Garmin Zumo 390 LM charging issue

Stuart D

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I have a 390 which I have used on my @ without a problem until now. When I put the Zumo on mains charge the green battery light gains a charge (lightening flash) BUT when I put on my @ & my Varadero the green battery light doesn’t change. The mount & cable on my @ is 3 years old but on my Vara is brand new, I’ve put a meter on the pins on both bikes & both showing 5.1-5.2v, the cables are wired into additional fuse boxes & fused at 3A.
Any suggestions or recommendations for Garmin repairs please?
 

Lutin

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This is an odd one alright. Sorry to ask the question, but are you sure that the unit's not charging when on the bike?
 

Dee Dub

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I have the same problem. Charge from mains and the battery will last for a while. But after it's been in the cradle for a while, it lasts just a few minutes. Sorry, that doesn't help you!!!
 

Stuart D

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This is an odd one alright. Sorry to ask the question, but are you sure that the unit's not charging when on the bike?
It’s not showing the ‘lightning flash’ symbol when on either bike but does on mains. I haven’t used it since September & that was on my @ but I went out with DeeDub on @ a fortnight ago & it went flat, last weekend on my Varadero & went flat on that. I’ve raised the issue with Garmin & they haven’t highlighted the fact that it doesn’t show the charging symbol on the motorcycle mount.
 

Lutin

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Hmm. not come across this "lightening flash" symbol before - it's not on my 340LM model.
 

Lutin

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It would appear that the 390 is very similar to my 340. At least, the only manual I've come across covers the 3x0 series - and the images of the units look very similar.

Anyway, try this -

340LM Start Up screen.jpg


On the start up screen, touch the screen in the upper right hand corner (over the battery symbol) and hold it there for 3 seconds. (I have to use the very tip of my little finger for this.) The screen will change to something like this -

340LM Info Screen.jpg


Here you can see all sorts of useful information - software version, current time (live - it updates constantly), battery voltage (again updates constantly), battery capacity etc etc.

From the above photos, my unit's battery symbol (on the start up screen) is not quite fully green, so is not at full capacity - and on the info screen the "Battery Capacity" is given as 87. The "Battery" is also shown as "Ok Cap".

Any use to you?
 

Stuart D

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It would appear that the 390 is very similar to my 340. At least, the only manual I've come across covers the 3x0 series - and the images of the units look very similar.

Anyway, try this -

View attachment 2775

On the start up screen, touch the screen in the upper right hand corner (over the battery symbol) and hold it there for 3 seconds. (I have to use the very tip of my little finger for this.) The screen will change to something like this -

View attachment 2776

Here you can see all sorts of useful information - software version, current time (live - it updates constantly), battery voltage (again updates constantly), battery capacity etc etc.

From the above photos, my unit's battery symbol (on the start up screen) is not quite fully green, so is not at full capacity - and on the info screen the "Battery Capacity" is given as 87. The "Battery" is also shown as "Ok Cap".

Any use to you?
That’s interesting, do you still have your 340? If you do does the battery indicator change when you install it into the bike mount? ie does it gain the charge symbol like it does when charging on the mains please?
 

Lutin

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Well look at that, there is a lightening symbol after all -

340LM On-Bike Start Up screen.jpg

How did I miss that? Must be such a long time since I've used it. :whistle:


And here's the on-bike info screen -

340LM On-Bike Info Screen.jpg


As you can see, the "VMAX" reading has changed, "Battery" is now "Charging", "Batt Current" is 353 mA (this updates constantly), "Batt Voltage" is 4.13V, etc etc
 

Dee Dub

Active Member
If you aren't getting a charging symbol when it's in the cradle, the obvious thing to check is that the connectors are clean. I'm still not much help am I?

My old Zumo 550 got really, really wet a few years back and thereafter refused to charge from the cradle. I was never able to discover the problem and ended up replacing it.

I'd better stop contributing!
 

Stuart D

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Well look at that, there is a lightening symbol after all -

View attachment 2777
How did I miss that? Must be such a long time since I've used it. :whistle:


And here's the on-bike info screen -

View attachment 2778

As you can see, the "VMAX" reading has changed, "Battery" is now "Charging", "Batt Current" is 353 mA (this updates constantly), "Batt Voltage" is 4.13V, etc etc

In your last post was the sat nav on the bike for both pictures ie home screen & info screen? Apologies for asking a stupid question.
 

Stuart D

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765BE9BF-2068-4E1A-A82D-1CD6BFF6AA5E.jpeg
CCFBFD27-A4F2-4B2F-96AA-FA49BF75E2EF.jpeg
Well the plot deepens, just tried it in both bikes & it detects it’s in a mount! First photo is in my hand, second was the same for both bikes.
 

Lutin

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Ah, it might detect that it's in a mount but I don't think that it's charging.

"Power SRC" in both cases is "BAT" and not "EXT".

My unit shows "Power SRC" as "BAT" on the bench and "EXT" when on the bike.
 

Stuart D

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Ah, it might detect that it's in a mount but I don't think that it's charging.

"Power SRC" in both cases is "BAT" and not "EXT".

My unit shows "Power SRC" as "BAT" on the bench and "EXT" when on the bike.

Many thanks, I’m now fairly sure it’s the sat nav unit. I previously used it in September when I followed the Touratech Country Tracks Portugal & it performed faultlessly. Awaiting Garmin’s response.
 

Lutin

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Glad to be of some help.

Keep us informed of how you get on.
 

hotbulb

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I've a 390....... a while ago it didn't seem to be charging in the bike mount, and I found that one of the tiny gold pins in the mount wasn't sliding in and out as it should. A quick poking, and a drop of ACF50, and it's been fine ever since.
 

Stuart D

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I've a 390....... a while ago it didn't seem to be charging in the bike mount, and I found that one of the tiny gold pins in the mount wasn't sliding in and out as it should. A quick poking, and a drop of ACF50, and it's been fine ever since.
The one mount is a few years old but the other mount on my Varadero is less than a month old, I did check the pins were springy, thanks.
 

Stuart D

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Garmin support have emailed me today agreeing that it’s an internal problem and unfortunately the unit is out of their 2 year warranty. They’ve offered me a factory reconditioned replacement for £85, My unit is at least 4 years old so I think I’ve had a result. Thank you Garmin & many thanks to all who’ve offered constructive advice to my plight.
 
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Lutin

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Hopefully your replacement unit will see you getting lost in some new and interesting places. :)
 

Lutin

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Just in case anyone's interested, I've just discovered how a Garmin unit knows when it's in a mount. There's a small magnet fitted into the mount that affects a reed switch (or possibly a hall effect device) inside the unit. Which will be why Stuart's unit knew it was in a mount, even though it wasn't charging.

The only reason I discovered this is that I've just taken delivery of a car mount for my unit and there's a rather obvious small round magnet (and yes, I've checked that it is a magnet) built into the mount. The small round silver whatsit in the photo below -

Car mount.jpg


The position of the magnet corresponds to the top edge of the unit.
 
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