Warning using phone fast chargers for powering Garmin units

**VictorVACUM** · 16th August 2021, 01:40 PM

Hello to all

Do not use a fast smartphone charger (30W) to power a Garmin gps, I had the unfortunate experience .
Indeed, it burns the electronics of the USB port,not immediately but after an hour of power, no more way to connect to the PC
with a first gps, (1440) I have not made the connection. i owned this unit for years and I thought he died of old age.
But now the other (2597)' i just bought (luckily it is a second-hand model at a low price).
i had fried again the USB port

I hope this sad experience helps some Garmin users.

Jack

**damted** · 18th August 2021, 09:27 PM

Strange that such things happen.
Normally you should think just deliver 5V to the USB port and the circuit behind that port takes care of limiting the current.
What type and brand of charger are you talking about?

Most USB chargers have less current and makes the Garmin go into connecting to PC mode, so that's the other side of the story.

Thanks for the warning!

**zuvicon** · 18th August 2021, 09:51 PM

With a limited electrical knowledge, I'm curious as to if this is really a cause of concern. I know resistance will limit current flow, and temperature causes a rise in heat. Could these fast chargers cause a rise in temperature that could cause components to eventually fail? Could it be that units designed for fast chargers are designed with higher wattage components? Hoping someone the a more complete understanding will shed more light on this.

**asprin624** · 19th August 2021, 07:17 AM

First of all these 2 units are not the newest Garmins.
Second Garmin GPS's were not made to run on Smartphone chargers.
Third you plug a Garmin unit into a usb port on a PC or Laptop for updating it. (and very slow charging)
Forth you us a Garmin USB connection to the car cigarette lighter.

There is a Garmin charger that Garmin has for some of its units.

You do not run any Garmin on a Smartphone charger.

This is what you use if you do it without a PC or Laptop in the house:

Spoiler: An approved Garmin Charger for home use

This is what you use in your car:

Spoiler: An approved in car charger to run your Garmin while driving

but after an hour of power

To charge a Garmin Unit on a high speed charger is just fool harder and you are just asking yourself for trouble.
Then to screw up 2 garmin Units is just plain dumb

You can feel the unit getting hot doing something like that.

Here is the specs on one of Garmin's chargers

NOT 30w !!!!!!!!

Spoiler: Read the Specs on this charger

Do your homework before you screw up your Garmin.

The right tool for the right job.

**VictorVACUM** · 19th August 2021, 02:06 PM

I don't blame anyone.
I thought that the majority of chargers which deliver 5 volts could be connected without problem. It is up to the plugged-in device to manage to limit the current.
I admit that it's very stupid to mess around with two devices, but it's not worth bothering me :-)
this is the impression I got from reading the above message.
In addition, now on the second-hand market, whether it is the nuvi 200 or the drive 61, almost all prices are between € 30 and € 50.
The smartphone killed the Garmin, Tomtom and the other PNDs who only have the preloaded map as an advantage.
I haven't lost everything, the 1440 screen was used to repair a friend's gps.
I think this screen is common to a lot of models.
the 2597 works very well except for the maps which can no longer be updated.

**Garman_Nuvi** · 20th August 2021, 01:05 AM

Good advice as some people do not realise not all Mini or Micro USB powered device require the same Amperage/Wattage.
30watts is about 10 Amps, so for the two devices you mention that only require 1.0Amp it's pushing it

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Spoiler: AC Power Adaptor

I use all sorts of AC power supplies ,you just have to make sure the output is compatible with the device ,larger screen Garmin devices require more power 2.0 Amps and more to maintain function.
From my experience the nuvi 13xx & 14xx are known for USB port issues ,normally a resolder fixes it so might be worth opening them up to see?

**VictorVACUM** · 20th August 2021, 09:17 AM

I think my previous message got lost somewhere.
I'm reposting it and I'm sorry if it is duplicated.
I thought that a charger delivering 5v should deliver 5v
neither more nor less and that it was up to the powered device to manage.
Even if I admit that it's very stupid to boil two devices,
it is not worth yell at me, at least that is the impression I have.
Do your homework; What does it mean, wash, cook or whatever, I don't master all the difficulties of the US language.
Moreover, I did not lose everything, the screen of the 1440 was able to replace that of a 2595
belonging to a friend. I think this screen is common to many models
For the other device it still works, for the new maps just put them on the SDcard
For the attention of the teachers of electricity who says "30 watts is about 10 amps", it is not true !!!, my devices would have smoked (do not this try at home :-)))
it's just the USB interface who no more work.
30 w it's just that the charger can do and not what it must do!
it is the load (Ohms) which defines the current (Amps)
I attach the photo of the guilty charger.

Spoiler: pic

**Dennissefoo** · 20th August 2021, 01:29 PM

Note that qc2 and qc4 quick chargers push out up to 20 volts. Qc3 chargers can supply up to 22 volts. There is communication between the charger and the device regarding the highest permissable voltage for that device.

Obviously the Garmin device is female and cannot communicate properly

Warning using phone fast chargers for powering Garmin units

. This can cause the charger to be set to higher than 5 volts, potentially causing damage.

Sent from my MI MAX 3 using Tapatalk

**asprin624** · 20th August 2021, 02:11 PM

@VictorVACUM,

Do your homework; What does it mean

Means understand what you are doing before you do it.
Check to see if there are chargers that are made for Garmin Units.
Do not assume that every charger is the same.

In French:

"Faites vos Devoirs" from the Google translator.

You learned a very good lesson to check before you do something to avoid ruining any electronic items.

**VictorVACUM** · 20th August 2021, 06:37 PM

@dennissefoo Thank you for this constructive remark
you are probably right, I should try to test this charger under different loads and publish the results here
@aspirin624 communication between different languages is sometimes difficult.
When you wrote "homework " i translate too quickly in "housework"
in french "house" is just a house "home" is your personal house or your place to live and the French word is " maison " for both meanings
"devoir" means also "duty" it's not that simple.