Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Discussion related to the Garmin GPSMAP 66sr GPSr
bonstetten
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Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2018 12:57 pm

Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by bonstetten »

I do not own a 66sr and even not had the chance to get experience with one.
I can not understand, why they removed the exchangable battery-pack.

Event the say it can be used for >30 hours the battery will getting older and hold less time. For longer hikes, etc. I prefere to have a spare battery with me.

What are your experiences and thoughts? I already heard from logntime GPSMAP 6x-users, that will be a no go to buy one.
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GPSrChive
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Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by GPSrChive »

My first thoughts were similar, but having used one for awhile now, I am quite liking the internal li-ion battery.

I just spent two days in the mountains, and never charged the device. I accidentally left it powered on the first night, which left me with only 33% battery remaining when I checked it the next morning, but even that was more than enough to finish the day.

If I needed it, I could have connected an external battery pack for a short time to top off the internal battery, which happens quit rapidly.

I am really not concerned any longer about 'AA' battery GPSr. Only thing that would make it nicer is if the Li-Ion battery was user swappable in the field, like the new Montana 7x0 series....
mpistora
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Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2019 8:22 pm

Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by mpistora »

AA batteries are the simplest solution to keep your device running for two weeks on a bike trip. It can be bought in any store.
truckinguy
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Joined: Mon May 27, 2019 11:37 am

Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by truckinguy »

I agree. AA use will be missed by some for sure. Odd how Garmin always changes things and others have the same as older units.
987
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Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:40 pm

Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by 987 »

I was following this question with some interest, a battery backup (which these days can be up to 20 000 mAh or more) will replace the need of AA-batteries with no problem.
Now, we know that GPSMAP 66s/st sometimes hangs really bad and removing batteries is the only option to restart when no buttons respond.
Is it possible to do a full shutdown of the 66sr by holding down the on/off button (or other buttons) a longer time?

As a comparison, on GPSMAP 66st it does not seam work...
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GPSrChive
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Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by GPSrChive »

Yes, holding the power button for >10 seconds will force a power cycle, similar to removing the batteries on 'AA' powered devices.
CheminerWill
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Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by CheminerWill »

So far I have not really tested it but it came charged to 83% and after a few hours of use setting up etc. was still at 76%. Strange thing though is that it will not charge to 100%. Only gets to 99% and continues to show that it is charging. Even overnight it does not complete. Tried 2 charging blocks. Also after it was charging overnight and in the morning when still showing 99% the following happened.

I unplugged it and plugged in to a different charger and instead of picking up at 99% it showed 98%, That makes me think maybe overnight it did compute as charged to 100% even though the screen was still on and showing 99%. Maybe it then stopped charging but left the screen at 99%? That screen draw may have caused it to be at 98% when I plugged it in to the 2nd charger. So maybe it is the screen message that is not perfectly accurate and it is charging to 100%. I expected it to reach 100% and show that and maybe even turn off the screen at that point.

Not a big deal as is said about horseshoes and hand grenades, it is close enough. What all do others see with theirs? Does it show 100% and turn off the screen or something else?

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GPSrChive
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Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by GPSrChive »

Let it run down below 30% or lower then perform another overnight charge. The internal battery manager may not be fully calibrated to the battery yet.

GPSMAP 66sr Battery Charged 100.png
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GPSrChive
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Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by GPSrChive »

Also, FWIW, I install this Battery Status Widget on all my Connect IQ equipped GPSr.
CheminerWill
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Re: Experiences and opinions about the integrated battery

Unread post by CheminerWill »

OK - Thanks. In the meantime what are people seeing when charging is complete. Does the screen turn off? Or stay on saying 100%?
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