into computer via USB. Leave to charge for 6 hrs. Whatta ya know. Turned on - "Low battery " warning comes on.

I had considered just replacing the battery myself, but it would void the warranty.

After a week of e-mails , I'm still waiting for a RMA from Garmin before I can send the unit back.

 

[David M]

refurb arrived from Raytech

The battery on the original unit was at fault....

My advice - deal with Raytech directly. (the official Garmin repair centre in CAN)

fill out the form on the Raytech site and send it to Laval.

 

[Petee_C]

Just FYI,

I had to replace the battery in my wife's Garmin 750 series GPS this fall... Battery wouldn't stay on for more than a minure.

Got one on ebay. Replacing it was fairly simple. Took less than 15 mins.

Note: I believe some stores sell a special tool to open up the case (probably mini Torx screwdriver) It might be worth it to buy it too.

My GPS had 2 tiny torx screws holding the final bit of the case together... All my Torx bits were way too big. Was able to get it off using an eyeglass screwdriver and enough pressure to turn the screw.

 

[57]

My Garmin 1350LMT, which is just over 2 years old, started having poor battery life. It would drain about 1% every 5 seconds or so, not giving much time. This was visible via the diagnostics if you hold your finger on the battery symbol for a while. You could visibly see the % dropping every few seconds. Although I could use it in the car this way, I sometimes use it in pedestrian mode in foreign lands, so only having a few minutes battery life is not adequate.

After reading a few threads in this forum and various other websites, I purchased a battery (and tools) from Nirvopia (eBay) for just over $20 including shipping. The battery and tools arrived by mail a couple of weeks after my order. The "tools" include the correct small screwdriver(s) and the plastic prying tool. No additional duty or charges applied on this small value shipment via USPS and Canada Post.

I looked at the YouTube video on how to install the battery and installed it in about 10 minutes. The person in the video was very clear, but I believe his Garmin had been taken apart before because mine wasn't quite as easy to separate and took a little more effort, but the instructions were accurate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqbYjiPfUow Video for my GPS

My battery now drains at about 1% every few minutes instead of 1% every few seconds (rough numbers) so I'm happy.

The battery replacement does require some dexterity and is not really recommended for people who are not good at this sort of thing, but most people who take things apart should be able to handle this task, if you're careful not to damage the small components, etc.

I suppose some people might have considered a new GPS, however, mine has lifetime maps and also a set of maps for Europe that I paid for and downloaded.

 

[e268]

My Garmin 255 battery lasted about 2-3 hrs. But I have not been using it for 2 yrs now since I got an iPhone4. I use the free Navii which has maps of the world. I am not using my data network, so before I go to an unfamiliar place or out of town, I would use wifi to search and save the destinations first, and when I am on the road, I call call up those destinations, and NAVii would plot the route. The battery of the iPhone4 lasts all day. If I want to use the data network, it can do google search any time. The only downside is that it does not has the artificial intelligence to speak the name of the street, altho major highways like 401 are pronounced properly. So, it is not perfect, but it is free.
BTW, iPhone4 locks onto the satellite a lot faster than Garmin 255.

 

[Tanta]

The Iphone4 is faster at getting a fix, because it uses satellites from both GLONASS and GPS. Maybe the newer Garmin's are also GLONASS friendly, but my 260W is not.

 

[57]

In post 13, I discussed replacing the battery - everything went fine except for one thing. I had a MicroSD card inside the GPS and when I was putting everything back together (very carefully) a small bit of the card must have broken off during reassembly. The card is now useless.

So, if you're doing a battery replacement, make sure you take your card out first. I suspect that I may have touched the card during dis-assembly and it wasn't in the proper position (out slightly?) causing the very delicate tab on the card to break during re-assembly.

I didn't notice this until today because I had been using the maps on the internal memory. Also, test all your maps after re-assembly if you have more than one.