Etrex vista HCx and power (battery) issue

Discussion related to the Garmin eTrex Vista series GPSr
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987
Posts: 317
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:40 pm

Etrex vista HCx and power (battery) issue

Unread post by 987 »

Hi.
While the eTrex Vista HCx is a very old unit, i sill have one.
The unit is running on rechargable NiMH batteries, setting is set to NiMH.
If the unit has been off for some time (over night or longer) even if the batteries are freshly re-charged it often happens that during the first 20-30 minutes the unit just dies, in the same way as if the batteries were dead. I can restart the unit and then it may die again once or twice, but after that it usually runs for the expected 15-25 hours on a newly charged pair of batteries.
I currently run eneloop pro batteries (2450 mAh) but have used many different over the years, i have noticed that the problem occurs more frequently with batteries with a lower currentTime (mAh) value. For some reason this issue is getting worse by the years.
Has anyone else observed this?
Does it sound like primarily a battery issue or a unit issue (the unit starts to break) or because of slightly more advanced maps the unit uses more power than it should and dies when there is not enough current?
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GPSrChive
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Re: Etrex vista HCx and power (battery) issue

Unread post by GPSrChive »

How old are your selection of NiMH batteries? Do you have any new ones to test with?

I frequently remove the NiMH batteries from my devices and test them in a La Crosse BC-1000. Every now and then it will fail a battery that was allowing the GPSr it was installed in to power on. I suspect these batteries are not failing due to insufficient voltage, but rather current delivery.

I assume you do not see these same issues when using Alkaline or Lithium batteries in the same device?

If not, it may be time to test with a brand new set of NiMH. And I would stay away from the eneloop PRO. All of mine have failed prematurely while other brands are still going strong. I have had better results with the Amazon house brand NiMH.
987
Posts: 317
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:40 pm

Re: Etrex vista HCx and power (battery) issue

Unread post by 987 »

The eneloop pro batteries are new, only 2-3 months old. But i will surely change and test with some other brand. Lithium does not show the same problem.
987
Posts: 317
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:40 pm

Re: Etrex vista HCx and power (battery) issue

Unread post by 987 »

During the last day different batteries were placed in the unit to test the issue, eneloop pro made the worst case, but the same issue occurred with others as well, even with alkaline in room temperature, settings were changed accordingly in each case. Only lithium batteries did not show the issue, at least not in the fairly short test (about 5-20 minutes per battery type). So it seems that something is wrong with the unit and time to say goodbye after 14 active years.
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