Yesterday I took a long trip and plugged my GPS into the car charger. The battery indicator showed half full. Previously I've only used the GPS fairly locally, charged it up in my house prior to the journey and not used the car charger.

Got near my destination and the screen went blank-flat battery. Luckily I'd also brought a map.

Please excuse my complete and utter ignorance in such matters but does a car charger only supply a "trickle" charge on a fully charged battery to keep it topped up or should it have topped up my half full battery? Or could it possibly be a dodgy charger?

Edited November 14, 201015 yr by mca

Car charger should fully charge your GPS battery. I'd say that your car charger is broken or was not plugged in correctly. Did the little LED light on the car charger come "on" when plugged in?

Yes. The LED light was on. I ensured that the charger was fully inserted in both the the socket and the GPS unit. Plus I've got 2 charger sockets. 1 for the cigarette lighter and an extra one they put in when they installed the GPS. I tried both sockets and the LED lit using both of them

Edited November 14, 201015 yr by mca

Try charging the GPS at home again. If successful, there is a malfunction in the car charger somewhere. Has the car charger every worked? Have you looked in your GPS manual for help?

Edited November 14, 201015 yr by InterestedObserver

Thanks. It charges at home fine. As you suggest maybe time to look at the manual rather than muddle through the thing myself. As an aside if I tried another charger would one of those aftermarket ones from a telephone shop with the correct socket connection suffice? It'a a bugger to park outside the dealer I bought the GPS from!

NO to the aftermarket charger. Return GPS and charger to dealer for service.

Cheers. Much appreciated

Thanks. It charges at home fine. As you suggest maybe time to look at the manual rather than muddle through the thing myself. As an aside if I tried another charger would one of those aftermarket ones from a telephone shop with the correct socket connection suffice? It'a a bugger to park outside the dealer I bought the GPS from!

Did you check the fuse on the charger itself? The male end that plugs into the outlet.. it unscrews and there's a fuse in there.

Sometimes it's the simple stuff.

Thanks for all the advice. I took it back to the shop, they tried another charger and it works fine. Sorted.

Did you check the fuse on the charger itself? The male end that plugs into the outlet.. it unscrews and there's a fuse in there.

Sometimes it's the simple stuff.

If the fuse in the tip of the car charger is bad, then the LED won't light.

Did you check the fuse on the charger itself? The male end that plugs into the outlet.. it unscrews and there's a fuse in there.

Sometimes it's the simple stuff.

If the fuse in the tip of the car charger is bad, then the LED won't light.

You'd think that wouldn't you? But I've seen some of the cheaper built chargers power the light on the charger from the devices battery.. My Nuvi 350 charger would be a good example.. take the fuse out and plug it in, no light, plug it into the GPS and the light comes on. It shouldn't be this way..

Funny, my Garmin Vehicle Power Cable (car charger) doesn't work that way. No feedback from the GPS battery to light the LED in the car charger.

Edited November 20, 201015 yr by InterestedObserver

Funny, my Garmin Vehicle Power Cable (car charger) doesn't work that way. No feedback from the GPS battery to light the LED in the car charger.

You think it's 'funny' your charger isn't poorly designed or faulty? Whatever.. You do seem to accept/advocate poor business practices so I guess it somewhat makes sense.

Two of mine don't work that way either.. but one does.

The point was.. when something has a fuse, check the fuse. Don't count on lights or what you 'think' you know. Electronics fail. And they don't always fail completely, or the same. Many times something will keep working and fulfilling its function, and still be broken. You won't notice it until something else compounds the issue. And since he's now determined the charger assembly was at fault.. i.e. broken.. would it really surprise you if it was broken in such a way that current was allowed back to the LED? It shouldn't. LED's require a very small amount of current.. easily enough passed by a defective, poorly installed, or substandard component. A 5 baht fuse 'might' have allowed him to keep using it, defective or not, rather than spending 1000 baht to replace it. Good for the customer, bad for resellers eh?

Anyone even vaguely knowledgeable about electronic circuitry could tell you exactly what part had either failed, was omitted, or poorly soldered. Whichever it was, the charger will keep working, and by that I mean charging the battery in the GPS, when plugged into a power source with more power. Here's a hint.. ever seen the small lights or fans you can plug into USB ports? Coffee warmers? Ever take a good look at a USB pinout?