Garmin Battery Life

Jerry wrote:

Jim Lentz wrote:

Jerry wrote:

Jim Lentz wrote:My 405 claims it will run 2 weeks with no GPS and 8 hours with the GPS on. I think the 310XT is the only that lasts longer than 8 hours, 20, of the Garmin models.

8 hours? I don't think mine lasted that long brand new. 5 hours, maybe.

Shortly after I purchased mine I used it for a 50 mile race and it lasted close to 8 hours continuous GPS use.

Was that last year?

It was 2009.

I posted twice over the years on the Higdon V-Team boards to identical queries on Garmin battery life. How to maintain your battery and extend it's useful life is not rocket science. It's materials science. Despite manufacturer claims (including those of Garmin), all electro-chemical batteries marketed to date HAVE memory. There have been many advances and battery-making firms are getting closer, but all batteries for small electronic devices on the market today will 'degrade' in capacity over time due to 1) mis-calibration and 2) memory. The former is due to the charging software cutting corners over time (it's programmed to be conservative). The latter is a natural result in electro-chemical (and other) devices that are operated in only a small part of their range (such as 70% to 100% of full charge) over time.

'Deep cycling' guards against the loss of capacity due to both effects. The procedure Jerry posted is nothing more than a step-by-step guide to one 'deep cycle' charge. Several deep cycles will revive as much capacity as is left in your battery after it has degraded from a year or more of the uninformed standard practice of charging your watch after nearly every use and / or routinely leaving it on the charger overnight.

Deep cycle your battery three times to revive as much capacity as possible. If your device has been mistreated for too long you may indeed have lost real capacity. To extend the life and capacity of your battery: charge it ONLY after it has indicated it is getting low; charge it fully when you do; remove it from the charging cradle within an hour or two after it is fully charged; NEVER leave it on the charger overnight; DEEP CYCLE it every 3 months or so for good measure. If you follow these principles in practice, there is no reason why you should not be able to enjoy the 'young' capacity of your battery for 3-5 years without noticeable degradation.

I bought my current Forerunner 205 second-hand from Sara Jane in the Spring of 2008. I immediately upgraded the firmware and deep cycled it thrice. Since then, I've followed the principles laid out above and routinely get nine to ten hours of operating time. I have not noticed any degradation whatsoever. It's not rocket science. It's materials science.

I wanna deep cycle myself and feel young! I'll continue to run until I collapse, then sleep for 4 days straight!

Kevin L wrote:I wanna deep cycle myself and feel young! I'll continue to run until I collapse, then sleep for 4 days straight!

Make sure you repeat 3 times for maximum benefit...and good luck at Prom!

Jerry wrote:

Jim Lentz wrote:My 405 claims it will run 2 weeks with no GPS and 8 hours with the GPS on. I think the 310XT is the only that lasts longer than 8 hours, 20, of the Garmin models.

8 hours? I don't think mine lasted that long brand new. 5 hours, maybe.

How would ever know Jerry? Do you even train more then 5 hours in a week?

3 hours 38 minutes after deep cycles. 28 minutes improvement.

Thanks Kevin!

KBFitz wrote:'Deep cycling' guards against the loss of capacity due to both effects. The procedure Jerry posted is nothing more than a step-by-step guide to one 'deep cycle' charge. Several deep cycles will revive as much capacity as is left in your battery after it has degraded from a year or more of the uninformed standard practice of charging your watch after nearly every use and / or routinely leaving it on the charger overnight.

Deep cycle your battery three times to revive as much capacity as possible. If your device has been mistreated for too long you may indeed have lost real capacity. To extend the life and capacity of your battery: charge it ONLY after it has indicated it is getting low; charge it fully when you do; remove it from the charging cradle within an hour or two after it is fully charged; NEVER leave it on the charger overnight; DEEP CYCLE it every 3 months or so for good measure. If you follow these principles in practice, there is no reason why you should not be able to enjoy the 'young' capacity of your battery for 3-5 years without noticeable degradation.

Thanks for sharing KBFitz! I will be sure to do this routinely now.

I get about 4:15, long enough for a marathon. I don't know how long it lasted before I followed this process. Thanks Kevin.

Stephanie O wrote:

KBFitz wrote:'Deep cycling' guards against the loss of capacity due to both effects. The procedure Jerry posted is nothing more than a step-by-step guide to one 'deep cycle' charge. Several deep cycles will revive as much capacity as is left in your battery after it has degraded from a year or more of the uninformed standard practice of charging your watch after nearly every use and / or routinely leaving it on the charger overnight.

Deep cycle your battery three times to revive as much capacity as possible. If your device has been mistreated for too long you may indeed have lost real capacity. To extend the life and capacity of your battery: charge it ONLY after it has indicated it is getting low; charge it fully when you do; remove it from the charging cradle within an hour or two after it is fully charged; NEVER leave it on the charger overnight; DEEP CYCLE it every 3 months or so for good measure. If you follow these principles in practice, there is no reason why you should not be able to enjoy the 'young' capacity of your battery for 3-5 years without noticeable degradation.

Thanks for sharing KBFitz! I will be sure to do this routinely now.

Routinely? Like run it off every morning and charge it every night?

That's why I love my old Garmin 201!! I only power it up when I'm using it to run. When it is fully charged it has 14 hours. I don't know if I use it for 14 hours, because I don't run with it every time, but I charge it about every 2 weeks, when it is getting low and I have a long run coming up. The ONLY time I haven't been able to use it was when I accidentally left it on when I was making sure it had enough charge before a race!! I bought it in the fall of 2005!!