Ever since I have owned my Edge 1030 I have wanted to charge it whilst riding either for touring or long night rides with the back light on. I prefer the sleek out front K-Edge Combo mount but there is not enough space use the (unreliable) micro USB port safely and I didn’t want to use the Charge Power Pack as it was FUGLY, it only works with Garmin’s crappy plastic mounts, does not allow for a GoPro mount for a camera or a front light and I would prefer to charge it via my dynamo USBwerk (or USB power brick).
Roll on to my birthday and I get given a Charge Power Pack. Let the experimenting begin. Of the five gold pins on top of the unit top left is +5 volt and bottom right is -5volt the other 3 must some sort of data signal, don’t care, don’t need them. So a quick test with some wires, a 5volt USB power supply and my trusty Edge 1030 reveal that yes that's all you need to charge from the underside is power to (when turned over) + to top right and - to bottom left, display says charging and battery percentage goes up! Yay!
Now to duplicate the connections onto the K-Edge mount. I soon realised that if I was to keep using the ¼ turn method of attachment it would rip the connection straight off and I was going to have to use the push down and latch type insert that comes with the Charge Power Pack (available separately, see below). As luck would have it this bolts straight on to the K-Edge mount. Next I took a piece of thick plastic and cut it to a figure 8 shape to fit inside of the new push down mount then drilled two 2mm holes through it to align with the gold contacts on the rear of the 1030 then a third hole dead centre and tapped to M3 to able it to be screwed in place when completed.
I found some gold sprung contact pins used in a Garmin vivomove watch charger were about the right length ( these can also be found on ebay called pogo pins), with some side cutters they were fairly easy to remove. Once removed the pins were inserted into the piece of plastic and then reassemble to ensure they line up.
I used a dremel to cut a cable channel in the under side of the K-Edge.
Get a cheap USB cable or USBwerk cable cut the end off you don’t need and solder the power wires to the undersides of the gold connectors. I used some hot glue over the solder to act as electical insulator.
Assemble the whole thing again. If you are using a GoPro mount under the K-Edge you will need to countersink the three M3 mounting screws you have just fitted.
Just to say that everything on this conversion is reversible, only superficial holes on the mount.
I hope that makes sense and I am probably the only person that would ever go to such specific lengths, but I know what I like and if K-Edge had ever bothered making a charge mount I would have brought it in a heartbeat.
Parts needed:
K-Edge XL Combo Garmin Mount
Garmin Flush Out-front Mount Insert PART NUMBER 010-12563-01 £11.99
Gold sprung contact (pogo) pins 9mm long 2mm round (cut from a cheap ebay Garmin vivomove watch clamp style charger)
A cable with a USB’A’ plug or usbwerk male plug on one end
4mm thick small sheet of plastic
infinite patience
M3 countersink setscrews 10~15mm cut to length
Tools needed:
Soldering Iron
Drill
2mm drill bit
M3 tap
saw
files
side cutters
dremel
Allen keys
Hands
The final result on an already overly complicated dynamo setup where all the components can be removed using SON connectors leaving the internal wiring in place .