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Nuvi Power cord

podsobinski

New member
Just got my second power cord for my 255w Nuvi and it still doesn't work the GPS correctly. My friend and I went riding yesterday. He has the same set up only uses the cigarette lighter power hook-up and we switched. Mine worked on his power set up but his wouldn't work on mine. I am convinced it is the power cord hook up I got from Cycle Gadgets. I will call them tomorrow. Has anyone had similar problems? Looked back in my records "Hardwire Mini USB Power Supply CG-USB-HW" in the exact name and sku.

gpodzo
 
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Just got my second power cord for my 255w Nuvi and it still doesn't work the GPS correctly. My friend and I went riding yesterday. He has the same set up only uses the cigarette lighter power hook-up and we switched. Mine worked on his power set up but his wouldn't work on mine. I am convinced it is the power cord hook up I got from Cycle Gadgets. I will call them tomorrow. Has anyone had similar problems? Looked back in my records "Hardwire Mini USB Power Supply CG-USB-HW" in the exact name and sku.

gpodzo

It's not the Garmin power cord.

I'm on my 3rd adaptor that plugs into the BMW recepticle and then converts to a cigarette lighter receiver.

Best of luck! :banghead
 
I was using a Gilsson power cord to my Nuvi 550. A USB power connector goes to the GPS and I'd connected a BMW plug to use the bike's power. The USB end developed an intermittant short. I called Gilsson and sent the bad unit back. I expect someday to receive a replacement cord.

I have extra power cords. As they weren't too expensive I purchased several.

http://www.gilsson.com/garmin_gps/cables/GHS-B.htm
 
You want to make sure that they are 3 wire power cords, and not the most common 2 wire. With the 2 wire you will only be able to charge your uvi, then run it on batteries.

460
 
Problem solved kind of

Talking with guys at Cycle Gadgets, they said no problems have been experienced with their power cords for the Nuvi. After 2 failed to work correctly I went with the BMW male plug to cigarret lighter and plugged in the car power cord. No problem now. I still think they have a bad design on their power cord but they will not admit it.

gpodzo
 
Have you considered hard wiring it instead of using the cigarette lighter plug?
 
Roger on that

You bet, when I first hooked it up to my Fuse Block I thought it might be the Fuse Block even though I had a AutoCom, Satellite Radio and MixIt hooked up with no problem. Then hooked it up to my battery and still the same problem with Cycle Gadgets power supply hook up. Then I put the GPS on my friends and it worked great on his 1150GS with the cigarette adapter on his bike. So after talking to Cycle Gadgets I went with their adapter to the BMW plug under my seat and the GPS works great. Go figure. Now I just hope I get my $$$ back for that hook up that didn't work for the second time.
 
Nuvi's don't like the vibration. Mine works fine on the battery but keeps trying to power down when hooked to the cig lighter. Believe its in the usb connection.
 
Nuvi's don't like the vibration. Mine works fine on the battery but keeps trying to power down when hooked to the cig lighter. Believe its in the usb connection.

The Garmin hardwire kit includes a bracket the GPS fits into. The bracket is engineered so that you plug the power cord into the GPS before putting it into the bracket. When in the bracket, it is impossible for the plug to come out of the GPS. The bracket holds the plug firmly in the USB jack. I have ridden 12 hour days and never had a single time when the unit powered down.

The hardware kit does not use the cigarette lighter adapter. It wires directly to your battery and includes an inline fuse.
 
The Garmin hardwire kit includes a bracket the GPS fits into. The bracket is engineered so that you plug the power cord into the GPS before putting it into the bracket. When in the bracket, it is impossible for the plug to come out of the GPS. The bracket holds the plug firmly in the USB jack. I have ridden 12 hour days and never had a single time when the unit powered down.

The hardware kit does not use the cigarette lighter adapter. It wires directly to your battery and includes an inline fuse.

Had no idea! Thanks for the info!! :thumb
 
How about this

I went for a tough 185 mile ride yesterday 90% dirt roads in the Wet Mtns of Colorado with my Nuvi attached to the cigarette lighter power cord which was plugged into an adaptor from Cycle Gadget into my accessory plug under my seat on my GSA. It worked fine but too many plugs could equal problems. Is there anything like a BMW male plug with 3 feet or so of wire to a Garmin Nuvi? That seems like that would be the ticket.

gpodzo
 
Be careful about trying to make a power cord that wires directly from a BMW accessory plug to a USB plug for a GPS. The accessory plug is 12 volts and the GPS end needs to be 5 volts. If you wire it directly, you could burn up your GPS.

I recommend the Garmin hardwire kit. I routed the Garmin wire up to my handle bars where the GPS bracket attaches. I made a weather cap for the USB plug that is tethered where the bracket goes. I keep the GPS on the bike all the time in one of the side cases, so the RAM ball is the only thing on the handle bars. When I want to use the GPS, I can just pull it out and attach the RAM stem to the ball and the wire is tethered right there to connect. No other plugs involved.

The hardwire kit is really easy to connect because it connects directly to the battery and has it's own inline fuse. All you have to do is route the wire up to where your GPS mounts on the bike. I had to make my own weather cap for the USB plug to use when the GPS bracket is off the bike. They have a weather proof place to plug the USB in the bracket when you have the GPS off the bike. What they missed is that most people are not going to want to keep the bracket on the bike all the time. My weather cap was easy and cheap to make. I can provide details if anyone is interested.
 
This is a link to the one I have:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=27931

I was able to find this exact kit from a Garmin dealer on ebay for $29.95, with free shipping and no sales tax.

This one is listed in the "accessories" tab for my nuvi 550. Your nuvi 255w does not have this listed. My guess is that your GPS is wider so the cradle would not fit. The electrical part of this same kit should work with any GPS that has a USB jack on the back. You must already have a cradle and mount for your nuvi 255w or you wouldn't be able to ride with it. The only question remaining would be if the part of your cradle where the USB jack is located will match up with the USB plug in this kit. I'd be happy to help with trying to determine that. The USB plug that comes with this kit is a 90 degree plug that is protrudes about a quarter inch from the back of the unit when plugged in. That matches with a similar gap in the cradle, so that, as I said, when you put the GPS in the cradle with the plug in, the cradle keeps the plug from coming out.

Take a look at your cradle and measure the gap between the back of the GPS and cradle. If you decide to go this way I will compare that to the gap in mine. If the gaps are the same, my guess is that you should be able to buy the same hardwire kit I have to use with your GPS.
 
Thanks

Thanks "gblawler" I am getting close. I have a good mounting system from "Cycle Gadgets". That does the trick, just their power cord would not work after 2 attempts. Power from the Garmin supplied power cord for a car worked with a male BMW plug to a cigarette lighter. I still just need a power cord. I hear there may be one available without the cradle but when I search power cords all I get is the cigarette lighter style which I already have and not confident with the two plugs.

gpodzo
 
... Is there anything like a BMW male plug with 3 feet or so of wire to a Garmin Nuvi? ...

Can you operate a screwdriver? If so, you can easily make your own. Here's how...

Purchase a Gilsson USB power cord from here -

http://www.gilsson.com/garmin_gps/cables/GHS-B.htm

or here at a slightly lower price -

http://www.amazon.com/Gilsson-Direc...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1283906068&sr=8-7

Next, buy a BMW plug such as sold by PowerLet from here -

http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?Item=PLUG

Using a simple screwdriver connect the red wire to the positive screw (the center part of the plug). Then connect the black to the negative (or ground or earth) screw (the outer part of the plug). I found it useful to pull the wire through the plug shell then knot the cable before affixing the wires to the plug. The knot should be located so the shell can be reattached to the plug. The knot will keep the wire from being easily pulled out of the plug. Alternatively one could get a plug which has a strain relief feature (screw and mechanical means of securing the cable) and forego the knotted cable.

I wind up the excess cable and secure with a rubber band. The transformer (the small black part with the green light indicating power) and excess cable is placed in my tankbag.

This works well for me.
 
Thanks a million

That is what I needed, just couldn't find it when I searched. I will purchase the power cord and hook it to my fuse block. Then I will not have to turn it off and on. The fuse block I have has the switch on/off mode. Thanks again and I am off to Sipapu, New Mexico for the last rally of the year before the snow starts flying.

gpodzo
 
Problem solved

Gilisson power cord worked great. Hooked into my fuze box and under some panels leading to the handlebar makes a clean hook up. All this hassel from Cycle Gadget , two months, and I am sure it was their power cord that would not do the job.

gpodzo
 
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