S45 tired battery

[aussiebob]

I have just returned from 5 weeks O/S and have found that the battery on my almost 12 months old S45 will now only last about 30-40 minutes. I was not aware that it was this poor in holding the charge before I went away.
I am not sure that this is a big problem as I always use the car power supply but is it going to lead to a problem in the future?
Keeping in mind the inherent problems that one encounters trying to deal with Navman, is it worth going back to them as I suspect that I should be covered by warranty? I bought the unit end of Nov '08.
I have seen replacement batteries available on eBay for S50 etc. The manual indicates that the battery is not replaceable. Is this accurate or are users able to change to a new one? "Too difficult" or just a "little difficult"?
bob

[Nicko]

Plain and simple return under warranty immediately, don't stuff around with other ideas.

[aussiebob]

I agree with you, spot on. I just have little confidence in Navman's "service". As a volunteer, I drive for a medical charitable group, taking people to their medical appointments at various sites all over Sydney and Boy, do I need the GPS! And I cannot afford to be without the S45 for the several weeks that I fear they will take to rectify the battery situation, if indeed they do actually admit that the battery has a problem that they are prepared to fix.
But yes, I will phone them tomorrow and start it rolling.
Thanks,
Bob

[MaxSouthOz]

The battery in the S45 is rated at 720mAh. They are replaceable at any battery shop. The replacement batteries are rated at 1280mAh and cost A$35. However, replacing the battery hasn't improved my S45s battery life - about 20 mins at best. So it's a fault in the S45. I'm going to try to buy another one on ebay or suchlike and then send mine away for repairs as it's out of warranty. There doesn't seem to be a repair shop in Adelaide. Navman's customer communication is very poor to put it mildly! Max

[aussiebob]

Max, thanks for the input, most interesting on 2 points.
One is what we all learn quite quickly, is that Navman service is at best, very mediocre, and at the other end of the scale, non existent! I sent an email some weeks ago and apart from a reply indicating that they had received my plea for help and that they would get back to me "soon" I have not heard another thing from them. And that was not the first time I had encountered the "ignore the customer" attitude. No wonder the punters are not happy.
Your second interesting point is most intriguing. You have replaced the battery yet the charge life is still only 20 minutes. I have bought, but have yet to receive, a "repacked" S50 from Navman UK (I am after the UK maps for a trip next year) and I am most interested to see what the battery life will be like. Unfortunately I will not get the S50 until Xmas time so until then ......
I will post any interesting observations sometime after Xmas.
Bob

[MaxSouthOz]

Hi Bob
Where did you get the repacked S50? I figure if I can get a second S45, I can keep one in the repair loop all the time and not be without one. They keep sending me advertising emails. I reply to them with terse answers. Still no response, though. :soapbox
Cheers
Max

[aussiebob]

Max, very sorry for not replying but I was not aware of your post.
I have given the link below but something you must keep in mind is the postage from the UK (if you are in Oz). Also, I cannot find the S45 in the UK and assume that it is not one of their available models. The S50 is quite similar to the 45
I now have my S50 and have overcome an initial problem where the loaded maps were for Andorra, Spain and Portugal. Once I managed to get on to the correct email address for their support (not an easy thing to achieve) they sent me the activation code and now all appears to be fine. Although I did have an issue with using my existing wall charger. You need one with an output of abt 1000mA or else the unit thinks you are connecting it to the PC, which is not what I want.
If you have any other queries, let me know, I will just have to keep my eye on the forum



http://ukstore.navmanstores.com/Factory%20Repacked/S50%20Factory%20Repacked___326.htm

[MaxSouthOz]

Hi Bob. No worries. I have found what the problem is. A couple of friends have S45s as well. It is a fault in the charging circuit/s. The one which is supposed to keep it charged while it is being used, open circuits on many of these. I have a man fixing mine. It should be ready in a few days, then I will post the cost here. Cheers. Max

[aussiebob]

Max, good to hear that you have it under control and won't be needing the S50. I bought mine from the UK because it appears to be the best overall way for me to get the UK maps for a trip later this year, and, I end up with 2 units which although each is loaded with maps for different continents, that can be changed if I need to.
Would you think that you problem is allied to the "difficulty" I am having with the battery in my S45? The battery charges well but as soon as it is off the charger, it runs down at a frightening rate and lasts about 10 minutes from fully charged to shutting down. Does that sound like anything like what you have found with yours? Where is your repair man? Can I phone him and post to him?
Regards,
Bob

[MaxSouthOz]

Hi Bob. This is his first go, but he seems confident. I told him if he fixes it I will put his name up on here and he said it was OK. I should know within a day or so whether he can do it and I'll post all the details then. It does sound like the same problem. Cheers Max

[MaxSouthOz]

OK. Got my NAVMAN S45 back from the repairman. He replaced two transistors in the charging circuit $44.00 IGST. It now works like it used to. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post details of businesses here, so if anyone wants his details, I'm on (email deleted for spamming reasons) He also does other brands of GPS (Tom Tom etc.)
Cheers
Max

[Nicko]

I removed your email because spam bots search through places like this to grab emails and send spam to them. Put their detail in the forum or you can ask people to send you a private message

[aussiebob]

Hi Max,
I have at last managed to open up my S45. Not easy when not sure how hard to prise and twist but straight forward actually.
I find that the battery is a "BYD" brand, model T300.
Unfortunately this does not correspond with any info shown on battery suppliers lists.
Do you know the model details of the replacement you used in you S45?
I am trying to get hold of one today if possible so that I can get it all up and running again ASAP. Wish me luck!
Bob

[MaxSouthOz]

Bob. While I was waiting in the "Sin Bin" for 15 minutes after making a typo logging in, I had a look for the paperwork for the battery, but I can't find it for some reason. Anyway, take your T300 to any battery's are us shop and they will be able to match the plug once they have seen it. This is a very annoying forum. I hope you find your battery soon. Max

[aussiebob]

Sorry to hear about your experience with the forum but am somewhat pleased that I am not the only one out there with this difficulty. At time it is great, at other times, I am left wondering just what I have done wrong. But keep in mind that forums such as these are a wonderful way to communicate. And to find all types of info.
I have googled batteriesareus and they appear to be only in Perth and being in Sydney puts me out of reach. However, I have made contact with "The Battery Doctor" http://www.batterydoctor.com.au/store/index.php and after a little bit of emailing, I have confirmed that he has the correct battery IN STOCK and it will be posted Express Post and should be here Tues morning. Total cost, battery and express post: $39 AU. Can't complain about that.
Interestingly, when I was searching for "Batteries are us", there were several warnings there about them. I noted that some of the posts were a couple of years old so maybe they are no longer accurate. Still, worth keeping in mind.
I wonder when GPS makers are going to take a leaf out of the mobile phone designers book and organise their units so that batteries can be just slipped in/out. Can't be too hard. Or is it a ploy so that you either have to go to them at an extortionate cost or go out and buy a complete new unit, just because the battery is on its last legs? Many people do not have the patience etc to be able to open up the GPS case so they don't have the option of replacing the battery themselves.
Hopefully I will soon have the battery installed and charged up. Then I just hope that my battery problems are over. I will let you know how it turns out.
Regards,
Bob

[MaxSouthOz]

Hi Bob. That's good news. Batteries are us was just a generic name I dreamed up. Our one is called The Battery Man and is just down the road. If you hadn't succeeded, I was facing pulling my S45 open to get the number.

I'm on quite a few forums (or should that be fora?), but I've never been kicked off after 1 failed attempt to log in and made to wait 15 minutes. Anyway, I hope your problems go away. The battery didn't help me and I had to replace the transistors in the charging circuit.

I'm sure if that happens there will be a technician near to you who can do it.

Cheers
Max

[Nicko]

You should have 3 attempts at getting your log in correctly, so, I am suprised you didn't request the details to be sent to you before hand.

The reason why they have the batteries built-in is cost. It is considerably cheaper to design a GPS casing that is flat and doesn't have to have a battery cradle built-in.

It's called Demand and supply, people demand cheap and the manufacturers supply cheap.

[aussiebob]

Good day Max,
I managed to open up the S45 and install the new battery (bought from the Battery Doctor, right price, good service) and now all is going well.
I no longer have to turn off the unit when I get out of the car for even just a minute or so and early indications are that it will now run for between 3 and 4 hours on the battery alone.
Once I had the S45 case open, which was not difficult but just needed some care and patience, replacing the old with the new was very easy indeed. But why the GPS makers don't take a leaf out of mobile phone designers with regard to how they integrate the battery is beyond me. Or is there a deep and meaningful reason, such as "come to us and we will keep the unit for weeks and charge you so much you will even consider buying a new unit instead". Who knows?
Anyway, after all this time, my problem has been overcome. Thanks for your support and encouragement along the way,
Bob

[petey]

S45 Battery problems (rapid rundown, < 30 seconds) is not unique - Navman S300T, supposedly top of the range, has exactly the same problem. Tried Navman service who simply ignore/do not 'understand'/procrastinate - quite useless. Read the manual which claims battery is not replaceable. As I need to use the Navman away from the car, I found a 4 AA Lithium battery pack at JayCar which keeps the S300T alive. Still no point in using the wall socket charger when at home though, the Navman still drops from 100% to 10 % in a matter of seconds.
The only issue is that after about an hour using the external pack, the screen fades, then dies. I need to leave the external charger plugged in for 5-10 minutes, then restart the Navman. For an expensive GPS it's power system is complete crap. New buyers, be warned.