Garmin power cord

[wally_games]

Does anyone know if one of those WallyWorld car-chargers for a Blackberry with the mini-USB jack will safely power a Garmin?

I have a couple laying around that went with my wife's old phone and would like to find a use for them rather than toss them in the trash.

[maxtog]

Does anyone know if one of those WallyWorld car-chargers for a Blackberry with the mini-USB jack will safely power a Garmin?

Possibly.  But my Garmin is a real bike GPS (Zumo), so it has that funky mount system and uses a proprietary contact system, so I can't confirm.  I rarely, if ever, take it off the bike.  Generally the usb power stuff is fairly compatible, though; and I doubt a GPS would pull more than a phone.

[ZG]

Yep, will work just fine WG as long as it's the mini-USB.
 
I went with one of these for my Nuvi, got it off ebay for $20, plugs right into the powerlet plug on the Heli risers, works great! 
 
http://www.powerlet.com/product/mini-usb-short-powerlet-cable/259
 
 

 

[Joncon11]

Hey ZG...where did you get the mount? I have the ram-ball that attaches to my riser. Thanks!

Yep, will work just fine WG as long as it's the mini-USB.
 
I went with one of these for my Nuvi, got it off ebay for $20, plugs right into the powerlet plug on the Heli risers, works great! 
 
http://www.powerlet.com/product/mini-usb-short-powerlet-cable/259
 
 

 

[stevewfl]

My ZUMO would NOT work on the USB cable and charge at the same time.  Although it would charge off the cable, just not function as GPS at the same time.

Ever since I've been using my smart phone for GPS along with MP3, youtube, TV, texting, web, phone  I haven't had that %$#$ing ZUMO on my bike and haven't missed it not one bit.

The 550 was my sweet go-to back in 2007 when it was high tech =)

[Axxman]

Hey ZG...where did you get the mount? I have the ram-ball that attaches to my riser. Thanks!

Jon,
 
  You can find the mount and arm here for about $10 each. I have the same set up.
http://www.gpscity.com/gps-mounts

[ZG]

Hey ZG...where did you get the mount? I have the ram-ball that attaches to my riser. Thanks!

Are you talking about the gps cradle or the arm JC?

[Joncon11]

Jon,
 
  You can find the mount and arm here for about $10 each. I have the same set up.
http://www.gpscity.com/gps-mounts

Thanks!

[Joncon11]

Are you talking about the gps cradle or the arm JC?

Both, thanks for the info...

[maxtog]

My ZUMO would NOT work on the USB cable and charge at the same time.  Although it would charge off the cable, just not function as GPS at the same time.

Correct.  It is not designed to be used that way.  The Zumo is a "real" motorcycle GPS and it includes a mounting system that supplies power through it to operate it and charge the batteries at the same time.  It is not designed to be used while charging via USB (nor should there really be any need to do so).

[ZG]

Both, thanks for the info...

If you're interested in that 6" arm JC let me know, I no longer use it, went to one a little shorter...

[B.D.F.]

A Zumo will operate and charge at the same time when powered up by the mini- USB port but only if it is a Garmin power cord. The USB spec. is only for four wires but the mini USB's have five wires with the 'extra' not being identified by any specification. In other words, no standard USB wiring protocol recognizes the fifth wire so it really should not be used in either a cable or a device. Garmin does use that wire though and connects it to ground through a resistor- that is how the Zumo recognizes that it is a genuine Garmin cable being used and will then function correctly. Also, if you plug in a [non- Garmin] cable into the Zumo and plug the other end of the cable into something that will power it, the unit comes on but only in mass storage mode and will not function as a GPS.

The whole thing is just a move by Garmin to sell Garmin power cords.

Brian

My ZUMO would NOT work on the USB cable and charge at the same time.  Although it would charge off the cable, just not function as GPS at the same time.

<snip>

Correct.  It is not designed to be used that way.  The Zumo is a "real" motorcycle GPS and it includes a mounting system that supplies power through it to operate it and charge the batteries at the same time.  It is not designed to be used while charging via USB (nor should there really be any need to do so).

[maxtog]

A Zumo will operate and charge at the same time when powered up by the mini- USB port but only if it is a Garmin power cord. The USB spec. is only for four wires but the mini USB's have five wires with the 'extra' not being identified by any specification. In other words, no standard USB wiring protocol recognizes the fifth wire so it really should not be used in either a cable or a device. Garmin does use that wire though and connects it to ground through a resistor- that is how the Zumo recognizes that it is a genuine Garmin cable being used and will then function correctly. Also, if you plug in a [non- Garmin] cable into the Zumo and plug the other end of the cable into something that will power it, the unit comes on but only in mass storage mode and will not function as a GPS.

OOOh, I hate stuff like that!  I think some phone manufacturers pull that kind of crap, too.  But, fortunately, there is really no need to charge a Zumo through the USB port (when the Zumo is used as intended).

[OregonLAN]

Yep. Garmin GPS units use a grounded X pin on a mini USB cable to determine if it's connected to a PC or plugged into a  Garmin charger. Technically, this is out of USB spec and they shouldn't even be labeling the plug as USB on the unit. If you can find a mini USB cable where all 5 pins are connected to a wire, you can simply ground pin X and most Garmin units will charge off a standard USB charger. Others, that are more picky, require a resistor. Unfortunately, because standard mini USB cables never use the X pin, cable manufacturer's never connect this pin to a wire. Thus, it's nearly impossible to find a USB cable that you can hack or make work properly with a Garmin.

On some models, you can connect a standard  USB charger, wait for it to go into HDD mode, hold the power to turn it off. While still plugged in, hold the power to turn it back on. This forces it into navigation mode and allows a standard USB charger to work.

I've also gone away from the Garmin in favor of a smart phone with GPS. My RAM universal mount ensures than pretty much any smart phone I have in the future will be compatible.

[Axxman]

Yep, will work just fine WG as long as it's the mini-USB.
 
I went with one of these for my Nuvi, got it off ebay for $20, plugs right into the powerlet plug on the Heli risers, works great! 
 
http://www.powerlet.com/product/mini-usb-short-powerlet-cable/259
 
 

 

Hey Jay, I thought you had a 765T as I do. My power cord plugs into side of the mount with the FM reciever cord. Do you have a different setup?

Jay

[ZG]

Hey Jay, I thought you had a 765T as I do. My power cord plugs into side of the mount with the FM reciever cord. Do you have a different setup?

Jay

Yep, I have the 765T, it can be plugged in for charging with either the car mount thing that connects to the back and the the suction cup thing or through the mini-USB on the bottom, I use the mini-USB for my bike, fits nicely through the bottom of the open cradle.
 
I don't think I have a FM receiver in my 765T, are you sure you do??   
 
My 765T has the built in mp3, the FM tuner I use is in my Scala G4 on my helmet.

[Axxman]

Yep, I have the 765T, it can be plugged in for charging with either the car mount thing that connects to the back and the the suction cup thing or through the mini-USB on the bottom, I use the mini-USB for my bike, fits nicely through the bottom of the open cradle.
 
I don't think I have a FM receiver in my 765T, are you sure you do??   
 
My 765T has the built in mp3, the FM tuner I use is in my Scala G4 on my helmet.

Sorry man my bad, I meant the traffic cord that attatches to the back which plugs into the lighter socket. I didn't realize you could get power from the usb.

[wally_games]

Well, I might have been misunderstood in my initial post. I'm not really looking to see if the Blackberry cables I have will charge the Garmin, but will power it and keep it charged at the same time.

I have a Nuvi 1495LMT, car model. It comes with that big, honkin' power cord that has the built-in FM traffic antenna and is several feet long. The only connection on this model is the "mini-USB" jack on the back. It's just a big big and bulky for the bike.

The car adapter for my wife's Blackberry is much shorter and more compact and has the "same" connector. I know that using another cable would disable the traffic feature, but that really isn't an issue 95% of the time. I'm really looking to see if it could be used on the bike, left there all the time, and let me keep the bigger cable in my car.

Guess I'll just dump the Blackberry cables that I have laying around and just pick up a Garmin bare-wire cable from gpscity.com or similar. I think they only run about $20-25 anyway.

[jtk1531]

i'm using a Garmin 62s, and using a generic mini-usb cable connecting to a PC, it is possible to make the garmin device go into power-mode rather than USB-storage-mode. so maybe there is a similar setting in your garmin device even if it is a different model from mine, i believe many functions/settings might be the same across different models.

Garmin main menu -> setup -> system -> interface
select "Garmin Spanner", quit setup screens and switch off device.

next time you plug in a mini usb cable (that's connected to a PC or a power source), it will ask you whether you want to go into mass storage mode or not. if you choose "no", then it will switch on and work as normal. the battery bar will be replaced with a power cord icon.

[lather]

Well, none of my 6 Garmins have a "Garmin Spanner" option.

i'm using a Garmin 62s, and using a generic mini-usb cable connecting to a PC, it is possible to make the garmin device go into power-mode rather than USB-storage-mode. so maybe there is a similar setting in your garmin device even if it is a different model from mine, i believe many functions/settings might be the same across different models.

Garmin main menu -> setup -> system -> interface
select "Garmin Spanner", quit setup screens and switch off device.

next time you plug in a mini usb cable (that's connected to a PC or a power source), it will ask you whether you want to go into mass storage mode or not. if you choose "no", then it will switch on and work as normal. the battery bar will be replaced with a power cord icon.