› Forums › Geocaching in Wisconsin › Help › Lowrance Battery issue

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  • 12/15/2007 at 5:11 pm #1725813
    gotta run

      Howdy,

      Anyone else out there use a Lowrance Ifinder? We’re having an issue lately with the battery indicator going from “great” to “your dead!” without warning but we also made a switch to Li batteries versus alkaline…any similar experience before we delve into the tech support route?

      [Oh, all you Garmin or Magellin fans, please don’t tell us to buy a real GPSr…:wink: ]

      On the Left Side of the Road...
      12/15/2007 at 6:01 pm #1882068
      Miata

        OK…one less option. 😆

        On the Garmin’s I have, there is an option in the system settings somewhere that lets you change the type of battery being used in the unit, which I have to assume helps keep the battery meter a bit more accurate. My Garmin III has excellent results with rechargeable batteries, like all day long! Mine will run quite a while after the battery low warning comes up too.

        Now it’s hard to say if your unit has such a setting, but it’s something to look for before talking to someone in India.

        @gotta run wrote:

        Howdy,

        [Oh, all you Garmin or Magellin fans, please don’t tell us to buy a real GPSr…:wink: ]

        12/15/2007 at 10:07 pm #1882069
        hogrod

          I agree with Miata, when I used my LegendC with Lithiums it didn’t have the right battery meter setting so I would get 50hours and the meter would never come off full…. then bang it was dead in 5minutes.
          Garmin added a lithium setting to the newer color units, but later removed this from the current firmware because these batteries could damage the unit from their high initial power level.

          You didn’t say which Ifinder you have, but I do know that the newer h20C, and expeditionC manuals do say you can use lithiums(this is how you can get the unit to float). also how much battery life do you get?

          If your only able to get the unit to work for a short time the power circuit may be damaged or the battery contacts are loosing connection with the main board.

          12/16/2007 at 2:46 am #1882070
          gotta run

            It’s the Ifinder H20C. The battery life seems to vary from 10-20 hours (depending on backlighting). Not as much as we had gotten from the switch to LI when we first did so a while ago. Certainly not worth the multiple X cost of Li versus alkaline.

            We had thought that we could extend the battery by keeping it on the car charger/power, but that doesn’t seem to have any effect and the charger may not be working right. The unit may actually go dead if left on the car charger unattended for a few hours.

            All in all it’s been a great unit for purposes of the game and navigation, it’s just the battery issue is a little weird. I guess we have to be doubly sure the geo-bag has a spare pack of batteries and we may just go back to alkalines when the LIs are burned through.

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            12/17/2007 at 6:40 pm #1882071
            EnergySaver

              I would guess that getting 10 – 20 hours on LI batteries is pretty good!
              I’ve always found I get shorter run time on rechargables.
              In my case more like 8 to 12 hours.

              Also, have these LI batteries ever been exposed to high temperatures … such as sitting in a car in summer? … if so, you’ve set them on the road to early retirement, they just don’t like being heated up.

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