Edge 500 - recharging without stopping/resetting

[JamesBradbury]

I've got an Garmin Edge 500 which I use on Audaxes for navigation and also recording my route.

So far this has worked fine for upto 250 km, which leaves the battery at about 60%. I guess it will be fine for the 300km I have planned next month, but 400 and 600's will probably require a charge.

I tried this the other day, where halfway around a route I plugged in an Ankers USB battery pack via the official Garmin cable which came with the 500. Unfortunately the 500 immediately reset and when I stopped charging I had to start a new route. Later I noticed that this appeared as a separate track which wasn't really what I wanted. What I want is a full 300km track to put on Strava and impress my friends!   

Has anyone managed to charge the Edge 500 on the go without resetting?

[ran doner]

Can't help with the charging bit but can't you convert the 2 fit files into gpx, concatenate them together, and with a bit of XML tag deletion you can have a single gpx file.

[Jaded]

I think the perceived wisdom is to start with the external battery pack, rather than the internal. It certainly was with my 705, which I found out the hard way on the HoE when it gave up and wouldn't take the external battery at all, so I had to navigate by the stars.

[Phil W]

Before you plug the charger in, press stop on the 500.  After charging press start on GPS and it should treat it as one track. At least it used to on firmware 2.x ...

[Ningishzidda]

The eventual wisdom is, AFAIK, recordings of rides can be submitted to the 'DIY by GPS' Org in sections. As long as the places and times all ‘daisy chain’, changing batts or plugging in chargers AT CONTROLS won’t invalidate the entire ride.

Impressing friends is when you pull your wallet out in the pub to buy a round, and a Randonneur 600 sew-on patch happens to fall on the floor.

[JamesBradbury]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a try and see what works.

[Ningishzidda]

Plug the external Batt into the TomTom and it switches it on, because the unit thinks its been connected to a 5V DC supply ( which it has ).
Pull and plug the USB batt pack to my hearts content and the unit alternates from Internal Batt icon to Ext PS icon without disturbing the route or recording.
The Ext PS icon appears if the internal batts are not 100%. When the internal batts get to 100%, the icon changes to a full green battery.

USB batt gets connected when the Internal Batt icon turns red. Gets pulled when the icon shows a full green batt. When pulled, cells in batt pack are changed for next plug-in.

Batteries in USB box can be replaced while riding along no-handed.

[JamesBradbury]

Erm, TomTom?

[Ningishzidda]

Well, you see, its so boring being the only TT user and having nothing to whinge and complain about, I bring it onto Garmin threads to gain a sense of belonging.

TBH, it was the 'no-handed' punchline that I though someone would exclaim about 

[Greenbank]

Batteries in a Garmin can be changed whilst riding too:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vng2S7gnKC0

[BikinOn]

I've encountered this problem too. I've normally used a battery extender and made a point to turn the unit off before plugging it in every time I stop at a control.

This link gives details of how to find / make a USB cable that DOES enable charging while the unit is on - it's a custom item and I haven't tried it myself.
https://forums.garmin.com/archive/index.php/t-6786.html

[frankly frankie]

I think this is a charge-only lead.  Unfortunately this particular one uses an adaptor system which isn't ideal for on-the-bike use.

[JamesBradbury]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've found the premium option which is Garmin's External power pack with solar charger (Ha! I can't see that being worth the bother). I think I'll try your cheaper suggestions first.

[BikinOn]

Just an FYI, as I remembered it the last time I did the turn off and recharge on my 500 everything worked OK. I believe I've updated to the latest firmware since then.

On my ride Saturday I did the same trick and it reset itself - so it looks like it's the special cable or convert the separate files to a text format and stitch them together 

[Ningishzidda]

The Edge range is a bicycle specific GPS locator and performance data logger. UCI or American Triathlon Assoc regulation racing bicycles don't usually have an onboard power supply so Garmin skimped on the 'in use' charging facility. To compound matters, Garmin seem to be oblivious that TT riders compete in 24 hour events. Shame on you Garmin.

Best thing to do for bike rides over 16 hours long is to buy a device that runs on replaceable AA cells or has the facility to be plugged in and out of a 5V supply without stopping its operation.

For Audax purposes, the ideal navigation unit may not even be manufactured by Garmin.

[Hot Flatus]

No issues charging my 705 with an external battery.

[yoav]

Nor with the 810.

The external charger I use is a small box that takes AA batteries and has a USB port. So I get the best of both worlds!